Greetings SEMBBers! With Buffalo’s 31-10 win over the Chargers yesterday, the 2022 NFL season has officially started! And this Sunday, the Browns kick off the season against the Baker Mayfield-led Carolina Panthers at 1 pm. A few random thoughts–
I’ll have mixed emotions watching this game because I really liked Baker, despite his faults. I still think he was treated poorly by the Browns in this past offseason. From what I’ve read in articles from Carolina, he seems to have quickly fit in to the organization and made great strides. I wish him all the best, just not this Sunday.
Greedy Williams was put on the IR again. While he showed flashes of brilliance in his first two seasons, the injury bug just won’t let him alone. I think it’s time for the Browns to cut ties whenever feasible.
As all of you probably know, Deshaun Watson is out for the first 11 games. This means–yes, I know I’m Capt. Obvious here–Jacoby Brissette is our starting QB. Given that he is surrounded by a decent amount of talent on the offensive unit, I hope he’ll keep the Brownies competitive this season.
As for the whole Watson scenario, I know pretty much everyone has strong feelings and opinions about it. The fact is, however, we won’t have to address that until well past the midpoint of the season. And, again, he is only one player on the team. Right now, they are 53 other players with little or no controversy surrounding them that we can–and should–support and root for.
OK, on to business…
MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS AND GRUMBLES ON LAST SUNDAY
COLD COMFORT
REGULAR SEASON GAME 8 –
VIEWING LOCATIONS First, let me send kudos to Alex Arsic for doggedly (get it, doggedly) working on finding a location up North of downtown. Unfortunately, none of the dozen or so businesses he canvassed were willing or able to agree to host viewings. He’ll still keep looking, but for now I strongly urge that Northern members support one of our other two locations if possible. Just to be clear our two viewing locations are as follows:
For the West side (Plymouth/Canton area)–
The Sports Den Northville 133 W Main St, Northville, MI 48167 (248) 347-5993 northvillesportsden.com
For the Northeast side, we’ll be back at Club 11 in Roseville.
Club 11 16315 E 11 Mile Rd, Roseville, MI 48066 (586) 778-2063
So, The Browns kickoff Game 1 in Carolina, this Sunday at 1 pm. I’ll be at The Sports Den in Northville for kickoff and Alex Arsic will be at Club 11.
OUR CHARITABLE EFFORTS
One of the main tenets of our club has always been to raise funds for charity. We have two charities that we support–USMCR’s Toys-For-Tots campaign (specifically the Cleveland-based 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines which was this club’s founder’s (Stan Gage) old unit); and our local charity, the Penrickton Center For Blind Children in Taylor, MI.
We are going to once again hold the season-long “Change For Charity” collection bottle. Both locations will have one and all that is requested of you is that if you have any spare change, just drop it into the bottle. All monies collected during the first 12 weeks will be split 75% for Toys-For-Tots and 25% for The Penrickton Center. Week 13 until the end of season all monies will be earmarked for Penrickton.
If attendance warrants it, we will also have memorabilia raffles (on away games) and 50/50 raffles (for home games). One of the main tenets of our club has always been to raise funds for charity.
One idea I had, but never was able to organize last year, was an online auction for some of our more valuable items. I think I have found a way to easily execute that and may run it in October and November.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP Membership fees help us cover basic club expenses that support both the hosting and fundraising activities of our organization. We have not changed the fees since the founding of the club 17 years ago–$10 for a single and $15 for a family membership.
For new members, we’re asking for just a bit more info—not only confirming your email, but also supplying us with a phone number and an indication as to which location you most frequent. You have a couple of ways to renew—
Renew/Sign up at one of the viewing sites. Forms will be available to fill out. Please try to arrive before kickoff to fill out the form.
Renew/Sign up by responding to this email and new members should fill out the following (renewing members, if any of the information below has changed please also update it using this form):
2022 Club Membership
Annual dues (check one):
[ ] Individual – $10 [ ] Family – $15
Required Information:
Name:
New Member [ ]
Phone:
Renewal [ ]
Email:
Update Information [ ]
Preferred Viewing Location:
Optional Info:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Send the complete information back to me in a reply to this email and then you can pay via PayPal to OHPolishDawg@gmail.com. I’m sorry, but I cannot accept any other online payment method. However, as mentioned above, we will have membership forms available at our viewing sites as well and you can renew them there as well.
One final thing–I want to apologize to all of you for the lack of communication from me. all I can say is that work has been exceedingly demanding these last few months. I hope to be more prolific and timely for the rest of this season.
OK, that’s it except, of course, always and forever–
