Ferry GM stuff

Bud Shaw has a nice column: Judge Ferry on His Trades.

And Terry Pluto give Ferry some advice.

I agree with Shaw, if you STILL got beef with the Harper-Ferry trade, give Wayne Embry a call. Ferry handled it well while he was here. He never complained (and he could've).

Most of Pluto's advice I agree with, re-sign Z, look to get a rebounding power forward (a Boozer type). Get a shooting guard. But again, Pluto looks at Larry Hughes.

5. LOOK HARD AT LARRY HUGHES: There are four premier free-agent shooting guards. Ray Allen heads the list, but he's expected to stay with the Seattle SuperSonics. He also is the least likely of the four to mesh with James.

I love Joe Johnson, who averaged 19 points and shot better than 50 percent from the field and 3-point range in the playoffs. But he's a restricted free agent, meaning the Phoenix Suns can match any offer he receives. It's hard to imagine them letting him go.

I prefer Hughes to Redd, because Hughes is a much better ballhandler, rebounder and defender. He also scored 22 points a game for the Washington Wizards, along with 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He'd bring some grit to a very soft team.

Redd is a superior outside shooter, and certainly, there is no reason to mourn if the Cavaliers come out of free agency with Redd.

And I agree, Allen will be too expensive and may not mesh with James. And I think the Cavs chances of signing Joe Johnson diminished greatly since the Suns traded Richardson. However, Pluto just brushes over Hughes poor shooting. It's not Redd is a better shooter than Hughes, but Ira Newble is!

If you watched any Cavalier games this year, you know Newble can't shoot worth a damn. Other teams left him open, daring him to shoot. So Pluto wants the Cavs to lay down a big chunk of money on Hughes? Lets compare stats.

Newble: FG% - .429 3PT FG% - .358
Hughes: FG% - .430 3PT FG% - .282

And why not, here's another terrible shooter, Eric Snow's stats:

Snow: FG% - .382 3PT FG% - .289

Is Hughes a better player than Newble and Snow? Yes, but that's not the point. The point is the Cavs need players who can shoot the 3 more than Rob Schneider needs Adam Sandler to keep making movies. Hughes more of a slashing player and the Cavs need someone who can hit open shots. Especially 3s. If they are going to spend a ton of money on a shooting guard, my hope would be that he shoots the 3 better than Eric Snow and Ira Newble. I don't think that's too much to ask.

I would rate the SG in this order (Allen is lower because of his age and money demands):
1. Johnson
2. Redd
3. Allen
4. Hughes

Johnson would be ideal, and if they overpay for him (and I think they are going to have to overpay to get anyone of these guys), the Suns may not be able to match because of the contracts of Nash and Marion, plus Stoudamire's coming up (keep Amare over Joe).

If I were the Cavs I would take a look at Kwame Brown, who the Wizards just made a restricted FA. He needs a change of scenery and I think the Cavs can afford to take a chance with him. Hell, even do a sign and trade with Gooden (if Brown flops, use Andesron to start). Also, talk to Tractor, it would be a shame to let him go.

Iran's Pres. Elect

Is reportedly one of the captors from 1979. (cnn)

This blog has pictures.

I don't know much about this guy, but he doesn't sound like he's the guy who's gonna be helping bring the US and Iran together.

Fun column

Good stuff:

I played these little games in my head to see how far I'd gone. To see how much I was forgetting in order to make room for this stuff.

I knew that Tom Cruise got engaged to Katie Holmes at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and I'd be able to pick Jackson's lawyer out of a crowd.But I couldn't name the assistant secretary of defense - even in a time of war.

I knew the exact time Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, and I could tell you that the runaway bride got a half-million-dollar advance to tell her story.

But I had lost track of how many U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

I knew that Paris Hilton had announced she was retiring in two years, but I couldn't tell what she does for a living.

Republican Congressman:

Sadam was part of 911.

"Saddam Hussein and people like him were very much involved in 9/11," Rep. Robin Hayes said.

Told no investigation had ever found evidence to link Saddam and 9/11, Hayes responded, "I'm sorry, but you must have looked in the wrong places."

This doesn't help his case:

President Bush said in September 2003 that "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11 [attacks]."

Oh, and being the liberal news network it is, CNN's quote from the 'other side' was John McCain.

Draft Diary

2005 style. Again, delightful.

Putin: Superbowl Champion

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, reportedly walked off with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's superbowl ring.

Was it a gift? Was it a misunderstanding? Can Kraft just get another one?

This is CNN

Clinton News Network? Communist News Network?

Right.

Ha

Isiah Thomas's Myspace page.

NBA Thoughts

The Cavs seem to be looking to trade into the draft tonight, possibly trading Jiri Welsch. I've heard second round pick for Welsch, which would be great, because the Cavs traded a first round pick for him 5 months ago. Great job guys!

The same article has new GM Danny Ferry saying he wants to keep Z. Hooray! Someone who gets it, you don't just let go of talented big men. It seems Z is lookin for a 5 year deal and the Cavs were offering 3 during the year. Lets hope they get a deal done that helps both sides.

If the Cavs do get into the draft (and hopefully the first round), I would go after a point guard. This is an extremely deep draft for point guards and the Cavs are definitely in the market for one. Draft a guy who can come off the bench this year (back up Snow) and in a few years be the starter. The guy I got my eyes on is Jarrett Jack of Georgia Tech. They could get him in the late teens or early twenties. The last time they got a point guard from GT he worked out okay for them.

Pluto talks about how both Ferry and Brown will be better because Larry Brown won't be coming aboard.

Bill Simmons has the top 60 memorable moments from the NBA draft. Simmons draft columns are always quality.

Supreme Court Rulings

The Supreme Court ruling against Judith Miller and Matt Cooper in a reports right to not reveal their sources is getting talked about a lot.

I could be way off base here and out of my league, because my knowledge of law basically comes from watching Law and Order. But don't doctors have doctor-patient confidentiality? And priests? But if there's a good reason, can't police get a court order for the doctors and priests to talk? I mean, in general, there's a privacy clause, but when the going gets tough it can be overridden if a court deems it important enough?

Why can't this work for reporters too? The issue here is the Valerie Plame case. She was a CIA undercover agent, who was outed as an agent after her husband came out versus the Iraq war. Outing a CIA agent is a treasonous act, so shouldn't the reporters have to give up their sources if they know who leaked the information. (Miller and Cooper weren't the reporters who printed the leak, that was Robert Novak, Miller's and Cooper's sources have something to do with Novak's, I'm not really sure, read this).

Back to my point, why can't reporters give source confidentiality, and they'll keep it unless a court has a reason for them to give it up? No one has really mentioned this, so I think I'm missing something.

Ferry in, Brown Out

YES! (about the Brown thing, meh... about the Ferry thing)

Two NBA executives confirmed that the Cavaliers hired Danny Ferry as general manager Sunday.

He will be the franchise's top decision-maker, and Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown is no longer a candidate to become the team's president of basketball operations

The Nats

Major League Baseball still owns the former Expos and is currently trying to sell them to an ownership group.

George Soros is a billionaire who donated a ton of money to democratic causes during the last election. He just joined an ownership group looking to buy the team.

Well, Republicans in Congress got pissed off and told the MLB that they shouldn't do busisness with Soros.

First of all, I think the Republicans are dumbfounded by Soros. Here's a really, really rich guy who doesn't give money to the Republicans. He gives it to LIBERALS. It doesn't add up. Rich people love President Bush, big business loves President Bush. How can this insanely rich guy not?!

As for their claims that they just don't want MLB mixed up in politics... I don't buy it. Rupert Murdoch owned (if not still owns) the Los Angeles Dodgers. Murdoch owns Fox News (among other things) and donates heavily to Republicans. Oh, and didn't our fearless leader own the Texas Rangers? The Republicans didn't seem to mind those ownership groups...

Dur

Okay, the article is pretty good, it talks about Greg Oden, the Cavs and the Browns. But it does have this line:

Word that the Cavaliers are close to hiring Danny Ferry as their general manager is more good news.

A fan favorite while playing for the Cavaliers, Ferry, who has served in a lesser front office role for the world champion San Antonio Spurs, seems to be a good complement to first-time head coach Mike Brown.

Fan favorite? Cleveland fans? Cavalier fans? In a word: No.

It's Official

Danny Ferry is the new GM.

The article has a couple of tidbits:

According to a report by The News-Herald last week, Ferry's hiring hinged on Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown accepting the Cavs offer of becoming team president.

and

Ferry's return will make some Cleveland fans cringe.

An All-American at Duke, Ferry was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in 1989 by the Los Angeles Clippers. But he held out in a contract dispute and played one season in Italy before the Cavaliers acquired his rights in a trade.

The club dealt rising star Ron Harper for Ferry and waited an entire season until he finished his contract in Italy. Cleveland then signed Ferry to a 10-year, $34 million contract, a decision that made it tough for them to sign other players.

Ferry may have never lived up to being "the next Larry Bird" as some had predicted, but he was a solid player, averaging 7.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 913 career games.

What makes me cringe is the Larry Brown thing. Oiy.

Arguing in Bars

Arguing in bars. I hate it. My buddy Justin is a huge liberal (as am I, no problems there), and he's very opinionated. Everytime we go drinkin somewhere, he gets into some kind of conversation with someone about politics. It can be a nice, quiet convo, or it can be a loud heated convo. Either way, bet on a convo happening.

I love politics, and I love discussing politics, but at bars (or when I'm drinking in general) I HATE doing it. I understand why he does it, and I don't fault him in anyway. But I think it's pointless, I'm not going to convince anyone during $1 mug night that Bush sucks. But I would get the other person and myself very annoyed during the process. So I make it a point not to talk politics when drunk. I'd rather be doing something productive when I'm drunk. Like failing with women or drunk dialing all my friends.

Anyway, tonight my roommate Ben was talkin to a friend of a friend and he pointed my way. The kid came over and started talking sports with me:

Kid - Do you hate Manny Ramirez?

Me - Uh, no, Manny is awesome.

Kid - But he left Cleveland for Boston.

Me - I know, but they offered him more $$ and it was his agent anyway

Kid - No, we offered him more than Boston, 171 million to 160.

Me - Uh, no we offered him 86 mill. [I was wrong, 86 million was their initial (re: lowball) offer]

Kid - No, it was 171, but 50 million of it was defered.

Me (getting annoyed) - No, Boston offered him more than we did. His agent went for the biggest offer.

Kid - No. But anyways, I hate Jim Thome too. You like Thome?

Me - I got no beef.

Kid - But it's the PHILLIES. They suck.

Me - We weren't that good either plus they gave him more years [re: more money].

Kid - We're good now.

Me - I hate life.

Wow. That is longer than I expected it to be. Oh well.

Anyways, I hate this shit.

First of all, I don't hold grudges on players who leave Cleveland. I'm not 12. Am I pissed at the time? Yes. But I understand it. I learned long ago that professional sports is a business.

In Thome's case, the yearly salaries were very close together. Phili's may have been a bit higher, but it wasn't much. The problem was, Thome was 32 at the time, this was going to be his last multi-year contract. The Phillies gave him 7 years, while the Tribe only gave him 6 (plus the 6th year was at the last minute). With the salary around 12 million a year, an extra year is a ton of money. A 39 year old Jim Thome won't be getting 12 million bucks as a free agent. So Thome went with the richer offer.

As for the contending thing, the Indians were on a downward trend in 2002 and didn't really show signs of life until 2004. The Phillies were supposed to be up and coming. And with a new ballpark.

Manny's is pretty simple. Boston is one of the sports big franchises (with the Yankees and Cubs). Plus they offered more money. If you're Manny's agent, you're looking for a few things:

A) Money
B) Contending team
C) Market opportunities (re: big market)
D) Money
E) Manny's Comfort Level
F) Money

They offered more money. End of story. They had Pedro and Nomar (so shy Manny didn't need the spotlight). They contend. And they are a huge market. Cleveland couldn't really compete, ESPECIALLY when they offered less money.

It bugged the shit out of me that nothing was going to be resolved during our discussion. If he keeps insisting that the Tribe offered Manny more money, what the hell do I do? Concede the point? "Ah yes, it makes complete sense that a baseball all-star left a condending team and the city he played his entire career in, to play another good baseball team. For less money."

So I stopped basically stopped the conversation. I was just gonna be more annoyed (as if I wasn't already) and I couldn't win. And the rest of the night blew also. The band there wasn't that good in my opinion (kept changing temp and 'jamming' when they can't jam.) They weren't bad, but everyone told me that they were really good and maybe I was expecting too much. Plus, I kept getting people knocked into me and beer spilled on me. Just wasn't my night.

Anyway, I'm so anal about having to prove myself right, I came home and googled the Manny and Thome stuff. And to further prove my need to show everyone how right I am, I had to post this entry. Though it was mostly therapeutic for me.

The Mayor Needs Heart Surgery

Woah, Fred Hoiberg.

Knife of Dreams info

As with the previous 2 books, the Knife of Dreams prologue will be released as an eBook on July 22nd.

One of these things

is not like the otheres. One of these things does not belong.

ESPN: LeBron wants say on free agents

In other news, the sun rises in the east and Dr. Dre isn't really a doctor.

The article kind of makes it seem like LeBron is doin something really crazy. LeBron just wants a say on who the team signs. Duh.

Of course, should LeBron get the final say on who the team gets? No. The NBA is filled with talented people who can play and coach basketball, but can't choose their players worth shit. Michael Jordan and Larry Brown are just a few.

So should the Cavs listen to what LeBron says? Hell yes, this is common sense. LeBron is your franchise, it'd be best not to piss him off. However, you hire a general manager for a reason, pick the players.

Oden

Remember when there was talk (not much of talk, wishful thinking) about LeBron heading to OSU (or Akron) for a season. Well, this is just as good, if not better.

The Indianapolis Star reported in Friday's edition that highly sought after center Greg Oden and his high school teammate, Mike Conley, will give oral commitments to play at Ohio State beginning during the 2006 school year.

Free Agent stuff

Aparently, Shareef Abdur-Rahim is very interested in Cleveland. Only if they resign Z.

I'm not a big Abdur-Rahim guy, I mean he can score (and lord knows the Cavs need that) but he's not exactly known for his defense. And he's never been to the playoffs before (not that it's entirely his fault, but still). Not exactly the stellar resume the Cavs should be looking for.

However, if they let Z go for nothing (which could be the case) the Cavs are going to miss him more than they realize.

Obama

One thing I enjoy about graduation season is all the comencment speeches by famous people. Every year there are some great speeches. This year is no exception.

Barak Obama has a great speech here.

And Will Ferrell has one here. (okay, I lied, the Ferrell speech is from 2003, but I just saw it in 2005, so there).

[Edit- I can spell.]

Game 7

That was a fitting way to end the finals. A game that featured great (and I mean GREAT) defense, great coaching and timely offense.

Duncan made 5-6 free throws, scored 25 points and basically played like the hall of famer he is and winning his THIRD finals MVP.

Manu played well ( he coulda recieved the Fianls MVP also) scoring 23 points and having a huge impact on the crowd.

I also enjoyed how in the second half you could tell San Antonio made the right adjustments. The Pistons stopped getting penatration for easy Ben Wallace dunks and how Bruce Bowen guarded Billups down the stretch.

People will bitch how this finals didn't have the big names or the big market teams (kind of like the 97 World Series). Who cares? This (not all the games mind you) was a great basketball game. If you can't enjoy this kind of game, please never watch the NBA again. If you need stars who have felony records or sharpies don't watch. If you need the Lakers or the Knicks, don't watch (and you won't be, both those teams suck, and will continue to for quite some time).

Tim Duncan is probably the best power forward of all time. Better than Malone, better than Charles, than Hayes. The best. 3 titles. Malone may have more points over all, but Duncan has come through when it matters the most.

Now the season is over and I get to wait for Danny Ferry and Larry Brown to make their way to Cleveland. And I get to watch, helplessly in horror, at the moves Dan Gilbert makes this offseason (the most important in the Cavaliers history).

Cartoons

politcal ones

John Cole

is sick of it all:

I am sick of the state of American politics right now.

I am sick of the arrogance of the Republican party and the impotence of the Democrats.

I am sick of people calling people traitors or un-American or anti-military or anti-Christian because they disagree with them on issues.

I am sick of everyone distorting everyone elses positions.

I am sick of the knee-jerk Bush apologists and the knee-jerk Bush attackers.

I am sick of people calling people pussies because they think chaining someone to the floor and forcing them to lie in shit for 24 hours is over the line.

I am sick of the Supreme Court consistently ruling against the individual.

I am sick of Congress passing inane and pointless laws.

I am sick of the disgusting spending.

I am sick of the assholes in my party who think they have an absolute and perfect view of truth and morality.

I am sick of the fact that Sean Hannity and his ilk represent the core values of the Republican party.

I am sick of the over-the-top hyperbole from political hacks and politicans, whose real priority is not the country, but the health of their political party.

I am sick and tired of it all. The Republicans, the Democrats, they can all go to hell. If I could do it over, I would vote for a Nader/Buchanan ticket to just to piss both parties off.

I am going to watch Buffy, Season Five. You guys have at each other in the comments.

Good stuff.

Stole this from Atrios

but it's good:

For the record, my motives aren't to get more troops killed. If those were my motives I'd ship them off to a war on false pretenses without sufficient equipment them safe.

Ferry as GM

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Part of me thinks this is a pretty dumb PR move. Ferry isn't exactly everyones favorite Cavalier.

But by all accounts Ferry has a good basketball mind. And he always was a classy guy here in Cleveland. As Shaw points out, Ferry never lashed out at the fans or the media here. And he did have some unfair expectations put on him.

However, for all of, former GM, Wayne Embry's good moves, the trade for Ferry... Oiy.

As much as I've ragged on the guy, I do have some fond memories of him. As Shaw points out, he was always feisty:

During those years when the Cavaliers were being insulted as marshmallows, Ferry kept showing up on opponents' list of dirtiest players in the NBA.

The Cavs could be doing a lot worse than Danny Ferry as their GM (Greg Anthony, ugh), so hopefully this can work out. (That being said, PLEASE NO LARRY BROWN!)

Game 7

Alright, the NBA Finals comes down to a do or die game 7 tonight.

I'm pickin the Spurs.

Though it's admittingly a weak pick. The Spurs have played like crap the past 4 games. The series could be over right now if Robert Horry didn't save their ass in game 5.

With that being said, I still believe it's San Antonio's series to lose. They're at home. They have the best player in the series with Duncan (and possibly second best in Manu).

If I'm a Spurs fan I'm looking for a few things this game: Bowen needs to guard Billups. Billups is having his way with Tony Parker and I think Billups should be the Spurs main focus on defense.

Duncan has to be more agressive. On offense and defense. Maybe Timmy's ankles are hurtin, I don't know. But as Jess said yesterday, Duncan is playing too much like Garnett, and not enough like Duncan. Stop giving up the ball, establish yourself. Duncan is the best player on court and he has to realize he's going to be going to the foul line a ton tonight. So screw, you're gonna miss free throws. Who cares, keep goin to the line. Keep drawing fouls. If you're gonna miss 20, then miss 20. But aim for 40 attempts. Don't do any layup put backs, be agressive, as by buddy Muyi would say, "Dunk that shit!"

That being said, I believe Duncan does need to hit around 60% of his FT for the Spurs to win. The thing is he can't be apprehensive about going to the foul line.

As for Detroit, I would exploit the Billups/Parker matchup all day long, Parker can't stay with Chauncy on the block. Also, Rasheed seems to be having his way with Duncan on block as well (I think Duncan's ankles are in worse shape than he lets on). Exploit these matchups. Rasheed has baseline all night long; use it.

Also, for the love of all things holy: LAY OFF THE REFS. The Pistons bitch and wine more than any team I've ever seen, and they're the defending champs. It's amazing; Brown does it, the Wallace boys do it, every time out Rip is talkin to a ref. The Pistons are one of the most aggressive teams ever on defense, and they seemed genuinly shocked when they swing their arms and nail a guy, the wistle blows. All I know is, I'm getting sick of seeing all the complaining.

My prediction for tonight: Spurs win, Duncan goes off for 35 and 17, the game comes down to the final 2 minutes (if not the final seconds) and the score is somewhere in te 80s (I can't see these two teams scoring in the 90s on a game 7).

Karl Rove: Classy

Wow. Nice.

"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."


"Has there ever been a more revealing moment this year?" Mr. Rove asked. "Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."

I wrote DeWine and Voinovich telling them to denounce Rove's coments and ask him to resign. There's a few more people out there who agree.
Resign.

Resign.

Resign.

Resign.

Resign.

Resign.

Resign.

Never Underestimate the Champs

As Bill Simmons did.

As Simmons points out, going into game 7, the Spurs have lost the last 3 of 4. Which is pretty bad. They were up 2-0 in the series and it could be over right now, if Robert Horry didn't save their ass in game 5.

I thought they would have it wrapped up in game 6, I thought the Pistons were done. And aparently San Antonio did too, because they played like crap.

I don't know how many more times I can take Ginobli driving into a crowd while having NO IDEA what he is going to do with the ball once he gets there.

If the Spurs want to win game 7 tomorrow Duncan has to make his free throws. This is getting pretty ridonkulous. I know near the end of game 5 Duncan was pulling a Karl Malone and taking WAY too much time on each shot. Can that really be helping him at this point? I mean, I would try to find a rhythm, he's killing any rhythm he gets by holding the ball for so long. Plus, I'm pretty sure he's not thinking 'happy thoughts' while he's holding that ball for 10 seconds.

Duncan is (and always will be) one of the best, if not THE best, power forwards of all time. But if the Spurs are going to win tomorrow night, he needs to be hitting free throws at a 60% clip. I don't think that is too much to ask for a Future Hall of Famer.

D'oh

Moral Values

Ed Klein: Also Classy

Facts? Meh.

Matt Drudge: Classy

Bill Clinton having new affairs? Wah?

Stupid Liberal Media

This isn't too bad. But to me this is a case of 'the media definitely is NOT liberal'. On Yahoo.com's main page there is a link to the latest John Bolton news.

For those of you who don't know, Bolton is Bush's UN nominee and has said great stuff like if the UN lost the top ten floors nothing would happen. And how he hates the UN and it's useless.

Anyway Bush as had a hard time getting him a vote on the Senate floor. The Republicans don't have enough of a majority to just ignore the Democrats so the Democrats (and a few Republicans) are stalling the vote until they have all the information on Bolton.

Democrats are demanding that the White House release information they say is important to the Senate's review of his fitness for the job. They want to know whether Bolton, the top U.S. diplomat for arms control, misused intelligence and bullied analysts who did not conform to his hard-line views.

I think we can all agree that this is an important issue. But the White House won't release the documents and keep saying that the Democrats are obstructionists.

So whats the headline for the Bolton story? "Democrats playing politics with Bolton - White House. "

This confused the hell out of me. Where the Dems playing politics with Bolton AND the White House? Or did the White House says they were playing politics with Bolton. A better headline would be "White House: Dems playing politics with Bolton." That way, everyone knows what is going on.

If the media was liberal, you think they would try to portray the Dems in the best light possible. Like not trying to show them as obstructionists.

It's a small thing to be bitching about, but if you didn't click on the link, just read the headline, you could get the wrong impression.

Finally, Bolton sucks, he's not qualified, if he was he would've been confirmed by now. However, Bush my nominate him while Congress is in recess and they won't be able to revisit it until 2007 or something. So Bush may still get is way. We'll see.

Big Shot Bob

Sorry about lack of updates today, but I got back into town right before I had to work at 1, so I didn't have much time today.

However, I did watch Game 5 of the Finals last night. What. A. Game. I mean, if you didn't enjoy Game 5, then never watch basketball again. It's just not your thing. Wow. Horry SAVED the Spurs season. I thought Duncan was going towards a possible Nick Anderson moment in his career with that dreadful free throw performance. But wow. What a game.

Simmons explains it much better than I can. Because all I can seem to say is wow. THAT was a basketball game.

Peter Gammons on the Tribe

Good stuff.

ESPN Q&A with Red

Quite interesting:

Auerbach: Yeah. Plus the fact that Shaq makes players around him better. They double-team Shaq and triple-team Shaq. All he has to do is hand it off and let the other guys shoot.

It's like this kid [Bruce] Bowen. He's done a great job. We had him in Boston [in 1998-99], but we didn't have any Tim Duncan in the middle to make this kid better. So therefore we couldn't see how good he really was.

Sepe's Grad Party

For those of you in my area, Sepe is having a graduation party at his house in Hudson at 6ish tonight. It should be fun.

Harris Gone

With no surprise to anybody, the Cavaliers renounced the rights to Lucious Harris, the shooter who couldn't shoot.

The Cavs free agent list is as follows: Z, Jeff McInnis, DeSagana Diop, Dajuan Wagner, Scott Williams, Tractor Traylor and Harris. The only two I would actually miss are Z and Tractor. I still think Wagner can be a good (if not great) NBA player, but he's been hurt so many times and I don't think he fits with this team. It wouldn't surpirse me one bit to see him thrive someplace else.

Roger Brown. Asshole

Roger Brown has a habit of making fun of Cleveland fans tastes. Like Jim Rome. Brown can't STAND Jim Rome. But he gets HUGE ratings in Cleveland. So good that they replay the show at 3AM or something and it still gets decent ratings. But Brown hates Romey, and calls him moronic or sophmoric or something similar in the his columns consitently.

Cleveland fans also like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavaliers center. Brown says the local fans way overrate the guy. Z is slow and doesn't have good defense. I agree, but I also see a guy who works his tail off and has a great offensive game. But Brown thinks the Cavs should let the guy go, and if you disagree with him, then you are just too much of a homer and can't see the real Z.

Aparently Brown feels the same way about Tractor Traylor:

Add former Cavs forward

Robert "Tractor" Traylor to the ever-growing list of Cleveland athletes whose abilities become overrated by local fans. Many raved about Traylor's late-season performance and showy enthusiasm last year. But it didn't take new Cavs coach Mike Brown long to size up Traylor as an up-and-down NBA journeyman unable to sustain consistency for 82 games because he's 10 to 15 pounds overweight.

Brown is right, Tractor is overweight. Well done. However, I think we all can agree that this Cavalier team has a ton of holes. And if you decide to let go of Z and Tractor, you are just making more holes to fill. Maybe I overrated them, I don't think so. My problem is that I don't trust the Cavalier management (espescially with Larry Brown) to fill the team with the correct players, so why give yourself more holes to fill.

Tractor: Gone

Son of a bitch. Good job guys, by all accounts the Cavs seem pretty disinterested in re-signing Z, so they decide to let the only other big man on the roster leave.

Tractor was the teams best reserve; he passed the ball extremely well, he rebounded, did the dirty work and brought energy into the game.

His contract was cheap as hell also, 1.76 million for next season.

The Beacon Journal says the move could've been made with more playing time for Varejao in mind. They better make some real good moves this offseason or the team will be real bad next year.

Lying Liars

Bill Frist

Mission Accomplished

Wedge Shaved!

On Saturday, June 11th, while visiting San Fransisco's PacBell Park, Eric Wedge showed up a clean shaven GENTLEMAN. On this night, the Tribe not only won the game, but showed some offensive muscle with 7 runs. The 2005 season began for real on that night in early June, as the Cleveland Indians began their quest for their first World Series crown in 57 years. GO TRIBE

A look into the future

with Peter King.

Ha

Imagine this happening in the US.

Stupid Liberal Media

Ugh.

Jackson is back

with the Lakers. In a move that makes no sense at all (besides to Phil's wallet) the Phil and Kobe are reunited. Unfortunatly, the Lakers still have Chris Mihm.

If Jackson wants to get that 10th title, coming back to the Lakers seems an odd way to go about it. Honestly, I hope they lose badly. Kobe helped dismantle that team, and even though Phil is back, the Lakers still kicked Shaq to the curb. They traded Shaq and got exactly ZERO all-stars in return. Nice, really? That was the best deal out there? Anyways, I hope Phil can turn Kobe into a player I can actually enjoy to watch. Because right now they won't be winning anytime soon.

Resign Tractor

It's getting close to decision time for the Tractor, and I believe that he needs to be resigned. The Cavs only had so many productive players last year, it'd be a shame to lose one of them. Should they call Larry Brown and see what his choice is? (SIGN A GM YOU BASTARDS, KIKI VANDEWEGHE PLEASE!!)

Also, Lucious Harris won't be back. Your kidding.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Coingate

but were afriad to ask.

Sports Guy

Simmons is always quality, and the latest entry (June 13) in his More Cowbell Blog is no exception.

He talks about the Spurs and how we're ignoring one of the best teams in the past decade.

He also has this little blurb at the end:

Finally, in case you missed it, the WNBA ran a commercial during last night's game with their new slogan: "This is our game." I think they have just given up. Seriously, what the hell does that even mean? That's like if ESPN built a whole ad campaign for my column around the slogan "This is my column." I'm making it my mission in life to bring this league down before my daughter is old enough to watch a game and potentially talk me into getting season tickets.

Wedge

At Cleveland.com's (the Plain Dealers website) sports section, they have a Poll about Eric Wedge's mustache.

Now I've talked about how the team will hit once he gets rid of the stache, and it's not just me who says so.

Christianity

From the TPM Cafe, Ed Kilgore talks a little bit about the growing divide amongst Christians. It's a short little blurb, but very good. (Kilgore also writes at NewDonkey)

View From Pluto

Always a good read, today's is no exception. It did have these little nuggets:

• In 2003, they took a shooter in Jason Kapono (No. 30) but didn't protect him in the 2004 expansion draft -- then they traded two first-rounders for Pavlovic and Welsch in an attempt to find an outside shooter.

• Kapono averaged 8.5 points and shot 41 percent from 3-point range in 18 minutes a game for the Bobcats. The Cavaliers protected Diop and Wagner over Kapono.

Little things like that are what gets GMs fired...

NBA Lockout: Good for the Cavs?

That's the question Bud Shaw looks at in his latest column.

The point is, because the Cavs are in a management transition period, they should want the most time they can get, so they can shore up the front office.

I've heard the idea before, but I can't really believe that a lockout benefits anyone involved with the NBA.

My Head Hurts

Toni Brandon, 33, said she hadn't read or heard any news about Mr. Noe or the Bureau of Workers' Compensation scandal. She and her eight-year-old son waited on a small hill near I-70 to try to catch a glimpse of the President as he headed toward the event. "We love the President. He's a Christian and these people are evil,'' said Ms. Brandon, referring to the protesters.

I never understood the Christian part of GWB. Is it the lying and half truths? The gay bashing? All of his executions while Governor of Texas? I mean he says God a lot, but thats about it as far as I really know. I don't think Jesus would've been for pre-emptive war and tax cuts for the richest one percent of Americans. But I do like the unquestioning trust from Ohio's citizens, well done. And I TOTALLY agree, if you disagree with GWB then you are evil.


Never heard of Coingate? Check out Americablog (quick recap- a Ohio Republican citizen was given a ton of money, 50 mill, by the Republican government of Ohio, and he invested it in coins and other memorabilia. Then auditors couldn't find half of the money. There's more, its really stupid, but its not sexy. So no media...)

Stupid Liberal Media

Okay, it's FOX and it's Bill O'Reilly, but come on.

Pistons

Pluto talks about how the Pistons should be the Cavaliers role models:

They need to remember these are not Larry Brown's Pistons. He's been a great coaching closer, but the real work was done early by Dumars.

Franz Ferdinand stole from Ringo!

or at least that's what Pete Doherty (formerly of the Libertines) says.

Knife of Dreams

It's done.

Whoo hoo!

Dinosaurs

Ugh (via Americablog):

The story we have all heard from movies, television, newspapers, and most magazines and textbooks is that dinosaurs lived millions of year ago. According to evolutionists, the dinosaurs 'ruled the Earth' for 140 million years, dying out about 65 million years ago. However, scientists do not dig up anything labeled with those ages. They only uncover dead dinosaurs (i.e., their bones), and their bones do not have labels attached telling how old they are. The idea of millions of years of evolution is just the evolutionists' story about the past. No scientist was there to see the dinosaurs live through this supposed dinosaur age. In fact, there is no proof whatsoever that the world and its fossil layers are millions of years old. No scientist observed dinosaurs die. Scientists only find the bones in the here and now, and because many of them are evolutionists, they try to fit the story of the dinosaurs into their view....

As you add up all of the dates, and accepting that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to Earth almost 2000 years ago, we come to the conclusion that the creation of the Earth and animals (including the dinosaurs) occurred only thousands of years ago (perhaps only 6000!), not millions of years. Thus, if the Bible is right (and it is!), dinosaurs must have lived within the past thousands of years....

Evolutionists declare that no man ever lived alongside dinosaurs. The Bible, however, makes it plain that dinosaurs and people must have lived together. Actually, as we will soon see, there is a lot of evidence for this....

Some people think that dinosaurs were too big, or there were too many of them, to go on this Ark. However, there were not very many different kinds of dinosaurs. There are certainly hundreds of dinosaur names, but many of these were given to just a bit of bone or skeletons of the same dinosaur found in other countries. It is also reasonable to assume that different sizes, varieties, and sexes of the same kind of dinosaur have ended up with different names. For example, look at the many different varieties and sizes of dogs, but they are all the same kind-the dog kind! In reality, there may have been fewer than 50 kinds of dinosaurs.

God sent two of every (seven of some) land animal into the Ark (Genesis 7:2-3; 7:8-9)—there were no exceptions. Therefore, dinosaurs must have been on the Ark. Even though there was ample room in the huge ship for large animals, perhaps God sent young adults into the Ark that still had plenty of room for them to grow....

Contrary to what many may think, what we know now as dinosaurs get more mention in the Scriptures than most animals! So dinosaurs—all the different kinds—must have lived alongside of people after the Flood....

If you remove the evolutionary framework, get rid of the millions of years, and then take the Bible seriously, you will find an explanation that fits the facts and makes perfect sense:

At the time of the Flood, many of the sea creatures died, but some survived. In addition, all of the land creatures outside the Ark died, but the representatives of all the kinds that survived on the Ark lived in the new world after the Flood. Those land animals (including dinosaurs) found the new world to be much different than the one before the Flood. Due to (1) competition for food that was no longer in abundance, (2) other catastrophes, (3) man killing for food (and perhaps for fun), and (4) the destruction of habitats, etc., many species of animals eventually died out. The group of animals we now call dinosaurs just happened to die out too. In fact, quite a number of animals be come extinct each year. Extinction seems to be the rule in Earth history (not the formation of new types of animals as you would expect from evolution).

George Bush's America

If you don't agree with us, just leave the state of Texas.

Lying Liars

Dur...

Back to Kiki

Cavs are talking to Denver's GM again.

(I'm hoping that since Brown is still coaching after their game 7 win, that the Cavaliers can no longer wait and just go with Kiki)

John Kerry's Military Records

were just released today. The Swift Boat Assholes for Mudslinging kept asking him to waive his privacy and release the full records. He never did during the election.

Now the records have been released and the reason why Kerry didn't do it sooner was.... all the commendations by some of the same people criticizing him! God damn it.

So you're saying if you released the records earlier you could've shut the Swifty Bastards up? Good call on that one John.

(via Kos and Atrios)

Mini-Throats

Keith Olbermann rocks.

Deion: One More Year

Sanders will be back for another year with the Ravens.

I'm calling early December for his hamstring injury.


Also, had my first exam of the week today (think I did well) now I'm going to a job interview, I'll post more stuff later.

Paul Revere: Traitor

After all the Nixon revisionist history (here) and the Mark Felt bashing, heres a nice little blurb about Paul Revere.

Seperation of Church and State?

Or using religion for politics. Of course it's a good idea for the Governor to sign bills at an Evangelical Church in Texas. I mean, what good is religion if it can't be used to divide people.

Knife of Dreams Cover

The cover for book 11 of the Wheel of Time is out.

My thoughts? I like it, it looks cool, but my good vibe may just be due to the fact that, since we have the cover, it means the actual book is on the way.

More Mike and Larry

Pluto takes another look at the entire situation and says likes what he sees in Mike Brown. Though he does have some words for Dan Gilbert:

It's amusing to hear Gilbert complain about all the rumors dealing with Larry Brown. Gilbert said, ``I don't know how all this got started.'' OK, Dan, know how those rumors began? When you called the Detroit Pistons to ask for permission to talk to Larry Brown about an executive job.

Gilbert has been pretty vocal with his complaints of the media since he took over, he doesn't seem to realize that if you meddle with coaches (like giving Silas 'recommendations' on which players to play and the whole Brown situation), people are going to hear about it.

The bottom line is this: if you do dumb stuff it will get reported. So stop doing dumb shit (like courting other teams coaches while they are still in the playoffs).

Mark this down 6-4-05

I agree with Ross Verba. The Browns should definitely cut him.

"They obviously don't want to pay me what I'm worth, so why don't they just freaking cut me?" he said by phone. "They don't even return my agents' phone calls. To be disrespected like that is total B.S."

Cavs GM: Newton Out

The Cavs have passed on the Wizards' Milt Newton.

From the Plain Dealer: Since Newton has a close relationship with Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown, who several league sources expect to become the Cavs president of basketball operations, this move could indicate Brown no longer is coming to Cleveland. But sources say not hiring Newton will have no bearing on Brown's decision.

That would be sweet. I was never a big fan of the Newton, Washington's moves have been okay lately (and maybe he could've had the inside track on Kwame Brown), but if this means no fickle Larry Brown running the franchise, then great.

More Keith, More Questions

Bloggerman:

Mark Felt was the operational director of the Bureau. His new boss, L. Patrick Gray, was busy “twisting slowly, slowly in the wind.” Are we to assume that every day of the year beginning on June 19, 1972, Mark Felt made at least one check of Bob Woodward’s apartment balcony to see if there was a red flag in an empty flower pot that had been moved to a precise location outside Woodward’s apartment?

Mark Felt had people to do that stuff for him.

and:

A 25-year veteran of the FBI, its operational chief, an imposing man with a great unforgettable shock of white hair, looking surprisingly like the actor Andrew Morton (he played the Russian symphony conductor in the movie “Bye Bye Birdie”), who is now involved in the most important running news leak of the generation, and he’s taking the chance to personally purloin your copy of the newspaper before sunrise, open it up, write in it, and put it back?

He had accomplices.

and:

When Winston Churchill was out of power in England in the 1930’s, he had a network of key sympathizers within the British military who, like he, understood that Hitler was not abiding by the terms of the Versailles treaty, and was, in fact, “rearming like a madman.” As Churchill’s authoritative biographer Martin Gilbert recounts, not only did they pass as much data to Churchill as they could, but some of them found, to their own surprise and relief, that their colleagues were also passing data to them knowing full well it would wind up in Churchill’s hands.

Hooray! Someone is asking questions! If you really look at it, Mark Felt doesn't completely add up, so instead of bashing him (Nixon lovers) or praising him (Nixon haters), Olbermann justs asks questions. And is more interesting for it.

Mikan's Funeral: Shaq's got it

O'neal says that he'll pay for George Mikan's funeral and Mikan's family accepted the offer.

This is why people love Shaq, stuff like this. I'm sure it is heart felt, but this is a gesture that resonates with people, that a lot of atheletes don't do.

Plus, I love the SI cover in the article, for an NBA dork like me, that is awesome.

More Larry Brown

Ian Thomsen of SI says Brown should renounce his interest in the Cavs, beacuse his legacy will be ruined:

For Brown this is a Scottie Pippen moment. In spite of his six NBA championships, Pippen is still defined by the reckless tantrum he threw in the 1994 playoffs when coach Phil Jackson assigned the last shot to Toni Kukoc, who sank the game-winner while Pippen sulked on the bench. Brown is now facing the same kind of career-defining label. This is a sacred time for his Pistons, and he's screwing it up. I appreciate that serious health issues may prevent Brown from coaching next season, but there is no excuse for plotting with a rival while his current team is trying to win at the highest level.

I agree, Brown will (does) look terrible for exploring other jobs while he is still in the playoffs with the Pistons. Plus, if Larry Brown is going to be with the Cavaliers, I'd like to be as a coach, not a GM.

George Mikan

When I first learned the game of basketball I would go to the library (actually the Hudson Library and Historical Society - Now with a new building!) and pick up every book on basketball they had. I learned that the NBA started in 1948, there was no 3 point line, 3 second rule or shot clock and the Lakers were origionally from Minnesota.

Mikan's Minneapolis Lakers won 5 of the NBA's first 6 titles, making them the first dynasty and Mikan the games first dominant big man.

Mikan died Wednesday night at the age of 80.

Eric Alterman

Part of my daily reading routine includes Dailykos, Atrios, Americablog, ESPN, SI, the Plain Dealer, the Beacon Journal, Ain't It Cool News and Fark. Recently I've added Eric Alterman's Altercation to the list. Today he has up two great quotes from the Daily Show last night:

Quote of the Day: "Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak and Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy don’t like Mark Felt. Mark Felt is truly a great man.” --The great Jon Stewart

and:

Other Quote of the Day: “On Sunday’s ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos,' Kansas Senator Sam Brownback took on Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, because these days, a debate between a conservative Republican and a moderate Republican is what passes for hearing from both sides.” --The still great Jon Stewart

Anyways, I highly recomend Altercation.

Back to Norm

I'm not sure if anyone has seen the pilot for Norm MacDonald's new TV show, Back to Norm, but it is a delight. Head over to FakeNews.net and find all of your Norm MacDonald news (and they have a link to tell Comedy Central how much Back to Norm kicks ass).

Peter Boulware

According to the Plain Dealer, Peter Boulware is visiting the Browns.

At first I didn't like the Browns looking into Boulware, I figured that this years team was going to stink, so why spend money on any free agents THIS offseason. Just wait til next offseason. But bringing in an experienced veteren could work out for them, teach the guys how to play every down and how to win.

Hockey Update

FYI - We Won, 4-3. It was awesome, we started the game with a Crew shift (Nick, Andrew, Steve, Gilmore and myself) and ended it with a Crew shift (Nick, Andrew, Steve, Gilmore and Vik).

This was probably D-League title I relish most (of the 2 I have and the 3 our house has total) because we didn't have the best team this time. To say our goalie left something to be desired is an understatement. We had to win our final regular season game just to make the postseason (which we never had to do before). Our last regular season game we were diving around and playing all out it. It was great.

The championship game last night was much more meaningful, to me at least, because this was our last game together, the bulk of our house is graduating, going out on a win is the most you can ask for.

Actually, you can ask for more: our house scored all four of our goals. Andrew had two, Nick had one and Gilmore had a behind the back shot that ridonkulous. Of a game full of great defense, I believe (to make up for some fuckup clears I had) I had the defensive play of the game when I layed out in front of the net and stretch my stick across the ice and deflected a shot (that would've gone in, according to Gilmas) over the goal. Me and Steve were on the ice the whole game (I don't mean we were out there the entire game, I mean we were diving all over the place, and Steve was doing his one knee spin move). Scott had a illegal hand pass/clear in front of our net that wasn't called. It was sweet. Ben and Vik had too many clutch clears to count.

Our team photos (and our fans) will be posted at http://photos.yahoo.com/Benny08302 shortly

It's Official

Mike Brown.

I'm so mixed on this it's not even funny. On one hand I admire Gilbert on going after his guy. Doesn't matter if it's not a 'name' canidate, he hired the guy he thinks is right. All I know is, I'd be much more comforatble without this Larry Brown business. If it was Morway and Mike Brown, I'd be all good. But hiring a guy who misused LeBron and changes his mind every day.... I don't know... I just dont....

Deep Throat

I was hoping it would be someone cooler than Mark Felt. It's kind of a let down; I enjoyed the mystery of it all. So if someone knows who really killed Kennedy, please don't tell anyone. Ignorance is bliss.

Also, Keith Olberman has been saying how much of 'The Mark Felt as Deep Throat' scenario doesn't add up. Deep Throat kept giving Woodward info after Felt left the FBI. Huh? Keith's posts raise many questions.

Feast of Crows

George RR Martin. His series, A Song of Ice and Fire, is one of the best series of books I've ever read. Finally, his fourt book, A Feast for Crows, is done. Amazon.com has the release date as Jily 26th (who knows how acurate that is, Martin's site doesn't give a date).. If you want to get into the series, start with A Game of Thrones.