Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Don't boo Kyrie Irving, at least not tonight

Kyrie Irving--perhaps the best pound-for-pound finisher in the NBA, the #1 pick that lived up to it, the signer-of-long-term-Cleveland-deals-before-it-was-cool, the name on the back of my kid's jersey, and most of all, the man who hit the biggest shot in Cavaliers NBA history--returns to Cleveland tonight.

Yes, he has his quirks. He may not believe in a spherical planet underneath his feet, he may not be interested in playing on a team certain to contend for the NBA Title again, he wants to be more famous than the best player on the planet. This summer his apparent dislike for LeBron James led to him asking for, and receiving, a trade, to the number one Eastern Conference threat, the Boston Celtics. And whoo, boy, Cavs fans don't know how to react when they tip off the season tonight.

Does he get the full Albert Belle/LeBron James White Sox/Heat treatment? I should hope not. I would hope that forever, Kyrie Irving is loved--or at least remembered fondly--by Cavs fans. Shoot, I'd buy him a drink if I saw him, from now until eternity because of 2016. But of course, there are fans who want to curse his name.

Please don't.

Please remember this. And say "Thanks, Kyrie."



And this.


And this.



And this.



And this.


Cheer appreciatively, then root your ass off against the Celtics. The trade they had to make to land Kyrie may have hurt their team as much as it helped them, and to be honest, may have done the same for the Cavs. Kyrie may be trying to drop little burns about a "real sports city", which makes no sense, but LeBron is also twisting the knife with his constant reference to Kyrie as "the kid."

If not for anything else, this should be an entertaining game. If LeBron is in, it will be fire. If LeBron misses the game because of his ankle, hey, the Cavs with DWade and DRose need to see what they can do.


Sunday, October 1, 2017

What CST Thinks about Bengals-Browns today

                                              Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns

October 1, 2017


Bengals 29, Browns 17

I thought the Browns defense would lead the team to a few victories this year. I thought Myles Garrett and Jamie Collins would help that happen.


No pick today.
Browns 21, Bengals 17

This is the time of the Browns season when I start thinking about what else I could be doing on Sundays. After last week's "Fool me once" pick, though,  I play the fool once more in believing the Browns can scratch out a victory against the winless Bengals. An 0-4 start against this portion of the schedule would truly crank up the draft talk, "Fire Hue!" calls, and other Browns-related tedium that returns every year to Berea like the swallows to Capistrano. Meanwhile, I'll turn my eyes to the two actual, factual championship-level teams we have in this town.

Bengals 38, Browns 6

The Juice is loose as of 12:01 this morning, Vegas time. Can he catch? Could he be any worse than our current WRs?


Bengals 31, Browns 24

The Browns shall not ruin my giddiness of getting D. Wade this week. He's not the addition he would've been five years ago, but a move that's being undersold by the pundits and local fans. Very ironic that C-Town is now home to two out of three most evil Big 3.

 
Browns 34, Bengals 7

I'm giving Brian a run for CST's Biggest Homer.


Bengals 31, Browns 24

Don't think the Browns have the talent to get it done today.