Sunday, December 21, 2008

More than words?



LeBron James would make a great politician. He simply has a knack for telling people what they want to hear. LeBron satiated the drooling New York media during the Cavs’ recent trip to Madison Square Garden by talking up the historical nature of the 2010 free agency period. He’s also made vague public comments about staying in Cleveland: During the pro-Obama rally held before the election, LeBron popped the screaming crowd by declaring, “I’m not going anywhere!”

If you want to be nice about it, you can say James is a true diplomat. If you don’t want to be so kind, you can say James is a shyster, one whose every word is cleverly calculated to maximize his value on and off the court come July 1, 2010. The man is his own brand after all, and he’s stated more than once his goal of becoming a multi-media mogul and billionaire.

All that said, I don’t know what to make of LeBron’s comments this weekend to
Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He told the Cavs’ beat writer that he will “consider” signing an extension with the team this summer, a full year before he can become an unrestricted free agent.

"You play out this season of course; I will consider it," James said Saturday. "The direction we are headed is everything I expected and more. I definitely want to keep an open mind, I will look at everything."

Has LeBron has ever been publicly quoted about the possibility of signing an early extension? To most media and fans it’s a foregone conclusion that #23 will wait until summer 2010 to assess his full value. No matter what LeBron says, I still believe the latter scenario will come to pass. LeBron loves him some spotlight, and that thing will be white hot by this time next year.

And yet...I cannot help but be heartened by his recent comments. Perhaps they’re an indication of where LeBron’s leaning, even if he does go UFA come 2010. The window is wide open for this team, just coming off the biggest win of the season on the road against a resurgent Nuggets’ squad. How great would it be for LeBron to sign long-term next summer in the wake of the franchise’s first championship? Austin Carr, God bless him, would have to be institutionalized.

It seems everyone – from Jalen Rose to Stephen A. Smith to the jabroni on the cleveland.com talkback – has the answer on where Cleveland’s current best hope for a ring will be plying his trade come opening tipoff, Nov. 2010. The truth is nobody really knows...James himself probably does not know for sure. That ambiguity will only ratchet LeBron’s stock even higher before signing day...just the way he like it.

However, I’ve never felt better about LeBron staying than I do now. 22-4 speaks for itself. The big guy’s recent words may be just another ploy in a long-range game, but they should bring at least a small smile to the tired faces of us Cleveland fans.

---
JUST FOR FUN: Carlos Boozer told ESPN this week he’s thinking about opting out of the final year of his contract with the Jazz to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Boozer, who’s missed 16 games with knee problems, “clarified” those comments in a conference call with reporters.

He said that opting out only to re-sign with the Jazz “would be a beautiful thing, especially if we're able to keep the pieces around us and have a chance to win a championship.”

Now why does that sound familiar?

Boozer could also wait until the monster free agent class of 2010, a time when the Cavs theoretically could have the cap space to sign not just LeBron but another big-time player. If I may play devil’s advocate, would you want Boozer back on the Cavs?

Think about it before answering: Boozer may be a snake who “stabbed a blind man in the back,” but when healthy he’s an All-Star level low-post scoring presence and rebounder. Big Ben and Z don’t have many years left, you know.

My fellow CST bloggers and I have bandied this subject about when not discussing men’s fashions or the geopolitical ramifications of president-elect Obama’s Cabinet choices. I have always been for bringing Boozer back. The Cavs beat Boston and possibly win the championship last year with the money grubbing bastard in the lineup, of that I do not doubt. It comes down to wanting this city to get a ring; at this point I just don’t care how you wrap it.

I know at least a few of you, including CST contributor Ryan, are dead set against the idea. Even now I’d be reluctant to take Boozer back due to his injury history. But if he can prove he’s healthy, I’d welcome the soulless SOB back. You’re talking about the possibility of multiple championships with Mo, LeBron and Boozer in the fold. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Discuss.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Cavs and Mo Cheeks

Well even though the Cavaliers effectively fired Maurice Cheeks as coach of the 76ers after wins the last two games against them, I'll always look upon Mo with respect for one of the kindest gestures I've ever seen someone do--nonetheless in front of 20,000 people.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

14, 18, 35, 15, 12, 36, 24, 20. Wow. The margins of victory in the Cavs last 8 games. The totals are, if anything, misleading, because the games are consistently ending with Lebron and other starters firmly on the bench, having a grand old time. The last team to win 8 games in a row by 12 points or more is...the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. And that team was a pretty good team. Something like 72-10.

John Hollinger writes that ESPN's playoff tool shows the Cavaliers with a 20% chance of winning 70 or more games--double that of the second most likely team--the much vaunted Lakers.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Cavs romp, LeBron teases, and the fans don't know what to think

Well as the Cavs finish up the hottest November in their history, including absolute demolitions of the Knicks, Thunder, and Warriors in four nights. Games in which LeBron barely had time to unsnap his pants before he was back on the bench for rest.

Interesting stats I saw yesterday--LeBron ranks like 39th in minutes per game this year, compared to top 3 or 4 most years. That, obviously, is an excellent sign. Although he's going to struggle to win the scoring title playing 30 minutes a game. Trade that for a ring? Also John Hollinger's Player Efffectiveness Ratings have Zydrunas Ilgauskas ranked #11 in the league, trailing only LeBron and a venerable who's who of perennial all-stars (and Devin Harris.)

Of course, it's early, and this week's competition was, shall we say, a little weak. But you need to beat the bad teams as well as the good teams, so this is a good sign.

Tonight they take the show back on the road versus the Bucks.

In other news, I think a couple people have been talking about LeBron leaving for the Knicks after next year, or of course, one of the other 28 teams in the league. LeBron coyly has fanned those flames, leading none other than Charles Barkley to tell LeBron to "shut the hell up."

"If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up," Barkley said in the Wednesday interview. "I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers."
In response, LeBron called Barkley "stupid." Not that this will affect the Cavs at all, but similar to Mark Twain's advice "Never get into an argument with a man who buys ink by the barrel," LeBron should think twice about getting into a war of words with a guy who has basically his own TV show twice a week.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Michigan Fan Gameday Checklist

1. Wake up at 10:00 am and realize you are late for your pizza delivery job.

2. Roll over to check how many teeth the 300 lb. skank you picked up last night has.

3. Salute your John Cooper Fathead.

4. Pop in your Beta Max tape from 15 years ago to relive the days when Michigan actually mattered on the National scene.

5. Count how many wins your team has this year.

6. Realize you can't count that high.

7. Watch your team get destroyed by an AVERAGE Ohio State team.

8. Start referring to your own school as "That School Up North" out of utter embarrassment.

9. Go back to bed with your 300 lb. skank.

10. Start counting down the days until next year's game, but realize you don't know how many days are in a year.

Monday, November 3, 2008

King Kaufmann states the obvious

Cleveland without rival in futility

Buffalo and San Diego haven't crowned a champ in a while either, but they've had fewer teams.

King Kaufman

Oct. 31, 2008 |

I mentioned Thursday that with Philadelphia's World Series win, Cleveland has emerged as a city without rival in championship futility in the major sports, with none since the Browns won the NFL in 1964. That brought some yelps from two of our finest cities:

Caldo, Achiever: As a San Diegan, I believe we deserve mention with Cleveland for elongated suckitude -- or are we getting credit for our N.L. pennants? Enduring three seasons of the Conquistadors should qualify us for some sort of bonus.

jfruhlinger: What about Buffalo? I don't want to take away from anyone's pain, but surely Buffalo deserves mention as a home for sports agony?

First things first: San Diego Conquistadors! Yeah!

Buffalo won an AFL title in 1965. I'm counting that. Shouldn't I? The AFL was already a pretty big deal by the mid-'60s. It was a big deal in Buffalo, anyway. Besides, didn't the Sabres win the Stanley Cup in 1999? When Brett Hull's goal was disallowed? [Ducks.]

San Diego, yeah, actually one year longer than Cleveland. The Chargers won the AFL in 1963. Cleveland has had NBA basketball and San Diego mostly hasn't. Buffalo hasn't had major league baseball and mostly hasn't had NBA basketball. So Cleveland has had more non-championship seasons in the big four sports than either San Diego or Buffalo.

In fact, even before Wednesday night, Cleveland had more non-championship seasons than Philadelphia by a lot. I'd thought Philly was in the photo, but not really. Here's how it breaks down for the four cities, before the Phillies won the World Series Wednesday. What we're counting here is non-championship seasons in the NBA, NHL, NFL/AFL and major league baseball since the city's last title in one of those. We're not counting the 1994 baseball season, when the World Series was canceled.

CLEVELAND
Last championship: Browns, 1964

Team League Non-title
years
since '64
Indians MLB 43
Browns/Browns 2.0 NFL 41
Cavaliers NBA 39
Barons NHL 2
Total
125

- - - - -

PHILADELPHIA
Last championship (before Wednesday): 76ers, 1983

Team League Non-title
years
since '83*
Eagles NFL 26
76ers NBA 25
Flyers NHL 25
Phillies MLB 24
Total
* Counts '83 MLB
and NFL seasons

100

- - - - -

SAN DIEGO
Last championship: Chargers, 1963

Team League Non-title
years
since '63
Chargers AFL/NFL 45
Padres MLB 39
Clippers NBA 6
Rockets NBA 4
Total
94

- - - - -

BUFFALO
Last championship: Bills, 1965

Team League Non-title
years
since '65
Bills AFL/NFL 43
Sabres NHL 38
Braves NBA 8
Total
89

Since Caldo, Achiever mentioned the Conquistadors, I'll point out that adding the American Basketball Association and World Hockey Association, the other two leagues that were absorbed into the established one in the era under discussion, doesn't change much.

San Diego would get an extra six seasons, three for the ABA Conquistadors -- we won't count the 11 games of their fourth season, as the San Diego Sails, before they folded -- and three for the WHA Mariners. Neither won a title. Then again, Cleveland would get four more seasons for the WHA Crusaders. Philadelphia would get one for the WHA Blazers.

Adding in the World Football League and the United States Football League, neither of which got to the prestige level of even the WHA, Philadelphia gets two seasons each for the WFL Bell and the USFL Stars.

Philadelphia had been the leader among the four-sport cities with no championships for 25 years. The new leader, just barely, is the Twin Cities, which last crowned a champion in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series. Washington also last crowned a champion in 1991, when its football team won the Super Bowl.

That actually happened in January 1992, three months after the Twins' win. Also, Washington has only been a four-sport city since 2005, when the Expos moved from Montreal and became the Nationals. The Twin Cities have been a four-sport area since the NHL Wild began play in 2000-01.

The longest wait for a four-sport city that's been a four-sport city the whole time? Not a city but an area: The Bay Area hasn't had a champion since the 49ers in the 1994 season. Atlanta's gone since the Braves won the World Series in 1995.

Seattle deserves a mention here, with teams in three sports but no championships since the Sonics won the NBA in 1979. Alas, that's one that's not likely to happen again soon.

-- King Kaufman

King Kaufmann states the obvious

___________________

Cleveland without rival in futility

Buffalo and San Diego haven't crowned a champ in a while either, but they've had fewer teams.

King Kaufman

Oct. 31, 2008 |

I mentioned Thursday that with Philadelphia's World Series win, Cleveland has emerged as a city without rival in championship futility in the major sports, with none since the Browns won the NFL in 1964. That brought some yelps from two of our finest cities:

Caldo, Achiever: As a San Diegan, I believe we deserve mention with Cleveland for elongated suckitude -- or are we getting credit for our N.L. pennants? Enduring three seasons of the Conquistadors should qualify us for some sort of bonus.

jfruhlinger: What about Buffalo? I don't want to take away from anyone's pain, but surely Buffalo deserves mention as a home for sports agony?

First things first: San Diego Conquistadors! Yeah!

Buffalo won an AFL title in 1965. I'm counting that. Shouldn't I? The AFL was already a pretty big deal by the mid-'60s. It was a big deal in Buffalo, anyway. Besides, didn't the Sabres win the Stanley Cup in 1999? When Brett Hull's goal was disallowed? [Ducks.]

San Diego, yeah, actually one year longer than Cleveland. The Chargers won the AFL in 1963. Cleveland has had NBA basketball and San Diego mostly hasn't. Buffalo hasn't had major league baseball and mostly hasn't had NBA basketball. So Cleveland has had more non-championship seasons in the big four sports than either San Diego or Buffalo.

In fact, even before Wednesday night, Cleveland had more non-championship seasons than Philadelphia by a lot. I'd thought Philly was in the photo, but not really. Here's how it breaks down for the four cities, before the Phillies won the World Series Wednesday. What we're counting here is non-championship seasons in the NBA, NHL, NFL/AFL and major league baseball since the city's last title in one of those. We're not counting the 1994 baseball season, when the World Series was canceled.

CLEVELAND
Last championship: Browns, 1964

Team League Non-title
years
since '64
Indians MLB 43
Browns/Browns 2.0 NFL 41
Cavaliers NBA 39
Barons NHL 2
Total 125

- - - - -

PHILADELPHIA
Last championship (before Wednesday): 76ers, 1983

Team League Non-title
years
since '83*
Eagles NFL 26
76ers NBA 25
Flyers NHL 25
Phillies MLB 24
Total
* Counts '83 MLB
and NFL seasons
100

- - - - -

SAN DIEGO
Last championship: Chargers, 1963

Team League Non-title
years
since '63
Chargers AFL/NFL 45
Padres MLB 39
Clippers NBA 6
Rockets NBA 4
Total 94

- - - - -

BUFFALO
Last championship: Bills, 1965

Team League Non-title
years
since '65
Bills AFL/NFL 43
Sabres NHL 38
Braves NBA 8
Total 89

Since Caldo, Achiever mentioned the Conquistadors, I'll point out that adding the American Basketball Association and World Hockey Association, the other two leagues that were absorbed into the established one in the era under discussion, doesn't change much.

San Diego would get an extra six seasons, three for the ABA Conquistadors -- we won't count the 11 games of their fourth season, as the San Diego Sails, before they folded -- and three for the WHA Mariners. Neither won a title. Then again, Cleveland would get four more seasons for the WHA Crusaders. Philadelphia would get one for the WHA Blazers.

Adding in the World Football League and the United States Football League, neither of which got to the prestige level of even the WHA, Philadelphia gets two seasons each for the WFL Bell and the USFL Stars.

Philadelphia had been the leader among the four-sport cities with no championships for 25 years. The new leader, just barely, is the Twin Cities, which last crowned a champion in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series. Washington also last crowned a champion in 1991, when its football team won the Super Bowl.

That actually happened in January 1992, three months after the Twins' win. Also, Washington has only been a four-sport city since 2005, when the Expos moved from Montreal and became the Nationals. The Twin Cities have been a four-sport area since the NHL Wild began play in 2000-01.

The longest wait for a four-sport city that's been a four-sport city the whole time? Not a city but an area: The Bay Area hasn't had a champion since the 49ers in the 1994 season. Atlanta's gone since the Braves won the World Series in 1995.

Seattle deserves a mention here, with teams in three sports but no championships since the Sonics won the NBA in 1979. Alas, that's one that's not likely to happen again soon.

-- King Kaufman

A reason to watch

Well, well...two minutes after I posted the below rant, I see that ESPN is reporting that Brady Quinn will be our starting QB on Thursday. Got to say it...I am surprised: The wheels of this franchise's upper managment grind exceedingly slow...I did not expect #10 to play before the middle of the month at least.

Now what?


We’re halfway through the NFL season, but it seems the Browns’ season ended the moment Derek Anderson’s wayward screen pass landed in the arms of Terrell Suggs.

Where do fans go from here? I really don’t want to watch the Thursday night game against Denver. What is the point of rooting for D.A., who will undoubtedly be the starting QB on such a short week, when victory will only prolong his tenure of rocket-armed inconsistency? Why should I pull for Romeo Crennel when I know he’s incapable of preparing his team from week to week? A win against a mediocre Denver team means little after yesterday’s eye-opening loss.

Eye-opening because after nine-plus years the Browns still have no true identity. Are they a passing team? Will they try and cram the ball down opposition’s throats with the run? Will they rely on hard-hitting defense and field position to get the job done? Who the hell knows? It seemed last year that the team was building a reputation as an offensive club with a solid line and numerous weapons. Injuries and poor play this year have scotched that plan. Meanwhile, the defense has one consistent playmaker, and a coach who claims his squad lacked the “energy” to finish off a division rival at home.

How very sad…and very revealing.

So…I bid you adieu, Romeo. Same with D.A….team management is delusional if they think this team has a chance at the postseason, even in a down year for the AFC. I want to see Quinn starting the Monday-nighter against Buffalo. The franchise’s future depends on it. That future does not include Romeo or D.A., so why wait?

Saturday, November 1, 2008


Friday, October 31, 2008

We're #1

Congratulations Philadelphia Phillies.  Now people can stop saying that Philly is the longest suffering city, just because they have four teams and we lack hockey!  The 76ers won it in 1980!!   For us, 1964 is a long time.  I can barely remember not being born yet.

Good game last night.  (Un?)fortunately for me, in the second half I figured out that now I can watch the Cavs games from my workout room, which has FSN Ohio.  I did miss the third quarter, where I guess the team sucked, but overall a 19 point win is okay by me any time.

Buckeyes have off this week.  Time to get nervous about the Ravens. 

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Not a good week for the Buckeyes

Well, as good as Terrell Pryor obviously is, his chronic problem is underthrowing his receivers. That's the reason that last pass was intercepted--back corner of the end zone and it was a touchdown. Most of his long passes are completed when the receiver adjusts to them.

At least we weren't embarassed--just unable to move the ball. Another loss to a top team. Depressing.

Anyway, in the NFL, Shawn Springs injured, Santonio Holmes arrested for smuggling blunts in his automobile, and Willl Smith suspended. Ouch.

Go Browns. Build on that NY Giants win--two weeks later. Last week's Washington game was a disappointment, let's hope today turns out better.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Windhorst is Going to the PD

Some of you may have heard this already, but on Terry Pluto's weekly podcast, he said that Windhorst is going to be starting at the PD as the new Cavs beat writer. He thinks he is starting next week. A definite upgrade from Branson Wright. Hopefully, he'll keep his blog going once he moves.

VIVE LE VOX!

Van Nuys Wins First World Championship






(AP) VAN NUYS, CA-- A makeshift but record-breaking pitching staff made sure the mostly Hispanic district of Van Nuys will be known for something other than a biker community and the birthplace of Kelly Leak.

Late Sunday night, Vox starter and long-time Virgin Pimp Tim Wakefield put the finishing touches on the their first title. For Vox fans throughout the San Fernando Valley, it seemed to be a season of destiny as their team made up a 1500 point deficit in a 5-week period.

The Vox was dominant in the second half, led by waiver wire acquisitions Carlos Delgado and Ricky Nolasco. Shortly before the All-Star break, owner/GM Sam Vox won Nolasco for $1 after trading away ace Scott Kazmir and Melky Cabrera to The Love Brigade for Mark Teixeira and Adam Dunn. MVP candidate Delgado was acquired for $3 on July 20th.

The three-headed closer monster of Jose Valverde, Johnathan Papelpon and Brad Lidge would combine with studs Zach Greinke and Chad Billingsley and undrafted free agents Nolasco, Wakefield, Josh Johnson, and Scott Baker to set the all-time league record for pitching with 19277 points. The previous mark was 18791, set by the Flying Hellfish in 2003.

"This was not a team born on draft day, said a jubilant Vox, "If you look at our starting lineup for the final week, only 8 of 23 players were drafted by me. I built the Vox from everybody else's trash."

Wakefiield was reflective after teammates drenched the 42-year old knuckleballer with champagne, "This is for Doc & Daryl, David Cone (famous for masturbating in the dugout), Mark McLemore and every Hall of Fame Virgin Pimp that paid dues for this franchise ten years ago."

Valverde was more to the point: "We're playin' the dome this Sunday!"

Asked third baseman Casey Blake: What does this mean for the rest of the league? "Bad News for Rock-n-Roll Chiittenden!"

there's somethin' tellin' me my time is now
it's just a whisper but i know somehow
we got listen, got to do it now
life is looking good, looking good
life is looking good
for you and me




Sunday, September 14, 2008

Something's Gotta Change

Of all the talk from Obama (and now hijacked by the Republicans) about the change that the US needs (oh yeah, sometime explain how McCain would be a change...), "change" seems to be a good theme for tonight, after one of the most embarassing, disheartening, sickening, maddening football weekends I can remember.

Sure, the Browns have had much worse outings, and even more disappointing ones, but layered on top of the utterly embarassing Ohio State blowout loss to USC Saturday night, 35-3, the fact that the Browns failed to score a touchdown just rubs it in.

Some quick thoughts:

  • It took one weekend for me to go from "excited about 2008 football in Cleveland and Columbus" to "realization that OSU will be lucky to play a January bowl game and the Central Division title is gone after week 2."
  • For a few years now, I've been off the Tressell bandwagon. And I don't know why. I think the main reason is that I don't trust or like him one bit. I always feel like he is lying, and the fact that he tries to look like a choirboy all the time just seems to me like a taunting insult. The fact is, I trust him so little that I was reasonably sure Chris Wells was going to play Saturday, until I saw him in sweats. This game has given me a clarity that maybe Jim Tressel isn't a good coach. Or, to put it nicer, as ESPN did, "There's still not nearly enough creativity in the scheme." Of course, they meant "offensive scheme", and I mean "the wool he's pulled over your eyes."
  • Did it not occur to anyone to maybe throw downfield a bit more? And what's his name, that quarterback who was actually making some plays? (Hint: It wasn't Todd Boeckman.) Why wasn't Terrell Pryor in there a hell of a lot more? (Pryor's snaps averaged 4.6 yards, Boeckman's averaged 1.9)
  • It was coaching, as much as anything that cost this game. Okay, it was a lot coaching, and a lot lack of discipline, killing Ohio State's drive in the second quarter with penalties. 14-10 was within grasp, and instead, a missed field goal and an idiotic interception by Boeckman made it 21-3.
  • I feel you, Alex Boone. "Every big game we end up blowing it." Of course, I had no way to directly impact the game, and you did.
  • Doug Lesmardes ranked OSU 18th on his ballot. They ended up around 13th. But the argument could be legitimately made that they could be left off the ballot. Ohio State would have had a tough time making the BCS championship game, even if they were undefeated or had one loss to USC. But now--even if they run the table and every other team loses 3 games, I guarantee they won't be there.
  • Now on to the Browns. Al Michaels must have a contractual stipulation that he isn't allowed to directly criticize coaches, but he came damn close Sunday night. Obviously Romeo is out of his league. A field goal, down by 7, with 3 minutes to go, on 4th and 7 or whatever? How exactly does that help you? No clock management at all? I'm sure Romeo must be able to do something well, you don't coach for 20-something years if you can't. But I'm not sure being a head coach is one of them.
  • That being said, the Cowboys and Steelers games were ones that everybody knew would be a tall order for the Brownies. But one touchdown in two home games? From the "Prime Time" offense that the Browns have? Terrible, and this doesn't look good all of a sudden.
  • How utterly embarassing, this "rivalry" with Pittsburgh. Ten in a row? Something like 23 of 25?
  • I wish I had a stat on "wasted" timeouts early in halves. The Browns need to be leading that category, right?
  • By the way, you can vote on Romeo (every week) here.
Thirty Five to Three.
That Penn State game is starting
to make me nervous.

Romeo Crennell.
You may see an obese coach.
I see Butch Davis.

Friday, September 12, 2008





Sunday, September 7, 2008

The sum of all fears

Stop me if you've heard this one, Dear Reader:

Can't stop the run..no pressure on the quarterback..the opposing offense ripping off huge chunks of yardage..manhandled at the line of srimmage, the team seemingly playing with a general lack of preparedness overall..crippled by injuries..

How many times have those words been written or said about the Browns since their inglorious return to the NFL? I'm far from ready to bail on the 2008 Browns..but today's game had the hallmarks of all the bad games we've watched since 1999. What's worse, it gives ammunition to all the naysayers who watched the Browns stumble through the preseason

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Bill Simmons--not too hot on the Browns

Among other predictions The Sports Guy makes in his NFL preview is a possibly painful, everyone-afraid-of one for Cleveland...

Prediction No. 4: Cleveland will stink.

I'm not a big fan of this formula: Artificially high expectations + too many nationally televised games (five in all) + brutal schedule + too much luck last season (what are the odds of them getting 32 games from Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards again?) + brewing QB controversy + horrible preseason = Yikes.

Also, their two biggest offseason moves were fundamentally illogical: Trading for Shaun Rogers and keeping Derek Anderson. In the salary-cap era, you can't keep Anderson (who had two good months and tailed off) after dealing a future No. 1 and committing all that money to Brady Quinn. It's like drafting QBs in the first two rounds of a fantasy draft -- yeah, you can do it, but it never works. Why not trade Anderson for two draft picks and back the guy who you loved so much a year before? And why compound the error by trading your 2nd and 3rd round picks plus a valuable cornerback (Leigh Bodden) for expensive and possibly shaky defensive linemen (Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers). That's a swing of four draft picks plus Bodden! Didn't they see what happened with the Giants last year? If you made a "How to win the Super Bowl" formula, would "Pay two quarterbacks big money" and "Don't get anything from your draft" be two of the pieces? OF COURSE NOT!!! On the bright side, "taking the Browns to the Super Bowl" remains my favorite euphemism for making a doody.


Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Haiku Haiku Hai. Why not a haiku right now? Start showing your brains.

Ok--in honor of my one-time-favorite and still-readable-if-I-just-had-the-time columnist Gregg Easterbrook, let's start weekly Haikus to celebrate the current sports scene.

(By the way, here's TMQ's NFL Preview, all-haiku style. For the Browns it reads:

Quarterbacks many,
Playoff appearances few.
Old-new Cleveland Browns.

Forecast finish: 9-7)

Ok, I'll start 'em off:

Forty-three to zip;

You call this college football?

How 'bout a real foe?


Lots of prime time games,

Cleveland can show off to all;

Or else smell like Brown.


Pittsburgh opener

last year, me: "2 and 14"

Better start this year?


Monday, September 1, 2008

When did Ohio Stadium become an NBA arena?

Well, I made a trip to Columbus for my annual Alumni-association tickets (gee, thanks, I've been out of school ten years, and only once have I even got a Big Eleven Ten game, let alone Michigan. Maybe if I donate a couple hundred large to the university, I can at least get tickets between the end zones. And maybe when I'm out of school for 50 years, I'll get Michigan tickets. Anyway.

First, the game. A bit disappointing, if a 43-0 game can be called disappointing. The offense, while showing some flashes, just didn't seem to click. All those red zone possessions that end in our 29-year-old kicker putting three points on the board can not be called successful, especially against a I-AA team of all things! There were a couple fantastic fakes with Maurice Wells that fooled the whole stadium, I'd like to know whether the TV cameras could follow along. Terrell Pryor looked very solid, for a true freshman, and his touchdown had lasting effects--USC certainly needs to think twice during defensive practice the next two weeks. And, of course, Chris Wells' injury--let's wait and see on that one.

But the main thing I noticed was the noticeable stadium aura. I don't think I went to a game last year, so maybe this isn't brand new. But some of it is, I can tell. When the heck did The university decide they had to make Ohio State games, long understated ("Eddie George carry") into the next incarnation of an NBA game? I half expected fireworks after touchdowns and maybe a unicycling-plate juggling-halftime show. Some low-lights:

  • What certainly appeared to be a new addition--the stadium announcer punctuating all Ohio State first downs--and unfortunately for the crowd, against Youngstown State there were a ton of them--with an enthusiastic, annoying, "FIRST DOWN!!!" cry. As in, "Maurice Wells carry, 4 yards to the Ohio State 47.............and that's another Ohio State......FIRST DOWN!!!!!" Obviously done to draw crowd heat, it took two or three first downs to catch on, and then a noticable portion of the stadium yelled along with the announcer. Certainly not the entire stadium, let's just say a portion of the fans are very used to shouting along with the stadium, such as "because Stone Cold said so!!" But enough people to make it annoying. At one point I think the "official" announcer didn't even say it, just primed the crowd to say it for him. Uggh.
  • Before every Ohio State kickoff, the beats of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army permeate throughout the stadium, all the way until the ball is received. The first time, for the opening kickoff, I thought, "fine," but that quickly got old. If you need to blast rock music to get the crowd pumped, you have bigger problems than a shoddy red zone offense. Maybe limit it to the beginning of halves, like the Browns with Enter Sandman. Ugggh.
  • Another kickoff note, as the White Stripes were playing before the opening kickoff, I was hearing the crowd road (or the "ohhhhhhhhhh" sound done on kickoffs) possibly being piped through the speakers, and it was certainly louder than the crowd was actually doing at that point. I hope that was just a live mike on the field picking it up, but let's just say I didn't hear that sound again.
  • Finally, the long tradition of the band playing Hang on Sloopy was now introduced by the announcer, with great fanfare. Made it seem contrived. And then, apparently (my alumni tickets had me in the south stands, back to the scoreboard), Archie Griffin came on to intone them to do it again. Lame. Let tradition be tradition, don't make it seem like you're introducing 100,000 new fans to what goes on at Buckeyes games.
Give me the standard OSU traditions, the dorks in Block O leading the O-H-I-O stadium thunder, and the band splitting up and spreading out throughout the stadium in the second half, and leave the rock music to Hineygate across the street.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Idiocy in practice (or "The Annual Pre-Season Polls")

So the polls are out, the AP had Ohio State at #3. Fine. But this year (apparently), they are releasing the vote by vote seedings, with names. Finally, some accountability.

Still, why not hold off on any polling until, let's say, mid-October. Usually by then there's a team who started off in the teens or twenties who is thinking "we may not be able to get to #1/#2 because of our pre-season rankings."

Here are the guidelines for AP voters:


  • "Base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.
  • Avoid regional bias, for or against. Your local team does not deserve any special handling when it comes to your ballot.
  • Pay attention to head-to-head results, and
  • Don’t hesitate to make significant changes in your ballot from week to week. There’s no rule against jumping the 16th-ranked team over the eighth-ranked team, if No. 16 is coming off a big victory and No. 8 just lost 52-6 to a so-so team.
Here's Doug Lesmerises article. (Tyler--or Taylor-- Zarzour is from a radio station in Raleigh, NC. )
For anyone really into the college football polls, this a reminder to go ahead and bookmark now Pollspeak.com, which provides the chance to break down the polls in various ways.

Among the 65 AP voters, Ohio State's breakdown went like this:

21 - No. 1 votes
15 - No. 2 votes
12 - No. 3 votes
9 - No. 4 votes
3 - No. 5 votes
1 - No. 6 vote
2 - No. 8 votes
1 - No. 11 vote
1 - No. 13 vote

I'm not fond of criticizing fellow pollsters, but I must say that for any team that finished No. 5 last year and returned 19 of 22 starters, No. 13 seems ... low.

And now West Virginia fans can start yelling at me.

I had the Mountaineers at No. 19, lower than every voter but one. Kirk Herbstreit had them 18th and Tyler Zarzour, the same guy who had Ohio State 13th, left West Virginia unranked.

I also had USC No. 6, along with five other voters, and only one voter had the Trojans lower, at No. 7.

Here are where all the voters ranked Ohio State:

Bob Hammond 1
Doug Lesmerises 1
Eric Hansen 1
Eric Page 1
Glenn Guilbeau 1
Jason Franchuk 1
Joe Giglio 1
Joe Rexrode 1
John Heuser 1
John Silver 1
Kent Taylor 1
Kirk Bohls 1
Marcus Fuller 1
Mark Tupper 1
Mike Ceide 1
Molly Yanity 1
Myron Patton 1
Robbie Andreu 1
Sal Interdonato 1
Steve Sipple 1
Stewart Mandel 1
Aditi Kinkhabwala 2
Brett McMurphy 2
Craig James 2
Ferd Lewis 2
Herb Gould 2
Jeff McLane 2
Jeff White 2
Jim Lamar 2
Joe Person 2
Jon Johnson 2
Joseph Duarte 2
Mark Anderson 2
Mike DeArmond 2
Mike Prater 2
Pete DiPrimio 2
Chris Fowler 3
Jimmy Burch 3
John Hunt 3
Jon Wilner 3
Kevin Pearson 3
Maurice Patton 3
Mitch Vingle 3
Randy Harrison 3
Ray Fittipaldo 3
Ray Ratto 3
Scott Wolf 3
Tom Mulhern 3
Anthony Gimino 4
Barker Davis 4
Bret Bloomquist 4
Jake Schaller 4
Kirk Herbstreit 4
Matt McCoy 4
Randy Rosetta 4
Steve Conroy 4
Tom Keegan 4
Jim Mashek 5
Tom Hart 5
Tom Murphy 5
Mike Strain 6
Adam Van Brimmer 8
Bill Cole 8
Doug Segrest 11
Taylor Zarzour 13

Saturday, August 16, 2008

I don't know if you guys are enjoying the Olympics as much as I am, that Ravens-Michigan-fan Phelps is one bad mofo if you ask me, but here's a cool Google Maps mashup that lets you track medals, events, etc.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Mo’ Better Cavs/Gilbert Rages Against the Media Machine

Double-shot of Cavaliers’ commentary this evening, Constant Reader. First I must share my thoughts on Wednesday’s trade to acquire point guard Mo Williams from Milwaukee for Joe Smith and Damon Jones. This is quite simply a very good deal for the Cavs. Williams’s per-game numbers over the last two years are not spectacular but very solid: 17 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting around 45%. Nor is he a finished product at 25 years old. You can argue that Mo isn’t a “pure” pass-first point guard a team needs to quarterback an offense. As ESPN’s Chris Broussard opines:

I'm sure there will be a lot of hand-wringing about whether or not Mo Williams -- whom I have always thought of as a guy who needs the ball to be productive -- is the best accompaniment to James. In my mind, James would be best with a defender who could also stretch the defense.

However, concedes Broussard, They're trying to get that offense going.

The latter observation is why I’m happy with this trade. Williams is a scorer/playmaker, a quick-to-the-hole creator who can finish a shot and sink a free throw (84% from the stripe for his career) when needed.Maybe we finally have someone in the starting five who can take pressure off LeBron...a guy who can knock it down when LeBron draws the inevitable double team. Ultimately, Williams represents the “half” of the “one-and-a-half” players LeBron asked for following the Game 7 loss to Boston.

Williams is not without his critics. Gery Woelfel of the (Milwaukee) Journal Times, for one, believes Williams was a bad fit with the Bucks: The Bucks have been shopping Williams all summer -- despite the fact he was coming off an outstanding offensive season. But Williams played abysmal defense and some of his teammates quietly complained about his selfishness on the court, often-times neglecting to pass the ball to a teammate and taking a shot himself.

Six assists per game is pretty good for a “selfish” player. Several questions arise, however: Will Williams be content with LeBron running the point-forward spot during critical moments in the game? I assume LeBron will maintain that role in some fashion as he’s so good at creating opportunities for his teammates. Will that be cool with Mo? Or will Brown tweak the offense to include more post-up plays for LeBron with Williams exclusively running the point? Will Williams accept LeBron as the “man” as Larry Hughes could not?

What about the newest Cav’s maligned defense? Let’s see if Mike Brown can coach Mo up in that regard. That leads me to my next inquiry: With people wondering who’s going to replace Joe Smith, I’m more worried about the starting two-guard. I’m of the belief that the Cavs will eventually acquire an SG with some defensive skills to help on the perimeter. (Raja Bell is one name I’ve seen floating on the Internet transom.) Wally and Sasha are not palatable choices to hold that position the whole season. If Delonte stays there’s a possibility he could be slid into the two hole. Again, that’s not going to work all year. Ferry has to know that.

As for getting another big man, that necessity has to be on the docket as well. Wallace is your starting four and Z of course will helm the middle. Then what? Well, there’s everybody’s Most Hated Cavalier (now that Damon’s gone), Andy V. He’s going to be your main man backing up Big Ben and Z until Hickson (or perhaps Darnell Jackson) can contribute solid minutes. Andy of course does not have Smith’s deft shooting touch, but I like to think he’s not as bad as he played last year. The contract holdout and injuries contributed to his poor season. (And of course some fans dislike him on sight for the Finger Roll of Doom in Game 3 of the Finals.) I’m expecting better things from Andy year, as long he doesn’t ever dribble or shoot. Rebound, flop and make Garnett crazy, baby, that’s all we need from you.

There’s also the distinct possibility Andy will be traded after his trade exemption thingee expires in December. More importantly, the Cavs are not going to go into the season with Andy and Hickson as their backup big men. I fully expect them to pick up a big (one possibility-Udonis Haslem) before training camp. It’s just something that has to be done...I think Ferry has to know that, too.
.......
The other item I’d like to discuss is the recent Akron Beacon Journal blurb covering remarks made by Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert, who’s finally had enough of the national media’s obsession with LeBron’s “inevitable” departure from our fair city. Will LeBron end up in New York City? Brooklyn? Greece? Timbuk-sodding-tu? Whatever, Dan’s sick of hearing about it:

"The reason this thing is where it's at," Gilbert said, "is that we've got a bunch of bored, East Coast sports writers who have nothing to do because the offseason is a few months away and the Olympics [hadn't] started yet.

"The undertone to the whole thing that I wonder is, why him?" Gilbert said. "Why not Dwyane Wade? Why not Chris Bosh? Why not whoever else is coming due?

"The only thing you can come up with is there are certain writers, or people who live on the East or West Coast, who think that Cleveland, Ohio, is not a good enough place for a superstar of LeBron's caliber to spend his career. "Despite the quality of the franchise, the quality of life in the Midwest, the fans — it's a complete slap in the face from people who do not live in Cleveland, Ohio, to Cleveland, Ohio."

"If he were playing for the Lakers or the Knicks or the Nets or Miami, what they consider glamour teams, I don't think there would be any of this talk. And the proof of it is there. Because there's not talk of any of these other stars."


YES! That’s what I call serendipity, or something, because if you comb the archives of this very blog, I’ve been saying the very same thing for months. Gilbert hit several of my talking points, i.e. elitist dirtbag East Coast sports writers and the perception that Cleveland is not good enough for a star of LeBron’s luminescence. Check it out people, it’s all there!

Now Gilbert has to accept an interview request from me. We are so much alike. Not only our distaste for ESPN and other major media markets but also 1) We’re both the same height. 2) We can both bench press 200 lbs. (Seriously, Gilbert has made this claim or one close to it.)

I have changed my stance on Gilbert since he took over ownership of this franchise. I remember his first press conference at The Q. Gilbert cracking lame jokes with Gordon Gund under the steady gaze of new minority owner Usher. (If I’m not mistaken that was also the day the velvet clad R & B star unveiled his “Double C” hand signal. The gesture became so ubiquitous in Cleveland sports’ lore that to this day citizens use it to greet each other on the streets.) I thought our new owner was a bit of a dork. A rich dork, but a dork just the same.

Then he became a meddling dork, blowing out Silas and Paxson midstream. Not that they didn’t deserve to be fired, but both the timing of the move and Gilbert’s involvement were questionable. Then...something changed. Gilbert hired Ferry and Brown and quickly melted into the background and let those two do their jobs. You can argue about the hires, a debate that will go on until You Know Who signs on the dotted line (or not) in 2010, but Gilbert is not the tyrannical micromanager some feared him to be. He is willing to “spend money to make money,” a business practice the Dolans have yet to embrace.

Of course, Gilbert knows that his franchise’s worth will be halved if LeBron exits, but I applaud him for doing all he can to keep a certain #23 in town for the rest of his career. And I bow to him again for telling the snooty big-time media where to stick it.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

CNN/SI Big 10 Preview

CNN/SI has our Buckeyes on top, no surpise. But one loss, in conference. What was more surprising was where they have MU. I kept saying they were going to suck, but I really thought it was my Buckeye Pride/ignorance towards MU.

SI Conference Report: Big Ten

How They'll Finish
Conference Overall
W-L PCT W-L PCT
Ohio State 7-1 .875 11-1 .917
Wisconsin 6-2 .750 10-2 .833
Illinois 5-3 .625 8-4 .667
Iowa 5-3 .625 8-4 .667
Penn State 4-4 .500 8-4 .667
Michigan State 4-4 .500 7-5 .583
Northwestern 4-4 .500 7-5 .583
Michigan 3-5 .375 5-7 .417
Purdue 3-5 .375 5-7 .417
Minnesota 2-6 .250 4-8 .333
Indiana 1-7 .125 4-8 .333

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Michael Phelps...

Sure, a great story, and that relay race was one of the most exciting sporting events you could do (wow, I didn't know that Gus Johnson liked swimming!), but now I learn that not only does he go to Michigan, but also a Baltimore Ravens fan?

After the relay Phelps' sister tossed him a custom Baltimore Ravens jersey, Phelps' hometown and favorite team, with his name and the number 08. The entire team had autographed it for him.

Later on, after a 200-meter butterfly heat, Andrea Kremer of NBC asked Phelps what the jersey meant to him.

"I was so pumped," he said. "My sister threw it down to me. I just remember after I got my medal I walked back to the ready room where we were sitting, and everyone said, 'Let me see, let me see.' and I held up the jersey. They're like, 'No, no, the medal.' I was like, 'Well, I'm excited about the jersey.'"

Friday, August 1, 2008

Opa!! Lebron! (thanks Pucky)

As if the rumors to New Jersey, New York, or anywhere but Cleveland weren't bad enough. SI.com is reporting that the Greeks are planning to make a run at Lebron in 2010.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Let the Olympic Commercials Begin

Well I caught this spot the other day, featuring LeBron and Yao Ming, and it really caught my eye. I had to watch it a few times to catch some of the subtleties. Interesting music choice they made too.

Let the Olympic Commercials Begin

Well I caught this spot the other day, featuring LeBron and Yao Ming, and it really caught my eye. I had to watch it a few times to catch some of the subtleties. Interesting music choice they made too.


Sunday, July 27, 2008

Pretty quiet around here, must be football season...

Okay, when I said "the season" was over July 1, I had meant the baseball season for us faithful Indians fans, not "sports" in general! In that vein I love to see that the media is already predicting whether Ohio State could get jobbed out of a title game shot since they were beat the last two years there. Sounds legit to me. R-i-i-i-i-i-ight.

http://www.sportsline.com/print/collegefootball/story/10909200/2

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

It's always fun when the season ends July 1

I was at the Indians-White Sox game at "the Cell" last night, down the third base line near the foul pole. Which means I was in prime position to see Alexei Ramirez' game-tying home run in the 10th off Joe Borowski (after Blake's bomb in the top of the inning gave the Tribe the lead,) and how Ramirez' hit barely cleared the wall--landed maybe 2 feet over--but at such an angle that Ben Francisco couldn't have reached it without a ladder. No line drive, it was a towering shot.

I was with some work people--one Indians fan and two Cubs fans, but the Clevelanders could explain that what they just saw--in a one inning Cliffs' Notes version--was the life of a Cleveland fan. Good times.

Let's Go Tribe blog sums it up well too:

The game itself was a nice microcosm of this year's team. Cliff Lee again pitched magnificently, but couldn't stick around long enough for the offense to score its second run of the game. And when the Indians did take the lead, Joe Borowski blew the lead and the game. One good thing about the end of competitiveness is that the Indians don't have to pretend to need Borowski closing or even pitching in games.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Andre: Heart of a Giant

Check out this movie coming out in October. I love the Junkyard Dog reference. RIP Sylvester Ritter.

The Andre actor sound a lot like him.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The DL on JJ

The Cleveland Cavaliers tonight passed on both "local hero" (as ESPN.com called him) Kosta Koufos, and sinking-fast-in-the-first-round forward Darrell Arthur, went with a freshman out of North Carolina State, whom (nearly) all media reports seem to think has tons of athleticism and tons of potential.

Some pre-draft rundown on the newest Cavalier, J.J. Hickson.
_________________

ESPN.com:

Positives:


J.J. Hickson
Athletic big man with an NBA body. Explosive leaper. Physical.
Good finisher around the basket. Does most of his damage inside the key. Can hit the midrange jumper. Can put the ball on the floor and create his own shot. Excellent rebounder. Good shot-blocker.

Negatives: Still lacks some basketball IQ. Post moves are raw. Not especially quick.

Summary: A rising young player who has had a stellar freshman season for NC State. Teams love his body and athleticism. One of this year's draft sleepers. A mid-first-round pick if he stays in the draft. A potential lottery pick in 2009.

_____________

NBADraft.net

NBA Comparison: Chris Wilcox
Strengths: Very strong and mobile big man ... In addition to great upper and lower body strength, he has a very long wingspan, making his package that much more promising ... He has a nice first step that he utilizes effectively from the high-post, where he faces up and takes the ball to the hoop ... Shows nice patience and understanding of how to get open in the post, working from block to block to receive a pass in the best possible scoring position ... His repertoire in the post is decent and has shown some nice development; he can throw a variety of hook-shots, spin moves and up & unders at his defender from the block ... He has a fadeaway that is very difficult to defend because he gets it off with a mix of shoulder fakes ... Can be a difficult match up for bigger post players, because he has the body to mix it up inside, but also the speed and willingness to run the floor effectively ... Uses his length to block a number of shots and alter many others around the basket ... His broad shoulders allow him to clear space in the paint giving him a big advantage when it comes to rebounding ...

Weaknesses: Is still not ready for the next level, could use an extra year or so of college to mature further and develop his game ... Does not have the great leaping ability that so many other young 4 men in the league possess ... Although he shows a strong preference towards operating from the high post, his almost non-existent jump shot and subpar ballhandling will initially restrict him to the low blocks ... The limited range on his jumpshot can be attributed primarily to his flawed mechanics, as he does not square up to the basket and his elbow goes out too far on the release ... His touch around the hoop is very unrefined and he struggles to catch passes while on the move, which raises some questions about his hands ... He was able to get away with a lot offensively in college because he could always overpower the defender with his strength, but until he develops a dependable and consistent post up game he will struggle against the more athletic/aggressive players in the league ... Although he has been able to limit his fouls, his defensive game has shown minimal growth ... He is very undisciplined, leaving his feet to try and block every shot that is put up, he also gets out of position frequently, allowing his man to score with ease ...
Borko Popic - 5/26/2008

Strengths: Powerful, athletic forward with intriguing upside ... Has a great combination of agility and strength potential , appears as thought he'll be able to add another 20 pounds to his frame without losing much if any mobility ... Already has good strength with powerful legs and a solid upper body ... Has a very strong base with thick legs that make him tough to push around ... With his long wing span and strength/athleticism he has the potential to become a dominant rebounder ... Bouncy four-man who runs the court well, and finishes well above the rim ... Shows solid fundamentals shooting mid range jump shots ... Has soft hands and good touch ... Has above average ball handling ability and likes to face the basket and take opponents off the dribble ...

Weaknesses: Needs to develop his offensive post moves ... Must learn better footwork inside on both ends of the floor ... At times he appears to have mental lapses ... Needs to gain better focus for entire ball games ... Must learn how to use his great strength without drawing fouls. Improved footwork and concentration on fundamentals will help him. Not falling for ball fakes ... Can dominate opponents with sheer athleticism, but that won't be the case in the ACC next year, must gain better skill level ... Has a tendency to wander away from the basket for mid range jumpers, but is more effective using his strength inside ... His heavy legs give him great strength inside, but limit his lateral foot speed and may eventually slow him down some in transition ...
Aran Smith - 12/8/2006

______________

DraftExpress.com

Considering that he didn’t play in the three on three portion of the workouts in day two, there was really only so much we can say about what we saw here in the shooting drills. His bread and butter will always be the work he does with his back to the basket around the paint, so trying to judge him off his perimeter shooting doesn’t do him a lot of justice. Hickson is not at the same level conditioning wise as his workout partners Joe Alexander and Marreese Speights, but he looked extremely focused and resolute on executing everything he’s been taught by the people here. His length and athleticism are clearly terrific, and he looked very good using the glass to finish around the rim and even stepping out and knocking down shots out to 17 or 18 feet. He has a tendency to fade away excessively and sports an inconsistent release point, but his touch isn’t bad and it seems like he shouldn’t have a problem developing an effective mid-range game if he can clean up his shooting mechanics.

Joe Abunassar’s take: “Powerful and explosive with great size. Skilled both facing and on the block. Reminds me of a young Al Harrington the way he can take bigger players out on the floor and face up and out-quick them, then bury smaller players with his strength in the post. Also working really hard on his conditioning and body and has trimmed up quite a bit. “

______________

An interesting high school recruiting video:



______________

CollegeHoops.net

Scouting Report: A strong, athletic big man from a tough conference.

Strengths: Strong finisher – can absorb contact and still score. Nice hands. Long wingspan. Strong, thick frame. Nice post moves. Great shot-blocker. Great rebounder – had 10 double-digit rebounding games his freshman year. Very accurate from the field. Was “the man” on a team that plays in one of college’s best conferences. Athletic for a big man.

Weaknesses: Will be too small to play center in the NBA. Undersized – might only be 6’8”. Needs to develop range on his jumper. Relies too much on size/athleticism to score in college, but needs to diversify game to succeed at pro level. Very inexperienced. Needs to get in better shape. Is he quick enough to cover NBA power forwards?

Projected 2008 Draft Range: Late first round pick.

Consensus: There is no way Hickson should remain in this deep draft considering he is only a borderline first round choice. He needs to go back to school and develop more of his game and try again next draft.


______________
And...NBA.com

An early entry candidate for the 2008 NBA Draft.

Career Highlights: Earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors after leading all conference freshmen in scoring, rebounding and double-doubles. Also named Honorable Mention All-Conference. Earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors three times.

Freshman (2007-08): Led the team in scoring (14.8 ppg, ranked 10th in the ACC) and rebounding (8.5 rpg, second). Paced the conference in field goal percentage (.591) and ranked sixth in blocked shots (1.5 bpg). Scored 20 or more points seven times. Posted 10 double-doubles. Registered career-high 33 points on 10-for-11 shooting and added 13 rebounds vs. Western Carolina. Recorded 31 points on perfect 12-for-12 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds in his collegiate debut vs. William & Mary. Notched 21 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots at Michigan State. Set an ACC single game freshman record by pulling down a career-high 23 rebounds, while adding 13 points and four blocked shots vs. Clemson. Posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds at Duke. Grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds vs. Wake Forest. Logged 14 points and eight rebounds at North Carolina. Registered 27 points and 14 rebounds vs. Miami in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

High School: Earned Second Team Parade All-American honors and was named to the McDonald’s All-American Team, scoring an East team-high 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting and grabbing six rebounds. Tallied a team-high 24 points and eight rebounds at the Roundball Classic in Chicago, earning co-MVP honors. Averaged 25.9 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots as a senior. Averaged 21 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots as a junior and 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots as a sophomore.

Strengths: Athletic interior player who effectively uses his length and lower body strength to finish around the basket. Can face up and hit the mid-range jumper efficiently.

Personal: Favorite NBA player is Kevin Garnett. Favorite possession is his Ipod.

______________

And...ouch! Not a pre-draft outlook, from the live draft blog on SportingNews.com

19. Cleveland Cavaliers: J.J. Hickson, N.C. State, F, 6-9

DeCourcy's take: It's understandable why somebody would take him with a late pick. He's tall, athletic and reasonably skilled. But he did not dominate players whom he should have dominated. He did not make his college team better; it's not unfair to say he helped make it worse. There are more desirable players still on the board. A lot of people thought the Cavs would pick Kosta Koufos, which would have been the worst pick of the first round. Instead, they chose Hickson. Still the worst pick of the first round. If I'm LeBron James, I'm checking condo prices in Brooklyn right now. Is that Jay-Z on the phone?

Scout's take: I'm not jumping up and down about him. He looks good. He's a Tim Thomas-type. But there is nothing out of the ordinary about his game. He's one of these young players -- a freshman -- who declare for the NBA draft still living off their AAU reputations. He needs a lot of work.



Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Brian Windhorst

I know a lot of us are big fans of his and some of you may have read this on Truehoop, or somewhere else but I thought I would post this from Truehoop for the people who haven't heard.

Think Good Thoughts for Brian Windhorst

June 24, 2008 6:27 PM

Brian Windhorst is, hands down, one of the best and hardest working writers in sports. His work for the Akron Beacon-Journal (and here on ESPN.com) is a must-read for me, every day, and his book about LeBron James and the Cavaliers is tremendous.

He is a great guy to know away from sports -- funny, smart, warm.

He has honored TrueHoop more than once by sitting in for me when I have been on vacation.

And at the moment, Brian Windhorst is also in the hospital and pretty sick.

Some people close to Brian have asked a small favor of TrueHoop readers: Pray. Think good thoughts ... do what you can to send good optimism and love to Brian in the hospital.

It just might help.

Thanks.


Hopefully, he can make a full recovery. I did some googling to see what the medical condition was and from what someone posted on a message board it's double pneumonia. The post said he was in critical condition, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. He is by far one of the best beat writers and one of the best on the NBA, his insight with the draft and potential trades will be missed this week.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

If he's freestyling maybe he should retire from the NBA

Damn Shaq you don't have to dis Ewing and Kareem along with your boy Kobe!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Annoyances

  1. ESPN commercial about the NBA Finals that says "After one of the biggest comebacks in playoff history..." ONE OF??? It's the NBA Finals. They were up by 24 AT HOME. 20 in the third quarter. Why not just call it the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history? I'm not positive if there was ever a bigger point deficit, but I think I heard it's the biggest 2nd half Finals comeback.
  2. While the Euro 2008 soccer tournament is great, the Macarena sounding club scene music ESPN uses for it is like fingernails on a chalkboard.
  3. The Stacy Keibler, Matt Hasselbeck, Chad Johnson, Tory Holt Reebok commercial. At least once a year you ask yourself "why would a famous person do a commercial like that?" (Rothlesberger Fathead commercial for example) This year it goes to Matt Hasselbeck. In the words of a close friend "I wanna shake the sh!t out of him" every time I see him dance in that commercial.
  4. The stomach flu or similar. I felt like I was hit by a truck for the better part of a week.

Friday, June 13, 2008

What a Choke Job



I don't know if the Cavaliers would have faired better in the West than the Lakers... I'll "go out on a limb" and say they wouldn't have finished with the top seed. But don't tell me from watching the Finals that the Cavaliers couldn't have beaten the Lakers had they made it to the Finals. The Lakers are as soft as sponge cake and the Cavs "great", "good", or "average" as some say, defense would've been way too much for the guys from LaLa Land to handle.

As a side note... Is Paul Pierce the biggest drama queen ever? Did you guys catch his Game 4 post game interview court side, where he looked up to the heavens almost in tears to explain how the Celtics were able to come back? This after "tweaking" his knee...errr...ankle after a missed jump shot 10 minutes earlier. Anyone who calls out Lebron for whining and selling fouls, needs to watch Pierce take a little contact. And count how many times MVP Kobe whines to the refs.

This also shows that everyone may be wrong in saying the West is so much better than the East. It may be more competitive because the teams are more even, but it isn't better. Now I don't mean from top to bottom, but the top teams in the East are as good as the top teams in the West. I like the Cavs, Pistons, and Celtics over the Lakers. If Lebron doesn't go into a historic shooting slump for two plus games, we might be on the verge of our first NBA championship.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Lesser of two evils

Of all the possible matchups to crown an NBA champion, the last I wanted to see was Lakers v. Celtics. This despite knowing Boston and L.A. are the best two teams in their respective conferences and a clash between them was by far the most intriguing pairing possible - not to mention the sideshow created by the franchises’ four decades of basketball rivalry.

However, my singular sickness as a bitter Cleveland fan simply will not allow me to enjoy the rich getting richer. I cannot abide Boston winning their 17th championship or the Lakers their 15th. Who wants to deal with the lovefest after the idiotically named “Boston Three Party” gets a ring? Who wants to hear about the genius of L.A.’s front office ripping off Memphis in a sweetheart deal to get Pau Gasol? Does Phil Jackson really need more accolades? Do New England-area sports fans really need another championship parade? Can I root for both teams to lose?

I personally don’t care much about the history, the rivalry, the big market teams going at one another; all the hype-driven melodrama that ESPN and David Stern have been prayerfully anticipating since the beginning of the playoffs. There hasn’t been a Lakers-Celts championship series in over 20 years, and I’m too young to remember much of what transpired. The only good thing to come out of that long-ago series was the Sega Genesis game entitled, understandably enough, “Lakers versus. Celtics.” If I’m not mistaken, it was the first basketball video game to keep assists. So at least the rivalry has contributed something to popular culture.

Ultimately, I will watch this series, if not from wire-to-wire. It hasn’t been that hard to pick a side either, which initially surprised me. I will be rooting for the Lakers, the lesser of the two evils. I’m no fan of Kobe Bryant, but the man is an assassin, the type of cool on-court killer I’d love to see LeBron become. I wouldn’t hate seeing Kobe get a ring without Shaq. Plus the Lakers have better celebrity representation than Boston: Jack Nicholson may have been annoying in “The Departed,” but he was mesmerizing in one of my favorite flicks, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The Celtics don’t have a visible star at courtside, ala Nicholson or Spike Lee. However, the Red Sox are represented by the loathsome Ben Affleck, so his detestable specter automatically hovers over Boston's other teams as well.

Really, my rooting interest comes down to Boston’s whiny fanbase, who had the gall to cry about their World Series woes pre-2004, an era in which the Patriots were winning three of four Super Bowls. The region’s teams have won five championships in the past decade, and played for the title in all three major sports during the last nine months. If Cleveland fans are the Israelites trudging through the sports’ desert, than Boston fans are some other biblical figures quietly reposing in a green pasture where there’s plenty of water and food. (I could not think of a specific analogy here.) You get what I’m saying: They are comfortable and arrogant and I don’t like it.




I can't remember the last time I was interested in boxing enough to make a plan or pay to watch a fight. It was probably back around the Tyson Ear Eating Era. Even then it was more about watching a trainwreck. I seldom had an rooting interest in a particular boxer.

That being said I really do enjoy Kelly Pavlik. I and I genuinley root for him. I am sure it mostly due to geography. I/we don't consider Youngstown really being part of Cleveland untill it's convenient, i.e. Tressel, Springsteen's song, now Pavlik).
It's easy to love this guy:
Wearing the Buckeye shorts.
He's from a small blue collar town.
Skinny white guy.
He sleeps on his parents tiny couch in thier tiny house before the fight.
And he's a true Cleveland Fan.

The fact that he is about as tall as Pucky, and weighs slightly more than me is stunning.

I think one of my favorite things about him is that he is one of us, in the sense of being a Cleveland Sports Fan. Seeing him throw out the first pitch at the tribe game, the toin coss (Inside Madden joke from 1995) at the Browns game was pretty cool. But interviews after showed he is a true fan of these teams and these athletes, just like us. He has grown up with the same sports heartache's as us, and he is from a town that gets no respect.

In that way it makes him more like me than Lebron is. It's that, that I enjoy about Pavlik, and that, that bugs me about Lebron.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Stark runs through the Indians...

Jason Stark today runs through the AL Central teams and here's his take on the Indians. Personally I think the bats have to come around, right? Right? I would love to have CC back but it's looking less and less likely.
__________________

CLEVELAND INDIANS Indians

WHAT WE EXPECTED:
We expected this to be the deepest pitching staff in baseball. We expected this relief crew to be the best bullpen in the AL Central. We expected Travis Hafner to bounce back. And we expected a team that won 96 games last year to take that next step. Hey, it all seemed logical at the time.

WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
The best starting pitcher in town has been -- who else? -- Cliff Lee. C.C. Sabathia has almost as many starts in which he's given up nine runs (two) as he has wins (three). Injuries (Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook and Joe Borowski) have tested that pitching depth. The bullpen has the second-highest ERA (4.44) in the AL. And Hafner (hitting .217, with 2 homers) headed for the DL last week with a sore shoulder -- and a lower OPS (.677) than Marco Scutaro or Jack Hannahan.

BEST REASON TO THINK THEY'LL WIN:
Even though Westbrook figures to be out indefinitely, this rotation is still as good as any in baseball. Carmona (hip) returns by the end of the month. Sabathia (2.08 ERA in his past eight starts) is himself again. And this team's sixth and seventh starters -- Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers -- are better than some teams' third and fourth starters.


BEST REASON TO THINK THEY WON'T WIN: You think the White Sox have trouble scoring? Sheesh, the Indians hit just .218 for the entire month of May. They've already played 30 games in which they scored three runs or fewer. (They only did that 56 times all last year.) And their rotation injuries might make it impossible for them to deal a starting pitcher for an impact bat. "They've got problems," said one scout. "[Victor] Martinez is playing hurt. Asdrubal Cabrera hasn't done anything. Casey Blake is really just a bench player. And [Ryan] Garko and Hafner aren't hitting a lick. Their whole lineup is scuffling at once. And they don't have enough pitching to overcome all that."

WATCH THIS PLOT LINE FROM NOW TO OCTOBER:
Could this team really unload Sabathia? Only if it thinks it has no shot to win. But clubs that have spoken with the Indians report they're already floating Sabathia's name just to "measure his value," even though they're also saying they're not ready to open the shop yet. So clearly, it's not impossible. "There's no other pitcher who could get traded in July who can impact the postseason like him," says an official of one team.