FanHouse Ericmangini

It was two years ago that then-Jets head coach Eric Mangini ratted out the Patriots for what would become Spygate. The NFL slapped Bill Belichick with a $500,000 fine, took away one of their first-round picks, and kindly asked us to move on.

Eventually we did, but not before accusing the Patriots of cheating their way to three Super Bowl titles this decade before karma intervened by way of David Tyree.

New England became an afterthought when Tom Brady went down 15 minutes into the 2008 season, football gods and Pats-hating fans finally mollified. But it was only a matter of time before the Dark Lord found new ways to gain an advantage over opponents. And now, after some time off to regroup, Belichick is back, this time with psychological warfare. Or as the liberals would call it: subtle forms of torture.

Read on in mock incredulity:

Early this season, running back Jerome Harrison was an integral part of the Cleveland Browns' offense. In Week 3, he had 21 touches (16 carries and five catches) and in Week 4 he had a whopping 34 touches, with 29 carries and five catches.

But Harrison's role in the offense has steadily declined, to the point where in Monday night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Harrison never got the ball.

That has Harrison so unhappy that he told reporters he'd rather not talk to them -- because he's sure nothing good would come of him saying what he thinks.

Josh Cribbs suffered a horrible injury (update: Cribbs was released from the hospital early Tuesday after undergoing tests which turned out negative; he may even play this Sunday, according to the Browns) in Monday night's loss to the Ravens. Now, you don't need to be an "expert" on the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE to understand that anytime you run a designed-out-of-desperation play when you're down by 16 points, you are risking the health of everybody involved in the play.

On the same day that Browns running back Jamal Lewis said he thought coach Eric Mangini was working the team too hard, a Browns practice squad player named Keith Grennan ruptured his patellar tendon during an "opportunity drill." Grennan, a second-year defensive end out of Eastern Washington, will have surgery Monday and will be out at least eight months. Grennan's agent, Cameron Foster, confirmed the injury.

A source with direct knowledge of the incident confirmed that the injury happened during the "opportunity drill" period -- a post-practice time when Mangini puts practice squad players and rookies through additional drills to give them the chance to impress coaches.

With a bevy of big name coaches likely ready-for-hire heading into the 2010 season, in addition to a lot of really poor NFL teams in 2009, we can expect rumors to be swirling all over the place for the rest of this season and on into the offseason. Thus, it's not surprising to see Mike Holmgren mentioned as a possibility. Of course, most thought he'd have to at least wait until next season to get involved.

According to Adam Shefter of ESPN, Holmgren may not have to wait. Shefter reports that the Browns want to hire Holmgren as their vice president of football operations -- similar to the role Bill Parcells has with Miami -- and that the job is immediately Holmgren's for the taking.

In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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You really do have to feel kind of bad for Browns fans. Here's a group of people that were among the most loyal fans in football (and, truthfully, they still are) only to have their team ripped away from them in 1995 and taken to Baltimore where they won a Super Bowl five years later.

After patiently waiting for three years, Cleveland was given its team back in 1999, and this is what they were rewarded with: absolute chaos. And losing. A lot of losing.

On Sunday, the Browns were obliterated on their home turf, 31-3, by the Green Bay Packers and the fans in attendance decided to take that opportunity to amuse themselves in unique and hilarious ways.

The Steelers' back-door cover against the Vikings notwithstanding, the glut of truly awful NFL teams is wreaking havoc for Las Vegas bookmakers. And Sunday was the latest, worst example of that.

''I can't remember an NFL season with this many bad teams,'' Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay, who has been in the business for 22 years, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Matt Youmans. "No doubt, it was the worst day ever for the books.

''We can't attract money on these poor teams. We keep losing on the same teams. They are not even close to covering.''

When asked to explain what he would like to see from his team, first-year Browns head coach Eric Mangini offered this: "Aggressive, intense, tough, physical, finishing ... consistency, execution (editor's note: I'm in favor of it!), communication ... good, solid, sound, fundamental, tough football. Physical football. Intense football. That's what I want every week."

He made these comments shortly after the Browns lost their sixth game in seven tries, this one a steady-as-she-goes 31-3 defeat to the Packers. Last month, after an 0-3 start, fans started an online petition begging owner Randy Lerner to sell the team. Nothing came of it, so the sights have been set a little lower: fire Mangini. This time the Akron Beacon Journal's Patrick McManamon is leading the charge.