Fighting in the locker room

[DTBH]

Well, at least she's a better reporter than this guy:

 

 

You know you've done something incredibly dumb when Terry Bradshaw's calling you an idiot.

 

You know, Aloy, I don't TOTALLY disagree with what that reporter did. He was getting bullshit answers from that coach, and he grew some balls and kept ragging the coach about the bullshit answers he was getting.

 

I've been dying to see that kind of thing in Cleveland for a long, long time. God forbid any Cleveland media member ask any sort of important, balsy question to Romeo and demand an answer.

[Zombo]

I like QBs getting in fights. Means Quinn is either scrappy, irritable or a pain-in the-ass ... all good traits for your starting QB.

 

As for Smith ... good for him, lockerroom fights happen all the time. Now go beat up Big Ben .... er, Leftwich.

 

As for reflecting on Romeo .... nah. first of all, doesn't matter, he's gone. Secondly, again, lockerrooms fights happen all the time. At least our guys throw punches not just bitch at each other like the Cowboys. THAT is one gay team.

 

Zombo

[NW Ohio Brownie]

Aloysius,

 

Good video. What that reporter did was an absolute disgrace. BS answers or no BS answers. For those of you who are giving the reporter credit for badgering Marinelli, give me a freaking break. Marinelli was being a class act and sticking up for his coaches publicly while this guy clearly had a personal vendetta against Marinelli's DC/son-in-law.

 

I also give Marinelli an unbelievable amount of credit for holding his tongue with the cheap shot comment about his daughter's questionable choice in husbands. Unreal. We talk about player and coach accountability on here all the time. How about accountability as a human being, let alone a reporter. I also give kudos to the guys at FOX for lambasting this guy, which guys in the media rarely do to each other.

 

I hope some day when a few of these current Lions are retired, they find this guy at the wrong end of an alley and beat his sorry ass.

[irishlass]

Everything I've read is reporting Quinn had a "mark" on his face. I was unable to see the game yesterday. For those of you that did see it, was Quinn on the sidelines, and if so, did you notice a "mark" on his face?

If there was a physical manifestation of the fight, then based on how it looked, we can surmise how bad a blow it was.

[NW Ohio Brownie]

While I'm here I might as well chime in on the Quinn/Smith fiasco.

 

My job forces me to keep an open mind and not jump to any conclusions before I have heard both sides of the story.

 

That being said, it's awful hard not to get the feeling that Shaun Smith is the responsible party here.

 

There should be no question on here about Quinn's leadership, holdout or no holdout. Free agents like Smith, who sign where the money is, shouldn't question Quinn's contract negotiations. Especially ones like Smith who produce so little they're practically stealing money.

 

I don't know squat about what goes on inside the Browns' locker room, but Quinn ALWAYS took the high road when discussing the quarterback situation.

 

On the other hand, it's not a secret that Smith is very outspoken and not usually in a positive way. That kind of attitude and demeanor wears on people after a while.

 

The bottom line is this: if this team is winning AND both of these guys are playing well, then this BS doesn't happen. Ever. If you don't believe me, then when does TO go off? How about Clinton Portis? Trent Dilfer?

 

Here's an example that strikes closer to home: Do any of you remember the face-off between Cliff Lee and Victor in the Tribe dugout in '06? The Tribe was winning but Lee was stinking up the joint. Did this happen last year? Nope, because Lee was killing AL hitters and he was winning games. At the time, I was glad Victor got up in his face and Lee revealed a little bit of himself later in the year with that sarcastic tip of the cap to the fans during a shelling at the hands of the Red Sox.

 

Winning and/or playing well cures all ills. Who will provide the medicine we need?

[ballpeen]

i don't who got hit with a weight, but whoever it was (unless it was Pontbriand, Dawson, or Zastudil) deserved it. It was butt cold out there today. i lasted three quarters-which is two more than most of the players on our team. i'm an idiot. Hit me with a weight.

 

God Bless You man...I left at the half and congratulated the Bengals fans next to me on the shut-out....

 

I can't say where this them stacks against the all-time best and worst teams in team history...but this is my least favorite team.

 

It needs to go away.

 

[Flugel]

Why is this Sack of Shit still our coach?

 

That question right there is the reason we NO LONGER can just think the Head Coach is the problem. BTW, Opie got Lerner to open his wallet to give RAC a raise so can you just imagine that conversation?

 

Opie: "Hey Randy, I think we gotta give RAC his walking papers - don't you?"

 

Lerner: "Hey squirt breath, weren't you the one begging me to open my wallet this past spring to give RAC a raise for a job well done? Aren't you the same goofball that has me paying Stallworth all kinds of money for zero impact? And how many sacks did your Corey Williams bring us? Last I counted he's the highest paid pass rusher in the history of the game to post 0 sacks. And didn't you covince me to pay Kevin Shaffer like he was an elite LT? And last but not least weren't you the guy saying Trent Dilfer would be the perfect guy to start us off with and having Charlie Frye on deck? Have you heard what Dilfer is saying about me and you in the front office?"

 

Opie: "Is it anything like the look of disgust Jim Brown gives me every Sunday? Ah Shucks Randy, the Roman Empire wasn't built in just 4 years. The Steelers sucked for 40 years before they hired Noll so don't I have 36 more years before we need to make the playoffs? What's the rush?"

 

I've seen enough of the Savage 40 year plan.

- Tom F.

[Guest Aloysius]

Sorry, DTBH. I'm with NW Ohio Brownie on this one.

 

I have no problem with the media being confrontational and interrogative. But it's important that they do so in a constructive way, one that'll actually get fans the answers they want.

 

And the way he asked the question just backfired. The reporter became the story, which is usually fun for the reporter (if you watch a White House press conference, you know what I mean) but doesn't actually help get use more info.

 

I also give Marinelli an unbelievable amount of credit for holding his tongue with the cheap shot comment about his daughter's questionable choice in husbands. Unreal.

Yeah, Marinelli showed some class there. And I agree with what Howie Long was trying to say there: some team is going to get a decent Tampa 2 DC in Rod Marinelli.

 

He wouldn't work here - I don't think Shaun Rogers & him got along. But he could do well somewhere else, perhaps replacing Monte Kiffin in Tampa.

[dencyguy]

John, Mary Kay is a nice gal, but she is completely partial toward RAC because she thinks he's such a nice man.

 

He is a nice man, but he's not a good head coach and this has been proven.

 

 

Probably, and at this point it seems pretty much academic.

 

That said, you have to take everything with a grain of salt when it comes to the media, and especially local media--many of whom are embittered hacks who, like the tool in Detroit, enjoy saying "in your face" things to the coach either in their columns or at pressers so that they can get some national attention--celebrating or condemning the coach.

 

Remember the early 1990s? They couldn't wait to get Belichick out of town. Lousy relationship with a lot of media. Iffy personel decisions (Tommy Vardell, Craig Powell, etc.). Botched QB situation (Todd Philcox?!). Malcontent WR (Andre Rison). Offensive ineptitude (Third and twelve? Say it with me, folks, all together now..."Metcalf up the middle!").

 

And, unlike RAC, Belichick made all of those decisions. Deciding on which players to draft? Check. Deciding who to play? Check. Telling Steve Crosby which offensive plays to call? Check-mate. Had the team stayed in Cleveland, Belichick would have been gone after 1995 anyway.

 

My hunch is that RAC will be a DC somewhere in the NFL within a year or two, and, like Chris Palmer, will help a team succeed.

 

Regardless of what happens next week--whether he gets fired on Monday or Tuesday--I think that the final book on RAC is that he's a good man and a better coach than he'll get credit for after he gets fired, even if his strength is as an assistant rather than a head coach. Which isn't a terrible thing, as most guys aren't cut out for both jobs.

 

And, since he kept DA on the field for so long, Quinn will be able to go into next year with a coach he likes better and his Great White Hope reputation intact, unlike Tim Couch, who was pretty much physically shot after his first two years.

 

Dennis

[dencyguy]

I can see hitting the guy, then holding ice on his eye. The two fight, but then realize that their mutual self-interest is best served when they get along.

 

Besides, Smith realizes that Quinn is delicate, and if he doesn't feel like he's valued by his teammates he might end up treating every game next season like a bowl game, and nobody wants the Browns joining Detroit as the only 0-16 team in history.

 

Dennis

[YtownBrownsBacker]

I sure hope Quinn didn't call Smith a fat lazy prick with a big mouth......................

 

You know how bad the truth really hurts.

[YtownBrownsBacker]

I like QBs getting in fights. Means Quinn is either scrappy, irritable or a pain-in the-ass ... all good traits for your starting QB.

 

As for Smith ... good for him, lockerroom fights happen all the time. Now go beat up Big Ben .... er, Leftwich.

 

As for reflecting on Romeo .... nah. first of all, doesn't matter, he's gone. Secondly, again, lockerrooms fights happen all the time. At least our guys throw punches not just bitch at each other like the Cowboys. THAT is one gay team.

 

Zombo

 

The fight was over Quinn telling Smith to shut up and play football.

 

and the big pussy Smith punked out on the game Sunday because he was told by his offensive teammates that he was an asshole for remarks he made to the press about the offensive line not doing their job.

 

 

[dencyguy]

I'll go ahead and say that I can be right either way: Smith might very well be a tool, and Quinn might very well be soft.

 

And many people will treat Quinn like the second coming of L. Ron Hubbard when anyone dares--or is alleged to have dared--to question his ability to lead the team or fix mental illness.

 

Dennis

[Canton Mike]

I agree....I said 6 games ago.....what possible good can come of keeping a lame duck HC in there??? Why do some of these owners go that route? So they don't ruin the season? Wtf???...it was ruined after the first 3 games. In my opinion, it has been a lot more embarrassing to keep Crennel, than to fire him early. I'm really starting to get worried.....is it possible that Lerner is thinking about letting Crennel stay??? Just shoot me now.

 

Lerner has simply set this team back horribly by keeping RAC until season's end...I posted this on a fishing board's sports forum...

I stated weeks ago that RAC needed to be let go before things got out of hand. Obviously they have. He has totally lost control of this team...OOPS!...He never HAD control of this team.

A big mouth who can back it up on field is one thing...Smith is the other. If the story is true per the reports I have seen, he should already have played his last game as a Brown. The Browns have had some GREAT players in the past....name just ONE of the REALLY good ones as lippy as this bush league wonder...certainly NOT Jimmy Brown, Kosar, Graham, Motley, Groza, Warfield, etc. Great players let their "on field" actions do their talking for them. Get rid of this clubhouse cancer NOW!

Mike

 

 

[Flugel]

Funniest line: Quinn insults Shaun Smith's wife and Shaun Smith holds ice to Quinn's eye.

 

Does this sound...

 

A - Realistic?

B - Like Shaun Smith's humorously slanted take on the altercation?

 

Funny. I actually heard that Smith called Anderson's dad a faggot, then Quinn picked Smith up, spun him around, and bounced him off a wall... then cradled Smith while he cried and peed his pants.

 

Shaun Smith really fermented this season after a promising finish to 2007. It's too bad he waited until AFTER the game to use his energy - if he even dressed. I've heard that's coaching and character has ZERO to do with it.

 

Like Quinn or hate him - Dency was hilarious! After 2 years of 1st round commitment - we have 2 assessments of Quinn going into his 3rd season. Unfortunately, this means we find out in season #3 if this was right or wrong because Dumb and Dumber were walking the plank with Dumb Ass. And YES folks, your GMs have a say in WHO starts at QB unless you firmly believe Parcells says "yes dear" to the guy he hired. But you can prolly visulaize that 1 minute interview: what I say goes okay? "Yes sir!" You're hired!

 

Franchise QBs are usually determined by a tag-team HC and GM. ALOT of your GMs have a say BUT I'm sure the experienced HC's get more say than first time HC's.

- Tom F, (There's playoff teams like Indy, TN and NE that aren't using injuries as excuses for their GMs because have solid depth ready to rock)

[darubes]

Funniest line: Quinn insults Shaun Smith's wife and Shaun Smith holds ice to Quinn's eye.

 

Does this sound...

 

A - Realistic?

B - Like Shaun Smith's humorously slanted take on the altercation?

 

Funny. I actually heard that Smith called Anderson's dad a faggot, then Quinn picked Smith up, spun him around, and bounced him off a wall... then cradled Smith while he cried and peed his pants.

 

 

 

 

Funniest Line.......

 

This is the best AND first hit Shaun Smith has had on a quarterback all year!!!!!

 

[dencyguy]

Quinn was "soft" for calling out a 350 pound DT?

 

Uhhhh... "soft" must mean something else where you're from.

 

Why are you dissing Quinn for standing up for his teammates? I don't get it. Seriously. Sounds like a leader to me. Do you want him to be...

 

Crap. What word do you use for "soft" since you use "soft" to mean "tough?"

 

Assuming that all of the assumptions are correct regarding the cause of the fight, it depends on how it went down. If Quinn went to him and said, "Hey, it's not cool to throw your team under the bus like that," only to have Smith go nuts on him and escalate the situation, that's one thing. If he went into the weight room and got into Smith's face, then it's a kid with two and a half games under his belt and a Mark of the Beast passer rating getting in a veteran's face and essentially saying, "This is my team," which is another matter altogether.

 

Dennis

[YtownBrownsBacker]

Assuming that all of the assumptions are correct regarding the cause of the fight, it depends on how it went down. If Quinn went to him and said, "Hey, it's not cool to throw your team under the bus like that," only to have Smith go nuts on him and escalate the situation, that's one thing. If he went into the weight room and got into Smith's face, then it's a kid with two and a half games under his belt and a Mark of the Beast passer rating getting in a veteran's face and essentially saying, "This is my team," which is another matter altogether.

 

Dennis

 

Dinkins and a few other players plus in house media (Knott) have already said Smith was running his mouth (as usual) and when Quinn shot back at him about throwing teammates under the bus, Smith took exception and went after Quinn.

[Beanpot]

You know, Aloy, I don't TOTALLY disagree with what that reporter did. He was getting bullshit answers from that coach, and he grew some balls and kept ragging the coach about the bullshit answers he was getting.

 

Except he wasn't doing any of that. He was going for a funny:

 

"My attempt at humor may have seemed slighted, cruel, and even insensitive. For that, I apologize"

He explains as much in his column after the incident:

 

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...386/OPINION0314

 

No, Rob Parker didn't grow balls on Sunday. He's been using the "controversy sells" angle for many moons. He was the guy who called Hank Aaron a coward for not jumping with glee when Bonds broke his record and he was the guy who made stuff up about Kirk Cousins being in a fight with MSU hockey players.

 

As is often the case, Posnanski had a terrific take on the situation:

 

Still there’s a pretty wide gulf between what’s funny in a bar or a living room or a press box and what’s funny right there in the moment, under the lights, with the father-in-law behind a microphone and still smarting a from a five-touchdown pounding that put him on the doorstep of the worst season in NFL history. I know Rob a little bit as a press-box acquaintance — and from what I know about him he’s a very nice guy — but, honestly, you need to have a little bully in you to ask that kind of kick-the-dog question at that particular moment. It didn’t make any of us look very good.

 

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/12/23...arker-question/

 

Beanpot

http://adayinthelifeindc.wordpress.com/200...rd-i-think-not/

http://thebiglead.com/?p=1657

http://deadspin.com/5070391/a-detroit-colu...f-up-surely-not

 

[dencyguy]

I agree with Beans. He prefaced the question with something about "injecting some levity" into the situation, or something like that. Then he didn't ask about the DC, he asked about Marinelli's daughter marrying the DC--completely different.

 

The hack did several things wrong in the situation:

 

1) Inject some levity? The team just lost to go 0-15. Up yours, schmuck.

2) He "jokingly" questioned Marinelli's daughter's judgment. Up yours, schmuck.

3) As he later admitted, he had tried the angle before. Again, up yours, schmuck.

4) Despite the situation, as he (again) later admitted, he thought that it would be one more opportunity for Marinelli to join in on the joke. Really? The team just lost by 35 points and now the coach will want to join your comedy routine?

 

Let's face it: when the uber-hacks on Around the Horn all agree that you're in the wrong, that's pretty much case closed; Mariotti will stand up for reporters doing anything up to and including raping players' and coaches' pets.

 

The whole thing is symptomatic of two major problems with sportswriters nowadays:

 

1) They want to be part of the story. The idiot in Detroit gets to be the center of attention.

2) Many of them are way too lazy. Terry Pluto--you know, the good one at the PD--wrote after the game about being tired of going to pressers and hearing about the team trying to get better in practice. In Knoxville this year, the writers whined about Phil Fulmer saying that the team would go over the tapes and try to get better in practice. Too boring, too predictable. The writers never really explain what they want to hear, though: do they want the coaches to show up for pressers in black turtlenecks and berets and explain how the loss reflects the death--of a game, of a season, of a life, of man...man? Do they want the coach to say that all is lost? That all is well?

 

Here's an idea: you're a professional writer, and you write four columns a week ripping players who complain about their jobs. STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT YOUR JOB WITH THE FIFTH COLUMN! You cover the country's most popular sport, and you act as though you're personally injured when the coach doesn't write your column for you by coming out and telling jokes? ("42-7? After that game, I've got a sorer butt than a mute who was in jail the night of Stonewall. But seriously, guys, our QB broke his leg in three places, so we're putting him on IR...")

 

Dennis

[Guest Aloysius]

From PFT:

 

NOTRE DAME DISS STARTED SMITH-QUINN FRACAS?

Posted by Mike Florio on December 23, 2008, 7:17 p.m.

 

The one detail that has yet to come to light in the wake of the much-publicized melee between Browns defensive lineman Shaun Smith and starting quarterback Brady Quinn is the cause of the brouhaha.

 

Per a league source, the thing got rolling because Smith was razzing Quinn about the performance of Notre Dame football and coach Charlie Weis.

 

After Quinn returned fire, the thing turned physical.

 

Neither Smith nor Quinn have addressed the situation, which is only reinforcing the notion that the reports of an altercation are true.

[Guest mz.]

Smith needs to realize 1) his Gamecocks won one more game than the Irish, 2) he isn't good enough a football player to be this big of a dickhead.

 

Between the whole being cut by the Saints a day after he was caught eating in the Atlanta press room before a game thing, the Chad Johnson/Marvin Lewis thing, and now this shit, we know for a fact this guy's a fcuking idiot. Combined with the fact he didn't do a damn thing for us this season and the rumors he was dogging it, I can't see him coming back (and that's putting it nicely).

 

Adieu, Shaun.

 

[Flugel]

Smith needs to realize 1) his Gamecocks won one more game than the Irish, 2) he isn't good enough a football player to be this big of a dickhead.

 

Between the whole being cut by the Saints a day after he was caught eating in the Atlanta press room before a game thing, the Chad Johnson/Marvin Lewis thing, and now this shit, we know for a fact this guy's a fcuking idiot. Combined with the fact he didn't do a damn thing for us this season and the rumors he was dogging it, I can't see him coming back (and that's putting it nicely).

 

Adieu, Shaun.

 

 

 

Doesn't it just make sense that Quinn was the ONLY QB that Tons-of-buns hit all season and it wasn't even on the football field? Looks like Smitty won his bet with Corey Williams on who hits more QBs UNLESS Corey Williams blind sides Derek Anderson in the weight room. Then we've got a tie on our hands and with Ken Dorsey looking like he's never seen a weight room to complicate the tie breaker. Stay tuned though because our dline is FINALLY hitting QBs. Who cares if they all got off the short bus - they NOW know they're supposed to HIT the QB after 15 games, training camp and countless mini-camps. This has contract extension from Opie written all over it. Everybody loves a Jed Clampett story - what's not to like about a simple basterd sleep walking his way into millions of dollars? The only problem is we've got too many Jed Clampetts suiting up for games on Sundays so things like knowing where to lineup sort of kick us right between the lookers too many times for comfort.

- Tom F. (Maybe they'll let us replace our zeros on the scoreboard with "yaaa, but 5 guys in the 2007 Pro Bowl!")