Time for a sanity break

Every once in a while I find it healthy to take a break from the constant tug of war that is politics to post something either light hearted or non-political. This week will be about sports, specifically football, even more specifically my beloved Cleveland Browns.
The man you see here is Reggie Hodges, the punter for Browns. But you may be asking yourself, "Why is running in that picture?" That's because it was one of the best plays ever executed by the Browns special teams. In Week 7 against the New Orleans Saints, on 4th down and long in their own territory, the Browns set up to punt. Instead, Hodges takes the ball and runs for 68 yards down to the New Orleans 9 yard line, the longest run by a punter since the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970. That play helped breath new life into the Browns when they went on to rout the Saints 30-17.

Everyone thought this was a fluke until yesterday's very decisive win over the New England Patriots. This win was important for many reasons. First of all it proves that Cleveland finally has the team and the QB to be competitive in the NFL. Second, it gave Browns coach Eric Mangini his first win over his mentor and former boss Bill Belichick. Thirdly, it gives the city of Cleveland renewed hope in their team. They might be only 3-5 for the season, but they are better than a lot of teams that were supposedly better than Browns, including the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys. Even if the Browns only finish 8-8 this year, which I hope it's better than that, at it shows that there is progress being made in team and that the 2011 season will be very interesting in the AFC North Division.