MEDIC! Man down! Man down!
Someone had best call for backup, because The Soldier is down.
That’s right, former Miami Hurricanes tight end and current Cleveland Browns king of injured reserve, Kellen Winslow, was released yesterday from the Cleveland Clinic after being hospitalized for nine days. His story by now is fairly well known: The highly touted prospect who missed the final 14 games of his first NFL season was injured after hitting a curb at 35 mph while riding a motorcycle.
Winslow sustained internal injuries, including a collapsed lung and injuries to his right shoulder and knee – the same leg he broke trying to recover an onside kick in the second game of last season.
His status for next season is up for debate. Some reports have said the damage to his right knee is a torn ACL, which will require him to miss the entire season. Officials for the Browns have neither confirmed nor denied this statement.
What does this mean? Other cities can officially stop trying: From top to bottom, Cleveland is the most cursed town in professional sports.
This incident has come on the heels of one of the worst 6-month stretches of time for Cleveland sports. The Browns, fresh off a dismal 4-12 season, have brought in a new coach to begin rebuilding the team … again. They have jettisoned nearly all ties to the team that has existed since the team was reborn in 1999. Former top picks such as Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren have been sent packing, and now last season’s top pick has been sent packing ice on his leg.
But that’s not all.
The Cavaliers were poised to make a playoff run during LeBron James’ second season. But as the second-half losses piled up, the Cavs fired head coach Paul Silas and GM Jim Paxson after ownership of the franchise was transferred to Dan Gilbert.
This is disconcerting enough without the myriad of rumors surrounding the future of James in Cleveland. The anointed savior of the franchise has been rumored to be seeking a way out from a franchise that was supposed to still be playing basketball at this point of the year.
Now the Cavs are seeking answers to their problems that surround James on the court. Who will play point guard? Will they get a new center if Zydrunas Ilgauskas can’t be resigned?
Of course, none of those questions matter if James takes flight. He has said he is staying, but how much can Cleveland fans trust what a player or owner tells them anymore?
Then last, but not least, come my beloved Indians. The team that has had a plan in place since it began rebuilding in 2002 to be a legitimate title contender in 2005, is watching itself fizzle right out of the gate. As of press time, the Tribe was 13-18 and ten-and-a-half games behind the streaking Chicago White Sox.
The Tribe was not this far out of first place last season until late August, after they had pulled to within one game of the first-place Minnesota Twins. I could get into the stats – the struggling starting pitching, the quiet bats, the pathetic leadoff hitters – but the team’s record speaks for itself.
Consider what this past year could have been. The Browns, led by Pro-Bowl quarterback Tim Couch, drive down the field with under two minutes remaining in the AFC Championship against the Patriots. Couch hits a streaking Kevin Johnson inside the 10-yard line with under 10 seconds left. But the team’s weak offensive line can’t punch out a touchdown, and the Browns fall 13-7 in a blizzard in Foxboro.
Also, Brown and Warren combine for five sacks and a forced fumble.
A saddened Cleveland takes comfort in the revival of the Cavs, who on the strength of James and counterpart Carlos Boozer have earned the second seed in the NBA playoffs. Their hopes are buoyed when a healthy C.C. Sabathia and a rejuvenated Juan Gonzalez ride the team’s youth movement to one of the hottest starts in baseball.
But wait. Instead, we have no playoff basketball, a football team in chaos and a baseball team struggling to even reach .500.
At least our teams haven’t lost to any Michigan teams. Unless you count the Tigers or the Pistons.
Adam Jardy is editor of The Lantern and a senior in journalism. He knows he has written a “woe-is-Cleveland” column before, but this situation deserves further discussion. Send reasons to cheer up to [email protected].
