Contending Tribe seems content to stand pat

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"My personality is completely genuine, bro!"

It's been a frustrating month of August for the Indians. The offense has been dire during these dog days, with every mistake the Tribe makes magnified by the lack of production at the dish. As the calendar turns to September, Cleveland seems poised on a razor's edge of contention that could slice them a good one at any moment. But even with the waiver-wire trade deadline looming, all is quiet on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. 

The Indians could certainly use help from a player not named Matt Carson. The unbalanced MLB schedule has sent the Wahoos to Atlanta for three interleague games, while Tribe bully Detroit drools in anticipation for a potentially back-breaking weekend series. 

Deep breaths. Repeat.

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Deep breaths.

Chris Perez is NOT looking toward home plate after
a strikeout. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan via Plain Dealer)

That's what to do.

It's not that big a deal.

The Indians are playing out of their mind, winning 10 out of 11 games before tonight, and hey, it's August 5th and we are only three games out.

Well, were three games out. But with four games against the only team ahead of us, it's a good thing, right?  Never mind that the only team ahead of the Indians are the murderer's row lineup of the Detroit Tigers, the team that has Justin Verlander as their second best starter, and the team that has won 9 games in a row.

Never mind that the team behind the Indians are the Kansas City Royals, and they're not the likely double digits behind--they've won in the neighborhood of eighty straight games and again, it's August 5th.

Never mind that the Indians went to the ninth inning up 2-0 against the fearsome Tigers, and at least one foolish fan/blogger thought "wouldn't it be great to get yet another shutout this season, this time against the Tigers. Hey, wouldn't it say something to shut them out all four games??"

That foolish fan forgot that he was talking about the Tigers. And that our pitcher in the ninth inning can be, shall we say, a little adventurous.

Today's adventure was more like The Blair Witch Project, in that it sucked and left me nauseous.

Never mind that Alex Avila--the guy hitting .197 coming into today, was told to swing away with runners on first and second and no outs. And then he hits a three run home run.

Never mind all that. Deep breaths. There is real life in them here Indians. So they are four games out as they go to sleep tonight. They are tossing and turning because they're not two games out. But there are something like fifty games remaining. Four games is not a mountain too high to climb.

Never mind that damn lineup in Detroit. Next time, how about more than two runs. Did I mention that lineup?

Survivor type: Resilient Tribe rolls into All-Star break

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Hot Tribe has survived injuries and legal problems.

The Cleveland Indians are like a hard-tagged fighter who keeps pulling himself off the canvas with a look of determination on his bruised and bloody face. This squad has endured injuries, a tire-fire bullpen, a closer who allegedly gets his weed delivered to him via post, and a 4-16 stretch that put it 5 1-2 games back of first place at the beginning of June. 

And yet, the Tribe is entering the All-Star break with a 51-44 record, just a game-and-a half back of the Central Division-leading Detroit Tigers. You could call this 2013 club Team Bounceback. Go ahead, do it. It feels rather good.

Bynum-to-Cavaliers a gamble well worth taking

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Bynum brings talent and Moe Howard 'do to Cleveland.

Andrew Bynum has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last year.

The former All-Star center missed every single second of floor time while a member of the Philadelphia 76ers last year. Before the start of the 2012-13 season, there were reports that he did additional damage to his already shoddy knees while bowling. In May, he took his dual bone bruises to Spain, where he was taped dancing the flamenco. 

The words "lazy" and "overpaid" have been used to describe the 7-footer. If Bynum wants to get (over)paid in Cleveland, he's going to have to overcome his slovenly reputation, as your Cavaliers have reportedly signed him to a two-year, $24-million deal, with just $6 million guaranteed.

Twelve-year-old names brain tumor "Michigan", then beats it.

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The day after Browns fan Scott Entsminger takes an epic swipe at his beloved team in his obituary, we get a very nice heartwarming story out of Columbus. As reported by NBC Sports, 12-year-old Buckeye fan Grant Reed just finished his last chemotherapy session, where he beat the brain tumor he had nicknamed "Michigan."

Get well soon, Grant. Michigan indeed sucks. (Picture of Grant with Urban Meyer from @SportsCenter)

Urban Meyer with Grant Reed (Via @Sportscenter)

Complete story after the jump.