And the Tribe takes the field

The Indians played their first spring training game yesterday (it sure feels good to say that), trouncing the Houston Astros 12-2. I know we're not supposed to care about the score in spring training, but a 12-2 win is a lot better sign than a 12-2 loss.

Eric Wedge used nine pitchers and 18 position players in that game, so it's hard to pick out any individual performances to mention. So I won't bother. But I'm glad there are baseball games again. Summer can't be far behind.

Here's a nice piece on ESPN.com about some players we thought were done, but are in spring training this year, leading with Northeast Ohio native and former Indian Brian Anderson, who has already started his broadcasting career, doing a few Tribe games last year on Sports Time Ohio. The 35-year-old hasn't pitched in a major-league game since 2005, with Kansas City, due to elbow problems. He's in the Tampa Bay Rays' camp, and I'm rooting for him.

Today in sports history

Happy 40th birthday, retired NBA forward Chucky Brown.

Chucky was a second-round pick of the Cavaliers in 1989 out of North Carolina State, and had two decent years in Cleveland before being waived in 1991. After that, he played for the Lakers, Nets, Mavericks, Rockets, Suns, Bucks, Hawks, Hornets, Spurs, Warriors, Cavs again, and finally the Kings. He played for 12 NBA teams, setting a record he now shares with Tony Massenburg and Ohio State's Jim Jackson, also a former Cavalier.

Chucky has coached in the D-League with the Roanoke Dazzle and the Los Angeles D-Fenders. (D-Fenders? Is that where we've gotten with team names? Yeesh.)

He played in 694 NBA games, 265 of which he started, and averaged 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. And he is easily my favorite player named Chucky.

For some reason, there only seem to be about a quarter as many events and birthdays to choose from on February 29 as there are on other dates. I think Congress should do something about that.

Today in sports history

Happy 35th birthday, retired hockey superstar Eric Lindros.

Lindros, taken by the Quebec Nordiques (R.I.P.) as the first overall pick in the 1991 NHL draft, played 13 years in the league, but he never quite lived up to his potential, due in large part to repeated injuries.

As a junior hockey player from London, Ontario, Lindros was nicknamed "The Next One," implying that he could be as good as Wayne Gretzky, a.k.a. "The Great One." That kind of nickname is unfair to any young player; nobody can be expected, in his late teens, to eventually be as good as the greatest player in the history of his sport.

Lindros refused to play for the Nordiques, who traded him to Philadelphia, and he wore No. 88 for the Flyers from 1992 to 2000. The Nordiques, who became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995, made out pretty well in the deal. Among the pieces they got were Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon and a first-round pick they used to select Jocelyn Thibault. Those are all names even I recognize, even though I barely follow the NHL. The Avalanche went on to win eight division titles and two Stanley Cup championships with those players.

The Flyers, with Lindros as their leading playmaker, would reach the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, losing to the Red Wings. After that, the injuries started taking their toll. Lindros had his first concussion in 1998, followed by a collapsed lung that was initially misdiagnosed as a rib injury. A trainer reported the injury to team officials, who told him to put Lindros on a plane to Philadelphia (the team was in Nashville at the time). The trainer thought better of it and took him to a local hospital, where it was discovered he'd lost nearly half his blood. That trainer probably saved his life.

Lindros publicly criticized team doctors (and I can't say I blame him), and his relationship with Flyers management deteriorated from there. He sat out the 2000-01 season in an attempt to force a trade, which he eventually got before the 01-02 season. He spent the next three years with the New York Rangers, then one year each with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars. He struggled with various injuries throughout his last three seasons, and announced his retirement Nov. 8, 2007. Three days later, the NHL Players' Association named him to the newly created position of ombudsman.

This blogger suspects "he'll be known as the guy who had about 50 concussions and a collapsed lung. In a league full of indestructible robots, Lindros had the misfortune of actually getting hurt. That'll do ya in."

Moral victory?

You know, the Cavaliers were down nine after one period tonight against the Celtics, and they only lost by five. And for a short time, it looked like LeBron might be seriously hurt. But he came back, and he scored his 10,000th career point on a spectacular left-handed dunk. He's now the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 points. But the bottom line is, it goes under "L" in the standings.

I usually gush about LeBron on this blog, and I still believe he's the best player in the game today. But it seems like every time he stubs his toe or bumps his elbow, it looks like the worst injury in the world. He writhes on the ground and grimaces in pain. And then he gets up and finishes the game. I don't know if he's a drama queen or what, but it's getting a bit old. That said, I'm still enormously glad he's on my team, and I hope he stays on it.

Delonte West had his best game as a Cavalier so far (out of three, but still), with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. And he had a plus/minus of +6. He's a former Celtic, and had a good game against the Celtics earlier this year, while with the Sonics. Let's hope he can keep it going.

Mike Brown put on quite a show too -- getting thrown out of an NBA game for the first time, late in the third quarter. He didn't like a foul called against LeBron. I honestly wasn't watching the play, so I can't say whether he was right or wrong, but I've never seen him that animated.

I don't have much else to say about this game. When we fell behind in the first quarter, I decided to do some reading and didn't pay very close attention. What can I say? I'm human.

Bill Needle!

Longtime Cleveland sportscaster Bill Needle appeared on "Jeopardy!" Monday, and he did OK, even though he wound up finishing with no money. Needle, who is now the radio play-by-play voice of the Kent State Golden Flashes football and basketball teams, previously hosted a sports talk show on WKNR radio in Cleveland, and has also done pre-game work for FSN Ohio before Cavaliers and Indians games.

I am a regular Jeopardy watcher, though I don't often watch it the day it was broadcast. I saw Monday's show today, Wednesday, thanks to the miracle of digital video recording. But when the announcer introduced "A play-by-play announcer from Chagrin Falls, Ohio," I thought, hey, there's a chance I'll know who it is. And there he was! Bill Needle! In all the years I've watched Jeopardy, this is the first time, outside of celebrity week, that I've had prior knowledge of one of the contestants.

During the "meet the contestants" portion of the program, Alex asked Bill, "In your best play-by-play-announcer voice, sum up the first part of the game for the audience." Bill deepened his voice a bit, smiled and said, "Well, Alex I think on the Double Jeopardy, I will do better than I might have done on Single Jeopardy." That turned out not to be the case, but Bill had $9,200 going into Final Jeopardy. Unfortunately, the defending champion, a very bright stay-at-home mom from Dana Point, Calif., named Aileen Hawkins, had an insurmountable lead. Bill bet it all and got it wrong.

For those who may wonder, the category was biblical places, and the clue was: In "Return of the Jedi," a planet shares its name with this home of a woman who summons a spirit for Saul.

I had no idea, even though that's the one Star Wars movie I saw when I was old enough to remember some of it. Bill apparently had no idea either, guessing Esther. The other challenger, a legal writer from Arizona named Beth Holliday, guessed Tattooine. Aileen's answer: What is Endor? And she was right. She's a tough champion.

Bill appeared cheerful enough at the end, as he went to shake Aileen's hand, and later, chatting with Alex. I'm sure he had a good time.

Today in sports history

Happy 40th birthday, Canadian-born journeyman major league outfielder Matt Stairs.

The stubby little Stairs (listed at 5'9", 175 pounds), grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and was a standout in both hockey and baseball. He chose baseball, obviously, and the Montreal Expos (R.I.P.) drafted him as a pitcher/shortstop. He made his major league debut in 1992, but played in just 19 games for the Expos in '92 and '93 before going to Japan, playing one season for the Chunichi Dragons.

After a season with the Red Sox, Stairs started to blossom in Oakland, where he spent five years, topping 100 RBIs twice, and hitting 38 home runs in 1999, finishing 17th in the American League MVP voting that year. Stairs was kind of a late bloomer, having his best season at 31. Most hitters peak around age 27, but Stairs didn't even get to play regularly in the majors until he was 29.

Sensing that Stairs might be in for a budget-busting contract, A's GM Billy Beane traded him after the 2000 season to the Cubs for Matt Ireland. (Who? Exactly.) After that, he spent one year with the Cubs, one year with the Brewers, one year with the Pirates, and two-plus years with the Royals. Just to make sure he didn't get comfortable, the Rangers made a deadline deal for him in 2006, then waived him that September after he'd hit just .210 for them in 26 games. The Tigers picked him up, and he filled in for 14 games before signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, his 10th major league team (11th if you count Japan).

He had a decent 2007 for the Blue Jays at age 39, hitting .289 with 21 homers and 64 RBIs. He is signed through 2009. Perhaps he'll finish his career in his home country, just as he started it there.

Give Redd credit

Michael Redd hit a clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer to carry the Bucks to a 105-102 win over the Cavaliers Tuesday night. He hit it with Wally Szczerbiak's hand in his face; Szczerbiak had to be careful, so as not to allow Redd to break the tie from the foul line, but he still definitely contested the shot.

Redd's dagger followed LeBron's layup with 5.9 seconds left, capping a furious Cavs comeback that was made possible, in part, by Redd himself missing a free throw in the closing minute. It looked like the game was destined for overtime. But James left too much time on the clock. Even so, we figured to have an extra five minutes, with Redd jacking up a prayer at the buzzer. But it went in.

Interestingly, the first and last buckets of the game were both pretty darned improbable. The first, in fact, was far more improbable than the last. Anderson Varejao, playing in his first game in a month, due to an ankle sprain, started in place of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had an upper respiratory infection and watched the game from a Milwaukee hotel room. And Varejao's the one who scored the first hoop. So right there, you're looking at fairly long odds. But the way it happened was beyond the normal limits of probability.

Varejao got the ball at the lower left corner of the key, and with his back to the basket, tried to make a pretty pass to Delonte West, who was cutting under the hoop. The Bucks' Mo Williams got a hand on the ball, however -- and batted it right into the basket from about four feet away. And the Cavs were up 2-0.

Z was obviously missed, and Varejao was not in any kind of shape to pick up the slack for him. I don't know many people who would be in great shape after missing a month, though. Andy finished with six points, six rebounds and five personal fouls.

The top two new guys both played worse than they did in their first game as Cavaliers, though neither was really bad. Ben Wallace got 11 rebounds, but did basically nothing else; and Wally Szczerbiak scored 13 points, but on 5-of-18 shooting. He seemed not to see a single shot he didn't like, and there were plenty of shots he shouldn't have liked.

Joe Smith had a decent game, with 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench. And Delonte West did OK too; he had just seven points, but with eight rebounds and seven assists.

Mr. James was his usual MVP-candidate self, with 35 points, though he recorded just four rebounds and six assists. Somehow, it seems like an off-night if he doesn't at least threaten to get a triple-double. But that just shows you how spoiled we are when it comes to LeBron. He did get the Cavs' only blocked shot of the game, though he blocked it right into the hands of the Bucks, who scored anyway.

I think it's pretty clear that if Z had been healthy, we'd have won this game. We had almost no low-post presence on the offensive end. Mike Brown has said repeatedly that the Cavs are a "no-excuses team," but that means they can't make excuses for themselves -- it doesn't bar me from making excuses for them.

Also, we have to remember that we have four key players who have now played exactly two games with the rest of the team. Take away the second-most-important holdover, and you can't be that surprised to lose, even to a pretty bad Milwaukee team.

We've got the Boston Celtics tomorrow night, in Massachusetts. I'll be shocked if we pull that one out. But when you've got a LeBron James, you just never know.

Today in sports history

Happy 40th birthday, longtime major league first baseman Jack Thomas Snow Jr., aka J.T. Snow.

J.T., the son of former NFL wide receiver Jack Snow, was drafted by the Yankees in 1989 after three years at Arizona, and broke into the majors with that hated franchise in 1992. He was then traded to the Angels (with two other players) for Jim Abbott, and played four years in Anaheim. The Angels dealt him to the Giants for two players you've never heard of, Allen Watson and Fausto Macey.

Snow played nine years in San Francisco, and he had some good years there, even finishing 26th in the MVP voting in 1997. He then finished up with a rough partial season with the Red Sox in 2006. He played in 1,715 games, and never played a defensive position other than first base. A career .268 hitter, he finished with 1,509 hits, 189 home runs and 877 RBIs.

He was a rare animal, a slick-fielding, light-hitting first baseman. He won Gold Gloves in six straight years, 1995 to 2000. And he did once lead the league in an offensive category -- sacrifice flies, with 14 in 2000.

Baseball fans will never forget how Snow may have saved 3-year-old Darren Baker, son of manager Dusty Baker, from injury during Game 5 of the 2002 World Series. Darren was toiling as a bat boy, and on Kenny Lofton's triple that scored Snow, the little guy ran out onto the field to collect Lofton's bat before the play had concluded. Snow picked him up by his jacket and carried him off to safety. The look on Dusty's face was priceless. He was mortified.

Today in sports history

On this date 75 years ago, Tom Yawkey bought the Boston Red Sox. Yawkey was the sole owner of the Red Sox for 43 years, until his death in 1976. It was the longest anyone has been the sole owner of a team in major-league history.

In those 43 years?

World Series titles: Zero.

American League pennants: Three (1946, 1967 and 1975; they lost the World Series in seven games each time).

Racial record: Abysmal. The Red Sox didn't have a single black player until 1959, three years after Jackie Robinson retired.

Regardless, Yawkey was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1980, and Yawkey Way, on which Fenway Park is situated, is named for him. He was a popular man, and he served as American League vice president for 17 years. He willed a chain of islands off South Carolina to the U.S. Department of Natural Resources, and it's now known as the Yawkey Heritage Preserve.

Incidentally, Yawkey paid $1.2 million for the Red Sox in 1933, during the Depression. I've been unable to find a figure for how much the Crimson Hose's current owner, John Henry, paid for the club, but he previously owned the much-lesser-valued Florida Marlins, for which he forked over $158 million. So that gives us some idea where inflation, economic expansion and TV revenue have gotten us.

Meshing well (so far)

The new guys fit right in last night in the Cavaliers' easy 109-89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies last night. Big Ben Wallace (pictured) scored 12 points -- more than double his season average
-- including a thundering dunk less than two minutes into the game, and added 10 rebounds. LeBron James gave Wallace a bit more credit than he deserved when he said "And he made free throws too"; Wallace went 2-for-4 from the line. No great shakes. But overall, a fine first effort in Cleveland.

Delonte West started at point guard, and struggled with his shot, going 2-for-12 from the floor, but he added six assists and three steals, and even blocked a shot. He also fed LeBron on a sweet-looking alley-oop, which is not something you expect from teammates who are playing together for the first time ever.

Wally Szczxzqzerbiak came off the bench to score 10 points, hitting 2-for-4 from behind the arc, and Joe Smith put in 14 with six rebounds.

And holdover Damon Jones, who was so impressive Friday night, stayed hot last night. He hit 3-of-5 threes on his way to 11 points. Oh, and LeBron put in 25 with 11 assists.

For all that, we have to keep in mind that this effort, while encouraging, was against a 14-42 Memphis team, and Pau Gasol was playing for the Grizzlies when they won most of those games. We've got 21-35 Milwaukee on Tuesday, but then the mighty Celtics loom on Wednesday. That'll be the first real test of this group. But I must say I like what I've seen so far.

Busting the brackets

My alma mater, Miami (Ohio), played a barn-burner against Valparaiso yesterday an one of ESPN's Bracket Buster matchups. The game really had very little significance; Miami came into the game 13-12, Valparaiso 15-11. Teams from the Mid-American Conference or the Horizon League with double-digit numbers in the loss column do not get into the NCAA Tournament unless they win their conference tournament, so this was basically just a fairly meaningless regular-season game. But it appears nobody told the players.

The RedHawks had their chances, but missed too many shots down the stretch in a 99-94 double-overtime loss. Miami's Michael Bramos was on fire in the first half, but couldn't hit a shot to save his life in the second; this is the nature of being an outside shooter. I myself once made eight straight three-pointers shooting alone at a YMCA gym, but I can tell you I've missed eight straight a lot more often than I've made eight straight. But enough about me. Bramos wound up with 23 points, Kenny Hayes scored 30, and Tim Pollitz put in 22 with 12 rebounds. It was a solid effort, but these RedHawks aren't destined for greatness. Nor are the Valparaiso Crusaders.

Fellow MAC school Kent State, however, pulled out a 65-57 win on Bracket Buster Saturday against No. 20 St. Mary's of California. The Golden Flashes held St. Mary's without a basket for more than six minutes down the stretch, and at 23-5, they've got a pretty impressive tournament résumé. What's perhaps even more impressive is that they won a game that ended around 1 a.m. eastern time.

And the Ohio Bobcats turned in an impressive 69-57 victory over '06 tournament darlings George Mason. Cleveland State (not a MAC school, but of local interest anyway), which made some noise early in the season before falling back, won a who-cares game 59-44 against Marist.

Ohio's other mid-major schools didn't fare so well. Akron came pretty close in a 57-52 loss to Virginia Commonwealth; Bowling Green got kind of embarrassed in an 81-65 loss to Detroit, which came into the game 6-20; and Toledo lost 77-69 to Delaware.

This Bracket Busters business has gotten kind of out of hand, if you ask me. It used to be the best mid-majors got to play in it, but now, there are about 50 Bracket Buster games. Most of these teams are never going to bust any brackets. What's the point of matching up Bowling Green and Detroit?

All right, I'm done ranting.

Today in sports history

Twenty years ago today in Calgary, Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykanen became the only person ever to win all of the three gold medals available in ski jumping in a single Winter Olympics. He won the two available individual golds, plus a team gold, along with Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Tuomo Ylipulli and Jari Puikkonen. Love those Finnish names. Nykanen also won a gold and a silver in 1984 in Sarajevo, and six golds in various World Championships.

Unfortunately, Nykanen acquired a reputation as a prima donna, and got into some legal trouble later in life, culminating with him fatally stabbing a family friend on Aug. 24, 2004. He was originally charged with manslaughter, but pleaded down to aggravated assault and got out in a year. Four days after he was released, he was arrested for domestic violence against his wife. He has been married five times, the last two to the same woman.

Nykanen has also released three music albums; I have no idea whether they're any good, but I'm guessing not.

So basically, he's the Finnish Dennis Rodman. I wonder if that comparison would make him proud.

An open letter to ESPN (and every other network, for that matter)

Please stop showing the Amp energy drink commercial with the fat guy who hooks jumper cables to his nipples. It's not the least bit comical, and it makes me want to gouge my eyes out rather than risk ever seeing it again.

Oh, yeah

In all the hubbub over the Cavs' blockbuster trade, the Browns' recent signing of Jamal Lewis has kind of gotten lost. But this is pretty darn big. Lewis ran for 1,304 yards last year. The last Brown to do that? Jim Brown.

Lewis signed a three-year deal, at the conclusion of which he'll be 32. He had some injury problems his last few years in Baltimore, but he's obviously healthy now, and lots of great running backs have still been pretty darned good at 32. Walter Payton rushed for 1,333 yards at age 32; Ottis Anderson, 1,023; Emmitt Smith, 1,021; Jerome Bettis, 931; Corey Dillon, 812. Franco Harris had injury problems at age 32, but rushed for 1,007 at age 33. John Riggins was also hurt at 32, but had back-to-back 1,200-plus seasons at 34 and 35.

It should be noted, however, that many great running backs were done or nearly done by 32. Brown retired at 29, and Barry Sanders quit at 31. Both of them were still at the top of their game, however, so who knows how they'd have done had they stayed with it. But at age 32, Curtis Martin went for 735 in his last season; Eric Dickerson, 729 in his next-to-last season (going for 91 the next year); Marshall Faulk, 292 in his last season; Marcus Allen, 301 (though he played until he was 37 and had an 890-yard season at 35); Thurman Thomas, 381 (he would play just 14 more games in two seasons after that).

Regardless, Lewis figures to be a Pro Bowl-caliber running back at least another year or two. If the Browns can get Derek Anderson under contract (and they're reportedly close), they'll have all the key pieces back from the offense that scored 25 points a game last year.

Eight is plenty (I know there's a catchier way to say it, but I can't think of it right off)

Despite having only six healthy players at the start of the day yesterday, the Cavaliers won a game last night against the Washington Wizards. Having LeBron James on your team sure helps. The Wizards were without their two best players, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, but the Cavs were without the four guys they just traded for, awaiting the results of their physicals. Why it takes so dad-gummed long for an NBA physical, I have no idea, but Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Joe Smith must have enjoyed the show from the luxury box.

The Cavs had eight men in uniform, having scrambled to sign D-Leaguers Billy Thomas and Kaniel Dickens to 10-day contracts. But LeBron put in his usual MVP-caliber performance, cementing the 90-89 win with two free throws with 7.8 seconds left; and Damon Jones, playing 44 minutes in his first start of the season (and probably last), put in 27 points. He was impressive, and I'd say he earned some more playing time. I'd like it if he'd get a less-goofy haircut, if I'm going to have to look at him more, but if he keeps draining 3s, he can wear his hair however he wants.

That was fun to watch. But I look forward to seeing the real new-look Cavs on Sunday.

Today in sports history

Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain, then then NBA's all-time leading scorer, put in his 25,000th point on this date 40 years ago, while playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, in a game against the Detroit Pistons. That was his 691st career game, which is still the record for fewest games to get to 25,000 points. Michael Jordan is second, with 782.

Wilt is known for many eye-popping accomplishments on the basketball court. Among the NBA records he still holds (and this is an extremely incomplete list):

• He scored 100 points in a game; second on that list is Kobe Bryant, with 81.
• He averaged 50.4 points a game in 1961-62; he also has the second- and third-highest single-season averages, and the highest average by a player not named Wilt is 38.3, by Elgin Baylor.
• He scored at least 60 points in a game 32 times; Jordan is second on that list with four.
• He scored 53 points in a playoff game as a rookie, which is a playoff rookie record -- and in that same game, he pulled down 35 rebounds.
• He averaged 22.9 rebounds a game for his career. His contemporary Bill Russell is second on that list with 22.5, but there's a huge drop-off after that to No. 3 Bob Pettit, with 16.2.
• He averaged 27.2 rebounds a game in 1960-61; he recorded all of the top three rebounding seasons in NBA history, and you have to go all the way to No. 19 to find a player other than Chamberlain or Russell. That player is Nate Thurmond, if you're wondering, with 22.0 in 1967-68; so the highest per-game single-season rebounding average in NBA history by someone not named Chamberlain or Russell is lower than both of their career averages.
  
• He grabbed 55 rebounds in a game.
• He had nine consecutive triple-doubles in March 1968.
• He is the only player in NBA history to record a double-triple-double. In a game against the Pistons on February 2, 1968, he logged 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists.
• He had more than 40 points and 40 rebounds in the same game four times. In one of those games, he scored 78 points (then the NBA record, before he broke it himself) and got 43 rebounds.
  

Perhaps just as impressive: Wilt never fouled out of an NBA game.

Despite all those feats, Wilt only won two NBA titles: 1967 with the Sixers, and 1972 with the Lakers, being named the Finals MVP for the latter. But he was certainly one of the four or five greatest players of all time, and his jersey number has been retired by five teams: The University of Kansas, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the 76ers, Warriors and Lakers of the NBA.

Chamberlain is also known for a rather fanciful claim regarding his off-the-court activity, involving some 20,000 women. I have a hard time believing that, but at least he never cheated on his wife, because he never married. He died in 1999, at age 63.

This could be interesting

I'm led to understand the Cavaliers' new acquisitions aren't likely to be available for tonight's game against the Wizards; they have to pass physicals first. Boobie's down with a sprained ankle (and the news isn't good there; he could miss six weeks), and Varejao has been said to be close to coming back, but may not be able to play yet tonight. That would leave LeBron, Z, the two Joneses, Devin Brown and Eric Snow to take on Washington. Snow hasn't gotten into a game in almost two weeks, but he'll probably start tonight, with Damon Jones as the shooting guard, and Brown or Dwayne Jones will have to play power forward, unless Varejao can do it.

I don't know what the current rules are on signing D-Leaguers, but they can't expect to win with six players.

Some Web searching indicates the pundits like this deal for the Cavs: ESPN's John Hollinger, who invented the statistic "player efficiency rating" to measure a player's overall per-minute contribution to his team, thinks the Cavs are clear winners in this trade, and gives it an A-.

Fellow ESPNer Chris Broussard, who is a Cavs fan, is a bit more reserved, but he likes it too.

The News-Herald's Jim Ingraham also likes it, and thinks Danny Ferry deserves some credit for doing something bold.

The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto thinks it'll take a while for this trade to pay dividends, but it'll help in the playoffs.

The Beacon Journal's Patrick McManamon is more reserved than the others, but feels it's a gamble worth taking.

Today in sports history

Fifty years ago today (and yesterday), 15-year-old Australian swimmer John Konrads set six world records in two days. Konrads would set 26 world records during his swimming career, but only won one Olympic gold medal, in the 1500-meter freestyle in 1960 in Rome (that's him in the middle of that photo, after winning said medal).

The Latvian-born Konrads and his sister Ilsa, who also set multiple world records in swimming, were known as the Konrad Kids in the '60s.

Big deadline deal

Danny Ferry pulled off a blockbuster today, and I, for one, am thrilled.

For anyone who may not have heard, in a complex 11-player, three-team trade, the Cavaliers got Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago, and Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle. We also get Chicago's second-round draft pick in 2009. Second-round picks don't usually turn out to be impact players, but Carlos Boozer was a second-rounder, and if he weren't a liar and a cheat, he'd have been an All-Star for us this year instead of Utah.

We gave up two regular starters, Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden; a part-time starter, Ira Newble; a veteran who's contributed before, but not this year, Donyell Marshall; and two guys who have very rarely left the bench, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons.

Here's a look at the exchange in table form, using this year's per-game averages (and I apologize for the columns not lining up better):

Acquired:
------------Min--Pt--Rb-Ast--St--Bl-FG% FT% TO
Wallace----32.6--5.1-8.8-1.8--1.4-1.6-.373 .424 1.0
Szczerbiak-23.6-13.1-2.7-1.4--0.3-0.3-.460 .843 1.1
Smith------22.9-12.0-5.3-0.9-0.5-0.6-.466 .807 1.0
West-------20.7--6.8-2.7-3.7--0.9-0.5-.388 .667 1.9

Lost:
------------Min--Pt--Rb-Ast--St--Bl--FG% FT% TO
Gooden----30.7-11.3-8.3-1.0--0.7-0.6 .444 .728 1.8
Hughes----30.3-12.3-3.6-2.4--1.5-0.3 .377 .815 1.8
Newble----16.0--4.3-2.8-0.3--0.7-0.2 .449 .769 0.8
Brown-----14.6--7.0-1.2-1.1--0.7--0.1 .369 .609 1.3
Marshall---14.3--3.7-2.7-0.5-0.2--0.8 .295 .778 0.6
Simmons---9.7--0.7-2.1--0.0-0.3--0.7 .333 .000 0.6

A couple of observations to start off with: The Cavs are getting four guys who have played regularly this year, and only giving up two. Newble's started a bunch of games recently, but even in games he's started, he hasn't played very many minutes. Brown's 14.6-minute average is a bit misleading; he's only played in 15 of the Cavs' 52 games. Marshall's only played in 11, due to injury. Simmons only played in seven. Hughes started 32 of the 40 games he played for us this year, but has been somewhat limited by injury. Gooden started all 51 of the games he played. Oh, and no, that .000 in Simmons' line is no mistake; he's missed all eight of the free throws he's put up this year.

My thoughts on the players we're getting:

* Wallace has started every game he's played this year, missing three to injury. He's not having a great year, it must be said. He's never been much of a scorer, but in his peak in Detroit, he was close to 10 points a game. He's 33 years old, and obviously on the far side of his peak. That said, he'll give us some of the defensive toughness in the post that Zydrunas Ilgauskas lacks (as much as I love Z). Of course, he's an absolutely dreadful foul shooter, which could be a liability in close games.

* Szczerbiak has only started one game for the Sonics, but was a starter for years in Minnesota, and more recently Boston. I imagine he'll start for the Cavs, with fellow former Miami RedHawk Ira Newble out of the picture. But we'll have to see how that plays out, I suppose. Szczerbiak's numbers are down this year, but so are his minutes. I'm confident he'll do well in starters' minutes with the Cavs. I hope I'm not looking at it through Miami red-colored lenses, but I don't think I am. Wally's no spring chicken at 30, so it might take his body a little while to adjust to more playing time, but he's averaging 15 points in 32 minutes a game for his career. And he's an outside shooter, which will clear up the lane a little bit more for LeBron.

* West is listed as a shooting guard these days, but he started as a point guard in Boston, and that's the thing the Cavs have been missing the most. Hughes was playing the point against his will, and frankly not doing a great job of it, as 2.4 assists vs. 1.8 turnovers a game will attest. It's hard to say if West will move right into the starting lineup, having not played the point in a while, but that's got to be what Ferry had in mind when he traded for him. He's taken kind of a step backwards this year, but I'm guessing Danny's thinking his foot problems are behind him, and if he gets the regular minutes he was unable to get in Seattle, he'll be fine. I admit I have some trepidation about that, but the other point guards who were available got snapped up by other teams, so I don't blame Ferry for grabbing West. He's only 24, so he's definitely got some upside. It's worth noting, however, that Delonte's the only player coming to Cleveland who hasn't played in some games in which he's been available.

* Smith has started 35 of the 50 games he's played this year. He's a 13-year veteran who had his best years in the mid-'90s with the Gol-dern State Warriors. I haven't seen him or heard about him much this year, but a quick look at his career numbers indicates he's having his best year since 2004-05 with Milwaukee. He'll rotate into the power forward and center spots with Z, Wallace and Anderson Varejao, who's due to get healthy soon.

Hughes and Gooden have both had some nice moments for our Cavs, but they've both ultimately been disappointments. Hughes has always fancied himself a featured scorer, which he'd never be on a LeBron James team. So he's wasted a lot of possessions jacking up outside shots, and he's no outside shooter. And Gooden's been really hard to count on. He's been invisible in a lot of games, on both ends of the floor. The other four guys we gave up have been non-factors.

So yes, I like this trade. I'm pretty excited about seeing this team together once Boobie Gibson comes back from his ankle sprain and everybody's had a few weeks to get to know each other.

Today in sports history

On this date sixty years ago in Daytona Beach, Florida, Bill France Sr. and a few drivers founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, known to all as NASCAR.

I've never cared much for auto racing myself, but there's no denying NASCAR has become a major sporting organization in this country. Last week, when the Daytona 500 was on the same day as the NBA All-Star Game, it was the car race that led SportsCenter. Around these parts, there's a bar in Euclid called Nazzbar, and its logo is a modified version of the NASCAR logo. I know a guy who DVRs NASCAR races and keeps them for months. And last night, on a pickup truck in the Chardon area, I saw a bumper sticker that looked from a distance like the NASCAR logo, but said "REDNECK." It told me something about the driver, but these days, not all NASCAR fans would identify themselves thus.

The history of stock car racing is pretty interesting. It has its origins in the Appalachian moonshiners of the Prohibition era, who would modify their cars to make them as fast as possible so they could outrun the cops. These guys continued to operate even after Prohibition was repealed, as moonshine could be bought and sold tax-free. Eventually, they decided to start racing each other on a track, as outracing police cars was apparently no longer a challenge for them. People would pay to see them race, and France, a mechanic by trade who had been running the track in Daytona since 1938, got the idea that a governing body with a regular schedule would help the sport grow.

Last year, more Americans watched NASCAR races on TV than the sporting events of any other league or organization except the National Football League, and its races are broadcast in 150 countries. Seventeen of the top 20 sporting events in terms of attendance in American history are NASCAR races, and its fans purchase more than $3 billion worth of licensed merchandise every year.

I'd say Bill France was onto something.

Trade rumor

The Cavaliers are reportedly trying to work a deal for the Grizzlies' Mike Miller, a swingman who's averaging 16.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game. According to the prevailing rumor, we'd get Miller, guard Kyle Lowry and albatross contract Brian Cardinal for Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, Shannon Brown, Cedric Simmons, Dwayne Jones, cash and a first-round pick.

Of the contingent that would be moving to Memphis, the only one who's played anything approaching significant minutes is Newble, and only because he's been starting since Sasha Pavlovic went down. He's a career 5.2-points-a-game scorer, and he's averaging 4.4 this year. Sure, he's in the NBA for his defense, but he wouldn't be a great loss, and I say that with all due respect to my fellow Miamian and a fine human being.

Donyell Marshall was a useful piece for a couple of years, but he's been hurt most of this year, and hasn't done much in limited playing time. We all had high hopes for Shannon Brown, but he hasn't shown us a whole lot. Jones' posterior has hardly left the pine, and Simmons has played in seven games and scored a grand total of four points this year. In short, these are all guys we won't miss.

The only thing we'll miss is that first-round pick. But unless you're going to get a lottery pick next year, a Mike Miller is worth a first-round pick any time. And Lowry's no slouch either, putting in 8.5 a game, with 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He's not much of a shooter (.391 from the floor, .735 from the line), but he's a useful piece.

So yeah, I hope this trade gets done.

Today in sports history

Twenty years ago today, the great Brian Boitano won a gold medal in figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Calgary. This 2005 interview mentions the thing I remember him for the most: the song "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" from the movie "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut." But the interviewer only mentions it in the introduction; he didn't actually ask Boitano about it, which is disappointing.

Also, 10 years ago today, Tara Lipinski took the gold in women's figure skating at Nagano. I don't know of any songs about her, but that doesn't make her accomplishment any less important.

Triple-double can't save Cavs

Our man LeBron had a triple-double last night -- 26 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists -- but the Cavaliers lost to Houston at home, becoming the Rockets' ninth-straight victim.

I've long thought that the triple-double is an overrated accomplishment. If a guy scores 30 points and has 20 rebounds or something like that, isn't that a better game than, say, 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists? And the Cavs were outscored by eight while LeBron was on the floor. I'm not suggesting that's all his fault, but he did shoot just 7-for-18 for the game, and he missed all his shots in the first half. I suppose even an MVP-caliber player is going to struggle with his shot from time, and you just have to let him keep hoisting up shots until he works it out.

Today in sports history

In the early-morning hours of this date 10 years ago, the U.S. Olympic hockey team embarrassed its nation and its sport by destroying their rooms at the Olympic Village in Nagano, Japan.

The Brett Hull-led team had been one of the favorites to win the gold medal, but didn't come close, and took out their frustrations on their hotel rooms.

Here comes the second half

After a pretty mediocre 29-23 first half, our Cavaliers open the second half tonight with a home game against the streaking Houston Rockets, who have won eight in a row coming in. Yao Ming's boys are five-point favorites.

But this post is not about tonight's game, it's about the rest of the season. "Second half" is a bit of a misnomer, since there are 52 games down and 30 to go, but anyway, if the season ended today, the Cavs would be the Eastern Conference's fourth seed. If they were in the Western Conference, they would not be a playoff team right now. Thank goodness for geography!

What can we expect the rest of the way? Well, the Cavs open the second half a bit short-handed, just as they opened the first half -- without Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao. And they have failed to pull off a trade for a fellow star, with Mike Bibby and Jason Kidd (apparently) going elsewhere. Too bad. We could have had Bibby and Boobie at the same time.

If you look at recent championship teams, you'll see they all have two superstars, or at least two All-Star-caliber players. The current defending champion Spurs have Tim Duncan and Tony Longoria Parker; the '06 Heat had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal; the '04 Pistons had practically a whole starting lineup of All-Stars; and the Lakers won three straight with Kobe and Shaq. And we all remember how the Bulls dominated with Jordan and Pippen. When Danny Ferry signed Larry Hughes in 2005, he was hoping Hughes could be that second superstar, but he hasn't been anything like that. Zydrunas Ilgauskas has been an All-Star, and I'm darn glad he's on our team, but he's not that kind of player. Until we get a second superstar, we're not going to win a title. It's as simple as that. LeBron is the best player in the NBA, but nobody's good enough to win a title by himself.

In this year's Eastern Conference, our boys could conceivably get back to the Conference Finals. But unless we're healthier than the Celtics at that point, there's no way we're getting past them. They've got three superstars to our one.

This blogger predicts that very scenario, and that LeBron will be the MVP. He also predicts an injury to one of the Pistons' big four, which of course we can't count on. But LeBron managed to carry us past the healthy Detroiters last year, and there's no reason to believe he can't do it again.

This blogger thinks the Cavs cannot knock off Boston, Detroit or Orlando without another piece. I disagree, but then again, I'm not exactly unbiased.

How about that LeBron?

Our King James nearly got a triple-double in the All-Star Game last night, with 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to win his second All-Star MVP award in three years. How many people still do not believe that LeBron is the best player in all the land? Color commentator Doug Collins believed Ray Allen should have won the MVP, and to be sure, Allen was a key to the East's 136-128 victory. But 27-9-8? In an All-Star Game?

LeBron insists that Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA; and to be fair to Kobe, he played only three minutes last night due to a finger injury, and he did win last year's All-Star MVP. But our man is better right now. You won't convince me otherwise. And LeBron is still just 23 (Bryant is 29).

It was a good weekend for Cavaliers; as noted before in this space, Boobie Gibson won the rookie game MVP, and he finished second in the 3-point shootout, behind former Cavalier Jason Kapono. And I've always liked Kapono, but I'll take Boobie any time.

Hooray for Boobie!

For those who didn't watch last night's rookie game at the NBA's All-Star weekend, our own Daniel "Boobie" Gibson was phenomenal, scoring 33 points to lead the sophomores past the rookies, 136-109, and setting a new record for three-pointers made in that game, with 11. So he didn't score a single point that didn't come from beyond the arc, which is obviously pretty unlikely.

Boobie went 11-of-20 from beyond the arc; I'm guessing the 20 shots attempted must be a record as well, but being in San Francisco and not having gotten breakfast yet, I'm not going to take the time to research it. I'm sure my loyal readers will forgive me. I can't even seem to find a box score from last night's game. If anyone has found it, I'd appreciate it if you'd send me a link.

Boobie's in the three-point shootout tonight, and if he keeps shooting that way, he'll be hard to beat. If he does win it, it'll be on the birthday of another Cavalier who's won the three-point shootout. Happy 44th birthday, Mark Price, who won the shootout in back-to-back years, 1993 and 1994. That can serve as today's Today in Sports History, since I can't really find much else of any great import, and I'm hungry.

Byrd on a wire

Will Paul Byrd be suspended for his admitted use of HGH? I'm guessing not, but the fact that it hasn't been announced yet, with spring training upon us, is not encouraging. But if Byrd misses a couple of starts, there are plenty of young arms available to take his turns in the rotation until he's available to come back. Paul Byrd's a veteran, and this isn't going to keep him down.

Today in sports history

Thirty years ago today (which is to say, my dad's 44th birthday; happy 74th birthday, Owen Mullett), Leon Spinks beat (YouTube link) Muhammad Ali in only Spinks' eighth professional fight, in a 15-round decision in Las Vegas. Thus Spinks became the fastest heavyweight champion in history. Ali was aging and out of shape, and though he didn't know it yet, was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.

But exactly seven months later, in New Orleans, Ali regained the title, taking advantage of Spinks' complacency and failure to train properly. Spinks never held the title again, though his brother Michael would get it a few years later.

Say bye-bye to C.C.

C.C. Sabathia has broken off contract negotiations with the Indians, apparently turning down $17 million to $18 million a season over the next four years.

I've written about this before; I've never believed the Tribe would be able to keep Carsten Charles without spending too much on him, and I think they're going to be OK regardless because of all their young pitching depth. Today's development doesn't really change anything.

Today in sports history

Happy 35th birthday, quarterback Steve LaTreal McNair, who's played for both the traitorous teams that abandoned their cities after the 1995 season. He took the Titans to the Super Bowl, but came up a couple of yards short of winning it. May he never win another game with the Ravens. Nothing personal, Steve LaTreal.

He's the Manu

The Cavs' four-game regular-season winning streak against the Spurs is over. Hey, when you're playing the defending champs and Manu Ginobili is unconscious from three-point range in the fourth quarter, I doubt there are many teams that could beat them, especially teams that are missing three key players (though it should be noted the Spurs did it without Tony Longoria Parker). But it's always disappointing to lose a game you're winning with less than six minutes to go.

Ginobili hit four-of-four from three in the final 12 minutes, and the Spurs as a team were seven-of-eight from downtown, 14-of-18 from the floor overall in the period. It does beg some questions about the presence of the defense.

I'd also point out that Larry Hughes put up some good-looking numbers, with 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, to go with six rebounds and three assists, but while he was on the floor, the Cavs were outscored by 13. I'm starting to wonder about his worth.

The Rocket crashes

It would appear as though Roger Clemens might be in trouble, thanks to some congressional hearings held today. I watched about 10 minutes of it this morning, but I'm on vacation, and I'm not in the habit of watching congressional hearings anyway. But I've read that Rog had no adequate response to Andy Pettitte's story that Clemens told Pettitte he used HGH, and that he could be in line for a perjury charge.

My response: Why in the world is our Congress wasting its time talking to baseball players about what substances they have or have not injected into their bodies? We have no bigger problems as a country? Is this what you elected your senators and congressional representatives to do? Sure, I hate cheating as much as the next person, but that's a matter for Major League Baseball to figure out. They were asleep at the switch for far too long, sure, but that still doesn't mean it's time for Congress to get involved. If Clemens broke the law, that's a police matter. Congress is not a law enforcement agency; it's there to make laws, not enforce them.

They're grandstanding to get their names in the paper. That may seem cynical, but that's the way I see it.

Brady Quinn a homophobe?

Reportedly, Browns quarterback-of-the-future Brady Quinn was seen outside a gay bar in Columbus in the wee hours of New Year's Day, shouting insults and trying to provoke a fight. Ironically, I'm blogging about this from America's most gay-friendly city, San Francisco, but that's really neither here nor there; I just thought I'd mention it.

What can we conclude about an alleged event, these six weeks later? Well, if the allegations are true, Brady Quinn is undoubtedly not the only homophobe in the NFL. But he'd be the only one stupid enough to stand outside a gay bar and call gay people names.

I have a hard time believing that this actually happened; my guess is that someone who looks a lot like Brady Quinn did it. But we all know how New Year's Eve can go, and I could believe that Quinn got rip-roaring drunk and lost control of himself. If he really did this, I sure hope he learns from it.

UPDATE: As has been pointed out to me by a commenter, the police arrived that night to find Quinn arguing with someone outside the bar. That makes my former last paragraph seem a little bit ridiculous; I admit I read the story a little bit too fast in an attempt to get out of my hotel and off to breakfast faster. Does that mean Brady Quinn is a closet homosexual? I don't think so, but the anonymous comment poster undoubtedly knows homosexuals better than I do. I don't really care if he's gay or not; he's an idiot if he hung around outside a gay bar to insult the people going in and coming out (no pun intended).

Today in sports history

Twenty years ago today, the 15th Winter Olympic Games opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Among the highlights were Italy's Alberto Tomba winning two gold medals in alpine skiing, Matti Nykanen from Finland winning three golds in ski jumping, and Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip getting three golds and setting two world records.

And two cult heroes were created: Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, a British ski jumper; and the Jamaican bobsled team. Neither had much experience or any real chance of finishing higher than last place, but both earned widespread acclaim just for getting to Calgary and doing their thing. God bless you, Eddie the Eagle and Jamaican bobsledders.

The United States won exactly six medals: two golds, one silver and three bronzes.

Tribe comments

Here's an interesting column that leads off with a look at whether the Indians can repeat last season's success, from Fox Sports.

Here's more of a straight preview from USA Today, and here's one from MLB.com.

What do I think? Well, I'm glad you asked. I think we're going to have some trouble holding off the Tigers, who have significantly improved their offense; but our pitching is going to be a lot better, especially if Fausto can repeat his performance from 2007. Sure, it's hard to predict what you're going to get from a young pitcher, but everybody thought from the beginning that Fausto was going to be great, and last year, he proved them right. I think we're looking at a budding superstar.

Today in sports history

Fifteen years ago today, Cavaliers head coach Lenny Wilkens moved past former Cavs coach Bill Fitch into fourth place on the NBA's all-time wins list. A 120-98 victory that day over Milwaukee gave Wilkens 846 career wins.

Wilkens, who last coached for the Knicks in 2004-05, now has a career record of 1,332-1,155 in 32 seasons with the SuperSonics, Blazers, Cavs, Hawks, Raptors and Knicks. But in all that time, and with all those victories, he won just one NBA title, in 1978 with Seattle. His teams thrice won 57 games in a season, in 1988-89 and 1991-92 with the Price-Daugherty-Nance Cavs, and in 1993-94 with the Dominique Wilkins-Kevin Willis-Stacey Augmon Hawks. Those teams all had one player in common -- Craig Ehlo, most famous for falling to the ground as Michael Jordan hit The Shot.

Sorry, Cleveland fans. But it did happen.

Hello, Larry!

Just when it looked like the Cavaliers might finally fall apart due to all their injuries, along comes Larry Hughes. In last night's 118-111 win over Orlando, with Boobie still out, along with Pavlovic and Varejao, and with Z and Damon Jones game-time decisions, Hughes came through with a season-high 40-point effort. The normally scattershot Larry went 12-of-19 from the field, including four-of-five from 3-point range. I don't think this signals the end of his shooting struggles, but it's a jolly good sign nonetheless.

And I went a whole paragraph on the Cavs without mentioning King LeBron, who scored 29 of his own and came within three rebounds of a triple-double.

On a side note, I love the fact that the expanded box scores on many sites include a plus-minus now for individual players, just as they've done in hockey for years. Last night's box score tells me Ira Newble was a heavy liability (-14), while Devin Brown was getting the job done (+14). Obviously, there are four other guys on the floor at any given time, so that's a bit simplistic, but it's still an indicator that ought to be taken seriously.

Today in sports history

Forty years ago today, Peggy Fleming won a gold medal for the U.S. in Grenoble, France, in figure skating. Ten years ago today, and 30 years to the day after winning that gold (I know, I'm quick with the math), Fleming underwent breast cancer surgery.

The cancer was detected early, the surgery was successful, and Fleming is by all accounts still quite healthy at age 59. She has become an activist for breast cancer detection, telling women to get screened early and often.

RedHawks hold tough

Sure, we Miami fans (and other Michigan-haters from the Buckeye State) might have preferred that the RedHawks get a win last night at Cady Arena. But the 5-5 tie leaves us in pretty good shape.

I did not watch Saturday's game, as much as I would have liked to, because I have to catch a plane early this morning to San Francisco, and I realize it's a lot more important that the pilot be awake than it is that I be, I've got a long drive to the airport. But the game reports I've read, here and here and here, and a Michigan-centric story here, tell me it was quite an exciting game. One story calls it "arguably the most exciting game of the year," which I suppose is what can usually be expected of a matchup between No. 1 and No. 2.

The 0-1-1 weekend against that school up north leaves Michigan in first place by one point in the CCHA, and the two teams will probably trade places atop the polls for about the fourth or fifth time this year, but fear not, RedHawks backers. Each team has six games left in the regular season. Miami (25-4-1) has two each against Ferris State (11-12-5), Western Michigan (7-20-3) and Ohio State (9-20-3; and this is the only sport in which I don't feel any particular allegiance to the Buckeyes). Michigan (23-3-4) will end against Ferris, before which they've got two against Lake Superior State (6-16-6) and -- and this is the key to the point I'm about to make -- two against Michigan State (18-7-5). The Spartans are a good bet to split that series, or maybe come away with at least one tie. If the Hawks win out, as they should, they've got a pretty good chance to overtake Michigan for the conference title and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Stay tuned, Miami fans.

Today in sports history

On this date five years ago, Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas played in his first NBA All-Star Game. Z played just four minutes, despite the fact that the game went into double-overtime. He didn't score, but had one assist and one steal.

The Cavaliers were one of the NBA's worst teams in '02-03, finishing 17-65, which tied for the worst record in the NBA. But it wasn't Z's fault; he had a fine season, average 17.2 points and 7.5 rebounds. And help was on the way; that awful record got them more ping-pong balls in the upcoming NBA lottery, which got them the first pick in the 2003 draft. They used that pick on a 6-foot-8 high school phenom from Northeast Ohio, and I won't tell you his name, but he's currently the NBA's scoring leader.

Bad first period

I watched last night's hockey game between No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Michigan at the Winking Lizard in Mentor because I couldn't get it on my cable at home. I ordered shrimp-crab quesadillas, and there were four of them. Now, I'm not one of those people who believes that my actions in a restaurant in Mentor can influence what happens on the ice in Oxford, some 280 miles away, but the fact is, when I started eating my quesadillas, the score was 0-0. The Wolverines scored their first goal while I ate my first quesadilla, their second goal while I ate my second, their third goal while I ate my third, and their fourth goal while I ate my fourth. So I suppose you could make the argument that I lost that game for Miami by eating some quesadillas. I apologize, Miami fans.

Our RedHawks really looked overmatched in that first period, and it hurts to say that. They weren't able to get any good shots off, and they did things like fumble the puck in front of their own goal and allow breakaways. They turned the puck over repeatedly in the neutral zone, and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who's been phenomenal all season, just didn't seem to have the stuff. Michigan scored all four goals within six minutes of game time. It was really hard to watch.

But once I finished my quesadillas, Miami started to settle in. Zatkoff made some fine saves in the second period, and the Hawks took some nice shots. But Michigan's goalie is pretty good too.

Finally, in the third, Miami managed to take advantage of some power-play opportunities. Ryan Jones broke through about five minutes into the period, and Jarod Palmer's goal with about seven minutes left cut it to 4-2; both were scored with a man advantage. It was starting to look like we had a chance. And we got some more power-play chances, including a brief 5-on-3, but give Michigan credit (boy, does THAT hurt to say). They held tough.

There is reason for optimism going into tonight's rematch. Michigan did not score over the last 45 minutes of game time. If our guys can keep that going, I like our chances to salvage the split.

One more thing: I'm fairly confident that this morning was the first time Miami hockey has ever appeared on SportsCenter. It would have been a lot better if they'd been talking about a win, but it felt good to see highlights from Oxford on ESPN. Anchor Robert Flores complimented Zatkoff on his goalie mask. And it is a beaut.

Today in sports history

Twenty-five years ago today, Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers set an NHL All-Star Game record by scoring four goals in one period, leading the Campbell Conference to a 9-3 win over the Wales Conference. So he scored more goals in one period than the other team did the whole game.

Gretzky, just 22 at the time, was already in his fifth NHL season, and was already considered the sport's best player. I'm not sure whether he was "The Great One" yet, but he had already made a mockery of some long-standing NHL records. He broke the league's record for scoring in just his second season, 1980-81, at age 19, with 164 points. He then went on to break his own record the following year, with 212. The previous record was 152; he topped it by 60.

That's Babe Ruth territory. Ruth first broke the home run record by hitting 29 in 1919, and the next year, he hit 54. Ruth would go on to break his own record two more times; Gretzky would break his own record one more time. Both men would spend a decade or so dominating the sport as no one ever had before. Gretzky won four Stanley Cups; Ruth won seven World Series (including three in the 19-teens with the Red Sox, when he was a pitcher).

As everybody knows, Gretzky would go on to be the all-time leader in all the major scoring categories, and is almost universally considered the greatest player ever to lace up the skates. It's too bad Cleveland never had a hockey team during his career, because he would have been fun to see in person.

More on Miami ice hockey

Here's an interview with RedHawks Coach Enrico Blasi, from about a week ago. For whatever reason, my browser isn't showing the video, but I'm able to hear the interview. Blasi talks in some depth about the upcoming matchup with Michigan, and throws some accolades to Ryan Jones and Nate Davis.

More bullpen help?

The Indians have signed veteran reliever Brendan Donnelly to a minor-league contract. Donnelly, 36, went 2-1 with a fine 3.05 ERA last year for the Red Sox, after five years with the Angels (which explains the hat he's wearing in that photo). He hasn't pitched since June 11 because of a strained right forearm, and he had Tommy John surgery in August, which means he'll miss the first half of '08. He's pitched in a World Series -- not last year, obviously, but in '02, with the Angels. And he was an All-Star in 2003, which is pretty rare for a bullpen guy who's not a closer.

Donnelly is mentioned in the Mitchell Report, alleged to have purchased steroids at some point. He insists that when he found out the substance he was considering was classified as a steroid, he changed his mind. What can we do but believe him? Given how many players apparently used steroids, it's virtually impossible to build a team with guys who are above suspicion.

What does this signing mean for the Tribe bullpen? Maybe nothing. The man's going to turn 37 on the Fourth of July, and he's coming off major surgery. It would be imprudent to expect much from him. But if he can return to form, he's been a fine setup man for a few years, and you can never have too many of those guys.

He becomes the third veteran reliever the Indians have signed this winter, after Masahide Kobayashi (not the eating champ, but a longtime bullpen guy in the Japanese leagues) and Jorge Julio. This despite the fact that the Tribe had one of the best bullpens in baseball last year. Mark Shapiro's philosophy seems to be that you can never have too many arms, and who can find fault with that?

Today in sports history

One hundred years ago today, Olympic athlete and Hollywood/TV actor Buster Crabbe was born. Or was he? I've found conflicting reports. One site says he was born Feb. 7, 1910, and another says he was born Feb. 17, 1907. But Britannica online says it was Feb. 7, 1908, and I'm going with that.

Crabbe, who grew up in Hawaii, became a world-class swimmer, and he won a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, and a gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1932 games in Los Angeles, which wasn't a long drive for Crabbe, who had graduated from USC in 1931.

Following in the footsteps (swim strokes?) of fellow swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller, Crabbe played Tarzan in the 1933 film "Tarzan the Fearless," which launched him into a very successful second career. He would go on to appear in more than 100 movies, playing at various times Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Billy the Kid. He also starred in the late-'50s TV series "Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion," as the title character.

Crabbe died of a heart attack in 1983, age 75.

Big hockey series

No. 1 Miami University (25-3-0) faces off Friday and Saturday against No. 2 Michigan (22-3-3) at the Goggin Ice Center in Oxford. This is a very exciting time to be a Redsk ..., er, RedHawk. (The team nickname is a blog entry for another time.)

I've been an Ohio State fan all my life, and I always will be (even though Bob Knight played there), but I never really considered it when I was looking at colleges. I wound up at Miami, a non-BCS Division I school (no, the BCS didn't exist in the late '80s and early '90s, but we all understood that the Mid-American Conference was not the Big 10), which meant that the best we could reasonably hope for on a year-to-year basis was winning MAC championships in the various sports. Our football team was second-tier at best, our basketball teams were second-tier at best, our baseball team, our swimming team, our field hockey team, and so on and so forth.

From a national standpoint, we've had a couple of good years in individual sports: Wally Szczerbiak's 1998-99 basketball team reached the Sweet 16 before losing a highly respectable 58-48 to Kentucky; and Ben Roethlisberger's 2003 football team went 12-1, its only loss in the season opener against Iowa, and ended the season No. 10 in the nation. The lesson? In order to be a superstar athlete at Miami University, you have to have a name that only people smart enough to get into Miami can spell.

But in ice hockey ― and only in ice hockey ― Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, is NOT a second-tier school. We are a member of the first-tier Central Collegiate Hockey Association. We are in the same league as Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State ― and even Notre Dame. Brian Savage, who would go on to play 12 years in the NHL, played at Miami while I was there.

The setup in college hockey is TOTALLY different from all the other sports. Several schools that are Division II or Division III in other sports are big-time powers in hockey. The last back-to-back national champion was the University of Denver. When's the last time you heard about the University of Denver's basketball or football team? Among other traditional Division I powers ― all of whom are currently in the top 20 ― are North Dakota, New Hampshire, Colorado College, Minnesota-Duluth and Clarkson.

Oh, yes. And Miami. In fact, if you check college hockey Web sites, you'll see that Miami University is not even referred to as "Miami (Ohio)." It's just "Miami." You know how, if you look at the national football pool and see the word "Miami" on the list? You don't have to ask which Miami. It's the one in Florida. Duh!

Well, Miami of Florida doesn't even have a hockey team, as far as I know. You never see "Miami (Ohio)" on a hockey poll. Of course it's the one in Ohio.

But even in ice hockey, Miami has never won a national championship. In fact, they were never really a national power until quite recently, after Savage's former teammate Enrico Blasi became the head coach in 1999. Blasi had cut his teeth as an assistant at Denver under his former Miami coach, George Gwozdecky. It took Blasi awhile to build up the program, but he's done a fantastic job. The RedHawks reached the Elite Eight last year before losing 4-0 to Boston College ― the same team that knocked them out 5-0 in the first round in 2006 (the tournament is only 16 teams to begin with in hockey, so the office pools are somewhat less exciting).

And this year, they've been ranked No. 1 for much of the season, trading back and forth with fellow CCHA power Michigan. I went to see them in Bowling Green (the BG Falcons, Miami and the Western Michigan Broncos are the only MAC schools in the CCHA) the Saturday of the first weekend of 2008, and the Hawks looked pretty darned good. They won 5-2 and almost made it 6-2 with an empty-netter. They skated faster and controlled the puck better than the Falcons. But one of Miami's three losses is to BG, and it was actually the previous night.

And now Miami and Michigan are the top two teams in the country, and they're playing this weekend. I've been led to believe Friday night's game, at least, is being shown on TV, but I don't seem to have it on my cable. I don't know who's carrying it, but apparently somebody is.

Today in sports history

Fifty years ago today, an airplane carrying the Manchester United soccer team crashed on the runway at the Munich airport, killing 23 people ― eight players, a team secretary, nine journalists, two members of the flight crew, an assistant coach, a trainer, a travel agent and a fan who was a friend of the team's manager (which is apparently equivalent to a baseball manager).

The team was trying to return home from a European Cup match in Yugoslavia, with a scheduled refueling stop in Munich. Slush on the runway kept the plane from building up enough speed to get properly airborne.

A Hollywood film about the crash was reportedly in the works a couple of years ago, but the most recent news about that appears to be from 2005, so I don't know what came of it. I can tell you that the movies "Alive" (1993), about the 1972 plane crash in the Andes that killed most of the members of an Uruguayan rugby team; and "We Are Marshall" (2006), about the aftermath of the 1970 crash that killed most of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, were both pretty good. But those movies were made with extensive involvement from the people involved in the real-life stories; reportedly, none of the survivors of the Manchester United crash were contacted.

Pro Bowl plots

So it seems now that Derek Anderson and Kellen Winslow will be playing in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Sunday. Good for them, they've had fine seasons and have earned it. Tom Brady bowed out, citing his ankle (I think he'd have played if the Patriots had won the Super Bowl, since a Pro Bowl win would kind of extend that undefeated streak), making a spot for Anderson; and Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (the Kent State Golden Flash hoopster) injured his toe trying to kick the Patriots out of the playoffs, clearing the way for Winslow.

They join rookie tackle Joe Thomas, the No. 1 reason Anderson had a Pro Bowl year; Ryan Pontbriand, who did nothing all year but convey the ball accurately seven yards from the ground in front of him, between his legs, to a man who was kneeling for the purposes of placing it in a way that would make it easy to kick, then occasionally convey the same ball back 15 yards to a man who will kick it in the air (and if you think that's an unimportant skill, watch a few junior high school games and see what happens when that skill is less-than-NFL-caliber); wide receiver Braylon Edwards, the primary accomplice in Anderson's crimes against defenses; and Joshua Cribbs, who in some cases made it unnecessary for the offense to do anything.

So that's four offensive players, two special teamers, and let's see, let's count the defensive players. Didn't Cribbs play D a couple of times? No, he just made tackles on special teams. So that doesn't count. OK, zero. I wonder which unit we should blame for missing the playoffs (leaving aside the Colts' Christmas gift to the state of Tennessee in Week 17).

If Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel can build this team a defense, and maybe get a few stealthy videographers, they could have a shot.