Monday, July 30, 2012

Sale of Browns is long past due


We could have been stardust, Randy.
People often define organizational failure as coming from the top down. The expression "shit rolls downhill" isn't a part of the American vernacular just because, you know, it sounds sporty or something. 

The Cleveland Browns are more like a tree - a tall, stout oak that has been standing for  a century but over the last decade has shown gradual signs of sickness, an irrevocable rot that's slowly killing the once-proud sentinel. The illness is buried in the roots, and sometimes the only cure is to rip the tree from the ground and plant anew. 

Shaky metaphors aside, this is pretty much how I feel about the Browns' impending sale to Tennessee businessman Jimmy Haslam. The Browns are a franchise that has been steadily decaying for the last decade. The root of that putrefaction has been Randy Lerner.

Friday, July 27, 2012

No more half measures, Tribe


If only Mike from "Breaking Bad" was our GM.

Last year's trade deadline deal for Ubaldo Jimenez seemed to indicate a sense of urgency by the Indians. Even in their previous "buy" year of 2007, an oh-so-close season that still aches my back teeth on occasion, the Indians didn't do anything on the trade front but bring back Kenny Lofton for a reunion tour. 

So the Jimenez deal was a blockbuster, no question. Jettison your top two pitching prospects for a front-of-the-rotation starter and you're going to generate headlines. It was a risky move that marked an open window of contention that would snap closed within a couple of years.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

PSU Wins Sanction is Sanctimonious

We've evolved into such an emotional country; logic has never been our strong suit. Society, in general, is naturally conditioned to play it by heart. When Gene Roddenberry created a character that made decisions based strictly on stone-cold reason, he had to hail from another planet. See, no human could ever pull off Mr. Spock. Our rage gets in the way.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Enjoy your free Rapid, I mean bus ride


What if….

the Indians and RTA launched a program to help get people to and from the ballpark which is cost effective and convenient? They did just that this week by launching their Fan-Focused Transportation Initiative.

Part of the new program is a "Free Transportation Weekend" for all fans on July 20, 21, and 22.

The free transportation options include:



  • Free parking with advanced ticket purchase
  • Free shuttle service to and from Ohio City
  • Free rapid service on the Blue, Green and Red Line


All of this sounds great. This program combined with the annual Rock-n-Blast fireworks show will bring fans, which the Indians desperately need, to show up at the ballpark. At the very least it will take away and excuse that parking is too expensive (not really), and hard to find (not true).

Well someone at the RTA, or the Indians dropped the ball.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

LBJ ad targeting guaranteed to piss off Cleveland Cavs fans

Just as Cleveland Cavaliers fans get used to seeing Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller in the wine and gold, and realize that, hey, this has a chance to be a pretty good draft haul, this is the banner ad served--ON CAVS.COM--next to the press conference introducing Waiters...


Glad they colorcoded the "Congratulations MVP LeBron James" in Cleveland colors.  Classy.