Browns and Bears: Ho hum

Does anyone really care how the Browns play tonight in Chicago against the Bears? Really, really care?

The final exhibition game of the season is the epitome of meaningless. If there is something less than meaningless, this game and the other 15 don’t-count games qualify.

The Browns could win, 50-0, or lose, 50-0, and the apathy surrounding either outcome would be palpable. What difference does it make with regard to the regular season 10 days away? If you don’t know the answer to that one, time to move on. You’re in the wrong neighborhood.

Who cares how well Jason Campbell plays at quarterback? No matter how he plays against his former team, he’ll still be holding a clipboard when the Browns entertain the Miami Dolphins in the season opener a week from Sunday.

Tonight’s game is nothing more than an exercise in futility for the die-hard Browns fans who will take it seriously enough to actually comment on it on various Web sites. Those fans are almost as bad as the ones ignorant enough to bet on this game.

Whatever takes place tonight should be forgotten even before the first of what probably will be a mountain of replays. Likewise with the spoken words of the play-by-play guys and their analysts.

The only participants to whom this one means remotely anything are those either battling to prolong their professional football careers or those hoping to make a successful transition from the college game.

The final 13 positions on the 53-man roster are at stake. Decisions on the top 40 have already been made. The mediocre and less-than-mediocre will be on display, making mistake after mistake in an effort to impress the coaching staff.

Some players will play themselves off the team. Others will play themselves onto the team. Get a good look at them because whoever makes the tail end of the final roster will see little or no action once the regular season commences.

Quality football will take its annual back seat tonight in what rightfully could be called one of the biggest sports ripoffs of the year. No wonder National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to stretch the regular season to 18 games and play just two exhibitions.

It’s just another bargaining chip Goodell will use to push his agenda of making more games relevant. And if the unusually high serious injury rate this exhibition season is used as a tool in his argument, the commissioner just might get his way.

If you’re going to get hurt, it’s much easier to rationalize in games that mean something. The downside to the 18-game season argument is that extending the season by two games creates more opportunities for players to wear down and ultimately succumb to injury. But we digress.

When you flip on your television set this evening and watch this game, make sure to have grains of salt nearby if you start to get excited. Try to keep things in perspective. Save the highs and lows for the games that count.