Call 'em the 'Clowns' and not the Browns

I heard someone say time is a terrible thing to waste. Don’t call me on who said it, ’cause I can’t remember. But whoever did has a point.

Trust me here.

I came to that conclusion after watching the Browns on TV this afternoon, which showed two things: No. 1, I place little value on my time; or No. 2, I have no life.

Now, I’d like to believe I do have a life – a wonderful life, too. No. 1 isn’t an appealing choice either, but I’m guessing it’s the more accurate of the two since I did sit in front of my television and watch the Browns lose, 31-3, to the Packers.

To call it a loss would be an act of charity. For the word “loss” might suggest the Browns showed up to play. They didn’t.

I've seen a lot of NFL games on TV in my life – hundreds; and I've seen a lot of sorry NFL teams -- tens. Heck, last season I drove to Detroit and sat in Ford Field as the Lions lost to the Titans on Thanksgiving Day. I don’t need to remind anybody that the Lions went winless that season.

Coach Eric Mangini’s Browns, now 1-6, can’t match that futility, although I'm not certain the Buccaneers (or the Titans) won’t. Not that it would matter to me; I don’t root for the Bucs. So were they to go 0-for-this-season-and-next, I wouldn’t have one sleepless night. I don’t have a second to spend on watching them play – win, lose or draw.

Besides, I’m sure their fans have as little patience for what’s happening in Tampa as I have for what’s happening here in Cleveland. Bad football is bad football, and I’m seeing plenty of it.

My frustration with these Browns is that they seem not to be getting better. Their offensive line, jerry-rigged from the start, is porous. Coach Mangini has assembled a collection of 300-pound Clydesdales who are allowing defensive linemen to take dead aim at quarterback Derek Anderson, who risks each week seeing his name on the injured reserve.

The few times Anderson has gotten to look down field he’s found no receiver open. Where have you gone, Braylon Edwards?

Yeah, you can’t catch a cold, but at least you served as a legitimate deep threat. You could get open, something that I can’t say about the men left to fill your spot.

But if missing you were the lone problem, I doubt I’d be as disappointed in what I’m witnessing. As shaky as you were, you did make plays once in a while. Nobody else can.

The team has no offense, no defense and no imagination. The Browns can’t block; they can’t tackle; and, well, they have no talent.

Even the quality of their coaching and the front office is suspect, a sad thought moving forward.

For Browns fans like me, the NFL is a long, grinding season, and I don’t know what we will have to look forward to as the rest of this season runs its course.

No reason to dream of the postseason; no reason to dream of many more victories then the one victory the team has, though I do give the Browns a chance to beat the Lions when the two teams meet later this season.

Until then, I won’t waste more time on what will be repeats of what I saw today: a stumbling, bumbling football team that should let its players audition for the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Send in the Clowns, and Mangini can play ringmaster.