If you’re not going to do the podcast, drop it from Apple Store

Always very informative. Great perspectives on Browns. Only wished we had more podcasts.

Need to have some more episodes. Always great content Doug does a fantastic job. He has brought me off the edge of the cliff many times this season. Keep it up!

Good guests and analysis. Please continue.

When the Browns have a poor game, as they did on Monday Night Football earlier this week, Doug and his guests (esp. Ellis Williams and Dan Whalen) make sense of what is going on. This is my go-to podcast for Cleveland sports. The content is clear-eyed, strategic and entertaining. Maybe later this season we will have some Browns excellence to for Doug et. al. to extol.

Gotta love the really intelligent and insightful guests that Doug has on, usually more than one every week. Way better than those Dorsey dork suckers on CBD.

This is a great podcast that all Cleveland sports fans should make part of their weekly listen. Doug Lesmerises has a variety of smart guests on this show and they have interesting discussions about sports. He focuses mostly on the Browns but also occasionally talk about the Indians and Cavs. If you are also interested in Ohio State sports then check out the other podcast Doug hosts, Buckeye Talk.

There are so many Cleveland sports podcasts these days but Doug’s Takes By The Lake is one of the very best. I mainly listen for his Browns content and it is fantastic. Great, serious analysis and he always has incredibly insightful guests on as well. It’s a must-listen during the football season for me. Great stuff!!

Really enjoy and look forward to this podcast each week. Doug has a lot of interesting thoughts on Cleveland sports and brings on some great guests and asks questions that elicit responses that make me, a fan, think a lot and maybe even be a bit smarter!

I enjoy Doug’s approach to covering Cleveland sports.

I really enjoy Doug’s perspectives. Hey Doug, you should have Bud Shaw on from time to time — I loved listening to the two of you debate when he was with cleveland.com

I love the interviews and Doug’s humor. Good stuff. Worth the listen!

I love how Doug usually comes in with a differing perspective than most CLE sports talk heads, and he usually is able to secure unique/interesting guests.

Great to have this back on a regular schedule. Best podcast from Cleveland.com since Mary Kay doesn’t show up!

Great to have Doug back! Love your work on the Buckeyes and looking forward to 2+ hour podcasts related to the Browns now too! The insight from Jake Burns is great too when he’s on.

He makes strong arguments and definitely does his research.

No excuse. Keep doing your awesome podcasts. I re-subscribed because you are really good and deserve the support

Way to long for what comes through. Separate sports into separate casts

Doug does such a thorough and thoughtful job here and on BuckeyeTalk. I listen to every one—a highlight of my week. Doug, thanks for your fabulous coverage of my favorite teams!

Fun to listen to not just the facts of too sports.

Doug is back and publishing on a weekly basis again. Ever devoted to the Cleveland Browns, he bas done a good job of mixing in the Indians, Cavs and even dodgeball! With guests that help him take a deep dive into his topics each week, it is a nice counterpoint to the local and national media covering Cleveland sports.

Great content Doug, just gotta tweak the guest sound a bit. I realize you’re probably doing this with an iPhone speaker sitting next to a microphone, and the budget is nonexistent. But there’s gotta be a better option than listening to guests underwater. Keep up the good work and thanks for giving us something listen to in the off-season.

Hey Doug! Will we get some fresh Takes in the new year? I know you have been busy with Your great OSU coverage, but I miss Takes by the Lake! I enjoyed the sibling revelry orange and brown podcast, but it left me wanting more Doug on the Browns! Especially now that it’s not all bad news every week. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I love the buckeyes and I love Cleveland sports so Doug is my guy, great podcast 👍🏻

Love the podcast , I like the diverse guest list and Doug’s views on Cleveland sports. Or may I just love the screeching.. either way great pod

I have been listening to this podcast for a long time but never gave it a review. I heard the negative review at the start of the 101 podcast and could not disagree more. Takes by the Lake is the only Cleveland based podcast I can listen to because of its objective and unbiased approach to covering the Browns and other Cleveland sports. This podcast is mostly focused on the Browns but does cover other Cleveland teams. For the most part I enjoy the guest he brings on because they often have an outsider perspective to their coverage. I am not as huge of a fan of having non media members as guest because not all of them have been great to listens. Keep up the good work!

Doug really digs into all of our Cleveland teams in this podcast. His experience covering Cleveland and Ohio State is obvious and he is very entertaining! He does love Sashi though! 😀

Doug Lesmerises is the best host of the best Browns podcast out there. Profeesional, opiniontaed without wasting our time with non-football stuff like some other pods.

I listen to far too many podcasts covering Cleveland sports and the his is one of the best. Excellent guests thoughtfully selected are a hallmark of this excellent podcast.

A really good source for Cleveland sports coverage with Doug Lesmerises. Doug speaks to Cleveland sports in a positive and insightful way. The guests on the show are knowledgeable and diverse. Great show!

Doug’s podcast, along with other Cleveland.com podcasts make it a little bit easier to follow Cleveland Sports (specifically the Browns) as a native Ohioan who is displaced in upstate New York (thanks to my wife).

I admit I listen mainly for Browns commentary. As far as that is concerned I find this show is very good at looking at situations with an insightful and often unique perspective. Guests are top notch and provide information not often presented by other Cleveland sports reporting outlets.

Big fan of this, especially for Browns coverage. Doug finds excellent guests with outside perspective who do a great job of backing up their takes with credible insights rather than just being cliche windbags like pretty much anything you get on ESPN. Doug doesn’t take himself too seriously and is really in touch with what fans want to hear about. If I had a critique, I’d say Doug maybe has a little too long of a windup with some of his questions, tends to qualify them with a lot of “or is this” rather than just getting it out there. But they’re great questions!!!

I enjoy hearing the different perspectives that this podcast brings. I like the variety of guests from experts in analytics, to fans with good takes. I also like the longer deep dives. I’m a sponge for Cleveland sports content and this is a great place to get it.

There are others that are good, some I don’t read (or listen to) often enough, but the way Doug structures and presents his podcasts are outstanding. 1) He starts with a point or hypothesis and than brings other great guests in to evaluate the idea. 2) the quality of guests are outstanding 3) Doug is funny, a self deprecating humor 4) he is analysis not dogma and reading the news. Mary Kay is more about news facts and a little opinion ... we know she loved Jimmy G .... Doug is Analytics, brilliant national writer opinions, and looking ahead. Both fill a need, I just prefer the visionary style to the news style. Terry Pluto is similar to Doug, just different styles. 5) he is not constantly negative. I am a Browns fan, that’s hard enough, I don’t need someone to constantly be negative about it. He tries to understand the logic of things, even when there isn’t any. I appreciate that. Tony Grossi, whom I grew up reading, just seems resigned to failure. That’s not entertaining. Really that’s all of ESPN. Thanks for making sports fun Doug!

Doug is fair on the Browns but optimistic... don’t see how anyone likes to listen to negativity and pessimism from many of those on the Browns beat. If you can’t be optimistic why be a fan? Great Pod and writer.

This show has the right balance of outride hometown fandom with journalistic integrity and great interviews. Doug is a sharp and incisive host who shares his unique insight while giving you all of the attention to your hometown teams that you would like. I'm a Cleveland ex-pat living in NYC and this podcast helps me keep informed, but is entertaining and smart enough to hold my attention.

I look forward to Doug's podcast every week. He's a smart guy, who has fascinating guests, of whom he asks very interesting questions. And somehow he does it all in a very easy, breezy, unaffected manner. (I like Doug's unique style enough that I'm tempted to check out his Buckeyes podcast, even though I have zero interest in Ohio State or college football in general.) So if you're looking for a pod that's more than Xs and Os, more than testosterone-infused jock talk, more than what you're getting from any other Browns podcast, Doug's your guy.

There was a time where you brought him up on every Browns podcast earlier this year. I’m glad you have moved on! You do a really good job with ur interviews and finding guests. Listen to this podcast every week. One more thing - if you could unmute me - I won’t irritate you about J.T. Barrett’s throwing ability ever again @alsray

There will be many takes on James leaving. Doug’s emergency take was surprisingly effective and compelling.

If you love the Browns you will love this podcast. Period.

Love buckeye talk and started listening to takes by the lake recently and it’s GREAT. Doug does an awesome job of providing a unique perspective of what’s happening in the Cleveland sports scene. Loved how he recently had Dawg Pound Dave on for a nice extended segment to get a fans take on the upcoming browns season. Kudos Doug for another great podcast.

Not as good as Buckeye Talk, Interviews are sometimes very interesting and I’m hanging on every word, other times I am bored and don’t finish the podcast. The most recent episode on Jim Brown was fantastic!

Doug has separated himself with the best podcast in Cleveland sports. His podcast is very insightful with very knowledgeable and astute guests. His pre and post draft coverage has been a pleasure to listen to. Well done Doug!

This podcast has been re-invented by Doug Lesmerise, who has shown to be one of the, if not the best sports writer in Cleveland. If you're looking to hear about the Browns in a new an interesting way, this the podcast for you. It's turned into one of, if not my favorite podcast.

Love the new format. Doug is doing a great job!

Really glad I found this podcast. Smart coverage and analysis. Great find to supplement my Browns football fix.

I love how Doug books smart, insightful guests on his show and then does long, interesting interviews with them about everything Browns football related. Doug offers alternative takes to the conventional wisdom in his self-deprecating style, and offers hope to long suffering fans that the current “plan” might be the one that brings us back to the halcyon days of Browns football. I look forward to each episode.

I love the variety of guests on this podcast, gives a different perspective than most of the Cleveland takes

I thoroughly enjoy this podcast despite Doug’s nonstop praise for Sashi Brown. His view’s on Sashi couldn’t be anymore wrong. No man walking this earth has ever been more wrong about anything then Doug is about Sashi Brown. Otherwise, it’s a fun podcast, very entertaining and well done.