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Another opening night on the prep football beat

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The first game of my 25th season of covering high school football took me to the land if Jim Tressel. Dispatched out to Berea by Cleveland.com, I covered the season-opening football game between Strongsville and Berea-Midpark, which turned out to be a one-side game with Strongsville laying the wood to the Titans 41-13. A year ago Berea-Midpark was one of the most entertaining teams in Northeast Ohio. It had a quarterback in Jared Byczsnki who could sling the football around and the Titans could score with anyone. Byczsnki threw for more than 3,506 yards and 34 touchdowns while earning all kinds of postseason awards. That is not the case this year. Last year’s strong-armed quarterback is now on the roster at the University of Buffalo. And this year’s Titans team is much more offensively challenged as evidenced by their 41-13 loss to Strongsville on Friday on Tressel Field at George Finnie Stadium on the campus of Baldwin Wallace. Strongsville defense had a lot to
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Baker struggles in Browns preseason loss to Tampa Bay

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That was an ugly performa nce by the Cleveland Browns in Tampa. Quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t throw a touchdown pass and was just 10-of-26 throwing the ball for less than 72 yards, no TDs, one interception and a QB rating of 30.6 as he played the entire first half in a game the Browns would lose, 13-12, on Friday night. The Browns held out Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Nick Chubb so Mayfield didn’t have all of his weapons, but it was clear after the game that Browns coach Freddie Kitchens expects more from his offense no matter who is on the field. “The execution wasn’t there,” Kitchens noted after the game. “Those guys are coached to do their jobs and we didn’t do a very good job of preparing those guys to do their job and they didn’t do a very good job of doing their job,” Kitchens added. Baker looked much more like the rookie QB who struggled in a loss a year ago to Houston than the one who set a rookie league record with 28 TD passing T
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Baker Mayfield needs to quiet the roar

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For the love of God, can Baker Mayfield please keep his lips from flapping. The second-year quarterback for the Cleveland Browns lit up defenses as rookie when he sent a rookie record for TD passes. His mouth has been just as explosive as he’s not short of confidence or ability to trash talk. He famously snubbed his former coach Hue Jackson after the Browns played Jackson last year, after Jackson was   canned by the Browns and moved on to the Bengals. This spring he inserted himself into the Duke Johnson holdout, which raised some eyebrows and most recently in an article in GQ he ripped on New York Giants first-round QB and rookies Daniel Jones. Mayfield told the GQ reporter he “could not believe”   Jones went to the Giants at No. 6 after Jones went just 17-19 at Duke. Mayfield’s trash talking crosses a line in sports in which it’s considered bad form to rip another player’s ability. Mayfield quickly backtracked on his comments, called them click bait and rave
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MLB helping New York teams lure Lindor isn't cool

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For the first time, I cognizant of the bias Major League Baseball has toward the New York baseball establishment and it’s leaving a sour taste in my mouth. It’s almost an afterthought now the Cleveland Indians sensational young shortstop Francisco Lindor will end up in Yankees pinstripes when he becomes a free agent. So did the Yankees and Mets really need to have Lindor and the Indians post up in the Big Apple for a pair of August four-game series with the Yankees and then a three-gamer with the Mets sandwiched around an off day when Prince Lindor can be wined and dined all around Manhattan? I think not. But that’s what MLB did. The Tribe is currently in NYC getting ready to take on the Mets after having split a four-game series with the Yankees. Lindor has been scintillating this season as he’s hitting .299 with 21 home runs and 53 RBI with an OPS of .872 and a WAR of 3.8. I’m certain the powers that be let him see all the glamour and glitz New York
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