The idea was to get Cleveland alumni excited about opening day (and there may have been some major donor stroking going on behind the scenes). It was a very nice event: Hors d'oeuvres and drinks in the Cleveland Browns' locker room, followed by a quick tour of the stadium.
I wanted to share some quick impressions.
The stadium:
1. The locker room was amazing. It's 11,000 square feet in size, with wall to wall carpeting and lockers built out of teakwood. It's for the Browns only; Wisconsin and Bowling Green will be using two other, smaller battleship grey locker rooms.
2. Our tour started with where the Falcons and Badgers will be running onto the field. Let me tell you: It's going to be super special for our players to run out onto that field through that tunnel -- especially when, for that one day, it will be OUR field. I'm so excited about this game, and I'm so excited for them.
3. The press box was out of this world. It was some nice windowed-in seating along with a big cafeteria area behind it. It appears all they do is feed these guys all day. It made me realize how silly I was, back at Bowling Green, for wanting to write newspaper stories about public affairs.
Paul Krebs:
1. He noted this will be the first Division I-A football game in Cleveland since the 1991 Ohio State-Northwestern game. He said the department is interested in trying to do a game in Cleveland every three or four years -- but that we are really going need everybody to bring all our friends to this game to make sure we pull this off. Someone (I forget if this was Krebs) suggested that everyone in the room bring 100 people to the game. If so, he said, that gets us to 10,000 right there. Doing a game in Cleveland is creative, Krebs said, but there are risks.
2. I talked to him briefly afterward -- it was the first time we had met, but we have a mutual friend here in Columbus -- and he softened it just a bit. It's not like the game is a huge financial risk. We have good fans, he said, they just need to get off their butts for an opportunity like this.
3. The buzz in the room was that Wisconsin was being given 10,000 tickets to sell along one side line and that they could be expected to sell them.
4. Tickets are expected to go onsale April 1 for Falcon Club members and season ticket holders, May 1 for others.
Brandon:
This is the first time I had seen Brandon speak and it surprised me.
You hear the guy's "aw shucks, gee" schtick on the radio, those visors he occasionally wears, and you may think he's a little lackadasical about the whole coaching thing.
Not at all in person. He's much taller than I realized, and authoritative -- not someone, as a player, you would want to cross. There is a toughness in his voice that doesn't come across on AM radio.
He started out this way: "Let me tell you what I know about the 2006 Bowling Green Falcons."
Then he set the mic down and didn't say anything for a while.
The Falcons lost a lot of starters and there are a lot of question marks, he said. He challenged the audience, at one point, to name one returning receiver. "Corey Partridge" someone finally yelled. Yes, he said -- but noted Corey was going to have to prove he was tough and could make it through a full season at this level.
He ran through a few recruits -- first the Cleveland-area recruits, then noted QB Tyler Sheehan (out of Cincinnati) and DJ Young, a 6-foot-5, 278 lb DT out of Lansing. He said he felt like they snuck Young under the radar away from the Big Ten. Noting his height and weight, "we don't have anyone on the defensive ball that looks like him." He also noted they were looking for speed, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. They lost a lot of that to graduation, he said.
Later, he noted that Dan Macon was redshirted last season and would be back -- along with three offensive line guys. He also said Anthony Turner "is the lead dog right now" for quarterback.
Considering he mentioned Sheehan before he got to Turner, and that's all he said about Turner, I wonder if there is some nervousness about quarterback this season. But I might be reading way too much into it, and maybe he was just jumping around.
He talked a bit about last season -- said it didn't go quite as they wanted, but expressed a lot of pride about how the team played in the buttwhipping over Miami. That was one of his proudest moments as a head coach, he said. He noted they were a play or two away from playing in the MAC title game. The Falcons were playing for a title in November, and that's where we want to be as a program, he said, even if 6-5 isn't where we want to be.
He was asked about playing Ohio State. "They'll probably be ranked number one when we play them," he said. That's all he said.
At one point, he noted this was Cleveland Browns Stadium, that they wore brown during the last game. What did you think of the brown jerseys, he asked. He got a few grunts/nods/shouts of approval. He then asked whether they should wear brown or orange onto the field in Cleveland. There were people in both camps, although the orange camp seemed louder.
"Hmmm," he said. If I had to guess, he'd like to send 'em out there in brown. (and, of course, he should). One guy (not me) suggested brown jerseys and orange pants (which, of course, would be perfect). "We can do that," he said.
I've got things I've got to get to, so I'll wrap this up.
A final thought: We will have a I-A nonconference opponent at the Doyt this year, and the MAC office has told Bowling Green who it probably will be.
Let me put this way: We should probably stop speculating. The opponent won't make make our spines tingle. We will be the favorite.
Still, considering our opener -- this is still one heck of a dream we are living here. Fifteen years ago, it would have been absurd to think we could get this kind of game with Wisconsin. Yet, here we are.
