It's not football season, so it's a good Sports Sunday

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Sunday rundown--I'm stuck in Chicago, and balancing the sporting events by watching the Indians on MLB.tv (which is great by the way), and the Cavaliers (and Masters) DVR-delayed. Whew, my brain hurts!

I'm not sure what we just watched with the Cavaliers today. A 31 point victory that wasn't in question after about four minutes into the game. Firing on all cylinders but I guess defense is the lead story today. Grabbing rebounds, tipping balls, all-out hustle just blew the Celtics out of the building.

The fourth quarter had Mike Breen and crew discussing that all-of-a-sudden, none of them thinks LeBron is going to leave in 2010. Quite a turnaround from all the buzz at the beginning of the season. But you have to think, watching the amazing chemistry that the Cavaliers have, that he must absolutely love playing for this team. It's been said repeatedly that this team is closer than any team people can remember. Even Anderson got a tattoo to celebrate his standing on the team! (Thanks to Shaver Sports.) Adding to that the fact that Lebron is close to home, a home that he loves, and I gotta pray that they're right about him staying.

Earlier they were debating which Cavaliers team is better, this year's 65+ win team, or the 56 win team of Price-Daugherty-Nance-Williams-Harper-Sanders-Ehlo. I guess it needs a look through the stats sheets, but as I've said before, this team is far from a one man team. It's just that one man on this team is other-worldly. Z is a Cavs Legend and one of the better centers in the league. He may not dominate the game--but he doesn't have to, and he knows it, and he does exactly what is needed. The backcourt of West and Williams is outstanding. And the Smith-Varajao-Wallace combination at F/C just play hard and do the little things. The bench is always there. It's hard for me to say that any Cavaliers team has been this good--or well rounded. Then again, this is just top of head.

And...the Indians won as well! We'll take it. And three home runs for Pronk through the first week? Could he be...back??

Tribe Time?

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Well it's 5 games into the season and the Indians are 0-5, somewhere they haven't been in 20-something years.  I gotta say I am (NOT was) expecting a big season from the Tribe--so can't give up hope yet.  Not the best way to get out of the gates, though.

On the other hand..the Cavs clinch home court through the conference finals, and still have a 1-1/2 game lead over the Lakers (really a 1-game lead, since they win the tiebreaker) for overall record.

Interesting stat:  "(Lebron James) is about to join Kevin Garnett (2002-03), Scottie Pippen (1994-95) and Dave Cowens (1977-78) as the only players in the game's modern history (since 1973-74) to lead their team in total points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals" according to Mark Stein on ESPN.com.  Yet nobody who has watched the Cavs play all season long think this is a one-man team, not by a long shot.  Very interesting.

Of course, Stein also doesn't even put Mike Brown on his coach of the year ballot.  Really?  Raise your hand if you thought the Cavs were going to win more than 55 games before the season started.  Thank you.  That deserves a look at Coach of the Year.

Rollin'

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Cavs with another great performance last night and now another long winning streak--at 11 in a row. They are playing really good and this run of home games is so vital for that much-needed home court during the playoffs. Gotta say we're three weeks away and I am just about ready for some playoff basketball!


But the highlight of the week is still the amazing behind the back practically touch-pass from LeBron to Anderson...

Stay Classy, Cleveland

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A Browns fan gives it to Chris Cooley, starting with "Your a f***ing douchebag.", and Browns fans get some grief on the blogosphere.

http://chriscooley47.blogspot.com/2009/03/dear-dennis.html

It's Business Time!

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Right now it's a good time to be a sports fan in Cleveland. Okay, maybe not a Browns fan still, but with hopes again springing eternal for the Indians (despite Adam Miller maybe having a career ending injury), and a wise man recently Twittering:

Bucks & Vikes at the dance, Cavs 40+ games over .500, Matt Saracen at WR. I don't wanna talk about wars between nations. Not right now.'

I'm about 8 weeks behind on the DVR for Friday Night Lights so I don't get that refererence, but the Cavaliers playing amazingly is going to lead to a great next couple of months. And Ohio repping the tournament with 5 teams: Ohio State, Cleveland State, Akron, Dayton, and Xavier. Let's see if a couple can make some noise (despite the 8, 11, and two 13 seeds among them.)

I've said for years that today, the opening Thursday of March Madness, is the best sports day of the year. But alas, it was a lot better when I didn't have to sit at my desk, working through lunch and working late, trying to catch a score online once in a while. It was better when we could just push the television to the porch of 49 Chittenden, get a couple kegs, sit in the sunshine and watch basketball. Days like this make me miss Columbus. (And wasn't it March Madness when we got a keg of Löwenbräu Dark, consumed large quantities of it for hours, and then decided the only explanation was that it must be non-alcoholic, so we switched to the delicious Busch Light keg?)

In the meantime, there is until Friday night to decide whether to watch Cleveland State or Ohio State, who play at the same time.