It’s time to give gifts, not grief

Josh Cribbs was frustrated. The Cleveland Browns’ return specialist had muffed a punt, which led to a Denver touchdown in the Broncos’ ugly 34-12 victory Sunday.

Check that. The Broncos’ victory was not ugly. For Denver and its fans, it probably looked a lot like some of their other 10 consecutive victories:

Really nice.

The Browns’ loss? As ugly as it gets. And Cleveland is as used to losing as any city you can point to on a map. When you root for the Browns, Cavaliers and Indians, you learn to absorb defeat the way a sponge absorbs water. Cleveland fans are human sponges of losing.

But back to Cribbs, whose Twitter meltdown was not exactly in the holiday spirit. Fed up with “fans” bashing him and his teammates via social media, Cribbs tore into the offenders not long after the game ended Sunday night.

No need to repeat Cribbs’ message. It was only out there for a short time before he thought better of it and deleted the rant. But not before a lot of people saw it and re-tweeted it.

Twitter isn’t the best place to air grievances, whether you’re celebrating Festivus or just venting about Internet trolls. Cribbs needs to remember only two things happen when you wrestle with pigs. You get dirty and the pigs enjoy it.

And, it’s Christmas. If you can’t take the high road on the other 364 days of the year, this is the one day to make sure you do.

With that in mind, I’m going to avoid calling for Pat Shurmur’s firing, even if he did — for no apparent reason — expose backup quarterback Colt McCoy, running back Trent Richardson and several other offensive starters to injury in the final 1:55. I’m actually including the second-year coach on my Christmas gift list.

Here’s hoping Santa Claus has my back on these gift ideas better than the Browns’ offensive line had Brandon Weeden’s back when Broncos linebacker Von Miller came off the edge late in the fourth quarter.

Pat Shurmur: Not a firing. Pretty sure that’s on Jimmy Haslam’s list. Just a new job. Any new job. Far away from Berea and Cleveland. I hear there might be an opening in Steubenville.

Nick Swisher: 25-30 home runs, 85-90 RBIs and 150 games in right field or at first base for the Tribe.

Kyrie Irving: Bubble wrap. Lots of bubble wrap. Might be the only way he can stay healthy.

Jim Tressel: A call from Haslam.

Ben Roethlisberger: A new offensive coordinator. This time one he can’t blame for everything.

The Steelers: Playoff tickets. That’s the only way they’re getting to a game in January.

Reno Saccoccia: A two-word call from Donald Trump. The longtime Steubenville Big Red football coach reportedly bullied and threatened a New York Times reporter in town to write about rape allegations against two of his players.

Interesting. The most powerful guy in town is a football coach and part of a culture in which evil is covered up and victims are blamed.

Sound familiar?

Ed Puskas is sports editor at The Vindicator. Write him at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EdPuskas85