Cleveland sports in flux?

It seems that's the case. Two big stories eminate from the home of the Indians and the Browns today.

First, the Indians have decided to part ways with manager Eric Wedge. He will stay on for the last week of the season.

This move should come as absolutlely no surprise. but the timing may be a bit peculiar especially since there is only a week left in the season. Wedge's record so far this year is 64-92. Hard to believe that some considered the Tribe a possible playoff team before the season began and where they are currently residing, 4th in the AL Central and owners of the fifth worst record in baseball.

Wedge is not the only reason the Indians have struggled in '09. Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and Asdrubal Cabrera have spent have all spent extended time on the DL. Sizemore has been shutdown for the season. Add the woes of the pitching staff, in more than one way. Fausto Carmona has not even come close to his superb '07 performance (19-8, 3.06 ERA). He is currently 4-12 record and an astronomical 6.62 ERA. Let's not forget the big money Cleveland spent on getting Kerry Wood. Wood has only 20 saves and has blown six. I know you got to have a lead in order for Wood to have that stat be higher, but the staff only has 25 total. What does that tell you? Again, we look at the starting pitching.

That's where the Indians did themsleves, and their fans, the biggest disservice. Who has the most quality starts for Cleveland this year? Cliff Lee. Who's next? Carl Pavano. What do Lee and Pavano have in common? They were traded. Between the two, they had 29 quality starts out of the 43 thay started while in Indians uniforms. Lee had 18 on his own.

But I do see a youthful light in the Cleveland Indians future. With a healthy Sizmore to go along with budding stars such as Cabrera, Matt LaPorta, Shin-Soo Choo, Luis Valbuena, and Andy Marte, the Tribe has a lineup that can challange for years down the line. It's just that pitching that needs attention.

Speaking of attention, do you think that Browns head coach Eric Mangini has received enough of it as of late? Or shall I say since the beginning of traning camp? It's almost all revolved around the QB battle between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson.

Today, Mangini announced that Derek Anderson will start this Sunday as the Browns host division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals. That will move Quinn to the #2 spot on the depth chart. This may be a good move as one of Anderson's best games as a Brown occurred against the Bengals in a wild 51-45 shootout at Paul Brown Stadium back in '07. For his career against Cincy, Anderson has won 2 of the 3 games and has posted passing stats of 64 of 105 (61.0%) for 717 yards with 8 TD and 6 INT. Not bad, really. For Anderson to be successful, the ground game must get going against a somewhat underrated and stingy Bengals defense.

Does that same light shine on the Browns like it does for the Indians?

Not really, but the Cavs host the Celtics on October 27th for the season opener.

As the QBs Turn

Here we are only three weeks into the NFL season and we already have two QB changes and another in question. Of the two teams making changes, Tampa Bay and Miami, one is due to ineffectiveness and the other to injury.

Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris announced that the Bucs are going to go a different direction at the position. Out is Byron Leftwich. Taking a glance at the stats, it's not a big surprise but the timing is. The Bucs are in a rebuilding mode and Leftwich was thought to be the bridge to get from this process to the Bucs first round pick in this past draft Josh Freeman. Apparently, the construction of that particular bridge was scrapped. A new bridge is being constructed, for now, with Josh Johnson. Morris says that Johnson gives the Bucs more options at the position. The fact that the Bucs performed miserably on offense most likely led to this quick decision. That and an 0-3 start. Within a week, Leftwich goes from starter to third string as Freeman will be the #2 behind Johnson. To think Leftwich left Pittsburgh for this.

Leftwich's stats tell a similar story as well. Of the 33 quarterbacks that have enough attempts to qualify, Leftwich is 27th of 33 QBs in QB rating with a 71.2. The QBs behind Leftwich are the Rams Marc Bulger, Titans Kerry Collins, Browns Brady Quinn, Lions Matthew Stafford, Panthers Jake Delhomme, and Raiders JaMarcus Russell. Leftwich has thrown for 4 TD and 3 INT but had been sacked only 2 times. His completion percentage of 54.2% was fourth worst of the 33 QBs.

Their counterparts to the southeast are in a different bind. Miami Dolphins QB Chad Pennington's season is most likely over, and possibly his career. In a 23-13 loss to the Chargers on Sunday, Pennington suffered yet another shoulder injury, his third of his career. Pennington will seek a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews as Andrews has performed two other procedures to Pennington's shoulder.

The winless Dolphins will go with Chad Henne who is in his second year out of Michigan. In a substitute role against the Chargers, Henne was only 10-19 for 92 yards and a pick. His QB rating was a lowly 44.2. But Henne will get the snaps at practice this week as Miami will play host to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The Dolphins selected Henne in the second round last year and passed on Matt Ryan to select Jake Long with last year's #1 overall pick. That move will be even more scrutinized if Henne cannot produce. Only time can tell us of that.

Here we go again with Browns head coach Eric Mangini and his QB choice. Brady Quinn was pulled at halftime of last week's drubbing at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. His first half stats: 6-8, 34 yards, 1 INT. Derek Anderson played the second half and was 11-19, 92 yards and 3 INT. How can you compare bad to worse? On one hand, Anderson was more successful passing the ball...for yardage. On the other hand, Quinn only threw one pick. I have a headache just thinking about this...again!

Mangini will most likely announce the starter Wednesday. Whoever it is, he better be ready for the visiting Cincinnati Bengals who are just a fluke play away from being 3-0.

One other QB injury was to the St. Louis Rams Marc Bulger. He sustained a bruised rotator cuff and his status is questionable going into this weeks game against the San Francisco 49ers. If Bulger can't go, former Raven Kyle Boller will most likely get the starting nod.

Hey Coach Mangini, Stop your charade!

Exactly what is Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini thinking? Is he thinking we're all a bunch of idiots? Is he thinking that he's smarter than the rest of us? Is he thinking that nobody but him knows anything about football?

He must. We're at the end of preseason and the "Man Genius" has yet to announce who his starting quarterback will be, Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson. All we have to do is use what little brain Mangini thinks we all have and we can figure out who should be the Browns starting quarterback.

All you have to do is look at the preseason stats for Quinn and Anderson and the answer is crystal clear. Let's compare:

Completion %: Quinn - 67.7, Anderson - 57.7
TD/INT: Quinn - 1/1, Anderson - 0/2
QB Rating: Quinn - 86.1, Anderson - 51.3

Brady Quinn is the obvious choice. So why isn't Mangini telling anyone? Well, he says he knows. We don't because I suppose it's a secret.

I get it now. It's just like his old boss, Bill Belichick. There's one big problem with this whole picture Mr. Mangini...you're not Belichick. You never have been despite what you think of yourself. When you've won something, then you can act like him. Until then, quit playing games and thinking we're all too stupid to know what's going on in your head.

And you might want to pass that along to the guy in Denver.