1. Not worried. I really think Terrelle Pryor will be fine. This is a kid who has never struggled on the field before, it might take some time to figure things out. But then again, I have more patience than most OSU fans.
2. Not quite the same. For all the talk of Pyror and Vince Young, while Young struggled his second season (like Pyror) and eventually turned it around (we'll see with Pryor) he was also a redshirt sophomore (a year older than Pryor). I dunno if that extra year will make that much of a difference, but just note that Young was a year older/wiser than Pyror is now.
3. Dumb. Bill Livingston's Terrelle Pryor column.
4. The offense was better... but it was against Minnesota. Of course, they lost to Purdue last week, so anything remotely positive is a step up. Things looked better in the second half and that is definitely something to build upon.
5. Not getting any easier. Ohio State faces New Mexico State at home next week and they finish with @PSU, Iowa, @Michigan. Good luck with that. If Pryor can get through the rest of the year unscathed, I would feel very good about next season.
6. I didn't hear it. I was watching some ESPN college football postgame show on Saturday and Bob Griese came on and apologized for something offensive he said during the Buckeye game.
7. The Browns suck. I mean they really really really really suck.
8. Not so fast, I think. Patrick McManamon says that the Browns should admit their mistake with Mangini and start over. I think you gotta give Mangini at least two years. You gotta let him make his 11 draft picks next April.
9. Though I'm not defending his performance by any means. His stubbornness on refusing to play Brady Quinn is borderline insane, the team is routinely getting blown out and the players have been unhappy for awhile. Things aren't good.
10. Things I know. Derek Anderson is not a starting caliber NFL quarterback. Josh Cribbs is not a starting caliber NFL wide receiver.
11. Speaking of Cribbs. If you're gonna use the Wildcat offense, fucking use the Wildcat offense. Running it once or twice a game is beyond stupid. If Cribbs isn't gonna be used on offense, but him at safety. He's too good of an athlete to only impact the game on special teams. If he can't be a playmaker on offense, let him be one on defense.
12. They gave up. The Browns simply gave up during the fourth period. The Packers marched 99 yards down the field with ease and the Browns didn't look like they gave a shit.
13. Pathetic. Say what you will about the offense keeping the defense on the field, but you can't face Aaron Roger (with his league high 25 sacks) and not get to him once during the game. Bad bad bad bad.
14. Still waiting. Terry Pluto thought that this would be the year that the Browns didn't suck at defending the run. Nope.
15. Not my money. Sure, Quinn probably isn't playing due to his $11 million/70% of the snaps contract clause (which is really the only sensible reason he's not playing). And that's fine, I guess. But it's gotta be fairly obvious that D.A. isn't the guy. I'd like to see Quinn once the 70% threshold is passed, but I'd even take Ratliff at this point. Anyone but D.A.
16. Kinda a big deal. I'm not really sure why Mangini is getting ripped on nationally like he is. The Browns have had a shitty, fat coach for years, why does Rolling Stone decide to give a shit now?
17. Long nightmare is over. The Cavs start tomorrow. TOMORROW!! I can officially stop caring about the Browns.
18. Delonte, Delonte, Delonte. Not good. West's wife filed domestic violence report. Not good.
19. Nice idea, but no. Windhorst is asked if J.J. Hickson could start... Apparently Coach Brown once thought that since Andy plays so well with Z, that J.J. could start next to Shaq. But he did away with that idea once they saw how well Varejao worked with O'Neal. I think Hickson is poised to have a monster year and I hope Brown gives him regular playing time.
20. Rough start. The Cavs start the season with a 4-in-5, face 7 back-to-backs in the first five weeks and are on the road for most of the first 2 months or so. The Cavs could end up having a worse record than last season, but be more prepared for the playoffs.
21. Thoughts on Shaq. I go back and forth on how I feel about O'Neal. On one hand, the Cavs are adding a veteran HoF big man who can score in the post and protect the rim. Ben likes. On the other hand, I can't simply dismiss criticisms from people like Bill Simmons who point out that Shaq has now left four teams on bad terms and is really old/fat. Ben doesn't disagree. However, whenever thoughts like that get me down, I have to remember that the Cavs only gave up Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. They got Shaq for nothing.
22. That does concern me, the fact that they got him for zilch. We'll see how Shaq looks without the vaunted Phoenix medical staff, it could be ugly. He's 37 years old and a billion pounds, he's not the same guy anymore. As excited as I am for this season (and you really have no idea), there's a very good possibility that this Shaq thing blows up in our collective faces.
23. Though Shaq may not be their best pickup. I really like the signings of both Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. Both swing men should be able to contribute on both ends of the floor. Parker should help in the halfcourt offense and Moon should help enable them to run and go small if need be.
24. If Coach Mike is up to the task. Maybe it's just me, but I gotta be a little concerned about the news that Shaq doesn't understand the playbook and that Brown hasn't decided on a rotation yet. Sweet. I'm sure this won't drive me insane for the first half of the year.
25. Say what you will about the Browns. But at least they control their own destiny. They suck purely due to faults of their own making. Meanwhile, Tribe fans get to watch C.C. Sabathia go against Cliff Lee in the Worlds Series. Mid-market MLB teams are glorified farm teams for the big markets. Both of those guys were traded due to monetary reasons.
26. Speaking of a crappy economy. Who would've thought that the economic down turn would actually help out a Cleveland franchise. With the salary cap dropping and teams losing money, it looks more and more likely that LeBron is gonna re-up with the Cavaliers. Weird.
27. Should I care? The Indians hired a guy who used to coach the Nationals. Awesome. I was hoping for Bobby Valentine, simply because he seemed interesting. I literally have no opinion on Manny Acta.
28. I'm a dork (part 1). A new Wheel of Time book comes out tomorrow (it's a big day for me). This past month, I've been diving headlong into the WoT blogs to catch up. I'm ridiculously pumped.
29. I'm a dork (part 2). We're two episodes into the new season of Venture Bros. and it is freaking epic. I highly recommend this show and you can watch full episodes online.
30. Music time. The new Muse album, The Resistance, is pretty badass. It's over the top, pompous, bombastic, Queen-esque and really freaking good. This is 'United States of Eurasia'
Showing posts with label Weekend Thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekend Thoughts. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. In case you were wondering. The Cavs face the Celtics in 43 days.
2. Cause I know I was. Cavs face the Celtics in 43 days.
3. Wow. That weekend was filled with shitty offensive football. The offenses for both the Buckeyes and the Browns should shoulder most of the blame for the losses.
4. There's enough blame to go around. Terrelle Pryor says he and the offense should take the heat for their loss to USC. I don't disagree. You can't have four drive start in your opponents territory and only get 2 FGs. Especially against a team like USC.
5. Still not there yet. There are times where Pryor looks great. Then there are times he makes really really bad decisions (like his pick and his one ugly ugly ugly option pitch).
6. Speaking of blame. Jim Tressel. Outcoached? Yes. Wasting Pryor's talent? Meh, I dunno. But after seeing Barkley play so well, you have to wonder.
7. Inevitable. Ya, Denny is right. Was anyone surprised about USC's final drive? This game was too similar to the Texas game for my liking.
8. As for being proud... yes and no. Obviously, the loss sucks. Was I pleased to see Ohio State hang with USC (not getting blown out, showing they can hang with big powers)? Yes. But it's not a good sign when Ohio State fans start talking about a 'good loss'. At some point you gotta beat the other guy.
9. I'm sure the defense just feels sick. They played really well against both Texas and USC. Pryor didn't give them a chance on USC's first TD (though the Trojans consistently won the battle on 4th down).
10. No one in Columbus is scared of Michigan. And I'm sure they aren't better than Ohio State. Did anyone actually, you know, watch the Michigan-Notre Dame game? It was terrible; poor tackling, bad throws, blown coverages- just ugly. Yes, it was close and that made it an exciting game. But close doesn't equal good football.
11. Besides Michigan State, I think the Big Ten held their own. OSU wasn't embarrassed and Wisconsin and Michigan escaped with wins. Hell, Michigan is even back in the Top 25.
12. Here we go again. Brady Quinn did not have a good game, he was 21-35 for 205yrds with a TD and a pick. He and Edwards did not look in sync. Like Pryor, he's shouldering the blame.
13. If you coulda beat out DA early on... One of the stories lost over the whole training camp is the fact that since Quinn and Derek Anderson split time, neither had a lot of reps with the first team. Quinn did not look comfortable with the offense (now the Vikings' D may have had something to do with that as well). They had way too many false start penalties.
14. Maybe it's just that simple. The Browns don't have a lot of talent. They aren't that good. The end.
15. The defense wasn't too bad. Hell, they held a 13-10 lead at halftime (second half, ugh). They at least got some pressure on Brett Favre (oh, BTW- Brian Billick did his best John Madden impression. It was sickening. I'm pretty sure they almost passed out when Favre threw that TD). They ran out of gas (and ran into Adrian Peterson) in the second half, but the offense's mistakes didn't do the defense any favors.
16. I kept waiting for Favre to make a mistake. But he never did.
17. Josh Cribbs was once again the best part of the game. Cribbs took a punt to the house but was barely a factor on offense. For some reason the Browns lined him up under center for both second-and-goal AND third-and-goal. Not only did it not work, but it shows how little confidence Mangini has in his starting QB.
18. Great, not good. Adrian Peterson is pretty damn good. I know they stopped him in the first half, but is anyone REALLY surprised that he ended up wit 180 yards and 3 TDs?
19. Jay Cutler did not help my fantasy team. 4 INTs? Seriously?!
20. And the 15th man is... Rob Kurz! Maybe! Or Jawad Williams.
21. She might have some inside info. Gloria James says LeBron's a "hometown boy". Good, that's what this season needed, more tea leaf readings.
22. Remember, he needs that big market. LeBron's in London, doing some more movie promotions.
23. Speaking of 2010... Brian Windhorst:
25. More Galifianakis please. What? He's in a show with Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson? On HBO? Called Bored to Death? Sign me up.
26. Um, not good. Philly is closing their public libraries.
27. Animals with light sabers. Tell me this isn't at least kinda awesome.
28. Leadership. My side if feckless, the other side is crazy.
29. Twitter is gonna get people in trouble. Twitter: the First Draft of History. I like it. For those wondering, you can follow my tweets or whatever at BenCox83.
30. One of my favs. Sondre Lerche is playing the Beachland Ballroom this Friday. His new album, Heartbeat Radio is getting good reviews (I quite enjoy it). Tickets are $13.
Here's the title track from his new album:
2. Cause I know I was. Cavs face the Celtics in 43 days.
3. Wow. That weekend was filled with shitty offensive football. The offenses for both the Buckeyes and the Browns should shoulder most of the blame for the losses.
4. There's enough blame to go around. Terrelle Pryor says he and the offense should take the heat for their loss to USC. I don't disagree. You can't have four drive start in your opponents territory and only get 2 FGs. Especially against a team like USC.
5. Still not there yet. There are times where Pryor looks great. Then there are times he makes really really bad decisions (like his pick and his one ugly ugly ugly option pitch).
6. Speaking of blame. Jim Tressel. Outcoached? Yes. Wasting Pryor's talent? Meh, I dunno. But after seeing Barkley play so well, you have to wonder.
7. Inevitable. Ya, Denny is right. Was anyone surprised about USC's final drive? This game was too similar to the Texas game for my liking.
8. As for being proud... yes and no. Obviously, the loss sucks. Was I pleased to see Ohio State hang with USC (not getting blown out, showing they can hang with big powers)? Yes. But it's not a good sign when Ohio State fans start talking about a 'good loss'. At some point you gotta beat the other guy.
9. I'm sure the defense just feels sick. They played really well against both Texas and USC. Pryor didn't give them a chance on USC's first TD (though the Trojans consistently won the battle on 4th down).
10. No one in Columbus is scared of Michigan. And I'm sure they aren't better than Ohio State. Did anyone actually, you know, watch the Michigan-Notre Dame game? It was terrible; poor tackling, bad throws, blown coverages- just ugly. Yes, it was close and that made it an exciting game. But close doesn't equal good football.
11. Besides Michigan State, I think the Big Ten held their own. OSU wasn't embarrassed and Wisconsin and Michigan escaped with wins. Hell, Michigan is even back in the Top 25.
12. Here we go again. Brady Quinn did not have a good game, he was 21-35 for 205yrds with a TD and a pick. He and Edwards did not look in sync. Like Pryor, he's shouldering the blame.
13. If you coulda beat out DA early on... One of the stories lost over the whole training camp is the fact that since Quinn and Derek Anderson split time, neither had a lot of reps with the first team. Quinn did not look comfortable with the offense (now the Vikings' D may have had something to do with that as well). They had way too many false start penalties.
14. Maybe it's just that simple. The Browns don't have a lot of talent. They aren't that good. The end.
15. The defense wasn't too bad. Hell, they held a 13-10 lead at halftime (second half, ugh). They at least got some pressure on Brett Favre (oh, BTW- Brian Billick did his best John Madden impression. It was sickening. I'm pretty sure they almost passed out when Favre threw that TD). They ran out of gas (and ran into Adrian Peterson) in the second half, but the offense's mistakes didn't do the defense any favors.
16. I kept waiting for Favre to make a mistake. But he never did.
17. Josh Cribbs was once again the best part of the game. Cribbs took a punt to the house but was barely a factor on offense. For some reason the Browns lined him up under center for both second-and-goal AND third-and-goal. Not only did it not work, but it shows how little confidence Mangini has in his starting QB.
18. Great, not good. Adrian Peterson is pretty damn good. I know they stopped him in the first half, but is anyone REALLY surprised that he ended up wit 180 yards and 3 TDs?
19. Jay Cutler did not help my fantasy team. 4 INTs? Seriously?!
20. And the 15th man is... Rob Kurz! Maybe! Or Jawad Williams.
21. She might have some inside info. Gloria James says LeBron's a "hometown boy". Good, that's what this season needed, more tea leaf readings.
22. Remember, he needs that big market. LeBron's in London, doing some more movie promotions.
23. Speaking of 2010... Brian Windhorst:
Refer to the very important decision he made in 2003, when he potentially left millions on the table from Reebok because he ultimately wanted to be a Nike man. Also refer to the decision he made in 2002 to stay at St. Vincent-St. Mary instead of transferring Oak Hill Academy as was offered.24. I did see that, right? Anyone at ESPN wanna mention Jordan's petty induction speech? I know I wasn't the only one who noticed.
25. More Galifianakis please. What? He's in a show with Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson? On HBO? Called Bored to Death? Sign me up.
26. Um, not good. Philly is closing their public libraries.
27. Animals with light sabers. Tell me this isn't at least kinda awesome.
28. Leadership. My side if feckless, the other side is crazy.
29. Twitter is gonna get people in trouble. Twitter: the First Draft of History. I like it. For those wondering, you can follow my tweets or whatever at BenCox83.
30. One of my favs. Sondre Lerche is playing the Beachland Ballroom this Friday. His new album, Heartbeat Radio is getting good reviews (I quite enjoy it). Tickets are $13.
Here's the title track from his new album:
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. I've only seen one Tribe game all season. This was in Chicago and they blew an extra inning Save with a throwing error and a wild pitch. Haven't watched before or since.
2. I'm not sure which is more sad, the fact that the fire sale is beginning before the All-Star break or that Mark DeRosa is second on the team in both homers and RBIs.
3. However, the trade doesn't look too shabby. The bullpen needs crazy help.
4. Now that double DeRosa jersey is even more worthless, if that was even possible.
5. I dunno if firing Wedge is the answer. However, it's not like this guy has done a bang-up job over the years. This is a team who routinely gets off to bad starts and has to dig themselves out of deep holes.
6. Great article on the Tribe's mistakes (link not safe for lunch). Jesus, those draft picks are awful...
7. Terry Pluto says that new DC Rob Ryan is in charge of reviving Kamerion Wimbley's career. Let's hope he does a good job, two years ago I thought Wimbley was gonna be a stud (he looked like a beast in the preseason in his 2nd year).
8. Joey J is suing the Browns over his staph infection, of course he is. It's stories like this that had me on Kellen Winslow's side during that whole debacle.
9. Great article on Bernie Kosar by Dan Le Batard. Livingston talks Bernie as well.
10. I found the Kosar article because Le Batard brought it up during his appearance on Bill Simmons' podcast. I do enjoy those BS Reports.
11. However, I think Simmons and Chard Ford were unfair to Cavs GM Danny Ferry during their recent podcast. They basically lambasted Ferry for surrounding LeBron with veterans and not young guys like Thunder GM Sam Presti is doing with Kevin Durant.
12. It's unfair because Ferry got the job right before LeBron's third year. They had missed the playoffs by a game each of LeBron's first two years, so they were never picking anywhere near the top of the draft. Also, Jim fucking Paxson had traded a ton of picks (so even if the Cavs HAD sucked enough to draft high, they wouldn't have been able to).
13. Yes, Ferry whiffed on Larry Hughes (along with Marshall and Jones), but the Cavs DID make the Finals with those signings (in an admittedly weak year). But I still say Ferry HAD to make those signings, because if the Cavs would've kept starting Ira Newble, there's no way LeBron re-ups.
14. Obviously, at this point I'm not thrilled with the amount of vets on this team (I'm still not quite sold on Shaq), but I'm not sure what other options Ferry had. He didn't have picks, they didn't suck enough to draft actual talent and it's not like this team was full of vets that would've brought them back nice picks via trades. I mean, this team won 66 games and lost to an Orlando team playing out of it's freaking mind. Could he do better? Sure, but he hasn't done bad.
15. Brian Windhorst discusses the Cavs free agent options.
16. My main target is Milwaukee's Charlie Villanueva. I keep seeing conflicting reports on whether or not the Bucks will present him with the qualifying offer. If they don't, he'll be an unrestricted FA and things could be looking waaay up. (If he's a Restricted FA, the Cavs would probably have to work out some kind of sign-and-trade).
17. I'm curious to see what the Cavs do with Anderson Varejao. If they go after Charlie Villanueva hard, it may piss off Andy (and/or his agent). But it's gonna be imperative, with Shaq on the floor, that the Cavs have a power forward who can consistently knock down the open J. I'd lose my mind if I spent 82 games watching Varejao brick 13 footers.
18. BW brings up Jason Kidd and Rasheed Wallace. Part of me thinks that these guys would be great for a 1-2 year run. But part of me feels like we'd have a Miami 06 team on our hands. Lot's of ring chasing vets... meh. However, a championship is a championship is a championship. If and when the Cavs do win a title, I'm not gonna bitch that it wasn't won with home grown talent.
19. I know next season is championship-or-bust (and convince James to stay), but say the Cavs win the title with a team build around Shaq, Kidd, Sheed, Z and LeBron... why would LeBron sign long term, when most of those pieces are gonna be put out to pasture within the next 3 years? Signing CV would at least give the Cavs a young nucleus of Williams, Villanueva and LeBron to build around.
20. The Cavs still need a wing player for defensive purposes and I'm undecided on their best option. Matt Barnes isn't a bad idea (I do like his moxie) but I'm not sure how he'd fit here offensively (his last two stops were Golden State and Phoenix. Not sure how he'd adapt to Le-Iso). Anthony Parker would probably be a good signing, if a bit boring.
21. Livingston likes the Shaq signing. If nothing else, next year should be very interesting.
22. Patrick McManamon makes a good point:
2. I'm not sure which is more sad, the fact that the fire sale is beginning before the All-Star break or that Mark DeRosa is second on the team in both homers and RBIs.
3. However, the trade doesn't look too shabby. The bullpen needs crazy help.
4. Now that double DeRosa jersey is even more worthless, if that was even possible.
5. I dunno if firing Wedge is the answer. However, it's not like this guy has done a bang-up job over the years. This is a team who routinely gets off to bad starts and has to dig themselves out of deep holes.
6. Great article on the Tribe's mistakes (link not safe for lunch). Jesus, those draft picks are awful...
7. Terry Pluto says that new DC Rob Ryan is in charge of reviving Kamerion Wimbley's career. Let's hope he does a good job, two years ago I thought Wimbley was gonna be a stud (he looked like a beast in the preseason in his 2nd year).
8. Joey J is suing the Browns over his staph infection, of course he is. It's stories like this that had me on Kellen Winslow's side during that whole debacle.
9. Great article on Bernie Kosar by Dan Le Batard. Livingston talks Bernie as well.
10. I found the Kosar article because Le Batard brought it up during his appearance on Bill Simmons' podcast. I do enjoy those BS Reports.
11. However, I think Simmons and Chard Ford were unfair to Cavs GM Danny Ferry during their recent podcast. They basically lambasted Ferry for surrounding LeBron with veterans and not young guys like Thunder GM Sam Presti is doing with Kevin Durant.
12. It's unfair because Ferry got the job right before LeBron's third year. They had missed the playoffs by a game each of LeBron's first two years, so they were never picking anywhere near the top of the draft. Also, Jim fucking Paxson had traded a ton of picks (so even if the Cavs HAD sucked enough to draft high, they wouldn't have been able to).
13. Yes, Ferry whiffed on Larry Hughes (along with Marshall and Jones), but the Cavs DID make the Finals with those signings (in an admittedly weak year). But I still say Ferry HAD to make those signings, because if the Cavs would've kept starting Ira Newble, there's no way LeBron re-ups.
14. Obviously, at this point I'm not thrilled with the amount of vets on this team (I'm still not quite sold on Shaq), but I'm not sure what other options Ferry had. He didn't have picks, they didn't suck enough to draft actual talent and it's not like this team was full of vets that would've brought them back nice picks via trades. I mean, this team won 66 games and lost to an Orlando team playing out of it's freaking mind. Could he do better? Sure, but he hasn't done bad.
15. Brian Windhorst discusses the Cavs free agent options.
16. My main target is Milwaukee's Charlie Villanueva. I keep seeing conflicting reports on whether or not the Bucks will present him with the qualifying offer. If they don't, he'll be an unrestricted FA and things could be looking waaay up. (If he's a Restricted FA, the Cavs would probably have to work out some kind of sign-and-trade).
17. I'm curious to see what the Cavs do with Anderson Varejao. If they go after Charlie Villanueva hard, it may piss off Andy (and/or his agent). But it's gonna be imperative, with Shaq on the floor, that the Cavs have a power forward who can consistently knock down the open J. I'd lose my mind if I spent 82 games watching Varejao brick 13 footers.
18. BW brings up Jason Kidd and Rasheed Wallace. Part of me thinks that these guys would be great for a 1-2 year run. But part of me feels like we'd have a Miami 06 team on our hands. Lot's of ring chasing vets... meh. However, a championship is a championship is a championship. If and when the Cavs do win a title, I'm not gonna bitch that it wasn't won with home grown talent.
19. I know next season is championship-or-bust (and convince James to stay), but say the Cavs win the title with a team build around Shaq, Kidd, Sheed, Z and LeBron... why would LeBron sign long term, when most of those pieces are gonna be put out to pasture within the next 3 years? Signing CV would at least give the Cavs a young nucleus of Williams, Villanueva and LeBron to build around.
20. The Cavs still need a wing player for defensive purposes and I'm undecided on their best option. Matt Barnes isn't a bad idea (I do like his moxie) but I'm not sure how he'd fit here offensively (his last two stops were Golden State and Phoenix. Not sure how he'd adapt to Le-Iso). Anthony Parker would probably be a good signing, if a bit boring.
21. Livingston likes the Shaq signing. If nothing else, next year should be very interesting.
22. Patrick McManamon makes a good point:
Think back to Game 7 in Boston in 2008. James set up Ben Wallace for a dunk in the final minutes with the game in the balance. Wallace threw the ball outside to Delonte West for a 3-pointer, which he missed.
Shaq is probably going to dunk that ball — with force.
23. I just hope all the band wagon Cavs fans know what year it is (2009) and that asking a 37 year-old, 7-foot, 300+ lbs man to stay healthy for an entire NBA season (whether he's motivated or not) is a lot to ask. Yes, they dealt two guys who weren't gonna contribute but it's not 2002 anymore.
24. Well, I'm gonna have to buy a #33 Cavaliers jersey.
25. For the most part, I'm OK with the Cavs draft. Sure, Christian Eyenga is a project, but he's supposed to have a high ceiling (and crazy athletic abilities AND a 7-1 wingspan). Plus, by stashing him overseas, the Cavs will save some cash this season.
26. The Christian Eyenga pick is easier to swallow when you read things like this:
Were it not for San Antonio's theft of Blair, Cleveland taking Green at No. 46 would be the steal of the draft. He's a knockdown outside shooter who hit 42 percent on 3s and 85 percent at the line last season, and he's a solid defender at the wing with good size. My Draft Rater had him as the No. 8 college player in the draft, and he should be able to contribute right away.
Moreover, this is exactly what the Cavs need. In addition to their inability to contend with Dwight Howard, their biggest issue in the playoffs against Orlando was a lack of wing talent -- in particular, wing talent that can knock down all the open looks LeBron James creates. Green helps answer that need.
27. re: Michael Jackson's death: I have no idea how many times I listened my cassette tape of Thiller, but I played the hell out of that thing during countless school trips (on an insanely bulky walkman). Dangerous was one of the first albums I bought with my own money (also on cassette, my first CD was PotUSA). I was in NYC visiting an aunt just when HIStory was coming out (people forget how big of deal that was, I mean, 'Scream' was a big freaking deal at the time). Not gonna lie, I was definitely intrigued by his recent comeback attempts in London (in a train-wreck kind of way, but holding out hope for some nuggets of awesome).
28. After listening to a lot of Jack-O over the past few days, I've forgotten how practically half the time I have no idea what the hell he's singing. Take 'Wanna Be Starting Something,' I get maybe 55% of those lyrics (and that doesn't even include the whole 'mamase, mamasa, ma-ma coosa' ending).
29. This:
For future reference, "I was sitting in front of my computer masturbating to that Farah Fawcett poster" is not a good answer when someone asks you where you were when you heard Michael Jackson died.
30. If you have a moment, make a call for Ohio Libraries. 70% of Ohio Libraries gets 100% of their funding from the state. The libraries in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati will take hits, but they'll keep ticking (though you'll notice the difference). Libraries in small, rural Ohio towns will be absolutely devastated. For more, go here and here.
* Call the Governor's office at 614-466-3555
* Call your local state representative
* Call your state senator
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. Sure glad I DVR'd that hockey game...
2. I'll be honest, I don't think I've seen 9 outs of the Tribe's season.
3. I've kept my eye on 'em, don't get me wrong. But I'm not following along game-to-game. I just know they're losing.
4. I don't usually turn my full attention towards baseball until the Cavs are out of the playoffs (even then, maybe not til the Finals are over). Can't say I feel like I'm missing out.
5. I recorded a podcast on Wednesday (it'll be posted some time soon... right?) and made a vow not to discuss the Indians until Wedge is fired. So this may be the last Tribe talk you hear from me for the near future.
6. Speaking of Cleveland teams I'm angry with, I have almost no opinion on the Browns' draft (I know, I'm late). I like the general idea of trading down and stockpiling warm bodies.
7. While this team has had problems with nailing picks, they've also had zero depth. Their starters have been decent, but once one guy gets hurts, it always seems like they're signing guys off the street. Getting extra guys never hurt.
8. Also, it'll be nice to root for Brian Robiskie in a Browns uni. I'm not a huge "Browns must pick Buckeyes!!!" guy, but I will admit that I dislike these guys ending up on the Steelers.
9. I decided not to DVR today's Lakers-Rockets Game 7. Maybe that's a dumb move, but I fully expect L.A. to win by 20+.
10. I did DVR the new Kobe documentary (Kobe Doin' Work) but haven't brought myself to watch it. I'm not sure I want to sit through a doc about a player I dislike.
11. I haven't really thought about the Lakers losing to Houston, but if they did, Phil Jackson should take some of the blame.
12. Let's not forget that Phil and Kobe have lost their last two final appearances. If they somehow manage to lose today, that should be a mark on both of their records. It's been seven years since they've won anything.
13. As for Boston/Orlando... I'd rather face Boston (because beating the Celtics would just feel right) but I'll also celebrate if they lose.
14. I do the same thing with Michigan in bowl games. Sure, it's better for the Big Ten (thus, OSU) if Michigan wins their bowl game, but it's not like I don't enjoy a Michigan loss.
15. Honestly, I could see tonight's game going either way. I could totally picture Boston riding the home crowd (coupled with an Orlando choke job) to a Game 7 victory.
16. I could also see a younger, angrier Orlando squad running a tired Celtic team ragged. If Dwight Howard actually shows up and take it to the Celtic bigs, then the Magic should be OK.
17. I'd guess the Cavs would rather face Boston. Either way, I don't expect them to get through the next series unscathed. I like this squad a lot, but I'll be shocked if they swept the next round.
18. I don't think Mike Brown has gotten enough credit. I've had my issues with the guy in the past, but the job he's done this year has been fantastic. He's far and away Cleveland best coach since Mike Hargrove.
19. I'm still thinking about those 90s Cavs teams. You let Ron Harper age with Mark Price, Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty and you prolly see them win 60 games in 91-92.
20. Also, while moving I found my old Price and Daugherty rookie cards. Faaaaantastic.
21. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think Cavs fans really hold any grudges against Craig Ehlo. The guy played his butt off for this squad for a number of years. People always forget that he scored the basket that gave the Cavs the lead before The Shot.
22. Bill Livingston reminds people that the Cavs can win some close games too. I'm not sure close wins against the Clippers and Warriors are the best examples to make when arguing that the Cavs are battle tested.
23. I'd rather have rest. Sure, this postseason has been a little boring so far, but I'd rather get guys like Ben Wallace healthy.
24. I like this move.
25. It's finally happening... the beginning of the end of a series I started in 1995.
26. Will Ferrell hosted SNL last night and while they've had better Celebrity Jeopardy sketches, Saturday's was fantastic. I thought the entire episode was really solid. There were some misses, but they weren't cringe inducing.
27. Quick movie reviews: I really enjoyed Star Trek; there were moments that were kinda lame (I didn't care for the beginning at all) but I had a great time. I also liked Wolverine... wasn't great, but it wasn't Daredevil either. As for DVDS, just saw The Spirit. Did not like. The visuals were neat but it was overly campy and a little bit dumb. However, I did really really really like Frost/Nixon. Can't recommend it enough.
28. I'm enjoying these Dos Equis commericals more than I care to admit. It's like Chuck Norris jokes written by actual writers.
29. Also, these Kobe-LeBron ads ain't bad either.
30. Another movie I must pass along is Southland Tales. This movie is written and directed by Richard Kelly (of Donnie Darko fame). It's really weird (I won't even begin to explain), it's got a crazy cast list (check the link) and it contains this delightful scene:
2. I'll be honest, I don't think I've seen 9 outs of the Tribe's season.
3. I've kept my eye on 'em, don't get me wrong. But I'm not following along game-to-game. I just know they're losing.
4. I don't usually turn my full attention towards baseball until the Cavs are out of the playoffs (even then, maybe not til the Finals are over). Can't say I feel like I'm missing out.
5. I recorded a podcast on Wednesday (it'll be posted some time soon... right?) and made a vow not to discuss the Indians until Wedge is fired. So this may be the last Tribe talk you hear from me for the near future.
6. Speaking of Cleveland teams I'm angry with, I have almost no opinion on the Browns' draft (I know, I'm late). I like the general idea of trading down and stockpiling warm bodies.
7. While this team has had problems with nailing picks, they've also had zero depth. Their starters have been decent, but once one guy gets hurts, it always seems like they're signing guys off the street. Getting extra guys never hurt.
8. Also, it'll be nice to root for Brian Robiskie in a Browns uni. I'm not a huge "Browns must pick Buckeyes!!!" guy, but I will admit that I dislike these guys ending up on the Steelers.
9. I decided not to DVR today's Lakers-Rockets Game 7. Maybe that's a dumb move, but I fully expect L.A. to win by 20+.
10. I did DVR the new Kobe documentary (Kobe Doin' Work) but haven't brought myself to watch it. I'm not sure I want to sit through a doc about a player I dislike.
11. I haven't really thought about the Lakers losing to Houston, but if they did, Phil Jackson should take some of the blame.
12. Let's not forget that Phil and Kobe have lost their last two final appearances. If they somehow manage to lose today, that should be a mark on both of their records. It's been seven years since they've won anything.
13. As for Boston/Orlando... I'd rather face Boston (because beating the Celtics would just feel right) but I'll also celebrate if they lose.
14. I do the same thing with Michigan in bowl games. Sure, it's better for the Big Ten (thus, OSU) if Michigan wins their bowl game, but it's not like I don't enjoy a Michigan loss.
15. Honestly, I could see tonight's game going either way. I could totally picture Boston riding the home crowd (coupled with an Orlando choke job) to a Game 7 victory.
16. I could also see a younger, angrier Orlando squad running a tired Celtic team ragged. If Dwight Howard actually shows up and take it to the Celtic bigs, then the Magic should be OK.
17. I'd guess the Cavs would rather face Boston. Either way, I don't expect them to get through the next series unscathed. I like this squad a lot, but I'll be shocked if they swept the next round.
18. I don't think Mike Brown has gotten enough credit. I've had my issues with the guy in the past, but the job he's done this year has been fantastic. He's far and away Cleveland best coach since Mike Hargrove.
19. I'm still thinking about those 90s Cavs teams. You let Ron Harper age with Mark Price, Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty and you prolly see them win 60 games in 91-92.
20. Also, while moving I found my old Price and Daugherty rookie cards. Faaaaantastic.
21. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think Cavs fans really hold any grudges against Craig Ehlo. The guy played his butt off for this squad for a number of years. People always forget that he scored the basket that gave the Cavs the lead before The Shot.
22. Bill Livingston reminds people that the Cavs can win some close games too. I'm not sure close wins against the Clippers and Warriors are the best examples to make when arguing that the Cavs are battle tested.
23. I'd rather have rest. Sure, this postseason has been a little boring so far, but I'd rather get guys like Ben Wallace healthy.
24. I like this move.
25. It's finally happening... the beginning of the end of a series I started in 1995.
26. Will Ferrell hosted SNL last night and while they've had better Celebrity Jeopardy sketches, Saturday's was fantastic. I thought the entire episode was really solid. There were some misses, but they weren't cringe inducing.
27. Quick movie reviews: I really enjoyed Star Trek; there were moments that were kinda lame (I didn't care for the beginning at all) but I had a great time. I also liked Wolverine... wasn't great, but it wasn't Daredevil either. As for DVDS, just saw The Spirit. Did not like. The visuals were neat but it was overly campy and a little bit dumb. However, I did really really really like Frost/Nixon. Can't recommend it enough.
28. I'm enjoying these Dos Equis commericals more than I care to admit. It's like Chuck Norris jokes written by actual writers.
29. Also, these Kobe-LeBron ads ain't bad either.
30. Another movie I must pass along is Southland Tales. This movie is written and directed by Richard Kelly (of Donnie Darko fame). It's really weird (I won't even begin to explain), it's got a crazy cast list (check the link) and it contains this delightful scene:
Monday, October 20, 2008
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. Nice win for OSU. Good to see them actually dominate a team for once.
2. If OSU wants any shot at the title game (or any BCS game), they're going to have to beat teams soundly. Ohio State won't get any love from the polls this year; no benefit of the doubt.
3. A good win against Penn State would really help their fortunes.
4. I said this to my friends after the Wisconsin game, but Terrell Pryor is the real deal. You can tell that he's still young and he makes his fair share of mistakes (you're allowed to throw it away) but it's pretty obvious that this kid is chock full of talent.
5. Like the second play from scrimmage.... oh, we're backed up in our own territory.... nope, one run and we're at mid-field.
6. However, eventually he's going to have to win a game this year with his arm. Tressel hasn't really let him loose (the play calling can be remarkably uncreative) but at some point teams will just be daring him to throw (if they aren't already).
7. This was really cool. I'm glad Pryor is setting the bar high. He knows he's directing an offense (and team) that had title aspirations.
8. Beanie Wells is really good. The more I see him run (and after the way USC lost) the more I realize how much the Buckeyes really missed him in that game.
9. The Browns.... fuck me.
10. 14. of. 37. 14-37. 14/37.
11. Twice they started inside their 50.... nada. The last drive... DA go the first down on the sneak and they needed 5-11 more yards to give Dawson a fair chance of making the game tying field goal.... nada.
12. Anderson is six foot fucking five, there's no reason why he should have so many god damned tipped passes.
13. Does Edwards only catch balls if he's had two weeks to prepare? Or is it a 'once every 5 games' type deal. Maybe he should drink some 5 hour energy before he hits the field...
14. You can't put this loss on the defense, they did what they had to do. This loss is placed soley on the shoulders of the offense. The D has given the Browns a chance to beat both Pittsburgh and Washington, the offense didn't hold up their end of the bargain.
15. Terry Pluto is right, this is simply a 2-4 team. They derserve to be where they are.
15. Winslow's most recent outburst isn't making this season any more fun. It's not like we have an underachieving team, a brewing QB controversy and a coach who's clock management skills are so terrible, I'm shocked he can set his alarm every morning... a trade demand (or almost) is the extra spice that this season was lacking.
16. Kellen saying that he almost asked for a trade is just about as helpful as actually demanding a trade. You're still unhappy, the media is still going to beat this story into the ground and fans will still be upset. Saying "I almost demanded a trade" is the equivilant of saying "you know, I could've done something really asshole-ish right there, but I didn't. Just lettin you know, I could've decided to be a real dick. But I won't." I mean, what's the point?
16. Look, I can't imagine what Winslow has gone through. He gets another staph infection and says the Browns didn't want to tell the media (the Browns have had way more than their fair share, it wouldn't be suprising if they wanted to keep it under wraps). So instead, he gets to hear speculation about his nuts swelling, that has to be fun. THEN the Browns go out (sans K2) and lay a whooping on the Giants, with people speculating that maybe the Browns might have a better offense without Winslow (run blocking!). Then the Browns' offense goes out and take a big stinky dump in Washington. I can see why the dude might be venting.
17. And I'm sure there's a grain of truth to Pluto saying it's all about money, but I don't know if we can pin everything on his contract. If what Winslow says is true, then he got to be brunt of jokes so the Browns wouldn't have had to publically deal with another staph infection case. That's taking one for the team... and if Savage really didn't contact him while he was sick, I don't blame him for being pissed off.
18. But again, the outburst isn't helping anyone. (and who really knows if he's telling the truth. Maybe he's just daring the Browns to say, "nope, he didn't have a staph infection, it was his giant swollen balls that kept him out." But somehow, I doubt it).
19. I heard a great nickname for Romeo today: Crennelephant. Tell me that isn't awesome. [Update] The Crennelephant has confirmed that Winslow had a staph infection. I'm sure he's thrilled with the outburst.
20. Jerome Harrison got three touches. Three. And I'm fairly confident that they call came late in the 4th period. This is just getting stupid.
21. This Brett Favre story pisses me off. Not because of what Favre did (douche move, but I really don't give a shit) but because now ESPN is going to be 'all Favre, all the time' yet AGAIN. Lord help us all if T.O. starts mouthing off after the 'Boys loss to St. Louis. I could easily lose my mind.
22. "I swear to God, if the Red Sox win tonight, I may murder someone" - Ben Cox, October 19th 2008, 8:07 PM.
23. That being said, if we reach November and the state of Florida has three world series titles in the past 12 years.... I may murder someone. Go Phillies!
24. It's nice that Ben Wallace enjoys being out of the spotlight. I just wonder how good his mood will be if he's out of the starting lineup.
25. Terry Pluto talks about Sasha Pavlovic becoming the Cavs starting 2-guard, basically by default. I think he's right; Sasha is bigger than West and quicker than Wally. My big thing with Sasha is consistency, mainly with regards to his shooting. If he can knock down the open 3 on a regular basis, it would do wonders for this team.
26. I know it's preseason, but I really enjoyed the Cavs first win on Saturday night. I was lucky enough to catch the end of the game on the radio (dear lord I love Joe Tait) and it was great to hear that the reserves lead them to victory. I was intrigued by the five that Mike Brown had on the court in the final minutes: West, Gibson, Pavlovic, Hickson and Varejao. That (really young) group finished the game with a 20-2 run. (Also, with Brian Windhorst joining Terry Pluto at the PD, Cleveland's biggest paper will finally have some decent Cavs coverage. Going from cranky Bill Livingston, Branson Wright and Roger Brown to Windhorst and Pluto makes quite a difference).
27. Having Mo Williams get himself ejected didn't help with the chemistry development issues (can Mo, West and Gibson share the court at once, small-ball style?), but I don't mind the feistyness
28. Speaking of young guys, Cavs rookie Darnell Jackson will miss 5-6 weeks with a broken wrist. Now, this isn't a good thing by any means, but it might mean that we'll see a teensy bit more of JJ Hickson. I'm high on both rooks, but I don't think that this will really set him back too far.
29. I'm so very glad that Billmon is back. Same with Fafblog.
30. A few of my friends are in the band Falling Into Fire. I might do some recording with them at some point. Check 'em out, they're too talented to be hanging out with the likes of me. (Also, in other Ben Cox news, at some point this NFL season, I may be posting links to some podcasts. We'll see what happens).
2. If OSU wants any shot at the title game (or any BCS game), they're going to have to beat teams soundly. Ohio State won't get any love from the polls this year; no benefit of the doubt.
3. A good win against Penn State would really help their fortunes.
4. I said this to my friends after the Wisconsin game, but Terrell Pryor is the real deal. You can tell that he's still young and he makes his fair share of mistakes (you're allowed to throw it away) but it's pretty obvious that this kid is chock full of talent.
5. Like the second play from scrimmage.... oh, we're backed up in our own territory.... nope, one run and we're at mid-field.
6. However, eventually he's going to have to win a game this year with his arm. Tressel hasn't really let him loose (the play calling can be remarkably uncreative) but at some point teams will just be daring him to throw (if they aren't already).
7. This was really cool. I'm glad Pryor is setting the bar high. He knows he's directing an offense (and team) that had title aspirations.
8. Beanie Wells is really good. The more I see him run (and after the way USC lost) the more I realize how much the Buckeyes really missed him in that game.
9. The Browns.... fuck me.
10. 14. of. 37. 14-37. 14/37.
11. Twice they started inside their 50.... nada. The last drive... DA go the first down on the sneak and they needed 5-11 more yards to give Dawson a fair chance of making the game tying field goal.... nada.
12. Anderson is six foot fucking five, there's no reason why he should have so many god damned tipped passes.
13. Does Edwards only catch balls if he's had two weeks to prepare? Or is it a 'once every 5 games' type deal. Maybe he should drink some 5 hour energy before he hits the field...
14. You can't put this loss on the defense, they did what they had to do. This loss is placed soley on the shoulders of the offense. The D has given the Browns a chance to beat both Pittsburgh and Washington, the offense didn't hold up their end of the bargain.
15. Terry Pluto is right, this is simply a 2-4 team. They derserve to be where they are.
15. Winslow's most recent outburst isn't making this season any more fun. It's not like we have an underachieving team, a brewing QB controversy and a coach who's clock management skills are so terrible, I'm shocked he can set his alarm every morning... a trade demand (or almost) is the extra spice that this season was lacking.
16. Kellen saying that he almost asked for a trade is just about as helpful as actually demanding a trade. You're still unhappy, the media is still going to beat this story into the ground and fans will still be upset. Saying "I almost demanded a trade" is the equivilant of saying "you know, I could've done something really asshole-ish right there, but I didn't. Just lettin you know, I could've decided to be a real dick. But I won't." I mean, what's the point?
16. Look, I can't imagine what Winslow has gone through. He gets another staph infection and says the Browns didn't want to tell the media (the Browns have had way more than their fair share, it wouldn't be suprising if they wanted to keep it under wraps). So instead, he gets to hear speculation about his nuts swelling, that has to be fun. THEN the Browns go out (sans K2) and lay a whooping on the Giants, with people speculating that maybe the Browns might have a better offense without Winslow (run blocking!). Then the Browns' offense goes out and take a big stinky dump in Washington. I can see why the dude might be venting.
17. And I'm sure there's a grain of truth to Pluto saying it's all about money, but I don't know if we can pin everything on his contract. If what Winslow says is true, then he got to be brunt of jokes so the Browns wouldn't have had to publically deal with another staph infection case. That's taking one for the team... and if Savage really didn't contact him while he was sick, I don't blame him for being pissed off.
18. But again, the outburst isn't helping anyone. (and who really knows if he's telling the truth. Maybe he's just daring the Browns to say, "nope, he didn't have a staph infection, it was his giant swollen balls that kept him out." But somehow, I doubt it).
19. I heard a great nickname for Romeo today: Crennelephant. Tell me that isn't awesome. [Update] The Crennelephant has confirmed that Winslow had a staph infection. I'm sure he's thrilled with the outburst.
20. Jerome Harrison got three touches. Three. And I'm fairly confident that they call came late in the 4th period. This is just getting stupid.
21. This Brett Favre story pisses me off. Not because of what Favre did (douche move, but I really don't give a shit) but because now ESPN is going to be 'all Favre, all the time' yet AGAIN. Lord help us all if T.O. starts mouthing off after the 'Boys loss to St. Louis. I could easily lose my mind.
22. "I swear to God, if the Red Sox win tonight, I may murder someone" - Ben Cox, October 19th 2008, 8:07 PM.
23. That being said, if we reach November and the state of Florida has three world series titles in the past 12 years.... I may murder someone. Go Phillies!
24. It's nice that Ben Wallace enjoys being out of the spotlight. I just wonder how good his mood will be if he's out of the starting lineup.
25. Terry Pluto talks about Sasha Pavlovic becoming the Cavs starting 2-guard, basically by default. I think he's right; Sasha is bigger than West and quicker than Wally. My big thing with Sasha is consistency, mainly with regards to his shooting. If he can knock down the open 3 on a regular basis, it would do wonders for this team.
26. I know it's preseason, but I really enjoyed the Cavs first win on Saturday night. I was lucky enough to catch the end of the game on the radio (dear lord I love Joe Tait) and it was great to hear that the reserves lead them to victory. I was intrigued by the five that Mike Brown had on the court in the final minutes: West, Gibson, Pavlovic, Hickson and Varejao. That (really young) group finished the game with a 20-2 run. (Also, with Brian Windhorst joining Terry Pluto at the PD, Cleveland's biggest paper will finally have some decent Cavs coverage. Going from cranky Bill Livingston, Branson Wright and Roger Brown to Windhorst and Pluto makes quite a difference).
27. Having Mo Williams get himself ejected didn't help with the chemistry development issues (can Mo, West and Gibson share the court at once, small-ball style?), but I don't mind the feistyness
28. Speaking of young guys, Cavs rookie Darnell Jackson will miss 5-6 weeks with a broken wrist. Now, this isn't a good thing by any means, but it might mean that we'll see a teensy bit more of JJ Hickson. I'm high on both rooks, but I don't think that this will really set him back too far.
29. I'm so very glad that Billmon is back. Same with Fafblog.
30. A few of my friends are in the band Falling Into Fire. I might do some recording with them at some point. Check 'em out, they're too talented to be hanging out with the likes of me. (Also, in other Ben Cox news, at some point this NFL season, I may be posting links to some podcasts. We'll see what happens).
Monday, September 15, 2008
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. The Buckeyes... god damn... just.... god damn
2. Hey James Laurinaitis, maybe you should've gone into the draft last year, no? Think you're still a top 10 pick? Don't get me wrong, he's a good/great player, but the Buckeyes need him to step it up in games against the likes of USC.
3. It was almost like Tressel was trying to use the same plays that beat the Hurricanes in 2002. Hey, Todd Boeckman draws! Awesome. Sure, maybe using Boeckman in option would catch USC off guard... but it's Todd Boeckman running, USC is full of freak athletes, they may be fooled, but they'll still stop it.
4. Terrelle Pryor should be allowed to share the backfield with a running back. He should also be allowed to throw the ball. If he's in there with an empty backfield, opposing defenses will just expect him to run... which is what the Buckeyes did. Some creativity please.
5. The best part of the USC game was the fact that Maurice Wells didn't get the bulk of the carries. I could not have handled that.
6. Now they're 13th... awesome. That's about where I expected them to fall, but damn...
7. Some emailer to the Jim Rome Show made the case that Tressel is now Lloyd Carr. Won a championship early... started losing big games... beat their rival early on... I don't care for the comparison, but it does kinda worry me...
8. I don't trust Todd Boeckman at all. Pryor should at least be getting half the snaps and I'll be honest, I wouldn't mind the Pryor era starting this Saturday. Might as well let the kid start.
9. Troy isn't an easy team, I'm a tad worried that the Bucks might over look them. I could their post USC reactions go either way. They could get embarassed, come out focused and just lay the wood to people... or they could be completely devastated and roll over.
10. Obviously they missed Beanie Wells, that much was certain. But 35-3 is 35-3. One player won't make that much of a difference. USC has more talent and they're better coached. I won't lie, I'm not surprised that OSU lost, but I'm a bit surprised that they got blown out (again).
11. The Browns... dear god.
12. Early on Sunday I asked a friend when he thought the Browns might fire Romeo (he's not a Browns fan). He said maybe after the season, but he thought it was early to speculate. I then mentioned that I meant which week the Browns would can him. He answered that he'd be surprised if Romeo got canned so close after a 10 win season and that NFL coaches rarely get fired mid-season.
13. After Sunday nights game, my friend looked at me and said, "you know, maybe they will let him go mid-season."
14. Do the Browns ever miss in the endzone? Meaning, they don't throw the ball to the endzone, they always throw to a guy a few yards out and have him run in. Like the INT to end the first half... I'm OK with them taking a shot there, but you have to throw the ball into the endzone. Anderson threw to a guy 3 yards out... and got picked. Even if he completes that pass, they don't score any points.
15. Anderson's first pick was terrible as well, but it was also the fault of the coaches. The pick came on the offense's first play with the wind. They switch directions at the quarter break, have no experience going the other direction and decide to throw the deep ball right off the bat. Awesome. No getting used to the conditions? Maybe it would've been prudent to get used to the wind before throwing the ball 30 yards.
16. Too many penalties. Everyone was at fault. Dumb holdings, dumb false starts, really dumb offsides... hell, they even fucked up their fake onside kick by not having enough men on one side of the field. How the hell does that even happen?
17. Braylon Edwards has to step up. The Browns aren't going to beat good teams without Edwards playing well. They just aren't. Yes, he was hit early on his last drop and ya the conditions weren't great (even Hines Ward dropped a few) but Braylon MUST play better if the Browns want any shot at the playoffs.
18. The coaching... On the Browns last drive of the first half, they got a first down right before the two-minute warning and tried to get another play off before the clock stopped... Well, they rushed up there and got that play off... for negative 3 yards. Well played. I'd much rather have 2nd and 13 than 1st and 10.
19. More coaching... why the FG late in the fourth? It's 4th and 7 on the 20, if you go for it and miss, you'll need to stop the Steelers, get the ball back and score a TD. But they kicked a field goal... and still needed to stop the Steelers, get the ball back and score a TD. Brilliant. Oh, and if the Browns had simply missed on 4th, they would've had the Steelers on the 20... rather than the 30 (where they started after the terrible kickoff).
20. And those timeouts... you know it's really bad when both Madden and Al Michaels are openly mocking your coach. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before, so well done Cleveland!
21. Joining everyone and their mother on the injured list is Robaire Smith, who's out with a torn Achilles. After trading away all those draft picks, the Browns aren't exactly a deep fooball team. Their starting units are fine, but I have no faith in the backups.
22. Shaun Rogers is an absolute beast. The man is a monster. He's making his presence felt out there, I can't say the same for Kamerion Wimbley. I was (and still am) hoping for a big season from the 3rd year pro. I figured the additions of Rogers and Williams would really open things up for him. Like Edwards, if the Browns want to beat good teams, Wimbley is going to have to make is presence felt.
23. Willie McGinist is done. Stick a fork in him, take him out back, do whatever... he shouldn't be playing. I know there's injuries and I know he's a smart player, but he almost commited a terrible offsides penalty (well, he did, but the Steelers called a TO just before it happened) and he got stood up on the lone touchdown of the game. He's just too old and slow.
24. Delonte West. I love this signing. Two years guaranteed and a team option for the third. Oh, and it's only worth $13 million. That is god damned awesome. Having West come off the bench (I guess he could start, but that'd be a small backcourt) will give Coach Mike some flexibilty to sub for whatever guard is having an off night (or is in foul trouble, etc).
25. Say what you will about Ferry, but he hasn't made many mistakes since his first month on the job. His trades have solid (never taking on long term salary), he drafts fairly well (Hickson looks like an absolute steal at this point) and he doesn't overpay for his own role players (which can cripple salary caps and flexibility). The Cavs are going to have a lot of money of their own for the mystical 2010 offseason.
26. At this point my money is on Wally Szczerbiak starting at the 2, with West, Boobie Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic coming off the bench. I think that having Wally around for a full training camp will really help him develope some chemistry with LeBron (and allow Wally to be a better shooter). With both Gibson and Szczerbiak around (plus the addition of Mo Williams) should allow the Cavs to stretch the floor quite a bit.
27. I'm so excited for this movie. I actually like the new poster a lot more.
28. Oh, logic...
29. Of course Eric Wedge will return, why not? You don't just toss away a guy who's gotten you to the playoffs once in the past six years.
30. The official soundtrack of the Europe trip:
The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be
2. Hey James Laurinaitis, maybe you should've gone into the draft last year, no? Think you're still a top 10 pick? Don't get me wrong, he's a good/great player, but the Buckeyes need him to step it up in games against the likes of USC.
3. It was almost like Tressel was trying to use the same plays that beat the Hurricanes in 2002. Hey, Todd Boeckman draws! Awesome. Sure, maybe using Boeckman in option would catch USC off guard... but it's Todd Boeckman running, USC is full of freak athletes, they may be fooled, but they'll still stop it.
4. Terrelle Pryor should be allowed to share the backfield with a running back. He should also be allowed to throw the ball. If he's in there with an empty backfield, opposing defenses will just expect him to run... which is what the Buckeyes did. Some creativity please.
5. The best part of the USC game was the fact that Maurice Wells didn't get the bulk of the carries. I could not have handled that.
6. Now they're 13th... awesome. That's about where I expected them to fall, but damn...
7. Some emailer to the Jim Rome Show made the case that Tressel is now Lloyd Carr. Won a championship early... started losing big games... beat their rival early on... I don't care for the comparison, but it does kinda worry me...
8. I don't trust Todd Boeckman at all. Pryor should at least be getting half the snaps and I'll be honest, I wouldn't mind the Pryor era starting this Saturday. Might as well let the kid start.
9. Troy isn't an easy team, I'm a tad worried that the Bucks might over look them. I could their post USC reactions go either way. They could get embarassed, come out focused and just lay the wood to people... or they could be completely devastated and roll over.
10. Obviously they missed Beanie Wells, that much was certain. But 35-3 is 35-3. One player won't make that much of a difference. USC has more talent and they're better coached. I won't lie, I'm not surprised that OSU lost, but I'm a bit surprised that they got blown out (again).
11. The Browns... dear god.
12. Early on Sunday I asked a friend when he thought the Browns might fire Romeo (he's not a Browns fan). He said maybe after the season, but he thought it was early to speculate. I then mentioned that I meant which week the Browns would can him. He answered that he'd be surprised if Romeo got canned so close after a 10 win season and that NFL coaches rarely get fired mid-season.
13. After Sunday nights game, my friend looked at me and said, "you know, maybe they will let him go mid-season."
14. Do the Browns ever miss in the endzone? Meaning, they don't throw the ball to the endzone, they always throw to a guy a few yards out and have him run in. Like the INT to end the first half... I'm OK with them taking a shot there, but you have to throw the ball into the endzone. Anderson threw to a guy 3 yards out... and got picked. Even if he completes that pass, they don't score any points.
15. Anderson's first pick was terrible as well, but it was also the fault of the coaches. The pick came on the offense's first play with the wind. They switch directions at the quarter break, have no experience going the other direction and decide to throw the deep ball right off the bat. Awesome. No getting used to the conditions? Maybe it would've been prudent to get used to the wind before throwing the ball 30 yards.
16. Too many penalties. Everyone was at fault. Dumb holdings, dumb false starts, really dumb offsides... hell, they even fucked up their fake onside kick by not having enough men on one side of the field. How the hell does that even happen?
17. Braylon Edwards has to step up. The Browns aren't going to beat good teams without Edwards playing well. They just aren't. Yes, he was hit early on his last drop and ya the conditions weren't great (even Hines Ward dropped a few) but Braylon MUST play better if the Browns want any shot at the playoffs.
18. The coaching... On the Browns last drive of the first half, they got a first down right before the two-minute warning and tried to get another play off before the clock stopped... Well, they rushed up there and got that play off... for negative 3 yards. Well played. I'd much rather have 2nd and 13 than 1st and 10.
19. More coaching... why the FG late in the fourth? It's 4th and 7 on the 20, if you go for it and miss, you'll need to stop the Steelers, get the ball back and score a TD. But they kicked a field goal... and still needed to stop the Steelers, get the ball back and score a TD. Brilliant. Oh, and if the Browns had simply missed on 4th, they would've had the Steelers on the 20... rather than the 30 (where they started after the terrible kickoff).
20. And those timeouts... you know it's really bad when both Madden and Al Michaels are openly mocking your coach. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before, so well done Cleveland!
21. Joining everyone and their mother on the injured list is Robaire Smith, who's out with a torn Achilles. After trading away all those draft picks, the Browns aren't exactly a deep fooball team. Their starting units are fine, but I have no faith in the backups.
22. Shaun Rogers is an absolute beast. The man is a monster. He's making his presence felt out there, I can't say the same for Kamerion Wimbley. I was (and still am) hoping for a big season from the 3rd year pro. I figured the additions of Rogers and Williams would really open things up for him. Like Edwards, if the Browns want to beat good teams, Wimbley is going to have to make is presence felt.
23. Willie McGinist is done. Stick a fork in him, take him out back, do whatever... he shouldn't be playing. I know there's injuries and I know he's a smart player, but he almost commited a terrible offsides penalty (well, he did, but the Steelers called a TO just before it happened) and he got stood up on the lone touchdown of the game. He's just too old and slow.
24. Delonte West. I love this signing. Two years guaranteed and a team option for the third. Oh, and it's only worth $13 million. That is god damned awesome. Having West come off the bench (I guess he could start, but that'd be a small backcourt) will give Coach Mike some flexibilty to sub for whatever guard is having an off night (or is in foul trouble, etc).
25. Say what you will about Ferry, but he hasn't made many mistakes since his first month on the job. His trades have solid (never taking on long term salary), he drafts fairly well (Hickson looks like an absolute steal at this point) and he doesn't overpay for his own role players (which can cripple salary caps and flexibility). The Cavs are going to have a lot of money of their own for the mystical 2010 offseason.
26. At this point my money is on Wally Szczerbiak starting at the 2, with West, Boobie Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic coming off the bench. I think that having Wally around for a full training camp will really help him develope some chemistry with LeBron (and allow Wally to be a better shooter). With both Gibson and Szczerbiak around (plus the addition of Mo Williams) should allow the Cavs to stretch the floor quite a bit.
27. I'm so excited for this movie. I actually like the new poster a lot more.
28. Oh, logic...
29. Of course Eric Wedge will return, why not? You don't just toss away a guy who's gotten you to the playoffs once in the past six years.
30. The official soundtrack of the Europe trip:
The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be
Monday, December 17, 2007
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. Big House sold. Rich Rodriguez was hired to coach Michigan... This worries me. OSU has had trouble with the spread offense in the past and Rodriguez's West Virginia squad ran it pretty well.
2. I would've preferred Les Miles. I'm rather confident going into the Championship game and I think Tressel could've handled Miles.
3. How about those Bowl Games coming up? I don't care. And I have a hard time understanding how anyone else can care either (if it's not your team playing).
4. In most sports, the playoff system is win-or-go-home. College football? Win-and-go-home. Teams are playing for 5th place. Who cares?
5. Of course, my conference is the one screwing thing up. The Big Ten and Pac-10 don't want to give up the Rose Bowl. I knew that these guys were part of the problem, I just didn't realize how big. I mean, there's no good reason for Illinois to be playing in the Rose Bowl this year. None.
6. The PAC-10 is doing their part as well. They won't participate in a playoff system. Well done.
7. Dan Shanoff is starting to look reasonable. This is a problem.
8. Um, what? 13 Ohio State juniors are testing their NFL stock. Awesome...
9. If they win, then I won't care. IF OSU can beat LSU, I wouldn't mind too much if a lot of guys left. You win a National Championship, you've accomplished what you set out to do... if you want to bolt for the NFL and pick up a paycheck, by all means go ahead. If they get slaughtered... the NFL losses would sting a little bit more.
10. Who doesn't love a snow game? Terry Pluto sure did.
11. "Finally catch the Steelers"? Well, not really. They have the same record, which is nice, but I don't see the Steelers losing to either the Rams or the Ravens (of course, I couldn't see them losing to the Jets either).
12. Phil Dawson is pretty ridiculous. He's been pretty money for the Browns over the years. Sure, he doesn't have the best leg, but he is pretty accurate. Yesterday's 49 yarder was one of the best kicks I've ever seen (from him or anyone). I wasn't looking forward to the result of that boot; 49 yards is risky Dawson territory as is, let alone in the conditions yesterday.
13. Biggest surprise from yesterday's game? Andra Davis. The guy had a hell of a ball game and seemed to be everywhere.
13. I'm not the biggest DA fan, but... He looks like he's having a blast out there, doesn't he? He's played well and he's definitely enjoyed this season. Check out the last picture of this slideshow (can't link directly because of flash). Good times.
14. Worrying about DA vs Brady? I am. First of all, only in Cleveland are we worrying about next season before the Browns even play a snap in the playoffs (much like we're worrying about LeBron and CC leaving, even though their teams are winning now).
15. But we're thinking about it. Mistake by the Lake and The Disappointment Zone have had discussion on this and I'm torn. On one hand, I think Anderson is benefiting from the improved offensive line and the receivers (Edwards and Winslow make some ridiculous catches on balls thrown too high or behind them) and I'm not too sure how much of his success is due to his supporting cast. At the same time, Quinn is unproven and I don't want to see the Browns pull a Drew Brees.
16. But if they get compensation for Anderson leaving... Phil Savage has said that he'll most likely give Anderson the highest tender this offseason, meaning the Browns would net a 1st and 3rd round pick if he signs elsewhere (assuming they don't match). If a team with a top 10 pick signs Anderson, I'd think very hard about matching the offer. The Browns could use those picks to fill out the defense (d-line!!) and then hand the keys to Quinn (who would've beaten out both Frye and Anderson if he showed up to camp on time).
17. I dunno, I'd hate to see the Browns let go of the next Drew Brees. But I'd also hate for them to miss out on a 1st and 3rd package just to keep the next Kelly Holcomb. No matter what, it is an interesting debate.
18. Peter Kings likes Jamal Lewis. A lot.
19. Dammit. Dan Haren didn't make it to Cleveland. It would've been quite a price...
20. LeBron is concerned about the Cavaliers. After the Sixers game:
22. I'm not sure what fans want Ferry to do. Well, I know what they want him to do (trade for Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby), but I'm not sure how they expect him to do it. The Cavs have practically nothing to offer the Nets (Shannon Brown, Ira Newble and Drew Gooden work for you?) and I really, really, really don't want Mike Bibby.
23. I think the bigger share of the blame goes to Mike Brown. So Daniel Gibson is out and the Cavs start Eric Snow over Damon Jones. Hmm... which player would be more likely to disrupt the offense, another 3 point shooter or a guy who teams don't guard... The Cavs didn't lose to the Nets or Sixers because of lack of talent, they lost because of lack of effort and execution. In fact, I'd put the losses on Coach Brown and LeBron. Brown has to call the plays and get the guys motivated, but LeBron needs to play the entire game with the same intensity that he showed at the start of the season (and he has to go back to the post).
24. For all of Ferry's faults, I think he's rebounded well after a rough start. The Cavs had to overspend to get FA's early on, but they've become pretty resourceful. Daniel Gibson has noticed.
25. Senator Dodd goes to Washington. At least someone in the Senate gives a shit.
26. This will never get old. Liberal Fascism, really?
27. I love year end lists. I love finding all the albums I've missed out on. At some point I'll have a music list for 2007. In the meantime, take a look at these.
27. Speaking of year end lists... Top 10 Music Videos of 2007.
28. This writer's strike is killing me. No new Daily Show, no new Colbert Report (though I did just pick up Colbert's book) and my favs (30 Rock, Journeyman, Heroes) are running out of episodes (if they aren't done already).
29. Led Zeppelin and Metallica at Bonnaroo? I'm not sure how I feel about this (though the rumors were struck down). I mean, no matter who is there, I'll be going but... having both Zep and Metallica there would really change the crowd type (though that's not always a bad thing), but I'd prefer either one or the other (with Zeppelin being my preference). I'd also love to see David Bowie or the Chili Peppers headline one year (Springsteen would work as well).
30. I'm really digging the new Streetlight Manifesto album, Somewhere in the Between. I know this isn't exactly a video, but it is the full song.
Streetlight Manifesto - Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe
2. I would've preferred Les Miles. I'm rather confident going into the Championship game and I think Tressel could've handled Miles.
3. How about those Bowl Games coming up? I don't care. And I have a hard time understanding how anyone else can care either (if it's not your team playing).
4. In most sports, the playoff system is win-or-go-home. College football? Win-and-go-home. Teams are playing for 5th place. Who cares?
5. Of course, my conference is the one screwing thing up. The Big Ten and Pac-10 don't want to give up the Rose Bowl. I knew that these guys were part of the problem, I just didn't realize how big. I mean, there's no good reason for Illinois to be playing in the Rose Bowl this year. None.
6. The PAC-10 is doing their part as well. They won't participate in a playoff system. Well done.
7. Dan Shanoff is starting to look reasonable. This is a problem.
8. Um, what? 13 Ohio State juniors are testing their NFL stock. Awesome...
9. If they win, then I won't care. IF OSU can beat LSU, I wouldn't mind too much if a lot of guys left. You win a National Championship, you've accomplished what you set out to do... if you want to bolt for the NFL and pick up a paycheck, by all means go ahead. If they get slaughtered... the NFL losses would sting a little bit more.
10. Who doesn't love a snow game? Terry Pluto sure did.
11. "Finally catch the Steelers"? Well, not really. They have the same record, which is nice, but I don't see the Steelers losing to either the Rams or the Ravens (of course, I couldn't see them losing to the Jets either).
12. Phil Dawson is pretty ridiculous. He's been pretty money for the Browns over the years. Sure, he doesn't have the best leg, but he is pretty accurate. Yesterday's 49 yarder was one of the best kicks I've ever seen (from him or anyone). I wasn't looking forward to the result of that boot; 49 yards is risky Dawson territory as is, let alone in the conditions yesterday.
13. Biggest surprise from yesterday's game? Andra Davis. The guy had a hell of a ball game and seemed to be everywhere.
13. I'm not the biggest DA fan, but... He looks like he's having a blast out there, doesn't he? He's played well and he's definitely enjoyed this season. Check out the last picture of this slideshow (can't link directly because of flash). Good times.
14. Worrying about DA vs Brady? I am. First of all, only in Cleveland are we worrying about next season before the Browns even play a snap in the playoffs (much like we're worrying about LeBron and CC leaving, even though their teams are winning now).
15. But we're thinking about it. Mistake by the Lake and The Disappointment Zone have had discussion on this and I'm torn. On one hand, I think Anderson is benefiting from the improved offensive line and the receivers (Edwards and Winslow make some ridiculous catches on balls thrown too high or behind them) and I'm not too sure how much of his success is due to his supporting cast. At the same time, Quinn is unproven and I don't want to see the Browns pull a Drew Brees.
16. But if they get compensation for Anderson leaving... Phil Savage has said that he'll most likely give Anderson the highest tender this offseason, meaning the Browns would net a 1st and 3rd round pick if he signs elsewhere (assuming they don't match). If a team with a top 10 pick signs Anderson, I'd think very hard about matching the offer. The Browns could use those picks to fill out the defense (d-line!!) and then hand the keys to Quinn (who would've beaten out both Frye and Anderson if he showed up to camp on time).
17. I dunno, I'd hate to see the Browns let go of the next Drew Brees. But I'd also hate for them to miss out on a 1st and 3rd package just to keep the next Kelly Holcomb. No matter what, it is an interesting debate.
18. Peter Kings likes Jamal Lewis. A lot.
19. Dammit. Dan Haren didn't make it to Cleveland. It would've been quite a price...
20. LeBron is concerned about the Cavaliers. After the Sixers game:
I’m very concerned, we’re not playing good basketball. Right now we are not a very good team. It looked good (Tuesday) but a loss to New Jersey and a loss at home puts things in perspective. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re just not a good team, simple as that.21. Blame Ferry! Not surprisingly, message board posters are all worried that LeBron is unhappy and the Ferry needs to do some or LeBron is going to leave (OMG!!). Me? Meh. I'd feel for LeBron a bit more if he didn't spend the last two games hoisting fade-away 20 footers.
22. I'm not sure what fans want Ferry to do. Well, I know what they want him to do (trade for Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby), but I'm not sure how they expect him to do it. The Cavs have practically nothing to offer the Nets (Shannon Brown, Ira Newble and Drew Gooden work for you?) and I really, really, really don't want Mike Bibby.
23. I think the bigger share of the blame goes to Mike Brown. So Daniel Gibson is out and the Cavs start Eric Snow over Damon Jones. Hmm... which player would be more likely to disrupt the offense, another 3 point shooter or a guy who teams don't guard... The Cavs didn't lose to the Nets or Sixers because of lack of talent, they lost because of lack of effort and execution. In fact, I'd put the losses on Coach Brown and LeBron. Brown has to call the plays and get the guys motivated, but LeBron needs to play the entire game with the same intensity that he showed at the start of the season (and he has to go back to the post).
24. For all of Ferry's faults, I think he's rebounded well after a rough start. The Cavs had to overspend to get FA's early on, but they've become pretty resourceful. Daniel Gibson has noticed.
25. Senator Dodd goes to Washington. At least someone in the Senate gives a shit.
26. This will never get old. Liberal Fascism, really?
27. I love year end lists. I love finding all the albums I've missed out on. At some point I'll have a music list for 2007. In the meantime, take a look at these.
27. Speaking of year end lists... Top 10 Music Videos of 2007.
28. This writer's strike is killing me. No new Daily Show, no new Colbert Report (though I did just pick up Colbert's book) and my favs (30 Rock, Journeyman, Heroes) are running out of episodes (if they aren't done already).
29. Led Zeppelin and Metallica at Bonnaroo? I'm not sure how I feel about this (though the rumors were struck down). I mean, no matter who is there, I'll be going but... having both Zep and Metallica there would really change the crowd type (though that's not always a bad thing), but I'd prefer either one or the other (with Zeppelin being my preference). I'd also love to see David Bowie or the Chili Peppers headline one year (Springsteen would work as well).
30. I'm really digging the new Streetlight Manifesto album, Somewhere in the Between. I know this isn't exactly a video, but it is the full song.
Streetlight Manifesto - Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. Let's go Oklahoma! Man, I hate the Sooners, but I'll root for 'em if that means Ohio State can get into the title game.
2. The pundits can fuck off. Ya, maybe Ohio State didn't look great this year. Maybe you don't want to see them in the title game after last season. I get that. Hell, I'm almost sympathetic. If I had to watch Notre Dame get reamed in a title game only to come back the next season with a weaker team, I'd be pissed too. But these are the rules we have.
3. And don't give me any of this 'the whole season is the playoffs' crap. No, it's not. Kansas only has one loss, same as Ohio State. Yet their loss hurts more. Hell, Hawaii hasn't even lost yet and they're ranked 12th. If the whole season counts as one big playoff, how can we decide which one loss team gets in? And if we're going to keep the illusion that all division 1-A conferences are created equal (at least no formal tiers) then how can you let a team that wins all of it's games not play for the title.
4. Obviously, again, we need a playoff system (thanks ESPN!). And not one of those bullshit "plus one" games either. That works out for some years but not others (why should 2002 Ohio State have to play another game?). Personally, I'd love to see a 32 team playoff, but 16 shouldn't be too much to ask, should it?
5. But we're probably going to have to start small. Sure, maybe a "plus one" or maybe a four team deal, whatever. But all I know is, at some point, once we have a playoff system, we're going to look back at the BCS and the bowls and wonder "what were we thinking".
6. That being said, West Virginia scares me. You mean a running quarterback? Like James Locker and Juice Williams? Really? The last thing I want to see is OSU get killed in the title game again, but the prospect of facing Pat White scares me just a tad.
7. So, is he the hotdog guy or the guy from Usual Suspects? Which one is it Cleveland sports bloggers? I think we need to come to a consensus before spring training.
8. Joking aside, I like the deal. Do we really know what we're going to see from him? Not really. But it's a cheap deal and it could really work out. But, as Terry Pluto says, we really don't know.
9. More Pluto. He also wants to trade Jhonny Peralta for a corner outfielder who can hit. I dunno, the fan in me likes Peralta a lot. He's been here for awhile now, he showed up in the playoffs and he always seems like the little brother to CC Sabathia, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. However, the Tribe does need to shore up their outfield corners...
10. But let's not count our chickens before they've hatched. Like Pat at the DiaTribe says, Barfield and Cabrera aren't nearly established enough to simply hand them the middle infield.
11. I would like to see some rumors however. I love baseball rumors, they don't have to be even remotely credible and I'll eat 'em up. I want to open up the ABJ or PD and see the Tribe pursuing some big name pitcher that they'll have no chance at. Can we at least get the juices flowing?
12. The Browns look good, don't they? I'm not gonna lie, I did not see this coming. I had absolutely no faith in Derek Anderson (and he still scares me a bit). Hopping on this bandwagon doesn't seem like a bad plan.
13. I didn't hate that Livingston column as much as others did. Some people (*cough* Joel) just took it apart. Now, I'm not saying that it's a good column (it's not) but this one didn't piss me off nearly as much as half of his shit. Also, for the record, I like Dick Feagler.
14. Kellen Winslow is a beast. I've been holding off on buying a new Browns jersey for awhile (I have a personal one for a few years now) until I could figure out a player. Sgt. Winslow it is. The guy catches everything thrown his way and he plays hurt, what more can ask for (also, it takes roughly six guys to bring him down). There's a lot of balls that Anderson throws his way that are into double coverage but Winslow always manages to make the catch.
15. Oh Mistake by the Lake. The only place where you'll get recaps of Josh's Cribbs.
16. Leigh Bodden, Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald? The kid had a huge game (and it would've been a good day even without his late INT). The Browns haven't been that lucky in the late rounds of the draft (hell, they haven't been lucky in the early rounds) and it'd be great to find a gem.
17. Was I aware of this? It seems that Sean Taylor (RIP) was nearly a Brown. Part of me thinks I knew this, but the details don't seem all that familiar.
18. Did anyone not enjoy that Monday Night Football game? Sure, the final score was 3-0, but I loved watching everyone slip and fall in the mud. Reminded me of last Thursday morning....
19. Alright, about this Anderson Varejao business. The guy is an idiot. These aren't bad deals:
21. Windhorst smacks him down. This is ridiculous:
25. It's great that LeBron supports Andy, but who cares? Is anyone really surprised by this:
26. More LeBron. From Free Darko:
27. BTW, LeBron is going to win the MVP. No loafing this year. Also, LeBron got player of the week.
28. Question my fanhood all you want. But when it comes to watching NBC's Monday lineup versus Monday Night Football... I'm choosing NBC 9 times out of 10. Chuck is quirky and fun, Heroes is finally improving and Journeyman is turning out to be really good.
29. Joke Line and FISA. Wow, this just keeps going and going...
30. Music thoughts. I saw Sondre Lerche at the House of Blues this past Wednesday and he was quite good. I'm really digging his music from the soundtrack to Dan in Real Life (which I have yet to see) and the songs worked really well live. Here's 'To Be Surprised' from Sondre's appearance on Letterman (though I like album version a little better).
2. The pundits can fuck off. Ya, maybe Ohio State didn't look great this year. Maybe you don't want to see them in the title game after last season. I get that. Hell, I'm almost sympathetic. If I had to watch Notre Dame get reamed in a title game only to come back the next season with a weaker team, I'd be pissed too. But these are the rules we have.
3. And don't give me any of this 'the whole season is the playoffs' crap. No, it's not. Kansas only has one loss, same as Ohio State. Yet their loss hurts more. Hell, Hawaii hasn't even lost yet and they're ranked 12th. If the whole season counts as one big playoff, how can we decide which one loss team gets in? And if we're going to keep the illusion that all division 1-A conferences are created equal (at least no formal tiers) then how can you let a team that wins all of it's games not play for the title.
4. Obviously, again, we need a playoff system (thanks ESPN!). And not one of those bullshit "plus one" games either. That works out for some years but not others (why should 2002 Ohio State have to play another game?). Personally, I'd love to see a 32 team playoff, but 16 shouldn't be too much to ask, should it?
5. But we're probably going to have to start small. Sure, maybe a "plus one" or maybe a four team deal, whatever. But all I know is, at some point, once we have a playoff system, we're going to look back at the BCS and the bowls and wonder "what were we thinking".
6. That being said, West Virginia scares me. You mean a running quarterback? Like James Locker and Juice Williams? Really? The last thing I want to see is OSU get killed in the title game again, but the prospect of facing Pat White scares me just a tad.
7. So, is he the hotdog guy or the guy from Usual Suspects? Which one is it Cleveland sports bloggers? I think we need to come to a consensus before spring training.
8. Joking aside, I like the deal. Do we really know what we're going to see from him? Not really. But it's a cheap deal and it could really work out. But, as Terry Pluto says, we really don't know.
9. More Pluto. He also wants to trade Jhonny Peralta for a corner outfielder who can hit. I dunno, the fan in me likes Peralta a lot. He's been here for awhile now, he showed up in the playoffs and he always seems like the little brother to CC Sabathia, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. However, the Tribe does need to shore up their outfield corners...
10. But let's not count our chickens before they've hatched. Like Pat at the DiaTribe says, Barfield and Cabrera aren't nearly established enough to simply hand them the middle infield.
11. I would like to see some rumors however. I love baseball rumors, they don't have to be even remotely credible and I'll eat 'em up. I want to open up the ABJ or PD and see the Tribe pursuing some big name pitcher that they'll have no chance at. Can we at least get the juices flowing?
12. The Browns look good, don't they? I'm not gonna lie, I did not see this coming. I had absolutely no faith in Derek Anderson (and he still scares me a bit). Hopping on this bandwagon doesn't seem like a bad plan.
13. I didn't hate that Livingston column as much as others did. Some people (*cough* Joel) just took it apart. Now, I'm not saying that it's a good column (it's not) but this one didn't piss me off nearly as much as half of his shit. Also, for the record, I like Dick Feagler.
14. Kellen Winslow is a beast. I've been holding off on buying a new Browns jersey for awhile (I have a personal one for a few years now) until I could figure out a player. Sgt. Winslow it is. The guy catches everything thrown his way and he plays hurt, what more can ask for (also, it takes roughly six guys to bring him down). There's a lot of balls that Anderson throws his way that are into double coverage but Winslow always manages to make the catch.
15. Oh Mistake by the Lake. The only place where you'll get recaps of Josh's Cribbs.
16. Leigh Bodden, Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald? The kid had a huge game (and it would've been a good day even without his late INT). The Browns haven't been that lucky in the late rounds of the draft (hell, they haven't been lucky in the early rounds) and it'd be great to find a gem.
17. Was I aware of this? It seems that Sean Taylor (RIP) was nearly a Brown. Part of me thinks I knew this, but the details don't seem all that familiar.
18. Did anyone not enjoy that Monday Night Football game? Sure, the final score was 3-0, but I loved watching everyone slip and fall in the mud. Reminded me of last Thursday morning....
19. Alright, about this Anderson Varejao business. The guy is an idiot. These aren't bad deals:
Several other teams told ESPN.com they would have offered Varejao their full midlevel exception (starting at $5.356 million per season), but Varejao has not been willing to sign for that amount because he believes (a) the Cavs would match, and (b) he's worth more.
The Cavs' popular forward wants considerably more than the team is offering. He turned down the Cavs' one-year, $1.2 million tender offer. (To retain a restricted free agent, a team must make a tender offer.) He also refused Cleveland's opening offer of five years, $20 million, and then its latest offer of five years, $32 million, with a starting salary slightly below the midlevel exception.
5 years, $32 million? Are you serious? How is that not a fair deal? As far as I'm concerned, that deal should the Cavs final offer.
20. I mean, he's screwed himself. He's at the Cavs mercy here. If he goes to Europe and plays, he'll still be a restricted free agent when he returns. Him holding out is only making things worse. There's no way the Cavs will give him a 1-year deal at this point.21. Windhorst smacks him down. This is ridiculous:
They are trying to put public pressure on the Cavs by angling in the media, first saying they’ll take a one-year, $5 million contract, then saying they’d bel willing to go to arbibitration, now saying they demand a sign-and-trade.That’s all sounds so good, but no team in the NBA would give Varejao a one-year deal right now. Varejao would never give up position for a rebound, so why would the Cavs give up their refusal rights to an aribitrator? Nobody in the NBA would. As for a sign-and-trade now, who is fooling whom? The summer is for sign-and-trades, the summer is for doing contracts. You don’t think Fegan has been working on sign-and-trades since July? Of course he has and there is no deal to make. There one coming now just like there wasn’t then. See, so much of this is common NBA sense, which is why so much of this is nonsense.
By the way, Varejao trying to indict the Cleveland media saying he never asked for a contract averaging $10-$11 million a year is rich. One of the worst kept secrets in the NBA is that Fegan asked for six years and more than $60 million a few days before training camp. Executives all over the league have been taking to each other and to media members about that figure. It’s not even inside information anymore, everybody knows it. Maybe that is not what they are asking for now, but they asked for it then.
22. More BW. This entire situation blows my mind:
The real crazy thing about this is they all this agony is over a non-starter. A key bench player and a key player in the playoffs, but at the end of the day he is a complementary big man who is good at taking charges. He’s valuable to the Cavs, they want him back, and all that stuff. They have offered him a pile of money. They have said they will put incentives in there that will pay him millions more if he becomes an All-Star or First Team All-NBA or whatever. They just don’t think he’s worth more than the $6.4 million they are paying Drew Gooden, a player averaging a double-double, this year.
Exactly. There's no reason for the Cavs to pay Varejao more than Gooden. End of story. I like Varejai and I think the Cavs could use him but they don't need him.
23. BTW, fuck ESPN. Was Bill Simmons a part of this reporting?:
On each side, the frustration level has been rising the past few weeks, as Varejao is left in limbo in Brazil, and as the Cavs have struggled coming out of the gate in training camp and the regular season.
If anyone has had a problem with the Cavaliers start, they're an idiot. So far the only game that I would say they should've won was the Milwaukee game. The Orlando game... maybe (and if you include the refs...). But I don't think the Cavs have struggled at all this season. This team wasn't perfect last season either (despite their trip to the Finals).
25. It's great that LeBron supports Andy, but who cares? Is anyone really surprised by this:
What is LeBron supposed to say? "I agree with Ferry and there's no way that we should pay Andy $10 million a season, it'd kill our cap"? The Cavs' management has to do what's best for the team long term and short term. The threat of LeBron leaving hangs over them, but the last thing they should do is panic and overpay bad players just to show James that they're trying (see Hughes, Larry and Marshall, Donyell).Varejao says that the Cavs' players support him, and that his conversations with James have been positive.
"He just says, 'We love you and we're waiting,'" Varejao said. "He keeps telling me he wants me back but to get the best deal I can and to take care of my family. He's a great teammate. He always supports us on and off the court."
That sentiment was confirmed by a source close to James, who said, "LeBron wants Andy back. He wants him to get a fair deal. I think his frustration isn't with Andy, it's with the fact that for the past two years, he's been waiting for more help and he hasn't gotten it. This is just a step in the wrong direction."
26. More LeBron. From Free Darko:
LeBron's silhouette started looming over the league a couple years ago, when NBA-pundits were begging and prodding Michael Redd to ditch his faithful Bucks to sign with the Cavs and be LeBron's hypeman. Since losing Carlos Boozer and failing to sign Redd, Cleveland has made a series of questionable front office moves that didn't seem to faze LeBron much last year ... but give him time. People are so concerned with LeBron's daily mood that certain Cleveland contract hold-ups have already generated a barrage of "OH MY GOD HOW COULD THE CAVS NOT THROW MILLIONS AWAY TO SASHA PAVLOVIC AND ANDERSON VAREJAO" stories. As good as LeBron has been playing, it's almost as though he is preemptively sticking it to the Cavs to say, "Man, you guys sure would love to see 30 and 12 and 12 for the next ten years wouldn't you ... Wouldn't you?"I'm all for the Cavs trying to improve. But there's making moves and making smart moves. The key is to not panic. If they can to a sign-and-trade with Varejao for Andre Miller? I do it. If the only deal is trading for Marko Jaric (and his terrible contract)... no thanks. If the Cavs have to sit on this roster for an entire season, I'm OK with that. It won't be great, but it will be better than making panic moves that will haunt them in two years.
27. BTW, LeBron is going to win the MVP. No loafing this year. Also, LeBron got player of the week.
28. Question my fanhood all you want. But when it comes to watching NBC's Monday lineup versus Monday Night Football... I'm choosing NBC 9 times out of 10. Chuck is quirky and fun, Heroes is finally improving and Journeyman is turning out to be really good.
29. Joke Line and FISA. Wow, this just keeps going and going...
30. Music thoughts. I saw Sondre Lerche at the House of Blues this past Wednesday and he was quite good. I'm really digging his music from the soundtrack to Dan in Real Life (which I have yet to see) and the songs worked really well live. Here's 'To Be Surprised' from Sondre's appearance on Letterman (though I like album version a little better).
Monday, October 15, 2007
Random Thoughts from the Weekend
1. Who to root for? OSU vs Kent State. Undergrad vs Grad. Past vs Present. Ya...
2. OSU looked good. Of course, it's versus Kent State. Either way, the lopsided final score really helps Ohio State when it comes to polls. Winning is good, winning big is better.
3. Though some things still worry me. I still don't trust Ohio State's run game in big situations. Meaning, those 3rd and 1 plays, where the defense knows they're running, the fans know they're running and OSU runs Beanie Wells... and can't convert. It's not the biggest problem to have and since Ohio State is blowing people out, it doesn't matter too much. But it still worries me.
4. Brian Hartline is good. That is all.
5. I'm still baffled by their ranking. Number freaking one? Really? Maybe I'm weird, but I don't think too highly of this OSU team. Don't get me wrong, they're good, but at this point they are ranked first by default.
6. Seriously, #1? OSU's schedule breaks out pretty nicely for them. They have Michigan State, Wisconsin and Illinois at home (basically they have to avoid upsets) and Penn State and Michigan away. The away games will be the tough ones (Penn State is at night) but I think it's going to come down to the Michigan game.
7. A lot of one-loss teams. I really hope we have a lot of one-loss teams at the end of the year. I'd almost be willing to sacrifice the Michigan game for a chance to really screw up the BCS (almost. My reasoning? This was supposed to be an off year, being a one loss team was more than most of us were expecting anyways. almost)
8. How bout them Browns? 3-3 baby! .500! Hell, I felt so confident this weekend that I picked Cleveland in my suicide league (or maybe the Dolphins stink that bad). Anyways, the Browns are starting to look like an actual, honest to God football team. Who'd have thunk it, especially after the first week?
9. Props to D.A. I haven't been a big fan of Derek Anderson, but he's done the job (and then some). He makes the offense actually look offensive (though it helps that Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas keeps his jersey pretty clean) and he can make the throws he needs to (though he still has trouble with those pesky linebackers). He's kept Brady on the bench (and more impressively, he's kept the Brady chants to a minimum).
10. I like Jerome Harrison. A lot. He's always looked good in preseason but hasn't done much during the year. Well, in playing backup to Jason Wright yesterday, Harrison got 8 carries and put up 57 yards. Wright had 59 on 20 carries. I think Harrison is one of those players who, once they get a shot, don't let go. He runs hard, he makes people miss and he's fast.
11. I think Braylon Edwards has won over Browns fans. At this point, I don't even remember what the problem with Braylon was last year (seriously, did he act out? speak out? show up late? do I care? Should I?). This year, he's working hard and has turned into an elite receiver.
12. I guess Brady ain't starting after the bye week, huh? Anderson's play probably means that, barring injury, Quinn won't see meaningful playing time til next season.
13. I love K2. I know he's easy to hate (the solider comment, his best TE at 80% comment, etc). But the dude works hard as hell. He takes hits, he runs good routes and he always seems to be dragging guys. It's a shame we always hear about stuff like his feud with Joey Porter, because I think it just plays into his reputation as a me first guy. Winslow has sacrificed a lot and plays through a lot pain for this team.
14. I still don't trust their defense. The Browns gave up yet another 100 yard rusher (though barely) and at times, looked completely lost on the defensive end (like the Dolphins' opening drive of the second half). They don't get nearly enough pressure on the quarterback and they don't tackle well (they're often in position, but they arm tackle or go for a big hit instead of securing the runner).
15. How bout those Indians? Here's the thing, if I were to tell you before the series started that Sabathia and Carmona would combine to pitch 8.1 innings, give up 12 runs, 11 hits and 9 walks in the first two games, you'd swear that the Tribe would be coming back to Cleveland down 0-2. But they aren't. Even if both CC and Fausto had pitched lights out, the best we could've hoped for was a split in Beantown.
16. But that's the way the entire season has been. If I were to tell you in April that Trot Nixon, Dave Dellucci, Josh Barfield, Keith Foulke and Roberto Hernandez would all be flops, Travis Hafner would only hit .266 with 24 homeruns, Grady Sizemore would only hit .277 and Joe Borowoski would have an ERA over 5, you'd think the year would've been a waste. But the Tribe kept getting contributions from everyone, all year long. I don't know if I'd call the lineup 'slump proof' but it's close. They don't rely on just Hafner, Sizemore, Sabathia and Carmona. They get contributions from the entire ball club.
17. Which is why I feel really confident about this series. The Tribe is tied without either of their two best pitchers pitching particularly well. I expect Sabathia to respond in his next start and I'd be shocked if Carmona pitches two bad games in a row. Obviously, anything could happen, but I feel a lot better about things now than I did at around 11pm on Saturday night.
18. Ken-ny! Ken-ny! It really is neat that Lofton is back on the Tribe for this playoff run.
19. Could be. Terry Pluto comes dangerously close to calling the Tribe a team of destiny. I can see what he's getting at (see #15 and 16) but at this point, I'd have to give the 'Team of Destiny' title to the Rockies.
20. The pressure is on Boston. They have to rebound from their first postseason loss and they have to pitch Dice-K, who I'm not that high on. I think Westbrook will bounce back from his Game 3 loss; I'm not expecting much, but I think 6 innings and 4 runs should be about right (and right now, I trust the Tribe's bullpen a lot).
21. I'd be wary of pitching Betancourt tonight. He says he's ready and he has been dominant, but Game 2 was his longest outing of the season, in both innings (2.1) and pitches (42). It's not a huge deal, due to the off day, but I think he should only go an inning or less.
22. I always did like John Hart. Sure, he never got the pitching that they needed, but he's built quite a legacy around the league.
23. Really? We're doing this? Midges? Those bugs? The Plain Dealer has a cut out Midge Mask (.pdf). Fantastic.
24. I love how Eric Gagne has turned into the goat. Boston trading for Gange was one of those moves where you're like, "did you really even need to do that? You already have a dominant closer, you need another one? Just because?". It seems like only Boston and New York make these moves. It seemed completely unnecessary and arrogant. The rich getting richer and bloated, trading for a closer they don't even need. And I absolutely love the results.
25. Hey, the Cavs are in China! Just an FYI. Also, they brought Moondog.
26. Oh, goody. Apparently Mike Brown's new 'offense' doesn't include much of Z. I'm sure some fans will love this, but not me. Z has the best post moves on the team and probably the best mid range jumper. I'm not saying feature the guy, but if I start seeing box scores that show Larry Hughes with double the shot attempts, I'll be one unhappy camper.
27. Kevin Durant doesn't sound all that confident. I'm sure he'll be fine, but if Greg Oden said some of these quotes, Bill Simmons would have a entire column centered around the words 'alpha' and 'dog'.
28. What Digby said. Word.
29. Oh Boston fans. I know you guys are arrogant and all, but can you at least wait for the game to end before you crow about an ALCS sweep?
30. Jovi Punch!
2. OSU looked good. Of course, it's versus Kent State. Either way, the lopsided final score really helps Ohio State when it comes to polls. Winning is good, winning big is better.
3. Though some things still worry me. I still don't trust Ohio State's run game in big situations. Meaning, those 3rd and 1 plays, where the defense knows they're running, the fans know they're running and OSU runs Beanie Wells... and can't convert. It's not the biggest problem to have and since Ohio State is blowing people out, it doesn't matter too much. But it still worries me.
4. Brian Hartline is good. That is all.
5. I'm still baffled by their ranking. Number freaking one? Really? Maybe I'm weird, but I don't think too highly of this OSU team. Don't get me wrong, they're good, but at this point they are ranked first by default.
6. Seriously, #1? OSU's schedule breaks out pretty nicely for them. They have Michigan State, Wisconsin and Illinois at home (basically they have to avoid upsets) and Penn State and Michigan away. The away games will be the tough ones (Penn State is at night) but I think it's going to come down to the Michigan game.
7. A lot of one-loss teams. I really hope we have a lot of one-loss teams at the end of the year. I'd almost be willing to sacrifice the Michigan game for a chance to really screw up the BCS (almost. My reasoning? This was supposed to be an off year, being a one loss team was more than most of us were expecting anyways. almost)
8. How bout them Browns? 3-3 baby! .500! Hell, I felt so confident this weekend that I picked Cleveland in my suicide league (or maybe the Dolphins stink that bad). Anyways, the Browns are starting to look like an actual, honest to God football team. Who'd have thunk it, especially after the first week?
9. Props to D.A. I haven't been a big fan of Derek Anderson, but he's done the job (and then some). He makes the offense actually look offensive (though it helps that Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas keeps his jersey pretty clean) and he can make the throws he needs to (though he still has trouble with those pesky linebackers). He's kept Brady on the bench (and more impressively, he's kept the Brady chants to a minimum).
10. I like Jerome Harrison. A lot. He's always looked good in preseason but hasn't done much during the year. Well, in playing backup to Jason Wright yesterday, Harrison got 8 carries and put up 57 yards. Wright had 59 on 20 carries. I think Harrison is one of those players who, once they get a shot, don't let go. He runs hard, he makes people miss and he's fast.
11. I think Braylon Edwards has won over Browns fans. At this point, I don't even remember what the problem with Braylon was last year (seriously, did he act out? speak out? show up late? do I care? Should I?). This year, he's working hard and has turned into an elite receiver.
12. I guess Brady ain't starting after the bye week, huh? Anderson's play probably means that, barring injury, Quinn won't see meaningful playing time til next season.
13. I love K2. I know he's easy to hate (the solider comment, his best TE at 80% comment, etc). But the dude works hard as hell. He takes hits, he runs good routes and he always seems to be dragging guys. It's a shame we always hear about stuff like his feud with Joey Porter, because I think it just plays into his reputation as a me first guy. Winslow has sacrificed a lot and plays through a lot pain for this team.
14. I still don't trust their defense. The Browns gave up yet another 100 yard rusher (though barely) and at times, looked completely lost on the defensive end (like the Dolphins' opening drive of the second half). They don't get nearly enough pressure on the quarterback and they don't tackle well (they're often in position, but they arm tackle or go for a big hit instead of securing the runner).
15. How bout those Indians? Here's the thing, if I were to tell you before the series started that Sabathia and Carmona would combine to pitch 8.1 innings, give up 12 runs, 11 hits and 9 walks in the first two games, you'd swear that the Tribe would be coming back to Cleveland down 0-2. But they aren't. Even if both CC and Fausto had pitched lights out, the best we could've hoped for was a split in Beantown.
16. But that's the way the entire season has been. If I were to tell you in April that Trot Nixon, Dave Dellucci, Josh Barfield, Keith Foulke and Roberto Hernandez would all be flops, Travis Hafner would only hit .266 with 24 homeruns, Grady Sizemore would only hit .277 and Joe Borowoski would have an ERA over 5, you'd think the year would've been a waste. But the Tribe kept getting contributions from everyone, all year long. I don't know if I'd call the lineup 'slump proof' but it's close. They don't rely on just Hafner, Sizemore, Sabathia and Carmona. They get contributions from the entire ball club.
17. Which is why I feel really confident about this series. The Tribe is tied without either of their two best pitchers pitching particularly well. I expect Sabathia to respond in his next start and I'd be shocked if Carmona pitches two bad games in a row. Obviously, anything could happen, but I feel a lot better about things now than I did at around 11pm on Saturday night.
18. Ken-ny! Ken-ny! It really is neat that Lofton is back on the Tribe for this playoff run.
19. Could be. Terry Pluto comes dangerously close to calling the Tribe a team of destiny. I can see what he's getting at (see #15 and 16) but at this point, I'd have to give the 'Team of Destiny' title to the Rockies.
20. The pressure is on Boston. They have to rebound from their first postseason loss and they have to pitch Dice-K, who I'm not that high on. I think Westbrook will bounce back from his Game 3 loss; I'm not expecting much, but I think 6 innings and 4 runs should be about right (and right now, I trust the Tribe's bullpen a lot).
21. I'd be wary of pitching Betancourt tonight. He says he's ready and he has been dominant, but Game 2 was his longest outing of the season, in both innings (2.1) and pitches (42). It's not a huge deal, due to the off day, but I think he should only go an inning or less.
22. I always did like John Hart. Sure, he never got the pitching that they needed, but he's built quite a legacy around the league.
23. Really? We're doing this? Midges? Those bugs? The Plain Dealer has a cut out Midge Mask (.pdf). Fantastic.
24. I love how Eric Gagne has turned into the goat. Boston trading for Gange was one of those moves where you're like, "did you really even need to do that? You already have a dominant closer, you need another one? Just because?". It seems like only Boston and New York make these moves. It seemed completely unnecessary and arrogant. The rich getting richer and bloated, trading for a closer they don't even need. And I absolutely love the results.
25. Hey, the Cavs are in China! Just an FYI. Also, they brought Moondog.
26. Oh, goody. Apparently Mike Brown's new 'offense' doesn't include much of Z. I'm sure some fans will love this, but not me. Z has the best post moves on the team and probably the best mid range jumper. I'm not saying feature the guy, but if I start seeing box scores that show Larry Hughes with double the shot attempts, I'll be one unhappy camper.
27. Kevin Durant doesn't sound all that confident. I'm sure he'll be fine, but if Greg Oden said some of these quotes, Bill Simmons would have a entire column centered around the words 'alpha' and 'dog'.
28. What Digby said. Word.
29. Oh Boston fans. I know you guys are arrogant and all, but can you at least wait for the game to end before you crow about an ALCS sweep?
30. Jovi Punch!
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