{"id":151299,"date":"2022-02-15T04:50:20","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=151299"},"modified":"2022-02-15T04:50:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:50:23","slug":"random-thoughts-super-bowl-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/02\/15\/random-thoughts-super-bowl-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: Super Bowl and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Super Bowl, Joe Burrow, Odell Beckham Jr., a big pickup by Ohio State and Major League Baseball are among this week\u2019s Random Thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Super Bowl 56<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many of you know, I\u2019m a Cleveland Browns fan, but I feel bad for the Cincinnati Bengals. I was hoping they\u2019d pull out a win Sunday but it wasn\u2019t meant to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course it\u2019s easy to second guess, but I felt that once the Rams had the ball first and goal at the 1 with less than two minutes left, the Bengals should have let them score on that play. Odds are they would have scored anyway, so why not let them in to save a little time and more importantly, a timeout?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, it might not have made a difference but you never know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Burrow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve heard many commentators and fans say Joe Burrow and the Bengals will be back in future Super Bowls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s very possible but it\u2019s also very possible they won\u2019t be. Think about this \u2013 Dan Marino, one of the NFL\u2019s all-time best quarterbacks went to the Super Bowl in his second season (1984), lost, and never went back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing is a given in the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OBJ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s too late now but someone needs to explain to NBC\u2019s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth what actually happened with Odell Beckham Jr. in Cleveland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

They used phrases like \u201cshown the door\u201d and \u201cthrown out on the street\u201d by Cleveland. Yes, the Browns released Beckham mid-season but they were left with no choice at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beckham never wanted to be in Cleveland in the first place and it showed early on. After the trade from the Giants, he was a no-show at OTAs and mini-camps. That\u2019s says a lot right there. Think of all the reps he could have gotten with Baker Mayfield had he graced everyone with his presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He seemed to rarely practice and his on-the-field effort left a lot to be desired, especially toward the end of his time in Cleveland. Then there\u2019s the fact that when Mayfield was healthy, Cleveland\u2019s offense was much more efficient and in rhythm when Beckham wasn\u2019t on the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, it worked out for both sides, but it\u2019s disappointing that Michaels and Collinsworth delivered a skewed narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSU commitment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Marys Memorial\u2019s Austin Parks officially committed to Ohio State on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-10 junior should fit in well with the basketball Buckeyes. I was impressed when he played Van Wert and there\u2019s a more than decent chance he\u2019ll rematch against the Cougars in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major League Baseball<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that they\u2019ll listen to me, but c\u2019mon Major League Baseball owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association \u2013 get serious about agreeing on a new contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop posturing, stop with the antics, stop finger point, stop whining to the press and get it done. There\u2019s absolutely no reason why the lockout is still going and one can easily argue it should have been avoided in the first place. All this is doing is hurting the sport and alienating fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides are to blame, but neither seems to realize that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get it done and get it done fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have thoughts on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor The Super Bowl, Joe Burrow, Odell Beckham Jr., a big pickup by Ohio State and Major League Baseball are among this week\u2019s Random Thoughts. Super Bowl 56 As many of you know, I\u2019m a Cleveland Browns fan, but I feel bad for the Cincinnati Bengals. I was hoping they\u2019d pull out a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 10:14:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}