Crew On A Turnaround?

Normally, I don't put any stock into pre-season matches of any kind, as they don't mean anything. They're made up of games where the rules are bent to let many more players get some field time than a normal game would allow, the players themselves are in varying degrees of fitness (and availability), and the coaches are trying out different strategems and tactical ideas in a game environment.

That being said... this pre-season's Crew has got me excited. They are 6-1-1, with their loss and tie coming in the first two games of pre-season. They beat Dallas in Dallas in the inaugural Pioneer Cup in honor of Lamar Hunt. They're SCORING GOALS. Note that last one: SCORING GOALS. Their last four games have been 4-1, 3-1, 3-0, and 4-1 scorelines. I think that's more goals than we scored all last season.

Okay, seriously - we scored 30 goals in 32 games last season. In FOUR preseason games, we've scored 14. At that rate, if we were to do that in league play, we'd have 112 goals for the year. The most ever scored by a team in a year is 85 by the Gals in 1998 - the past few years it's barely gotten above 60.

Now I'm fully aware that a pre-season goal means precisely jack, as do pre-season goal totals. But the fact that it's this high in pre-season, even if it's cut in half, is still in the range of the top totals for the past few years!

Not since a smiling Trini named Stern John graced our field have we had a scoring threat, and the interesting thing is that our supposed new scoring leader, Andy Herron, hasn't even been in camp yet (due to Visa issues, I think). So... I'm cautiously optimistic.

Let's face it - this club has disappointed me so much in the past that I've looked to the native Ohioans around me at games and asked "so, is this what it feels like to be a Browns fan?" (and gotten some nasty looks). But it feels different, finally. I'm looking forward to April 7th.