162-0! We can do it! Come on!

My good friend Jeff Brown, who is unquestionably among the most faithful readers of Of Fair Hooker, Elmer Flick and World B. Free, had this to say about today's Indians game:

Steve,

I've got some good news for you -- the Cleveland Indians professional baseball team won their first game of the 2008 season, 10-8, over the Jim Thome-led Chicago White Stockings.

The Tribe is on pace to demolish the single season record for runs scored. Averaging 10 runs per game so far this season, this puts them on track to score 1620 runs!

Also, our ol' buddy Jim Thome is on pace to smash 324 homers this season, which by season's end, would put him at 829 career homers, breaking Barry Bonds hallowed record set last season.

On the down side, the Tribe is also on pace to allow 1296 runs, which would also be a single-season record... but who cares when we score 10 per game?!

Warmly, Jeff

It's no doubt an oversight, but Jeff failed to mention that:

• Franklin Gutierrez is on pace to collect 486 hits, which would shame Ichiro back to Japan for thinking his record-breaking total of 262 in 2004 was impressive.
  
• Casey Blake shares with Gutierrez a 486-RBI pace, which would have them both breaking Hack Wilson's 78-year-old record by mid-June.
  
• Rafael Betancourt is on pace to win 162 games, which would make a mockery of the previous record, Old Hoss Radbourn's 60 wins for the Providence Grays in 1884.
  
• C.C. Sabathia, while he may not want to end the season with an 8.44 ERA, is on pace to strike out 1,134 hitters. Nolan who?

If I may be so bold as to guess at the comedic device Jeff is employing, I believe he means to lampoon the rampant optimism (or pessimism) that comes from fans making too much out of one game, or even the first few games of the season. Sure, it's nice that we got off to a win, but let's not forget that this game means exactly as much as the game scheduled for August 23, the game scheduled for June 8, and the game scheduled for September 28 (the last day of the season).

But it sure was great to see Blake hit that three-run double off the wall in the bottom of the eighth. Baseball is back, ladies and gentlemen. And we've got a darned good team here in Cleveland.

So anyway ...

Miami lost to Boston College on Sunday. Those of you who care already know that, I'm sure; and you may also know that the RedHawks lost because they fell asleep for two minutes in the second period. BC scored three goals in that two-minute span. Considering the final score was 4-3 in overtime, that gives you some idea what an uncharacteristic lapse that was for Miami. The Hawks really dominated the overtime too, but they couldn't get any shots through. This was the third year in a row that Miami has fallen to Boston College in the NCAA Tournament. That's like the Browns and Broncos in the late '80s, only worse.

And so ends the season for senior Ryan Jones, the nation's leading goal scorer; junior Jeff Zatkoff, the nation's second-leading goaltender in terms of save percentage and goals against average; freshman Carter Camper, junior Justin Mercier and junior Brian Kaufman, all among the nation's leading scorers; fine senior defenseman Mitch Ganzak; senior forward Nathan Davis, who was among the team's best players, but missed a lot of time due to injury (including the Boston College game); and the nation's leading overall team offense.

With Jones and Davis among the players we're losing, it's going to be hard to make up that much offense next year. I'm not saying it can't be done, but we're talking about the best finisher in the nation, in Jones. If Zatkoff returns with the kind of year he had in '07-08, however, the RedHawks have a chance to make another run at a national title.

But I wanted to see them do it this year. I still think they could have. But they didn't.

What a game what a game what a game!

Miami (Ohio) and Air Force played an instant classic today in the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a better college hockey game, and while there are undoubtedly people who have watched a lot more college hockey than I have, I've watched more than my share.

Miami scored just 19 seconds into the game, on a Tommy Wingels wrist shot into the upper corner (where momma keeps the cookies, I believe is the term). After that, Air Force goaltender Andrew Volkening put on one heck of a show. Miami had shot after shot denied, including one that ESPNU play-by-play announcer John Buccigross said may have been the save of the year in college hockey. Color commentator Barry Melrose agreed it had to be in the top five. Volkening shut out the RedHawks for 50-plus minutes of game action, while his teammates managed to score twice on rebound shots to give them a 2-1 lead. The way Volkening was playing, it looked like the Falcons were going to pull off the upset.

But with 7:50 left in regulation, Air Force got hit with a penalty for having too many men on the ice. It was Miami's fourth power-play opportunity of the game, and they failed to take advantage of the first three. But this time, freshman Carter Camper made the Falcons pay, putting it in off a rebound with 6:16 to go.

Miami controlled the overtime period, but Volkening was almost unbreachable. It should be noted that Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff, the nation's leading goaltender in terms of save percentage, made some great saves in that time too. But something had to give, and that something turned out to be Volkening. As Justin Mercier took the puck down to the right side of the goal, Volkening gambled that he would take it behind the net. But he didn't. He veered in front of the net and put it in the far upper corner. And Miami moves on to the round of eight.

Taken from the USCHO.com story:

“The puck came loose in the neutral zone; I was able to pick it up,” Mercier said. “I knew I could take advantage of their ‘D’ if I got him turning, pivoting. It was almost a fake shot, got him to freeze up for a second, took the puck around him and made a play on net to get it past their goalie.”

Miami won despite getting no goals from Ryan Jones, the nation's leading goal scorer. Jones had some chances, including a breakaway opportunity, but Volkening stopped him. But as Melrose pointed out, Miami's got a lot of weapons.

At 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the RedHawks play the winner of the Boston College-Minnesota game, which Boston College currently leads 2-1 in the second. The winner of tomorrow's game moves on to the Frozen Four in Denver. I can hardly wait.

March Madness -- on the ice

The NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament opens today, and there is one Ohio school in the 16-team field. And it happens to be my alma mater, Miami (Ohio). The RedHawks (32-7-1) are the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Region, and open at 4 p.m. today against Air Force (21-11-6). You can see it on ESPNU.

Miami is the No. 2 overall seed, behind someone I hope we can all agree to hate, the Michigan Wolverines. Miami and Michigan spent most of the season ranked No. 1 and 2, and Michigan wound up on top by virtue of a 2-0-1 record against our Hawks, including the Central Collegiate Hockey Association tournament championship.

Some notes cribbed from the USCHO.com story:

The RedHawks are the No. 2 seed overall in the tournament after losing their bid for a CCHA championship title to the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines. Miami played a cautious semifinal game against Notre Dame last weekend before a looser display against the Wolverines, but each contest had something glaring in common; the RedHawks failed to score until the final minute of each game.

In the 2-1 overtime win over the Irish, defenseman Mitch Ganzak scored the equalizer at 19:56 in the third, while fellow blueliner Alec Martinez scored at 19:21 in the 2-1 loss to Michigan the following night — and both goals were scored with Jeff Zatkoff pulled from the net in favor of the extra attacker.

That is a little bit worrisome, and we'll have to play better if we want to advance through this field to the Frozen Four.

Air Force won the Atlantic Hockey tournament for the second straight year, and will surely give the RedHawks a tough game. I'm looking forward to it.

Dawson rule?

As ESPN's John Clayton reports, Phil Dawson's nearly disallowed game-tying field goal against the Ravens last year has spurred a proposed rule change. Field goal kicks were previously not reviewable under instant replay rules, but that was because of kicks that sailed over the uprights, not kicks that may or may not have cleared the crossbar.

The officials initially got the Dawson call wrong. They wanted to review the tape, but the replay rules wouldn't let them. So all they could do was discuss it amongst themselves, and then they kind of had to take a guess. They got it right that time, but who's to say they won't get it wrong the next time? This is a no-brainer to me. Clayton feels some owners might vote it down. Frankly, any owner who votes against this is an idiot.

Four days to Opening Day

For the Indians, that is. The A's and Red Sox only have 160 games to go. Incidentally, am I the only one who didn't know Keith Foulke was making a comeback with Oakland? Didn't he say he was retiring last year when the Indians were expecting him to be their closer? Not that I'm dissatisfied with how the season went overall, but still, I was surprised to see him take the mound in Tokyo. He pitched in both of those games, in fact. If he'd made his comeback with the Red Sox, I'd have taken it a little harder, but since it's the small-market A's, I forgive him.

This has nothing to do with the Indians, but I saw it on SportsCenter, and I just have to mention it. During a spring-training game yesterday between the Twins and Braves, Atlanta's Elliott Johnson tried to bunt for a hit, and he laid down a beaut that dribbled down the first-base line. Twins pitcher Livan Hernandez knew he didn't have a play if he picked it up and threw it -- so he KICKED IT to first base. He must have some soccer experience somewhere along the way, because he kicked it right into the first baseman's glove, and got the out. Absolutely brilliant.

Here's an interesting column about the prospects of C.C. Sabathia eventually getting to 300 wins. The prognosis? Don't put money on it. Of course, he's probably not going to be with the Indians a whole lot longer, but who knows. Maybe he'll surprise us on both counts and win 300 games as an Indian.

And if you follow this link, you'll see that our old friend Charlie Manuel believes his Phillies can score 1,000 runs this year. Charlie's deeply, deeply wrong about this, of course. I think he overestimates the prospects of any team scoring 1,000 runs in a season, simply because he was the hitting coach for a team that did it -- the 1999 Indians, led by Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, David Justice, Roberto Alomar and Kenny Lofton. Charlie may or may not know that those Indians are the only team that's scored 1,000 runs since 1950. And for a National League team to do it, with pitchers taking up one-ninth of the batting order? Virtually impossible. But I suspect Charlie won't care much if they only score 850 runs and win the NL East.

Tim Kurkjian just said on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" that he changed his mind a few days ago about who's going to win the AL Central. He now believes it will be the Indians because the Tigers have too many problems in their bullpen. But of course, it makes no difference what Tim Kurkjian or anyone else thinks. It'll be settled on the field. And I don't know about you, but I'm sure looking forward to it.

Left Chris Paul too much time

I had a bad feeling in last night's game between the Cavaliers and Hornets after LeBron scored with 7.7 seconds left, putting the Cavs up one. That gives Chris Paul too much time, I said out loud to my TV. Sure enough, Paul dribbled down the middle of the key, drew three defenders to him, then kicked it out to a wide-open David West, who nailed it. Hornets 100, Cavaliers 99.

We could take comfort in the fact that the Cavs took the team with the best record in the Western Conference to the last second of the game. But a loss is a loss.

But the loss did not taint Joe Tait's 3,000th radio broadcast as the voice of the Cavaliers, dating back to the expansion Cavs in 1970. I don't usually watch the TV broadcasts during halftime, because I've got 200-some channels, and there's always something more interesting on than halftime. But I did watch this one. Former Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund, who brought Tait back after Ted Stepien chased him out of town, came out and said some nice things, cracking a few jokes. An example: "My wife says I've listened to you more than I've listened to her." Danny Ferry said a few things too, but he was obviously nervous, as he's not used to speaking in front of so many people. But he did fine. And when Tait himself addressed the throng, he did it with his usual class and professionalism, thanking many, many people, including you and me for listening to his broadcasts.

Thank YOU, Joe. May you be around for 3,000 more.

Today in sports history -- Sugar Ray Robinson

On this date 50 years ago, Walker Smith Jr., aka Sugar Ray Robinson, beat up Carmen Basilio and took his middleweight championship. That made Robinson the first boxer ever to win a title for an individual weight class five different times. The relevant bouts were as follows:

1. Feb. 14, 1951: Knocked out Jake LaMotta in the 13th round to take the middleweight belt, after moving up a weight class because he was having trouble staying at 147 pounds.
2. Sept. 12, 1951: Knocked out Englishman Randy Turpin in the 10th round to regain the title, which he had lost to Turpin in a 15-round decision in July. The fight Turpin won was in London; the fight Robinson won was in New York. So they split a home-and-home, each winning in front of his own home fans.
3. Dec. 9, 1955: Knocked out Carl "Bobo" Olson to regain his middleweight crown, which he'd given up after moving up to the light heavyweight class to fight Joey Maxim in 1952. Maxim won by TKO, and Robinson retired to become a singer and tap-dancer. Realizing he wasn't cut out for that kind of work, he went back to the ring. He gave Olson a rematch in May '56, and beat him again.
   
4. May 1, 1957: Knocked out Gene Fullmer in the fifth round to regain the belt he'd lost to Fullmer in a 15-round decision four months earlier.
5. March 25, 1958: Beat Carmen Basilio in a 15-round decision after losing his title to Basilio in September 1957.

Robinson lost his title for the last time on Jan. 22, 1960, to Paul Pender in a 15-round decision. Pender gave him a rematch and held onto the title; and after Fullmer regained the title from Pender, Fullmer beat Robinson twice in title bouts, in 1960 and 1961. Robinson never got another title shot, though he kept boxing until 1965, when he was 44 years old. He retired with a career record of 175-19-6, with two no-contests.

Those five middleweight titles were not the only belts Robinson ever wore. Before all of the above fights, in 1946, Robinson defeated Tommy Bell in a 15-round decision to win the vacant welterweight title. In his first title defense, he literally beat Jimmy Doyle to death. Like Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, whose fists killed Duk Koo Kim, Robinson struggled with that for some time.

Walking Ortiz to pitch to Manny?

The first official major-league game of the year, which started at 6 a.m. eastern time in Tokyo, went into extra innings after Oakland A's closer Huston Street blew the save in the ninth, giving up a home run to Boston's Brandon Moss. The Red Sox were up in the top of the 10th, and with a runner on second and two outs. David Ortiz was the hitter, with Manny Ramirez on deck. Oakland manager Bob Geren ordered Street to walk Big Papi and pitch to Manny, presumably because of the righty-lefty theory. Street is a righty, Ortiz hits lefty, and Ramirez hits righty.

Managing in the major leagues is a tough job, and I don't mean to suggest that I could do it better than Geren. But come on. Ortiz was 0-for-4 on the day, and had shown signs of being in a bit of a funk. He has this reputation as a great "clutch" hitter because of a couple of dramatic postseason home runs, but there's no evidence he's been able to carry that through from season to season. And Manny had already hit a two-run double in the game -- and as Tribe fans may remember, he practically sneezes RBIs. Seems to me Geren outsmarted himself.

For those who don't know, Manny doubled off the wall, scoring two (including Ortiz), and the Red Sox took a 6-4 lead. This exposes another flaw in Geren's logic: If Ortiz had gotten the same hit Manny did, just one run would have scored. It being the top of the 10th, that's not insignificant; you'd be looking at a 5-4 game instead of a 6-4 game. Then you could walk Manny and pitch to Mike Lowell if you want. Lowell's not exactly a banjo hitter, but he's no Big Papi or Manny. As it happens, the A's got one back in the bottom of the 10th, but it wasn't enough.

So I thought it was a bad move. I know that's easy to say now that I see how the game turned out, but it's what I was thinking at the time.

I realized another thing as I watched the game. I now hate the Red Sox almost as much as I hate the Yankees. I don't mean that I despise everyone who wears the uniform, of course, but I very, very badly want them to lose.

Today in sports history -- Mike Woodson

Happy 50th birthday, Atlanta Hawks head coach and (briefly) former Cavalier Mike Woodson.

In a 12-year NBA playing career with the Knicks, Nets, Kings, Clippers, Rockets and Cavaliers, Woodson averaged 19.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He played in 786 career games, the last four as a Cavalier in 1990-91. In those four games, he averaged 8.6 points and 3.8 assists. He played in five playoff series in his career, and his teams lost every one of those series. In fact, his teams only won two playoff games.

But that's two more than he's won as a coach. This is his fourth year as head coach of the Hawks, and his coaching record to date is 99-216. His Hawks have not made the playoffs in that time. At 30-39, they are currently in line to get the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, which would make them the Celtics' first-round victims.

In case Woodson's children might be reading this, none of the above is meant to suggest that Woodson wasn't a fine player (he was) or isn't a fine coach (he may be, but no coach can win with mediocre talent).

Tribe eats option

The Aaron Fultz era in Cleveland is over, as the Indians have decided they will pay the veteran left-handed reliever $1.5 million to sit at home. Mark Shapiro chose to pick up Fultz's option going into the season, but after his awful spring, Shapiro decided to cut his losses. Fultz, 34, gave up 14 runs, 11 earned, on 16 hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings. That works out to an 11.88 ERA. Translation: Dreadful. Fultz has not been the same since he strained a rib-cage muscle in the middle of the season last year. And let's face it, in today's baseball economics, $1.5 million is not a lot of money (though I sure wish someone would pay ME that much to sit on my posterior). The Indians will probably try to trade him for some young not-quite-prospect.

To take his place, the Indians took a molecular physicist off waivers. That's only slightly untrue -- former Red Sox prospect Craig Breslow has never actually worked as a nuclear physicist, but he does have a degree from Yale in molecular physics and biochemistry. Breslow first reached the majors in 2005 with the Padres, and then spent the last two last years with the Boston organization. He has pitched 28 1/3 innings in 27 major-league games, with a fine 2.86 ERA. But he spent all of last year in AAA, compiling a 4.06 ERA in 68 2/3 innings over 49 games. He's had control problems in his limited major-league action, but in the minors, he's walked about a third as many guys as he's struck out. Such times are these when a filthy rich team like the Red Sox can't find a place for him on their big-league roster. Along with Rafael Perez, that gives us two lefties in the pen.

Shapiro's thoughts on Breslow, courtesy of MLB.com:

"A year ago at this time, we probably never could have gotten him," Shapiro said. "He had a solid year last year, but not quite as good. He has a very successful track record against left-handed hitters in the minors. He's a resilient, smart guy."

The Tribe still has one bullpen spot to reconcile, and it's between Tom Mastny, Jorge Julio and Scott Elarton. They did officially name Cliff Lee the fifth starter today, to no one's surprise, and sent down Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers. It wasn't a great day to be an Indians pitcher named Aaron. But if those guys do well in Buffalo, they'll get their chance.

Cliff Lee cements his spot

As Terry Pluto writes, Cliff Lee pitched awfully well yesterday against the Mets, and will probably be the fifth starter when the season opens in eight days.

Lee went five scoreless innings, striking out five, walking one and giving up four hits -- none of them hit all that hard. Frankly, he looked like the guy who won 46 games from 2004 to 2006, and not the guy who went 5-8 with a 6-plus ERA in 2007. And, as Les Levine points out, the Indians can made a change if Lee doesn't do well. Lee says his sore ribs were the problem last year, and considering how successful he was before that, I believe him.

Speaking of Indians who had off-years in 2007, ESPN's Amy Nelson has written a feature on Travis Hafner and how he's hoping for a nice bounce-back year. Hafner's '07 was a lot better than Lee's, but still, he wasn't the hitter we'd gotten used to.

Today in sports history -- Little Lake Nellie

Probably the saddest episode in Cleveland Indians history happened 15 years ago today on Little Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tribe pitchers Steve Olin, Tim Crews and Bob Ojeda had a little cookout and a couple of beers at Crews' ranch, and then Crews took his new teammates out on his power boat. After circling the lake once, Crews unwittingly drove the boat into a neighbor's dock. Olin was killed instantly from head and neck injuries; Crews died at 6 a.m. the next morning. Ojeda survived because he was slouching in his seat, but sustained serious injuries. Three members of the Indians' pitching staff were out at the start of the season -- two of them never to return. More importantly, two young women were widowed, and four young children were left fatherless.

I'll never forget the day Ojeda finally pitched on a major league mound again. It was Aug. 7, 1993 (I admit I had to Google that, but I knew it was fairly late in the season), and it was a road game, at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Ojeda came in about the sixth or seventh inning, and the Baltimore fans gave him a standing ovation, in recognition of what he and the Indians organization had been through that year. I found it very touching.

Five years ago, Jayson Stark did a 10-year retrospective on the tragedy, and here's a transcript of the look at it from "Outside the Lines" around that same time.

Something to witness

Ladies and gentlemen, the Cavaliers' all-time scoring leader is 23 years old. Our man LeBron passed ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty in the first quarter of last night's 90-83 win against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors followed his record-breaking shot with a score, and then the Cavs called time out so the crowd could acknowledge Mr. James' accomplishment.

Daugherty never played a game after the age of 28, forced to retire young because of back problems. But he played eight seasons, all in Cleveland, and averaged an impressive 19 points a game for his career. He was a five-time All-Star, and clearly the best Cavalier of all time before we won the 2003 draft lottery. For LeBron to pass him in his fifth season is pretty remarkable. Of course, if not for Daugherty's chronic lumbago, LeBron might still be chasing him for a couple of years, but he'd certainly get there if he stayed in Cleveland long enough.

Incidentally, the Cavs' three all-time leading scorers were all first overall picks in the NBA draft. Austin Carr, who's third, was taken with the first pick in the 1971 draft; Daugherty, in 1986, after the Cavs dealt Roy Hinson to trade up for that first selection; and of course the Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary star in '03.

Madness indeed

I apologize for the recent scarceness of my posts; I've been struggling with a nasty cold and just don't have much energy for anything. But it's the weekend, and I think I've got enough starch to sit in a chair and type for a little while.

Anyway, after a relatively staid first day of the NCAA Tournament (Duke's last-minute squeaker notwithstanding), things got absolutely insane on Friday. The best moment was Ty Rogers hitting a three as time expired in overtime to lift 12-seed Western Kentucky to a 101-99 win over 5-seed Drake. WKU's Tyrone Brazelton made it possible by drawing the defense to him, then kicking it out to Rogers. It was a brilliant moment. Bob Knight, who I must admit really knows his basketball, called it maybe the most impressive thing he's seen in college basketball all season.

But that was far from the only big upset on Friday. There was 13-seed Siena's surprisingly easy 83-62 win over 4-seed Vanderbilt, 12-seed Villanova's come-from-behind 75-69 victory against Clemson, and in another thriller, 13-seed San Diego's 70-69 overtime upset of 4-seed Connecticut.

If Duke had fallen to Belmont on Thursday, that would have been probably the biggest upset in tournament history, but San Diego's win was the biggest of this year's event. The UConn Huskies are one of the top eight or ten programs in the country, and have won two national championships in the last decade. The San Diego Toreros came in having never won an NCAA Tournament game, and only even making the tourney three times. As the Associated Press story on the game reports, the opening jump ball for the game featured 6'6" Rob Jones for USD vs. 7'3" Hasheem Thabeet for Connecticut. Jones didn't even bother to jump, because he knew he couldn't get it. It was the same match-up on the overtime tip, but this time, Jones was charged up and full of adrenaline after 40 minutes of basketball -- and Thabeet still won the tip, but barely. That's a neat microcosm of the game, and it would have been perfect if Jones had beaten Thabeet for the OT tipoff. De'Jon Jackson was the hero for the Toreros, hitting a long jumper with 1.2 seconds left in overtime, and then intercepting UConn's inbound pass.

Of course, as a Northeast Ohioan, I was disappointed at Kent State's performance Thursday against UNLV. They wound up making it respectable at the end, losing 71-58, but that was after scoring just TEN POINTS in the first half. The Golden Flashes turned the ball over 17 times in the first half, and missed a whole lot of shots. They played worse than I would have thought them capable of playing. Lifted from the AP's story:

"The first half of basketball was just so unlike how we played all year," Kent State coach Jim Christian said. "We just came out and played with no confidence and just made silly mistake after silly mistake."

Kent played a whole lot better in the second half, and actually outscored the Runnin' Rebels 48-40 after the intermission, but they just had too big a hole to climb out of.

One Ohio team remains after the first round, and it's the Xavier Musketeers, who rallied to overcome a second-half deficit and eliminate Georgia on Thursday. I suppose I'll root for them, even though Xavier's a Cincinnati school. I also generally root for Big Ten schools that aren't in Ann Arbor, and Wisconsin's got a chance to go deep. But whatever happens, I'm sure we've got a few fantastic finishes left to enjoy.

Beat De-Troit! Beat De-Troit!

The Cavaliers were in fine form last night against the Pistons at the Q. I attended the game, sitting in the penultimate row in the upper deck, but I was still close enough to see some fine defensive intensity during the Cavs' 89-73 victory over the Detroiters. I was pretty tired last night, and didn't get a chance to write anything about it until now, when everybody's pretty concerned about March Madness, so I'll keep it short.

That said, there were a couple of plays I want to mention in particular, both involving very athletic moves you wouldn't normally expect to see out of the power forwards who made them. One was at the first-half buzzer. With the Cavs up 43-38 and about three seconds left, Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed a jumper from the corner. Ben Wallace, who is about as well-known for his scoring as Dick Vitale is for his calmness, got the rebound from about six feet away with about one second remaining. In one motion, he caught the ball and shot it, and it went right in. Ben Wallace scored exactly two points in that game, and it was those two.

The other happened with about 4:30 to go in the fourth quarter. With the shot clock winding down, Anderson Varejao took a pass at the top of the key from Delonte West. Varejao started dribbling toward the hole, and the Pistons' Antonio McDyess came out to challenge him. Varejao took the ball in his left hand, then whipped it behind his back and took it up with his right for a layup. It was a thing of beauty.

The Cavaliers are now 1-1 against the Pistons this year, each winning on their own home floor. The Cavs had to beat the Pistons in Detroit to get past them last year in the Eastern Conference Finals; if they meet them this year, it will probably be one round earlier, but they'll again have to win at least one game at the Palace of Auburn Hills. After what we saw last night, I believe they can. Boston's another matter, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Today in sports history -- Tyrone Hill

Happy 40th birthday, former NBA forward and Ohio native Tyrone Hill.

Hill played his college ball at Xavier, in his hometown of Cincinnati, and led the Musketeers to the Sweet Sixteen his senior year, 1989-90. He averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds a game that year, and was drafted by the Golden State Warriors. He had trouble finding his niche in Oakland, often having to play center, despite being just 6'9". He did average 10 rebounds a game in 1992-93, but against just 8.6 points.

He was traded to the Cavaliers, who quickly discovered they had a fine NBA forward on their hands (albeit in an ugly, ugly uniform; but that was their fault, not his). He had his best statistical season in 1994-95 in Cleveland, averaging 13.8 points and 10.9 rebounds, and playing six minutes in the All-Star Game. It was the only time in his career that he was selected.

The Cavs sent him away in the Shawn Kemp trade in 1997, and he spent most of the rest of his career with the 76ers. He played in the NBA Finals in 2001, in his last year in Philadelphia, and then came back to Cleveland for a season and a half.

Hill retired after playing five games with the Heat in 2003-04. He had 6,854 career rebounds, good for 98th on the all-time list. May he stay in the top 100 for at least a few more months.

Tribe notes

I'm getting excited about baseball season, ladies and gentlemen. Our Tribe is basically unchanged from last year, except everyone's a year older. But this is still a fairly young team. I think we can all agree it looks to be a two-team race between the Indians and That Ballclub Up North. Let's not forget that Tiger fans are also Wolverine fans. So let's win it for Woody, huh?

A few things I've gleaned from the InterWebNet for your reading pleasure:

This article profiles a few "closers in waiting" around the majors, including Rafael Betancourt. MLB.com writer Anthony DiComo says he "may have been the best" setup man in baseball in 2007 -- and he's wrong. Betancout WAS the best setup man in baseball in 2007. And face it, he was setting up a pretty mediocre closer. Look at his numbers against Joe Borowski's and tell me which was the more important reliever last year. (Hint: It was Betancourt.)

Paul Hoynes of the PD updates us on fellow bullpenner Masa Kobayashi, the former Chiba Lotte Marines closer. Kobayashi says the Wal-Mart in Winter Haven is the biggest thing he's ever seen. I thought Japan was a rich country! Kobayashi, incidentally, is third on Japan's all-time saves list, behind Kazuhiro Sasaki and Shingo Takatsu. What does that trio have in common? Two things: They've all played in the American League (or will have, when Kobayashi makes his Tribe debut), and they've all been to Wal-Mart. Oh, and they've all eaten sushi. At least I assume so. So that's three things.

The News-Herald's Jim Ingraham takes a look at the likely 25-man roster when the season opens. No real surprises, which is pretty much what happens when you keep the same team intact. I took note that Paul Byrd still doesn't know whether he'll be suspended for his use of human growth hormone. This became public on the day of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. So it's been nearly five months. And Major League Baseball STILL hasn't figured out whether to punish him. I've always felt Bud Selig is a lawyer at heart, but that doesn't mean he should turn baseball into the American court system.

The Medina County Gazette's Chris Assenheimer talks to Franklin Gutierrez, who helped turn Trot Nixon from a platoon player into a backup last year. (Of course, Nixon had something to do with that too.) Eric Wedge says Gutierrez has "had a fantastic camp," and the numbers bear that out. He's hitting .409 through eight games. But I hit .556 in 20 games or so in a summer league when I was 15. So, you know, he's not so big. Seriously, I think he'll have a fine year, with the bat and with the glove, and he looks like a future all-star to me.

I don't have a link to this, but on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight," the viewer mail segment offered up a question about the Indians. A writer from Chicago noted the Tribe has "the best 1-2 punch in baseball" in C.C. and Fausto, and he feels Hafner will bounce back from his subpar (for him) 2007. John Kruk agrees it's a great front of the rotation, and the Indians will be among the AL's best teams this year, but he thinks they have "problems at the end of their bullpen," referring to Borowski. Kruk's kind of an idiot -- albeit an entertaining one -- and I think he's wrong about this being a problem. If Borowski really struggles this year, there are other people who can do that job. (Hint: His name sounds like "Rough, a yell, bet in court".)

Ben Francisco has been having a fine spring as well, Hoynes notes. Hoynes also notes Francisco is unlikely to make the team out of spring training. That's true, but if you're a talented outfielder and you're hitting in AAA, you're going to get your shot. If anything should happen to one of the big-league outfielders, Francisco's the next guy we'll see. And I'm sorry to say it, but the odds are, something will happen to at least one of them over the course of the season. How many teams have had the exact same outfielders on the roster all year? I'm not asking rhetorically; if anyone knows the answer, please leave a comment. Sounds like a job for one of you Retrosheet enthusiasts. Yeah, you know I'm talking to you.

Tom Verducci on sportsillustratedcnn.com studies the Tigers, and he notes that while they've put together an offense "that could be as fun as the Cleveland teams from the 1990s and may even push 1,000 runs," but he also points out that their bullpen is a HUGE concern. Joel Zumaya, the talented young Californian, and Fernando Rodney, the talented young Dominican, will both start the season on the disabled list because of off-season injuries, and Todd Jones is 40. That's a great age for a stock broker; not so much for a closer. The other guys likely to spend time in their bullpen? Don't be embarrassed if you've never heard of any of them: Tim Byrdak, Jason Grilli, Zach Miner, Bobby Seay or Denny Bautista. Well, be a little embarrassed. But I wouldn't want to have one of those guys closing for my contending team. And the big question: How is it that there are Dominicans with the last name "Rodney"?

Today in sports history -- Emmett Kelly

On this date 50 years ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that former Brooklyn Dodgers mascot Emmett Kelly, the legendary clown, would not be moving with the team to the West Coast. Kelly had been a major attraction with the Barnum & Bailey Circus for a decade and a half, but left in a labor dispute and became an employee of the Dodgers for two years. He had been working full-time as a clown since 1931. You can find out more about Emmett Kelly at the Emmett Kelly Museum in his hometown of Sedan, Kansas.

Sedan is the largest city and county seat of Chautauqua County, with 1,342 people in the 2000 census. Of such places are great clowns made. As far as I know, no rival cities are named Hatchback, Station Wagon or Sport Utility Vehicle.

Cliff Lee gets hammered

Taken from the Associated Press story about the Indians' 6-4 loss to Charlie Manuel's Phillies yesterday:

Despite giving up 11 hits and six runs in four innings, Cleveland pitcher Cliff Lee was content with his performance.

"As far as locating pitches and throwing my off-speed stuff, I felt good," Lee said. "I threw a couple pitches that hit a little too much of the plate for the counts that I was in and they got hits. For the most part, a lot of the hits they got, I threw the pitch right where I wanted to."

As Lee, the former future superstar, battles Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey for the fifth spot in the rotation, you'd think Lee would be less satisfied with this kind of performance. But Sowers and Laffey are both struggling too, even worse than Lee. As Gerry Fraley of The Sporting News notes, Lee's spring ERA is a hideous 8.30, but it's still three runs better than Sowers or Laffey, who are both at 11.25.

C.C. Sabathia has his spot in the rotation nailed down, obviously. But he made some headlines the other day, simply because of questions he was asked by the New York media. He's a free agent after this season, and some idiot writers asked him if he might like to play for the Yankees next year. C.C. was too smart to fall into that trap, which is yet another reason to love C.C.

I understand speculation about what free agents are going to sign where next season, but do we have to be talking about it before this one has even started? And does anyone really think that a superstar who's on a contending team is going to say something stupid like "Yes, I'm looking forward to changing teams next year"?

We all know the Yankees are going to make C.C. an offer next year, and that offer will be worth a lot of money. But we really don't need to be reminded of it now.

Today in sports history -- Loyola Marymount

Twenty years ago today, Loyola Marymount and Wyoming played what was at that time the highest-scoring game in NCAA Tournament history, barring overtime. Paul Westhead's young Loyola Marymount team, led by USC transfers and high-school teammates Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, won that game 119-115. LMU had played literally dozens of high-scoring games that year, due to Westhead's unorthodox run-and-gun style. The defensive philosophy was, hey, if your guy gets past you for an easy basket, don't worry about it, just beat him down the floor to the offensive end. With the players they had, it worked pretty well; but Westhead tried to put in the same system with the Denver Nuggets, and discovered that mediocre talent won't win games with that system (nor, one assumes, with any other). In 1990-91, the Nuggets scored 119 points a game -- and allowed 131.

Anyway, those '88 Loyola Marymount Lions went just as far as the round of 32, losing in the second round to North Carolina by a final score of 123-97. LMU got back to the tourney in '89, but lost in the first round to Arkansas, 120-101. And in 1990, the Lions made the run that got Kimble onto the cover of Sports Illustrated.

During a West Coast Conference tournament game that year, would-be future NBA star Hank Gathers collapsed and died on the court due to a heart condition. The first signs of trouble had appeared in December 1989, when Gathers collapsed during a game and was found to have an abnormal heartbeat that was exacerbated by intense physical activity -- which any college basketball game is, but especially so with the style that Loyola Marymount was playing. LMU doctors felt the beta blockers he was taking were affecting his play, and cut back on his dosage. He was not seeing any doctors that were not in the employ of Loyola Marymount University.

On March 4, 1990, during the WCC tournament, Gathers scored on an alley-oop dunk against Portland, putting heavily favored Loyola Marymount up 25-13. As he tried to go back down the court to the defensive end, he crumpled to the floor, and never got up. He was pronounced dead on arrival at an area hospital.

The conference tournament was canceled, and LMU was pronounced the conference champion based on its regular-season championship. The surviving Lions dedicated any and all NCAA Tournament games they would play to Gathers, and were given an 11 seed. In tribute to Gathers, a lefty, Kimble shot all his free throws left-handed in the tourney, and made most of them. Perhaps inspired by their fallen teammate, they proceeded to make one of the most memorable runs ever through the tournament. They beat New Mexico State 111-92 in the first round before setting a new tournament record in the second round against Michigan, in a 149-115 game. It was the most points ever scored by one team in an NCAA tournament game, as well as the most points ever scored by both teams -- and Michigan tied Wyoming's two-year-old record for most points scored by the losing team in a regulation game. Incredibly, the Lions then beat Alabama just 62-60 in the Sweet Sixteen, before falling 131-101 to eventual national champion UNLV.

Spring Insanity

It's March Madness time, ladies and gentlemen. I've already filled out my bracket for one tournament pool I've been invited to participate in, and I won't tell you who I picked to win it, but I'll tell you it almost rhymes with "stem fist."

Naturally, I'm disappointed that Ohio State didn't get in, after those big wins over Purdue and Michigan State. But the Buckeyes didn't get very far in the Big Ten tourney, falling to those same Spartans in the quarterfinals. I noticed in the last couple of days that ESPN's Joe Lunardi had OSU in his "last four in" for a while, and then on Sunday, after the Georgia Bulldogs pulled the SEC tournament title out of their collective posterior, the Bucks had moved to "last four out." I think it kind of stinks, but there are only 65 spots, so every time somebody gets one, somebody else has to lose one. And every team, Ohio State included, had a chance to earn an automatic bid by winning their conference tournament.

Florida also missed the cut, which means it's the first time since 1980 that both NCAA Tournament title game participants got shut out of the tourney entirely the following year. That was the year after Michigan State and Indiana State met up in an epic final, and respective stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird went pro.

Ohio State's not the only Ohio school to be snubbed. Dayton went 21-10 despite some injuries, and beat Pittsburgh and Louisville. The Flyers finished with the nation's 32nd-best RPI. They got hosed.

Anyway, with no Ohio State in the field, I'm pulling for Kent State (which got a 9 seed) and whatever underdogs might happen to emerge. It should prove interesting.

Hooray for the Lady RedHawks!

Tonight, Quicken Loans Arena is an NBA venue again, as the Cavaliers are about to tip off against Charlotte. But yesterday, it was the place where dreams came true for the Miami RedHawks women's basketball team, and then the Kent State Golden Flashes men.

First, the Miami women used an 11-0 run in the second half to polish off the Ohio Bobcats, 67-56, behind 19 points each from MAC Tournament MVP Amanda Jackson and teammate Jenna Schone. That 11-0 run started with the game tied at 41, and apart from that period of the game, the two southern Ohio teams played to a tie. The Miami men have made the NCAA tournament a number of times, getting as far as the Sweet Sixteen (1999, behind Wally Szczerbiak). But the Miami women will make their first appearance this year.

Kent State has become the MAC's premier men's program over the last few years, and further affirmed that with its commanding 74-55 win over Akron last night. Conference MVP Al Fisher did some acrobatic flips after the final buzzer, as the Flashes celebrated their fifth MAC Tournament title. It was fun to see, even though I was kind of rooting for Akron because that likely would have gotten two MAC schools into the tourney.

Lady RedHawks and Gentleman Flashes, may you go far. You're six wins away from a national championship.

Can't stop Kent State

There were four games played at The Q yesterday, and three of them came down to fantastic finishes. The Miami Lady RedHawks pulled out a last-minute 70-66 win against Toledo, with Toledo-area native Laura Markwood hitting a big shot with 32.1 seconds left to break a 66-66 tie. They'll play Ohio at 1 p.m. today, after the Lady Bobcats needed double-overtime to beat Bowling Green yesterday, 68-66; Quintana Ward was the last-shot hero in that one. I did not see either of those games, as they were played while I was at work, but the title game is on Fox Sports Net. It should be a hum-dinger. Miami comes in at 22-10, Ohio at 20-12, and these are historic rivals. Being a Miami grad myself, I'm obviously biased, but whoever wins, I hope they go deep into the NCAA Tournament.

Akron easily handled Western Michigan last night, 73-62. The game was not as close as the final score indicates. The Zips will play Kent State in tonight's final, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, after Kent beat Miami 49-47 last night. Now THAT was one HECK of a college basketball game. Both teams played tough, tough defense throughout. It came down to the closing seconds. Kent's Al Fisher hit a running jumper with three seconds left. Miami's Tim Pollitz had a good look at a close shot at the buzzer, but he left it short.

Bless his heart, Pollitz collapsed in disappointment as he saw his shot go off the front of the rim, and the cameras caught him moping off the court afterward. On Sunday, in Miami's last home game of the year, Pollitz, a senior, bent down and kissed the RedHawk in the center of the floor as he was leaving the court for the last time. It was both very touching and a little gross. The 17-15 RedHawks are obviously not going to get into the NCAA Tournament, and have to be considered a longshot even for the NIT, which means Pollitz's brilliant Miami career is probably over. I can understand that he'd feel bad about ending his career on a missed shot that would have sent the game to overtime. But hold your head up, Tim. You've got a lot to be proud of -- not least of which is a fine Miami University education.

So anyway, it's an all-southern Ohio women's final this afternoon, and an all-northeast Ohio men's final tonight. I'm predicting the Miami women and Kent men will get the automatic NCAA bids, but I will not be surprised if either or both is upset.

Incidentally, of the 12 schools in the Mid-American Conference, exactly half are in Ohio. And yet, of the eight teams that reached the semifinals between the two genders, seven were from Ohio -- and the one team that was not from Ohio was the one team that did not manage to hang in. I might point out that Miami is the only school that had both its teams reach the semifinals, but I'll leave that to the reader to figure out.

MAC tourney heats up at Q

I'm a Miami (Ohio) graduate, and I heard some smack talk from some of my Ohio U. grad co-workers yesterday leading up to last night's quarterfinal between the two teams at Quicken Loans Arena. But the smack's going to go in the other direction after the RedHawks' 74-61 win. Michael Bramos was the key, putting in 23 points, and Miami closed the game with an 11-2 run to send the Bobcats back to Athens.

For those of you who don't know, Miami and Ohio consider each other their arch rivals. It's no Ohio State-Michigan, but it is the two oldest schools in Ohio, and we do hate each other, albeit in a fairly good-natured way. It seems like we meet up in the MAC tourney every year somehow, and the games haven't always gone as I'd like. So enjoy this one, Miami fans; it could go the other way next year.

Our opponents tonight at 9:30 on Fox Sports Ohio? Top-seeded Kent State, now 26-6 after easily dispatching Toledo yesterday, 77-57. (Miami's 17-14, if you were wondering.) Kent's got a darned good team, and could make some serious noise in the NCAA tournament. I'm hearing the Flashes might not get in if they don't win the MAC, which seems ridiculous to me, but that almost makes me want to root for them against my own school tonight. But not quite.

In the other bracket, second-seeded Western Michigan, behind 24 points from David Kool (yes, that's his name), took care of Eastern Michigan, 70-61; though it was a tougher game than expected.

The Broncos (20-11) will play the Akron Zips (22-9) in the 7:00 game tonight, after Akron's easy 81-60 win over Central Michigan yesterday. Kent is certainly the class of the MAC this year, but I could certainly envision either of these teams pulling off an upset in the final on Saturday, assuming Kent gets past Miami tonight.

John Clayton praises Browns

On this morning's "SportsCenter," ESPN's John Clayton was asked what he thinks was the NFL's best offseason move. His reply?

"What the Cleveland Browns did with their defensive line has really turned that team around. Getting Shaun Rogers to play in the middle of that defensive line, getting Corey Williams from the Packers to play the defensive end and maybe help out a little bit as an inside tackle -- those are two moves right now that I think puts their defense over the top, just like their offense was over the top last year."

I have to agree with Mr. Clayton. Phil Savage has had a darned good offseason.

Another heartbreaker (if a regular-season basketball game can be so called)

For the second night in a row, the Cavaliers had a chance to win on the road. For the second night in a row, they fell short. LeBron James missed a three at the buzzer that would have won the game, but instead, it was a 101-99 loss to the Wizards.

I'm not usually critical of LeBron, but it sure seemed like he wasted a lot of time on that last possession. The Cavs got the ball with eight seconds left. That's plenty of time to make a move toward the bucket. Why didn't he do that? He went 1-for-7 from three-point range. He does sometimes get a feel for the outside shot, but when he's 1-for-6 and the game is on the line, he shouldn't be dribbling at the top of the arc for six seconds and then jacking up a prayer.

The loss wasted a nice performance from Sasha Pavlovic, playing just his second game since Jan. 23 after coming back from a foot injury. Sasha scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. He supplemented that with one rebound, one assist, one steal and six personal fouls, but still, it was nice to see.

Today in sports history -- Oxford vs. Cambridge

In case anyone's wondering why I didn't post anything this morning, it's because there was a widespread power outage in Painesville, my place of residence, apparently caused by a poor animal who hit two wires next to a substation and caused a blowout.

Anywhat, 130 years ago today, Oxford played Cambridge in golf, and Oxford won. I have been unable to find any details about that match, but I'd sure be interested to see what it was like. Golf was already a very old game by then, having been invented in roughly the 12th century in Scotland -- but it didn't become standardized in any significant way until much, much later. In 1764, the Old Course at St. Andrews was reconfigured from 11 holes to nine, and playing the whole course twice became a sort of standard, at 18 holes. But whether Oxford played Cambridge there in 1878, I have no idea.

Incidentally, the man lining up a shot in the photo above is Old Tom Morris, who did not play golf for Oxford or Cambridge; he was already 56 years old when that match was played. I don't know what year that photo was shot, but it conveys some idea of what golf looked like in the 19th century.

The King passes AC

The following conversation took place on Fox Sports Ohio, from just after LeBron James was fouled in the closing seconds of tonight's game against the New Jersey Nets, through the time-out that followed his foul shots. The second make pulled the Cavaliers within one, at 99-98, after they came back from 19 points down in the third quarter. It also put James at second on the Cavs' all-time scoring list, passing Fox Sports Ohio color commentator Austin Carr.

And by the way, whoever invented the digital video recorder, I'd like to buy you a beer. OK, here we go:

Fred McLeod: And that stops the clock with 16.7 to go.

Austin Carr: Cavaliers coming back in the ballgame, the L-Train turns the corner with that dropped-down shoulder, almost (as the replay is shown) WHOA, second bounce, couldn't get it in. He goes strong to the basket, goes to the line for two shots.

FM: Looking for points 40 and 41. Here comes the first. ... Got it.

AC: Good shot.

FM: So now to pass AC in Cavaliers scoring annals, and more significantly, to draw them within one. ... He's got 41.

AC: All right! The L-Train, number-two all-time Cavaliers scorer. Congratulations, LeBron!

FM: But he'd trade it in, that's for sure, if he can pick up a W, somehow, some way. As LeBron James, now 124 away from passing Brad Daugherty, taking over all time ... (as a clip montage of Austin Carr is shown) Once upon a time, 34 out of Notre Dame, a prolific scorer, especially before the knee injuries -- we all thought, of course, you were going to set scoring marks that would never be broken as a Cavalier, and LeBron has come along in less than five full years to move into the number-two spot, and soon will pass Brad Daugherty.

AC: Well, you know, I've been approached about seven times today about this particular moment, and you know, records are made to be broken, and if I'm going to be in a Fab Five, I'd rather go and be in LeBron's Fab Five, and so far I'm number three now, so that's a good situation, but I congratulate LeBron. LeBron's ceiling is going to be, I think, 30,000 or more. He's got a long way to go. The young man is a great player and a great person. That, to me, makes me feel good that I'm in that company.

FM: And he does it in 374 games.

AC: Wow.

FM: Compared to 635 for you. You know, hey, it's a different era, obviously, but you're talking about a once-in-a-generation kind of talent.

AC: Well, you talk about scoring, and the kind of talent LeBron is, and when I came to the league that I was projected to be, 10,000's not a lot of points. You know, so, you know, I'm looking at LeBron around the 30 mark, I mean, (as a graphic flashes that says "King surpasses AC for 2nd in all-time scoring" and "All-time leader: Brad Daugherty (10,389)," accompanied by a table showing LeBron's 10,266 vs. Carr's 10,265) but you see how many games, only 375, the young man is just awesome. I mean, so all I can say, is, take my hat off to LeBron and say, right on.

FM: So Brad Daugherty next, but up next right now: this possession by the Nets.

AC: Exactly.

FM: Nachbar on the inbound ...

I took the trouble of transcribing that because it's not very often you get to hear a former player comment about being passed on some all-time list at the exact same time as it's happening, and while Austin Carr is not the world's most silver-tongued speaker, he's an all-time Cavalier great, and he has been one of my main recent influences in composing run-on sentences, particularly as regards basketball, as played by the Cleveland Cavaliers, for whom LeBron James is the star.

(Just teasing, AC, if by some chance you're reading this. You have a tough job, and you do it pretty well.)

The Cavs failed to complete the comeback, losing 104-99 -- and the great thing about LeBron James is that he cares a lot more about that than he does about passing Austin Carr.

My quick armchair analysis on the game: We missed big men Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, both of whom are out with back trouble. Sasha came back in this game, but he didn't contribute much; and the Cavs were sloppy with the ball throughout. The Nets are not a good team, and we should have been able to beat them.

Today in sports history -- Frankie Frisch

On this date 35 years ago, Hall of Fame second baseman Frankie Frisch died in Wilmington, Delaware, succumbing to injuries suffered in a car accident a month earlier. He was 74.

Frisch played for the New York Giants from 1919 to 1926, then was traded to the Cardinals with Jimmy Ring for the great Rogers Hornsby. He spent 11 years in St. Louis, where he was a key player in the great "Gashouse Gang" teams of the 1930s. Frisch won four World Series with John McGraw's Giants, and four more with the Redbirds. For the last of those, in 1934, he was a player-manager. Frisch ended with 2,880 career hits, and was reportedly a wizard with the leather. It took him until his fifth ballot, in 1947, to get enough votes for Cooperstown enshrinement, but he's a legitimate Hall of Famer.

He is, however, personally responsible for the enshrinement of several illegitimate Hall of Famers. Frisch became a member of the Hall of Fame veterans committee in the 1960s, and used the position to get large numbers of his former teammates elected. Dave Bancroft, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, George Kelly, Rube Marquard and Ross Youngs were all fine players, but they have no business being on busts in Cooperstown. All put up numbers that were inferior to those of dozens of players who have not been inducted, all played with Frisch in New York or St. Louis, and all were elected by the Veterans Committee when Frisch was a member.

But hey, the man's been dead for 35 years. Let's remember his great career more than we remember his urinating all over the standards of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Vikings hung in ... for a while

Cleveland State fell behind 14 early in last night's Horizon League championship game against No. 10 Butler, but the Vikings fought their way back to tie it with 1:50 left in the first half; Butler then went ahead four at the half. With 14 minutes left in the game, Butler was only up two (43-41). But then the Bulldogs got off a 17-3 run, and our guys had nothing left in the tank. But still, it was a strong effort against a darned good team.

"I told our guys to keep their heads up," said CSU coach Gary Waters, who took Kent State to the Elite Eight a few years ago. "One game doesn't change your whole season."

Well-said, sir. Well-said.

Cleveland State's probably going to the NIT, which isn't the Big Dance, but it's a significant accomplishment nonetheless. This city should be proud of these young men.

Falling apart

The Indians were humming along in yesterday's springer against the Tigers, leading 2-0 for a while on a pair of Grady Sizemore solo home runs off Detroit starter Yorman Bazardo. (Heck of a name, isn't it?)

But in the seventh, Matt Ginter gave up one run on four hits, one of which ricocheted into left field off his own left (non-throwing) wrist. Had Ginter made that play, he might have gotten out of it without any damage, but it would have been a tough play for anybody. It amazes me how pitchers are sometimes able to field those rocket shots from less than 60 feet away. Ginter finished the inning, so I don't think it's anything serious, but he did look like it wasn't easy to take the throw back from the catcher after that.

Rick Bauer, who, like Ginter, is fighting for a spot in the bullpen, didn't do himself any favors in the eighth, walking the first two hitters and then giving up an RBI single to some kid named Jeff Larish. It was Larish's first spring RBI. Remember that.

So with the score 2-2, journeyman Scott Elarton -- fighting for a spot in the pen -- got through the ninth without too much trouble, but his defense let him down in the 10th. Specifically, third baseman Andy Marte, so recently considered an A+ prospect, made one physical error and one mental error. The fielding error was Marte's second of the game; and to be fair, it was a very hard-hit ball, but a major-league third baseman's got to make that play. And it could have been a double play, which would have left Elarton with nobody on and two out, instead of two on with nobody out. The mental error happened one pitch later. Danny Worth tried to lay down a bunt to move the runners up, but he popped it up, and Marte could easily have caught it on the fly. But he decided to get cute and let it drop, then try to make a 5-4-3 double play -- only problem is, nobody was covering second. And Marte should have known that. With Marte going in for the ball, shortstop Josh Rodriguez went to cover third; and with first baseman Jordan Brown charging the bunt, second sacker Josh Barfield had to cover first. That's the by-the-book defense for a bunt with runners on first and second. (All four of those infielders are likely to open the season in the minors, by the way.)

I'm told that Marte is working very hard to try to make good, and I'm glad; and I do understand that everybody has bad days from time to time. But a major-league third baseman has to do better.

On the plus side, Cliff Lee put in a nice performance as the starter, giving up two hits, one walk and no runs in the first three innings. He got himself out of a jam in the second with a gorgeous curve that froze Curtis Granderson, striking him out. Joe Borowski contributed a scoreless inning, and Edward Mujica put up two zeroes. So that was encouraging.

And boy, it was nice to see Indians baseball, even if it was just a spring-training game they lost.

Today in sports history -- Reginald Weir

Sixty years ago today, Reginald Weir broke the color line at the United States Lawn Tennis Association championship, the forerunner of the U.S. Open, less than a year after Jackie Robinson did the same in Major League Baseball. Robinson, of course, was a legitimate Hall of Famer in baseball; Weir may have been as good in tennis, but we'll never know; he was much older than Robinson when he got his first shot, and didn't get very far. Weir had been captain of his tennis team at City College of New York way back in the 1920s, but was barred from the Open in 1929, and it took him 19 years to get his shot. I haven't been able to find a birthdate for him, but he must have been around 40, if not older, when he was finally allowed into the Open.

The U.S. Open is now played at Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after the black tennis player who won the first men's championship in an event called the U.S. Open, in 1968 -- just 20 years after Weir paved the way.

An off-night?

LeBron James feels he didn't play that well in last night's 88-80 win over Portland. The man got his seventh triple-double of the year, with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and he doesn't think he played that well. Of course, it did break his 21-game streak of scoring at least 25 points. But still, this tells you how high he's set the bar for himself.

Wally Szczxzqzerbiak (shown in that flattering photo above) thinks LeBron was being hard on himself. Szczerbiak said, “It’s scary, it really is. It’s pretty special being on this team and seeing him day in and day out. Being able to watch it, the fans are probably watching the best basketball player in the world. It’s arguable between him and Kobe (Bryant), and I’m going to argue for him every day.”

Amen, brother. It's true, LeBron didn't quite play up to his usual standards, but he still was the main reason we won that game.

The Cavs didn't get their first lead until there were nine seconds left in the third quarter, and they came from behind despite losing Ben Wallace in the first half with back spasms. Let's hope that's not too serious, because with Z, Boobie and Sasha out, we can't afford to lose another body.

On the Horizon

For those who might be unaware, the Cleveland State Vikings play for the Horizon League championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament at 9 tonight against Butler. The Butler Bulldogs are 10-point favorites, but it's worth noting that the boys from Cleveland have more to play for. If the Bulldogs lose, they'll be 28-4, and that will get them into the Big Dance. At 21-11, the Vikings need to win tonight to get that automatic bid.

Butler may look pretty unbeatable, but the Dogs have lost three games this year, and one of them was to Cleveland State. So it can be done. Of course, if Cleveland State gets in, that'll be one fewer at-large bid available for teams like Ohio State; and the Buckeyes, like their opponents in the tournament title game last year, Florida, are on that proverbial bubble. But with big wins over Purdue and Michigan State in the past week, I think OSU will get in anyway.

It should be interesting. Go Vikings!

Offensive explosion (and pitching trouble)

I spent some time looking through snowstorm photos yesterday, and the above is my favorite (it's from Saturday, so it's now 20 days until Opening Day).

The Indians scored nine runs in the fourth yesterday against the devilish Rays, on their way to a 12-10 win. They got two hits each from Travis Hafner, Jason Michaels and Jamey Carroll, and AAA catcher Wyatt Toregas homered in his only at-bat.

But Paul Byrd struggled on the mound, giving up five runs in four innings. Byrdie walked two hitters, which is uncharacteristic. And Tom Mastny, who was dominant in one inning Sunday, was anything but on Monday, giving up four runs on five hits in his one inning of work. Jorge Julio, who's fighting for a bullpen spot, gave up one run on two hits and two walks in one inning, and Rafael Betancourt and Jensen Lewis each contributed a scoreless inning.

It's tough to write anything insightful about a game I didn't see, though. I hate that most spring training games aren't on TV. Today's game against the Tigers is on SportsTime Ohio, however, and I'll be DVRing it. And boy howdy, am I looking forward to seeing it, even if I don't get a chance to watch it until this weekend.

All right, here's my second-favorite storm photo, because I'm such a softie:

Three weeks until opening day!

Baseball blogger Joe Posnanski previews the AL Central in rhymed couplet form here. He did the AL East in haiku form, and the AL West in limericks. Here's what he says about our Tribe (and yes, the 2 means he predicts they'll finish second, behind the Tigers):

2. Cleveland Indians

The best pair of pitchers East of Arizona?
Must be Sabathia and Fausto Carmona
Travis needs to find that home run trot
The slogan this year: Hafner or Have Not

I've been remiss in following the Indians in spring training, in their last year in Winter Haven. My excuse is that the Cavaliers have been going through such an interesting period, and it's not until about mid-March that guys really start to round into shape. It being March 10, I'll try to do better, starting with yesterday's split-squad split against the Nationals.

In a 5-2 win in Winter Haven, Jake Westbrook pitched pretty well over three innings, and reports his arm is feeling good after he rested it to overcome some tightness. The Indians will need him to step up this year, after an off-year in '07. And fellow could-be-busts Josh Barfield and Andy Marte homered on consecutive pitches, which is a good sign. It's hard to find spring training stats online, though, so I don't really know how they're doing overall.

In a 9-0 loss to the Nats in Viera, former phenom Jeremy Sowers got lit up for six runs in two innings. I like Jeremy Sowers a lot -- how could you not like a pitcher who reads books in front of his locker? -- but I'm doubting whether he's going to be the great starter we thought he'd be after his impressive '06 showing. But I'm rooting for him like crazy, and not just because he's wearing my team's uniform.

Today in sports history -- Steve Howe

Had he lived, today would have been Steve Howe's 50th birthday. Howe is sadly remembered as an extremely talented pitcher who couldn't stick in the major leagues because he couldn't get his drug habit under control.

Howe, the 1980 National League Rookie of the Year at age 22, helped the Dodgers win the World Series that year, saving 17 games that year. But it was all downhill from there. He first checked himself into a substance abuse clinic in 1983 -- which probably means he'd been struggling with it for at least a couple of years before then.

Howe's failure to stay off the drugs led to a major league record he'd surely rather not have had. He was suspended seven times in his career for drug abuse. Still, he had a pretty good career. He might have been one of the all-time greats, had he not had such a taste for cocaine. In 12 years with the Dodgers, Twins, Rangers and Yankees, Howe went 47-41 with a 3.03 ERA.

Howe was killed in a one-car crash in 2006. He had methamphetamine in his system. He was 48.

All LeBron, all the time

The announced attendance for today's game between the Cavaliers and Pacers was 20,562 -- a sellout. But that's the number of tickets sold -- that is NOT the number of people who actually attended the game. Fred Phelps said The Q looked about half-full, and he was sitting there, so that's about 10,000. As I look outside and see the snow pile up nearly above my car tires, I can't help but think that's about 10,000 morons. On the other hand, if you think there aren't 10,000 morons in Cleveland ... I'm going to leave that thought uncompleted. Anyway, you could easily find 10,000 morons in any major city.

Mr. King LeBron was his usual dominant self, winding up with 38 points and 11 rebounds in the 103-95 victory. And Anderson Varejao was an absolute monster. He bounced back from a rather listless performance Thursday against Chicago with a very strong 16-point, 15-board effort. And there were blocked shots a-plenty: LeBron, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczqzxzerbiak and Joe Smith each had two, and Delonte West blocked a three-point attempt by former Cavalier Flip Murray, which was cool.

Not to be a spoil-sport, but the Cavs ran out to a 25-9 lead, and were outscored the rest of the way. We're still short-handed, missing Z, Sasha and Boobie, but we should be able to keep a team like the Pacers from getting back into the game. They had it as close as five (92-87) with just four minutes to go. LeBron hit a three, and it went well from there, but that shouldn't happen.

But hey, a win's a win, and I'll take it.

Today in sports history -- Pete Dawkins

Happy 70th birthday, 1958 Heisman Trophy winner, Rhodes Scholar, Brigadier General, Dr. Pete Dawkins.

Dawkins excelled at just about everything he tried, and though Yale wanted him, he went to the U.S. Military Academy instead. He was a halfback and captain of the football team, and was also an assistant captain of the Army hockey team. And he might be the only Heisman Trophy winner to be a Rhodes Scholar. While at Oxford, he won three blues in rugby. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds impressive.

Dawkins never played in the NFL, instead serving a long career in the U.S. Army, winning two Bronze Stars for valor in Vietnam and retiring after 24 years as a Brigadier General. Following that, he started a career on Wall Street, eventually becoming chairman and CEO of Primerica Financial Services. He is currently vice chairman of Citigroup Private Bank.

In 1988, he did probably the only thing he ever failed at -- running for the U.S. Senate. He got the Republican nomination, but lost to incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg in November.

Normally, if a Heisman winner doesn't go to the NFL, I'd think that was a shame. In this case, I'd say it would have been a shame if he had.

Today in sports history -- Denis Boucher and Jeff Kent

Happy 40th birthday to former Indians pitcher Denis Boucher and former Indians second baseman Jeff Kent. They were born on the same day and they're both baseball players, but the similarity ends there.

Boucher is a French Canadian, and his name is therefore pronounced de-NEE boo-SHAY, though Tribe announcers called him "Denny," apparently with his blessing. He pitched for three teams in a four-year major-league career, debuting with Toronto in 1991 before coming to Cleveland in a midseason trade, along with Glenallen Hill and Hard-Hittin' Mark Whiten, in exchange for Tom Candiotti and Turner Ward. He is apparently a very nice man, but was spectacularly bad in Cleveland, going 3-6 in 12 starts and one relief appearance -- with a 7.07 ERA. Keep in mind, those were the days before the home run explosion of the late '90s. He finished his career with his hometown Expos in '93 and '94, and wound up with six career wins.

Kent is best-known for his years feuding with Barry Bonds in San Francisco (1997 to 2002), and he's played for six major-league teams. He was only in Cleveland for less than half a season, 39 games in 1996, hitting .265 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 102 at-bats, after coming over in the Carlos Baerga trade. His career outside of Cleveland, however, has been very successful. The Tribe traded him to the Giants with Julian Tavarez, Jose Vizcaino and Joe Roa for Matt Williams and Trenidad Hubbard. It turned out to be a bad trade, but based on what we knew then, I'd have made it too. The 2000 National League MVP, who now plays for the Dodgers, is a borderline Hall of Fame candidate, with 2,338 career hits and 365 home runs. Those are pretty strong numbers for a second baseman.

Ran out of gas

The Cavaliers were playing the second night of back-to-backs last night against the Bulls, and it showed. The Bulls hit the throttle in the third quarter and never looked back in a 107-96 Cavs loss.

The Cavs were really hurt by not having Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Bulls outscored us 46-24 in the paint. And our guys were maddeningly bad on the glass; we were blocking a lot of shots, but not getting the rebounds. Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao each had 10 rebounds, but they both had opportunities for more. Varejao, in particular, looked like he had no legs under him, and that's very unusual for him. Of course, he's starting in Z's place right now, and recently came back from an injury himself, so I suppose that's not all that surprising.

LeBron looked like he was on his way to another big game, with 26 points in the first half. He did wind up with 39, but he missed a lot of shots in the second half. And he only had three rebounds and ONE assist.

But hey, it's one game. Cavs are back in action Saturday against the Pacers; let's hope they can rebound, in more ways than one.

Watching a grown man cry

SportsCenter showed more than five minutes of Brett Favre's emotional press conference from yesterday, and I just couldn't stand to watch or hear it. I understand he spoke for about an hour, and boy, I'm glad I wasn't there. I don't know if it's just me, but I've got no interest in hearing a grown man speak through his tears. No disrespect to Brett Favre; he's been a starting NFL quarterback since 1992, and calling it quits has got to be tough.

Bob Holtzman reports that Favre was asked 19 questions and averaged three minutes per answer. What a nerdy thing to keep track of.

Oh, my

What can I say about LeBron James? He had exactly two points after one quarter tonight, but wound up with 50 in tonight's 119-105 win over the Knicks. So he scored 16 points a quarter after the first. That's more than any other Cavalier had in the game (Damon Jones was the team's second-leading scorer with 15, and six of those came on two meaningless 3-pointers as time was running out).

A semi-big deal's being made of the fan who went out on the court to congratulate LeBron during a stoppage in play with 23 seconds left in the game, wearing a home white LeBron Cavaliers jersey (the Cavs, of course, were wearing their road blues). LeBron actually shook the man's hand and listened to whatever he was spewing at him, and said nice things about him after the game. On one hand, I hate to see that kind of behavior encouraged; on the other, if you're LeBron, what do you say about someone who risked jail time to shake his hand for scoring half a hundred at the Garden?

ESPN's SportsCenter tonight has a clip of LeBron mouthing the word "fifty" to Spike Lee, who of course sits courtside at most of the Knicks' home games, before he'd even gotten to 40. My question: Is there a camera on LeBron at all times when he's on the court, or just when he's in the vicinity of a basketball-loving filmmaker?

LeBron and Kobe Bryant are, as we know, the leading candidates for MVP this year. On ESPN2's "First Take" this morning, there was some talk of Chris Paul or Tim Duncan being strong candidates, but based on what I've read, I think LeBron and Kobe have most of the delegates so far. Interestingly, LeBron's 50 tonight was the second-highest point total for an individual player in the NBA this year. The highest? A 52-point effort by Kobe Bryant on Sunday, March 2. Was LeBron responding to that tonight? If so, he missed it by a bucket.

Today in sports history -- Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich

On this date 35 years ago, New York Yankees lefty pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, close friends since 1969, announced that they had switched wives the previous October. In fact, they essentially traded off-the-field lives, moving into each other's houses, raising each other's kids and feeding each other's dogs.

Surprisingly enough, Peterson and Kekich's ex-wife, Susanne, are still married to this very day. Kekich and Peterson's ex-wife, Marilyn, never actually married; she got cold feet. Peterson later became a preacher, of all things, and Kekich became an insurance adjuster. They are no longer close, and have not been for some time.

There is a Cleveland connection to this bizarre story. Peterson was never the same after this swap, and the Yankees started looking to unload him. During Phil Seghi's early days as the Tribe's general manager, Seghi acquired Peterson in a very bad trade, sending future All-Star first baseman Chris Chambliss and pitcher Dick Tidrow to the Yankees for Peterson and three guys you've never heard of. Seghi would go on to preside over more than a decade of losing baseball in Cleveland, before stepping down in early 1986.