0 for ? From the Field An Akron Zips basketball player was arrested last Monday on charges that he shot at police. Surprising no one, his shots missed and he was chased down after a short foot chase. Looks like he has a lot to work on before the season tips off.
Sabathia Stinks Wow...
Upgrading the IR After last year’s struggles getting players to fill the IR, the Browns signed CB Daven Holly to a one-year deal so that he could inure his knee on Tuesday. Reports say he landed awkwardly, and will require season ending surgery.
Alcohol Related A 25-year old Atlanta Braves fan died this past week from injuries he sustained after sliding down a hand rail in the upper deck of Turner Field. TBS, Very Funny!
Chinese Tetris
Did the last group in the video really think they could throw the guy through the slot?
Early Retirement It was revealed this week that Vince Young contemplated retirement after his rookie season with the Titans. Can he get his money back for this?
Kobe Bryant makes me want to have an oral bowl movement. I guess I should be fair, it's not Kobe's fault. It's the fault of the press. Let's forget that he's a rapist. Yes, I believe he raped her. Twice in fact. Once in the hotel room and once when he paid her off. But I digress. As this NBA season was getting rolling, Kobe was once again the most hated individual in the league. Why? He basically said his entire team wasn't fit to play in the Horizon League, let alone the NBA. He demanded a trade. He then followed up with his single best performance of the year, an attention whore like 180 only days later. People, the guy is a top notch A-hole. An A-hole of Barry Bonds like proportion. When it was announced that he won the MVP, everyone went battered woman on us. "The MVP couldn't possible be an A-hole!" For the last 3 weeks i have had to listen to Mike and Mike (whom I rather enjoy), Collin Cowherd, Shemon and others talk about what a great guy Kobe is. He is so much more mature now than he was at the beginning of the season. Pardon Me? It's been what 9 months tops? He is more mature? Next you’re going to tell me Hitler was just misunderstood. Maybe I am wrong. In fact, in an effort to show mature he is, he whored his kids out to press during a press conference. That is one of my personal favorite moves by an athlete by the way. "Oh he is so down to earth". If that's how you want to look at it, so be it. I on the other hand am going to call a spade a spade.
Well, the Indians lost again last night pushing their losing streak to 4 games and dropping them to third place in the AL Central. The story of the night was once again the Indians lack of hitting. At this point last year the Indians were in first place with a 27-15 record and had driven in 49 more runs than they have this year. It is now apparent that something needs to be done as far as the hitters are concerned. Nearly every article written about the Indians now is pointing to their deficiencies in the lineup. One report suggests firing Derk Shelton, which isn’t necessarily a bad idea. When you look at the statistics, the Indians are one of the worst offensive teams in baseball. We know what this team is capable of, and they just aren’t doing it.
Tonight the Indians will look to put a halt to this slide with Paul Byrd taking the mound. I’m really hoping that the White Sox hitters will be thrown off by his retarded pelican wind up. Can someone please talk to him about that? He’s embarrassing himself. But hey, if it gets the job done more power to him. The Indians can’t let too much distance get between themselves and first place while they're struggling to score runs.
Technically this is a Cleveland Sports Blog. While I support the Tribe and follow them in the papers, baseball does not get interesting to me until after the all-star break. Baseball is The Mummers territory. Therefore, I thought I would get to something that has been on my mind lately. Instant Replay.
I tend to be a traditionalist. I have very mixed opinions on the subject, which means when it benefits my team, I am in favor of it. On one hand, if we have the technology, let’s get every call of every game correct. On the other hand, doesn’t that take some of the mystique of sports out of the equation? I am not that old, so I still remember playing sports as a kid. I remember on multiple occasions having a heart to heart with my dad on the long ride home concerning the lack luster officiating that day. He would always tell me, “That’s just how life is” or “Life isn’t always far” both of which seemed like a cop out to me. To me, bad officiating is just another part of the game. Coaches should be scouting officials like they do opponents and weather fronts. If we continue to make replay a bigger and bigger part of our sports, aren’t taking a piece of the game with it. The problem comes with guys like Tim Donaghy. Stories like his lead us to believe that all officials are on the take. While I have shouted that at me television on multiple occasions, the fact of the matter is, their human. That’s what makes it great. Put yourself in an officials shoes. The next time you are watching a game, count the number of times you would have gotten a questionable call correct. No using the rewind button on your DVR either. Watch the play once at full speed. 95% of the time the official get the call correct. My guess is that is a hell of a lot better than you will do. The fact is, we don’t complain about every call. We complain about the one call that in our opinions changed the game. Lest we forget the close calls that went our way earlier in the game or that our star player shot 7 of 32 that day.
You’re right Drew, the practices aren’t mandatory but his TEAMMATES will be there. He’s going to miss out on building relationships with the rookies and strengthening relationships with the veterans. I don’t necessarily think he is in jeopardy of losing his starting job, but now the Browns have a legitimate second option if he decides to pull any more of his…what’s the word…uh…hey Farva, what's the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks? You mean shenanigans? Yea that’s right. If he pulls any more of his shenanigans Romeo Crennel is definitely going to pistol whip him. Or he might just start Martin Rucker for a few games to eat up Kellen’s TD’s and yardage. Rucker is essentially just a taller version of Winslow, standing 6’6” to Kellen’s 6’4”. He’s not a blocking tight-end, which would have been nice but with the Browns offense looking to be pass-heavy he should fit right in.
Ryan Tucker Injury Ryan Tucker fractured his hip this past Wednesday. He immediately underwent surgery and will be out at least two months. The Browns expect him to be ready for the opener against Dallas.
Dixon Arrested Former Cleveland Brown Hanford Dixon was arrested early Monday morning for allegedly driving under the influence. According to the report, he was asked to recite the alphabet and couldn't. That's right, he couldnt' recite the alphabet. They didn’t ask him to say it backwards or skip every other letter. Just recite the alphabet, and he couldn’t do it…wow.
Cleveland Browns Media Darlings? I’ve been reading all over the internet that the Cleveland Browns are now Media Darlings. This because of their jaw-dropping 5 national television appearances they will make this year, with three coming on MNF. As a Browns fan, I’m not used to this and frankly, it has me a little worried. Anything less than a deep run in the playoffs this year will be viewed as a disappointment. In just this past off-season they’ve upgraded the wide receiving core, added a legitimate back-up at tight end, and bolstered the defensive line. It looks like the big question marks this year will be the secondary, linebackers, and Jamal Lewis at running back. Andra Davis and Willie McGinest aren’t getting any younger, but the young guys showed last year that they may be on the verge of something great. As far as Jamal Lewis goes, he surprised the hell out of me last year. I really thought he had too many miles on him to be effective but he showed with that punishing running style that he still has what it takes. But, should he go down for any extended amount of time this year, the Browns will have a hard time finding someone to replace him.
Tonight the Indians look to put a halt to this current three game slide with a visit to U.S. Cellular Field against the streaking Chicago White Sox. Although, I’m not all that concerned with this six game winning streak that the White Sox have put together. The last three wins have come against the San Francisco Giants, who have claimed the top bunk in the National League basement. Taking the mound for the Indians will be red-hot C.C. Sabathia, who has put his early season troubles behind him. It looks as if C.C. is now keeping the ball down in the zone, and working the cutter more effectively, which is translating into K’s and W’s. This is better than the alternative A & W’s, that Sabathia is so obviously a fan of.
Prepare yourselves for another fat joke ladies and gentleman…
I’m looking for Sabathia to carve up the White Sox like one of his nightly hams!! And he will need to be lights out tonight as the Indians hitters are still struggling to get into a rhythm.
(Note: We are now just a quarter of the way through the season and the hits appear to come and go like a chronic case of the herps. Now, I’m not asking that the Indians hit the panic button, but something needs to be done. I love the promotion of Ben Francisco who is proving day-by-day that he deserves to be in the lineup. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but I’m not sure it will be enough to wake this sleeping giant.)
It would be nice to see the Indians begin to turn around their hitting misfortunes tonight, but I don’t think it will happen. Indians hitters have not faired well against Jose Contreras in the past, so working the counts and making him throw a lot of pitches will be key. If the Indians can get into that atrocious White Sox bullpen early, they may find success and pull out a win tonight.
With the Cavaliers done for the year, and the Indians having the day off after being swept in Cincinnati, I feel we all could use a pick-me up. Let's take a look at some top plays to make us feel better.
First, let's watch Lebron score half the Cavs points while the rest of the team climbs onto his back.
Now let's watch Garnett soil himself!
He has no regard for human life? Someone should really talk to him about that...how about his mom!!
And who can forget this alley-oop in the first round.
If you're Danny Ferry, how are you not swallowing a shotgun tonight? Most of us in Cleveland thought the trade for Wally, Delonte, Wallace and throw in Joe Smith was a good trade for the most part. From what I saw of this series Joe Smith was the only consistent one of the bunch. And that is only because we didn’t expect much out of him. To reinforce my counterpart, Wallace can't rebound and Delonte went turn over happy. Wally was sharp shooter like in spurts at best. While I think Delonte is going to contribute in huge ways in the future (possibly as soon as next season), I'm tired of waiting for a title. The trouble is, where do the Cav’s go next? They are not going to bring in another a superstar a la the Lakers (Gasol) and Celtics (Garnett and Allen) to compliment Lebron. So where do they go in the draft this season?
On another note, why no Eric Snow sightings lately. At $6 mil a year, they should at least let him be the guy that drapes the towel over Lebron's shoulders during a time out. Or better yet, he could be Lebron's designated finger nail chewer. Yeah, I like that. Now during TO's you would see Snow chewing on Lebron's fingers. That's sexy.
Lebron James just posted one of the single greatest playoff performances ever, while his teammates performed one of the single greatest disappearing acts in the playoffs. As a Cleveland sports fan, I should be used to this, we ALL should be used to this. Delonte West turned the ball over six times, nearly all coming on crucial break-aways when the Cavs were within striking distance. Someone needs to remind Pele that he plays basketball. While doing that, please remind Ben Wallace that he gets paid to rebound the ball. It was only two years ago he was averaging 10.5 rebounds a game, while tonight he pulled down a whopping 4. Big Ben is now just a shell of the man that tormented the Cavs while he was in Detroit. But hey, we always have next year!
