Sports Guy First Month Review

He has the Cavs in the top 10 (#6):

They remind me of MJ's Bulls teams in the late-'80s -- because LeBron has reached a certain level, they're always going to win 50 games, kill any bad/mediocre/decent teams at home, and look fantastic on certain nights. But when a game comes along like that Thanksgiving game against Indiana, and suddenly they have to play defense, and somebody's actually guarding LeBron, and they're settling for jumpers and one-on-one plays over good shots ... that's when they get exposed. Let the record show that the Spurs beat them by 26 and Indy handled them by 18. Wasn't a coincidence.

(Saddest ongoing subplot: The erosion of LeBron's passing skills. Here's a guy who sees the court like Magic and used to delight in setting up his teammates ... now he's hoisting up 29 shots in some games? What happened to the guy who made everyone else better? Remember the days when we wondered whether he would average a triple-double for a season? Long gone. Honestly, I liked watching him more as a rookie. This is right up there with Lindsay Lohan losing her boobs in my book -- it's a borderline national tragedy. I can't talk about this anymore, I'm getting upset.)

I kinda agree with the passing skills. He hasn't lost them, he just doesn't set up as much right now. He still does make some amazing passes, but I don't think he uses them as much right now.

Personally, I think you'll see LeBrons passing stats go up as the year goes along. The offense is still trying to find its flow in the half court. I'll tell ya this: the Cavs will be a much better team come April than in November, and it won't even be close. LeBron will have his passing stats later on, don't worry.

I'm Glad I Don't Tomorrow Night

So I can watch the Cavs honor World B. Free at halftime.

I'm with Pluto, retire his number(21)!

If you wonder why I care so much, about a player that I never saw play here's why: You like watching LeBron play? Did you like seeing Price, Daugherty and Nance play? Then thank World B. Free. He basically saved basketball in Cleveland.

The team stank, there was no interest, but Free and some coach named George Karl came in and brought the Cavs to the playoffs.

So basically, the reason the Cavs are still around is because of some guy with a crazy name.

World. B. Free.

RIP Stan Berenstain

Stan Berenstain died at the age of 82.

My parents read my siblings and I many Berenstain Bear books growing up, and these books are still popular. At the Hudson Library, the Berenstain Bear books were some of our most popular kids books. And for our Holiday Book Donations at Barnes and Noble, the Berenstain Bears are some of the most requested books.

In more than 200 books, the Berenstain Bears, written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain, helped children for 40 years cope with trips to the dentist, eating junk food and cleaning their messy rooms.

The first Berenstain Bears book, "The Great Honey Hunt," was published in 1962. The couple developed the series with children's author Theodor Geisel -- better known as Dr. Seuss, then head of children's publishing at Random House -- with the goal of teaching children to read while entertaining them.

Ann Coulter

I used to try to read Ann's column regularly, just to try to see the arugments from the other side.
Needless to say, that didn't last too long.

Anyhow, the Rude Pundit breaks down Ann's latest so you don't have to.

One YearToo Late

Join the club, fuckers.

money quote from the end (which is exactly the way I feel):

Even those who voted against Mr. Bush a year ago saw little satisfaction in his woes.

"Part of me enjoys watching him squirm," said Shirley Tobias, 46, sitting with a colleague from Netscape at a coffee shop in Grandview, a suburb of Columbus. "But he's squirming on our behalf. We're all in this together."

Thanksgiving Weekend

Every year I look forward to Thanksgiving, and every year it is a delight.

Turkey Bowl was awesome yet again, was it the best? No, I don't think so, but it was fun as always. We've been doing it for 7 years, and my goal is to get 10 of them in. 3 more to go (though no Samir and Jess next year).

Thanksgiving Day was good, played some jazz music, hung out with the family, and got introduced to Sudoku (which is addicting).

I think Friday night was my highlight for the weekend (as I worked all Saturday and Sunday). Jess, Sepe and I went to Brubakers Pub in Hudson, where we met up with Douche Bag. He just got back from Iraq and he's now 21. So we bought him some drinks. Anyway, Douche called up Little Stauffer and her friend. There were also a ton more Hudson kids there, many who I haven't seen for quite some time.

It was great seeing Amburgey and Melissa, I'm not gonna lie. I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating: As a trombone player, I got more out of the Hudson band then anyone else on any other instrument. I've kept in touch with so many of them, its amazing. I've talked with people from other sections, and none of them keep in touch with more than one or two people. I see a ton every year at the Turkey Bowl and I hung out with Douch and Little Stauffer at the bar.

Anyway, I'm just glad I was in that section, and got to be friends with these fuckers.

/Sappyness

Cavaliers vs Pacers

The Cavs just arent' there yet. They just aren't.

The Cavs were never in the game yesterday vs Indiana. The Pacers have more depth, have more experience and have more talent.

It looked like the Cavs were shocked at how hard the Pacers played yesterday. The Cavs half court offense (while better than last year) still needs a ton of work. Everytime LeBron or Hughes would drive the lane, someone on the Pacers rotated and contested their shot. Every. Time.

On the flip side, the Cavs played terrible defense. Guards got to the lane easily, big men made easy passes to cutters, and the Cavs couldn't guard a 3 point shooter to save their life.

The whole team played poorly, though one particular guy stood out to me.

Damon Jones.

Now this isn't to say that Jones was the worst guy out there, or that if he played better, the Cavs would have won. No, the whole team sucked yesterday, one guy won't make a difference. But Jones stood out to me.

First of all, Jones hasn' been talking to the media since Eric Snow got named the starter. Even though the Cavs are winning. And Jones is playing big minutes. But he's pouting. When he did speak to the media, he defended T.O. He's saying if the Eagle won't play him, they should cut him, so he can play somewhere else. Um... no. That's not how it works, you can't be a pain in the ass, piss off your bosses and just go somewhere else and play. You get punished. T.O. is getting punished.

But Jones did more yesterday. Jones has a little dance he does whenever he makes a 3 pointer. When the Cavs are at home and they are winning, its cute. However, when they are on national TV getting their asses handed to them, it looks retarded. But that didn't occur to Damon. He hit a three, then celebrated with his little dance/handmotion thing. Then on defense he let his man shoot 3s. A lot of 3s. Jones was guarding Jaskivioafdhjahfs the guy who almost came to the Cavs. The Euro pg who can shoot. Well, there was at least 3 times when the Pacers sent him off a pick, and Jones went under the pick (instead of fighting through it) leaving the dirty Euro open to shoot 3s. Which he made. The Pacers kept running the same play, cause Jones kept doing the wrong defensive move.

Now, it sounds like I'm ripping on Jones, and I kind of am. But if he wants to start, he has to play better defense. Not terrible defense. And showboating when down by 20 points doesn't exactly help either.

As for the rest of the Cavs, they just aren't there yet. LeBron isn't there. Hughes isn't there. Z isn't there. Offense. Defense. Nothing. Can they get there? I think so, but they needed to play a better team game in the half court, and they didn't. The Cavs should make the playoffs and hopefully get to the second round. I think they are number 4 in the East after Detroit, Indiana and Miami.

But this game might be different come April.

Great Story on James

By Stephen A Smith (he's much less annoying in print)

Heh

Blue

Damn

8 in a row

Turkey Bowl '05: Avian Flu Edition

11:00/11:15 at Darrow Road Park Thanksgiving Day.

This is A) the park on Rt 91 and B) the same park we've played at for the last 6 years, if you can't find this... well... good luck. If you have cones, spray paint or your neighbors driveway reflectors, bring them, we'll need to mark lines somehow. Also, if you own a football, bring said football.

On a personal note, I'd recomend wearing cleats and layers of clothes. People who own cleats have a pretty noticable advantage over non-cleaters. And I always go with the layers, cause I start out freezing but by the time the game gets going, its way too much.

Confirmed
Samir
Sepe
Gilmore
Polak
Phil
Gary
Stauffer
The Pole
Myself
Nick Mohan

Unconfirmed, but contacted
Crazy Bill
Dan Gross ("I'll be there if I'm not too hungover." Bullshit! You're playing)
Nick Bolan
Kasik
Douche (and I believe Douche contacted Lemon Boy some random T-Bones from my senior year)
My Bro

Not sure if contacted
Siley
Moleskis
Westphall
Bass
Fabian

Definitely Not Playing
Bitch (Philadelphia)
Brian Sepe (Arizona)

Ugh

Dear Major League Baseball,
If you want me to visit your website, please don't send me an email with the following in the title: 1. Scott Stapp 2. of Creed. I like baseball, my love for baseball is why I signed up for your newsletter. If you had just put Scott Stapp in the title, you could've fooled me. But you screwed up big time by mentioning Creed. In the future, if you want me to visit your website, offer more baseball related stuff.
Sincerely,
Ben Cox

Jean Schmidt

She isn't just a crazy bitch, she's also a liar.

So I haven't posted in awhile

I was out of town plus I had a paper to write, but if you read this you probably knew that. Anyways...

What a weekend be an Ohio sports fan, the Cavs won both games this weekend, a blowout at home and a great game in Philadelphia. The Cavs were down 16 at one point, and they came back on won it.

The Philly game was Saturday night, during the day I was watching a little football game between Ohio State and Michigan. I'm not going to go into the game that in depth, but I'll say this: Troy Smith has won me over. It took me awhile, but Smith should be the starter, this is the first game I thought he really took control of. Though, I will say this, one of the annoucners mentioned how the Texas game would have turned out if Smith had played the whole game. Fair question I guess, but how much would have that changed Ohio State's season? I mean, we still lost to Penn State, and Smith played the entire time in that game. I don't know, but I'm lookin forward to his senior year.

And then the Browns shut out the Dolphins on Sunday. How the hell does that happen. And Charlie Frye played.

And it was all good.

Why is it always Ohio?

I'm pretty sure this woman is insane.

A Nice Story on Hughes

but a better quote from Sasha Pavlovic:

"I'm not worried because your military commitment is delayed if you're a professional athlete," Pavlovic said. "I don't think I will have to go even when I retire because we change the rules every year in my country. We even change the name of the country. Everything will work out for Vlade."

Roger Brown Rips on Edwards

I'm not a big Roger Brown fan.

Can anyone

name a mammal that begins witht the letter 'I'? All you need to know is that it invovled a fillibuster joke that went horribly wrong.

Former Cav Johnny Newman

guilty of domestic battery. Newman is only 41? Man, I figued he'd be older than that. He played with Price and Daugherty while they still had Ron Harper (dammit, everytime think of Harper on the Cavs I get sick).

By the way, Newman's wife? Robin from Hangin with Mr. Cooper.

Work Today

So on Wednesday I had to do a bunch of shifting and cleaning up CDs because we had pulled a lot out. Why did we pull CDs during holiday season (it is the holiday season, we have 34593489093490 Holiday CDs to prove it)? All the CDs were from Sony. Why Sony you ask?

In case you've missed it, read about Sony's shitty (illegal) CD software. Oh, and boycott Sony for sometime, this shit was ridiculous.