I've talked about Stipe Miocic over the past few years as he's made his way through the ranks of the UFC. I've gotten to know some of his friends from the fire house, and I decided to talk to one of them, Jamie Meklemburg, about the experience of traveling to see his biggest fight to date in Chicago.

As we all know, Stipe beat Gabriel Gonzaga to keep his momentum going and to find himself ranked 6th among heavyweights in ESPN's latest MMA rankings.

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It's always great to have Scott Raab's perspective when big things happen. We spent about an hour talking about all the different dynamics surrounding the Cavaliers and their decision to dismiss Chris Grant from the team.

As always, it was a discussion that went beyond what is normally covered in the rapid-fire sports talk settings we're normally used to.

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Tom Reed from Northeast Ohio Media Group joined me to talk about the Browns. It's always fun to talk to Tom. Here are some of the things we discussed.

Kyle Shanahan's apparent hiring, Dan Quinn and whether the Browns should have waited, Browns ticket prices and where they're going, Davone Bess and why the Browns haven't done anything with him yet, and finally, we discussed Ray Farmer's return to the Browns after turning down the possibility of a promtion in Miami.

Last, but not least, I forced Tom to recommend something, whether it's a movie, album or TV show, and he chose a book.

Tom Reed recommends a history book on prohibition. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

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It's always great to catch up with Dennis Manoloff (follow D-Man on Twitter) and it has been too long since I have done so. D-Man talked to me about a variety of topics today from the Browns hiring Mike Pettine, philisophically how he treats the Pilot Flying J case as a Browns story, and Anthony Bennett.

Does Anthony Bennett still belongs in the d-league after his breakout night?

What are the chances that Ubaldo Jimenez is back with the Tribe?

Will T.J. Ward or Alex Mack be back with the Browns?

How much blame should Mike Brown take for the Cavs' woes?

What does D-Man think of the cold-weather Super Bowl?

What are his predictions for "The Big Game?"

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I don't go to the "friend" card on the podcast very often but when you have a friend who works in the business of the spoken word, it seems like a good place to go. My friend Chris grew up in Cleveland and relocated to Charlotte about 15 years ago. He keeps up with all the CLE sports just like the rest of us and sometimes uses them in his art, namely his poetry. CB has a poem he recently did about his revelations about Chief Wahoo and we talked about that... you know after we got the Browns and Anthony Bennett talk out of the way.

You can follow Chris on Twitter.

Here's the movie he referenced on the Podcast. Asphalt Revolution.

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We don't do a regular Monday morning podcast with Scott Raab anymore, but whenever there's something that needs to be discussed, he's there for us. With the Browns' hiring of Mike Pettine and ending the lengthy coaching search, it was a good time to catch up.

We discussed the Browns' search. We discussed Mike Pettine as a candidate. We discussed the challenges facing the Browns going forward and we even fit in a bit of Cavs talk with Chris Grant and Anthony Bennett. 

Enjoy!

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It's always great to catch up with Martin Rickman, even without a locked down agenda. We ended up talking about lots of cool topics. Make sure you follow Martin Rickman on Twitter.

The Browns and their coaching search

The Browns only won four games and yet nobody thought they should have fired their coach

Is the Browns’ plan awry? Is there any proof that it is?

Is there anything available in the way of proof to indicate the Browns are doing anything well?

Free agency and what the Browns’ reputation does to the roster and personnel

Martin talks about what he knows about Dan Quinn

Trying to deduce who will be a good coach from a nebulous resume

Needing opposing voices in a successful organization

The Browns competing with the Colts in Craig’s household

Martin Rickman’s best of 2013

Ghostface and Chance the Rapper

Chvrches and Arcade Fire

The kind of crowd that Lou Reed used to draw

Signing day and Martin’s thoughts about it

The hat fake-out maneuver

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It may be January 20th, but Andrew and I just got to our top music of 2013. We used Andrew's top ten, played some short clips, and then I unleashed some of my favorites at the end in a less-structured way. Andrew will have a more detailed write-up with lists and things on WFNY tomorrow. For now, enjoy the podcast.

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Denny continues to be a doting father and Jon came in to do some podcasting. We talked about a lot of random things.

WFNY going viral with Mike Pettine’s daughter’s tweet

Baby photos and storage

Owning the IT solution vs getting the job done

Reading the instructions helps a lot

The genius bar and putting fanciness above convenience

Buying a touch screen notebook

Loving the music from your high school years

Listening to music while running

Setting up a musical playlist for races

The corporate lifestyle and whether you can do it or not

Corporate rules to try and make good employees out of bad

Short sleeve and tie 

What is Jon watching?

Masters of Sex, Homeland and Walking Dead

Shaving and having the five o’clock shadow

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Dave Bryan from Steelers Depot (@SteelersDepot) is one of the best podcast guests we have. He's super knowledgable, and is always great at breaking down what's happening without the rose-colored glasses.

Dave Bryan and not being a homer for the Steelers

Is there ever a justification for firing a coach after one year?

Brian Hoyer and whether he can get the Browns to the next franchise QB

The perception of the Browns head coaching job

Adam Gase and why is he such an attractive candidate?

Josh McDaniels and his taking his name out

Jim Caldwell and Whisenhunt

Jake Locker and what can become of it

Chris Johnson and his poison contract

Ray Horton ending up with Whisenhunt in Tennessee

Ray Horton’s defense and Dick LeBeau’s defense

Chud talking to other potential coaching candidates

The hiring of Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh

T.J. Ward and Alex Mack better be brought back

Alex Mack and how the Browns need to bring him back

Moving Schwartz to guard and getting a new right tackle

The All-22 version of the national championship game

Football attendance at games

Making NFL stadiums smaller over time

Browns fan experience in the stadium is far better

The government attacking TV blackout policies

Dave would be shocked if the Browns didn’t bring back Ward and Mack

Did the Browns waste a year of not front-loading deals?

The Browns can only franchise one player between Ward and Mack

The Steelers and the Shamarko Thomas deal with Cleveland

Johnny Football and whether the Steelers would be concerned about him

Johnny Manziel is a guy that you root against

Manziel as a boom or bust guy

Could Brian Hoyer be that bridge to the QB of the future?

The Ben Roethlisberger extension

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