Leave Bernie alone!

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I'm diverting from the standard running/kid/wellness posting to talk about something that has become a popular topic in Cleveland. As a former sports reporter this got me fired up so here goes...last Thursday night Cleveland football hero Bernie Kosar did color commentary with Jim Donovan at the Browns First Preseason game against the St. Louis Rams.For any Browns fan this was a majorly exciting thing. Let's face it if you live in Ohio or near Cleveland, we all love the Browns but at times over the years they have been painful to watch. Also, I am a child of the 80's and remember this catchy little song the year way back when that we got close to the Super Bowl.

Kosar was criticized over the past several days for some comments he made about the Rams while doing play by play. Here is a sampling of the remarks that caused the controversy according to CBS Sports.com,"
After Rams receiver Nick Johnson dropped a pass from Sam Bradford:
“This is actually not a bad throw. These St. Louis receivers are horrible. That's a drop there.”
After Browns play-by-play man Jim Donovan told a story about Rams backup quarterback Kellen Clemens giving Pope Benedict XVI an autograph:
“Bless me father for I have sinned. I have to watch him the whole fourth quarter.”

The Rams head coach Jeff Fisher made a big stink about his comments saying in a CBS Sports.com article "...Fisher responded, noting that "Bernie's got his issues. They're well documented. Kellen played well, he played hard, he made plays."
Fisher continued: "I'm just surprised that Bernie has such a lack of respect for players and this game. To be honest with you, I lost a lot of respect for him. It's highly unlikely he knew anything about our football team, but felt the need to make those comments. I don't think they were justified." Insert the screaming baby here.....your team lost and the Browns won. Get over it!

First of all...when I did a little bit of online research about Fisher nothing really exciting came up. He's not been very relevant in the football community over the past five years. The most press he's gotten in a while is him complaining about Kosar. I'm not kidding, I searched his last name on google and the first five pages were the controversy with Kosar. Can you say someone is trying to make themselves relevant in the sports world again? Kudos to him for coaching one Super Bowl winning team back in 1999 but that's about it. I'm so not impressed

Second...admit it, every person that watched that game was thinking the things that Kosar was saying. We all have a little armchair quarterback in us. My family sometimes gets annoyed at me for mine. LOL! Kudos to him for finally having the guts to state an opinion on air. If he took that commentary to a pod cast the man would make millions!! Those who have issues with his delivery of the play by play...cough...Mary Kay Cabot...cough need to do a little research. Over the course of Kosar's career according to a January 2013 article in the LA Times the man has had at least 12 concussions. Your delivery wouldn't be perfect either if you had 12 concussions over the course of your life! Come on people!!! Read the article here.

Third, I got really mad at certain big name Cleveland and Akron sports reporters that accused him of being drunk...really?! Get a life and know your facts. He told the truth of what he saw going on in front of him unlike you that cater to sponsors and big name advertisers. The fact that those individuals re-tweeted accusations of being drunk made me not follow them anymore.

Lastly, I am beyond disappointed with the Browns for not backing Kosar up on this. The current Browns CEO that has no spine, Joe Banner discussed Kosar's comments with NFL.com, "
Banner said Kosar's conduct was unacceptable."We don't condone the personal and unprofessional approach that Bernie took with some of his comments during the broadcast Thursday night," Banner said in a statement released by the team. "We've spoken to Bernie, he understands that, and we would expect the situation is resolved moving forward. We've also reached out to the Rams organization and have shared those same sentiments."
The Browns said Kosar called Rams coach Jeff Fisher personally and apologized Sunday." 

The only bright spot of this situation is that Kosar wasn't fired!! He will be back in the booth this Sunday to call the Browns versus the Detroit Lions. The Browns organization and sports fans need to stop making him the villain in this situation and remember he is one of the most successful Cleveland Browns Quarterbacks of all time. We need to start writing letters to get this guy a coaching job with the Browns. He almost got us to the Super Bowl once. The man knows a thing or two about the game of football. Who's to say he couldn't do it again but as Head Coach???