Browns hire Todd Monken as head coach

    After a month of searching, the Cleveland Browns came up with a coach they could have hired three weeks ago: Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Monken had been the offensive coordinator for Baltimore for the last three seasons but had struggled in 2025 with Lamar Jackson, both on and off the field.

The soon-to-be 60-year-old Monken has been a head coach only once in his career, compiling a 13-25 record in three seasons with Southern Mississippi, though after winning one game in his first season there, He won nine games in his final season before moving to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator.

Monken was with the Browns before, serving as their offensive coordinator in 2019 during the one season that Freddie Kitchens was Cleveland's top man.

Monken's offenses with Baltimore were at the top of the league in their first two seasons, but slid in 2025 due to injuries to Lamar Jackson and an offensive line that was worse than in past seasons.

The Browns have had several candidates remove themselves from consideration due to the team's insistence on the new head coach keeping Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator, but Schwartz is reported to have said his goodbyes inside the Browns headquarters and isn't interested in returning to the Browns.

The Browns have bungled this beyond even the Browns' usual screwups.

I wasn't thrilled with the Browns going too young with Jacksonville's Grant Udinski or the Los Angeles Rams Nate Scheelhasse, but I could see why they would decide on that path.

Monken, who has been described by The Athletic's Zac Jackson as a "Grumpier Kevin Stefanski," doesn't bring youth, a dynamic personality, or a winning head coaching background and might have been the compromise candidate between Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry (Berry, who shouldn't be here to begin with) as a coach who would take the job with Jim Schwartz, only to see that go awry when Schwartz (rightfully so) is angry about not getting the job and doesn't want to return.

In the end, the Browns took over a month to hire a coach who no one else interviewed (sound familiar?) because it was so important to keep Jim Schwartz, yet not important enough to give the head job to Schwartz, who now wants to leave the team and cause the one unit that has worked (the defense) to be in an uproar.

 I just don't understand the decision or rationale in hiring Todd Monken.

The Browns somehow took the worst-case scenario and made it their own.

Keeping Andrew Berry as GM, hiring another candidate no one else is looking to hire, losing Jim Schwartz, turning off their players, and sending their fan base into "business as usual" mode is clown show material.

Clownshow- meet Brownshow.

Devils obtain Tsyplakov for Palat

  While watching the New Jersey Devils 4-3 loss against the Winnipeg Jets (I haven't seen many games and written about what I have watched), the Devils announced a trade that will help the team under the salary cap next season.

New Jersey sent veteran winger Ondrej Palat, with 2026 third, and 2027 seventh-round picks, to the New York Islanders for right winger Maxim Tsyplakov.

Maxim Tsyplakov is twenty-seven years old and is in his second season in the NHL after playing several years in Russia's KHL.

Tsyplakov scored ten goals with twenty-five assists for the Islanders last season, but has scored just one goal with one assist in twenty-seven games this season.

Ondrej Palat was in his fourth season with the Devils after the team signed him as a free agent from Tampa Bay in 2022.

Palat scored four goals and six assists in fifty-one games for New Jersey this season, and with the trade, the Devils will save six million dollars on next season's salary cap.

The savings on the cap are why the Devils had to add the draft picks to make the deal, as Tsyplakov will be under contract for next season at a more palatable 2.25 million.

Road Trip: Day Two

       Day two started with us heading to Springfield, Ohio, and the Springfield Antique Center.

I've had luck there in the past, and I would again this time as I grabbed the pictured Sesame Street clubhouse from 1977 for Archie.

It came with a few figures, but it gives me a project to work on for when he visits.

I found a few programs, most notably a 1971 Ohio State vs Michigan State and an Arkansas vs Navy game from 1982, but the big find was for Archie.

Fred found a silver dollar for his collection, so both of us were pleased leaving Springfield.

We drove to another place in Dayton, Antiques Village, but I didn't make a purchase there.

We grabbed a light lunch at a combined A&W Root Beer/Long John Silvers which was up the street from Antiques Village.

I've always liked LJS, but in recent years, all of the local stores, with one exception (Martinsburg, WV), had been closed, so this was a nice treat.

We then drove to the Cincinnati area for our evening stay at the Fairfield Hampton Inn.

Located next to the former Cincinnati Mills Mall, which was in the midst of demolition during our visit, the Hampton was a little different, as many of the lights weren't functioning!

The front desk person was helpful and gave me some bulbs, but the issue must have been with the lights or wiring, as none of the new bulbs worked either!

I gave Fred the choice of our dinner location and, befitting the name Landucci, Fred chose an Italian chain, "The Old Spaghetti Factory." 

It wasn't very good, and the service was slow.

It was actually so bad that Fred gave me a future "Chip" to cash in on a place that Fred might not select, but I'd like to try!

We returned to the hotel to watch the Browns 31-29 loss to the Tennessee Titans from earlier in the day and rested for the third day, which would see one of the favorite items that I've ever found, and it wouldn't even be mine!

Boxing Challenge: Muratalla Shades Cruz

    Raymond Muratalla used an aggressive yet controlled style to force the superior boxer, Andy Cruz, to engage more and move less, winning a close majority decision to retain his IBF lightweight title in Las Vegas.

The fight reminded me a lot of the two Artur Beterbiev-Dimtri Bivol fights, as it was a fight that had plenty of action but was done with skill, not with crude punches.

Muratalla was the slightly harder puncher, had the advantage in the final few rounds, and deserved the very close decision, which he won by scores of 118-110 and 116-112 for Muratalla and 114-114 even.

I thought Muratalla won by a tight 115-113 score and believe the 118-110 card was out of touch with reality.

Muratalla was making a mandatory defense and was the visiting fighter (Muratalla is promoted by Top Rank) on a Matchroom/DAZN card.

Muratalla surprised me a little with the win and is going to be a tough out for anyone in the division but unification fights may have to wait a while with the WBA title being vacated (Gervonta Davis had the title removed due to his out of the ring issues) and the WBC title could be vacated should champion Shakur Stevenson win his junior welterweight championship match with Teofimo Lopez next week.

WBO champion Abdullah Mason is also promoted by Top Rank but is still relatively untested, and Top Rank may not be in a hurry to have a prized prospect meet Muratalla too early.

Cruz fought well, and after a close loss, I wouldn't be surprised to see his name in the mix for vacant titles.

Former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov returned to the ring after a long absence but didn't thrill anyone in a rout of Luis David Salazar.

Madrimov won on all three cards (and mine) 99-91 and hurt Salazar in the final round, but otherwise trudged his way to the easy win.

Khalil Coe blew weight by an astonishing eight pounds before his light heavyweight fight against Jesse Hart, lost a point for bodyslamming Hart, and appeared to be defeated by Hart, a former super middleweight title challenger.

Yet, Coe was rewarded with a majority decision that he didn't deserve, winning by scores of 96-92, 95-93, and 94-94.

Hart didn't help his cause when he lost a point for holding in round six, but it didn't cost him the fight on those cards.

I scored Hart the winner 95-93.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica; 8 Pts(4)

Vince Samano: 7 Pts (3)
TRS:  6 Pts (2)

PPM

  The college season is over, and we move to the NFL's conference finals to determine who will be playing in the Super Bowl! 

Last Week: 4-1 

Overall: 167-81

AFC Championship

New England over Denver 24-14

NFC Championship 

Seattle over Los Angeles 37-35

 

Boxing Challenge: Zuffa Boxing Debut

     The debut card for Zuffa Boxing on Paramount+ showed that there is much work for the infant promotion to do, but one thing was definite: the fighter who was hoped to be their first homegrown star has a long way to go to become a standout.

Junior middleweight Callum Walsh outclassed former title challenger Carlos Ocampo in winning an easy unanimous decision. Still, for the second fight in a row, Walsh was given a prime stage to shine and instead proved to be simply workmanlike.

Walsh won by scores of 98-90 on two scorecards and 97-91 on the third (I scored Walsh the winner 97-91).

Ocampo was deducted one point while Walsh's glove touched the canvas in the sixth round, which gave Ocampo a knockdown, but Walsh wasn't hurt in the slightest.

Walsh appears to be a solid if unexciting fighter who could contend for a title in the right situation but is unlikely to develop into a star.

I did watch the broadcast with interest as Zuffa started its production.

The commentary was mixed as Joe Tessitore moved over from ESPN for blow-by-blow with Max Kellerman and Andre Ward providing the analysis.

Tessitore isn't a favorite of mine, but he's not terrible.

I've always liked Max Kellerman, but I'm not thrilled to see Andre Ward back.

Everything with Ward revolves around how great he was, and his analysts tend to fall into the trap of complementing him at the cost of the match in the ring.

I liked Tim Bradley's work at ESPN, and he improved a lot after Ward left, simply because he could call the fight rather than talk about Ward.

Kellerman was always a Ward admirer when Ward was active, and I fear he is falling into the same habits as Tim Bradley had when he worked with Ward.

I didn't see much of the pre-fight or desk portions of the broadcast, but I'll try to see those when Zuffa returns with what appears to be a much better slate of fights on February 1st.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 4 Pts (2) 

Vince Samano: 4 Pts (2)

TRS: 4 Pts (1) 

Boxing Challenge

    The boxing challenge will feature three intriguing fights from Matchroom/DAZN, as well as the first event from newcomer Zuffa Boxing on Paramount+. 

Las Vegas will host the only world title bout of the weekend as Raymond Muratalla defends his IBF lightweight title against Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz.

Muratalla won the vacant title last May with a unanimous decision win over Zair Abdullaev, while Cruz last fought only six times as a pro, his most recent win a fifth-round knockout of Hironori Mishiro last June.

 Muratalla has met the better competition of the two, but that's balanced by Cruz's extensive amateur experience at the highest level.

Cruz has the better skills, but he also has questions about his chin, having never faced a puncher as a professional.

I think this is a close fight, and I lean slightly toward Cruz, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Muratalla grab the win.

The co-feature will see the middleweight debut of former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.

Madrimov has lost his two recent fights by close decisions to Terence Crawford and Vergil Ortiz, so he has no shame in those defeats.

Madrimov's opponent is 20-1 Luis David Salazar, who is untested and has only seven KO's in his twenty wins and was stopped in his only loss, in which he was dropped four times.

The other challenge event from Las Vegas is an interesting light heavyweight match between prospect Khalil Coe and former super middleweight contender Jesse Hart.

Coe avenged his only loss when he knocked out Manuel Gallegos in six rounds last summer, while Hart has won five straight against lower competition since his 2020 split decision defeat to Joe Smith.

This one could be very entertaining.

The Friday action is also in Las Vegas with Zuffa Boxing's first show on Paramount as unbeaten junior middleweight Callum Walsh meets former world title challenger Carlos Ocampo.

Walsh trudged to a dull unanimous decision over then-unbeaten Fernando Vargas Jr. on the Crawford-Canelo undercard in his last win.

Ocampo has lost each of his three attempts at the world-class level, losing to Errol Spence, Sebastian Fundora, and Tim Tszyu.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds 

Callum Walsh vs Carlos Ocampo

Ramon Malpica and Vince Samano: Walsh Unanimous Decision
TRS: Walsh KO 4

IBF Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Raymond Muratalla vs Andy Cruz

R.L: Muratalla Unanimous Decision
TRS and V.S: Cruz Unanimous Decision

Middleweights 10 Rds

Israil Madrimov vs Luis David Salazar

R.L and V.S: Madrimov Unanimous Decision

TRS: Madrimov KO 6

Light Heavyweights 10 Rds

Khalil Coe vs Jesse Hart

All: Coe Unanimous Decision