Random thoughts

The quick-hit style of a previous post or two seemed popular, so I'm going to do that again now.

• The Cavaliers have lost two of three, the latter of which was to a Wizards team that is now 7-26. Yes, that's disappointing. (And yes, LeBron did travel, at least according to the traveling definition as I understand it.) But the same night, the Celtics lost to a Knicks team that finished the game at 13-19, and they lost again last night to the Bobcats team that came into tonight's game at the Q at 13-22. It's the NBA. It happens. The NBA's best record nonetheless resides in Cleveland. (And Los Angeles, yes.)
• Ohio State sure disappointed by not pulling out the Fiesta Bowl, but at least they didn't get blown out like they did the last two years in the national championship game. And the Texas Longhorns had about as good a claim to a title-game berth as Oklahoma or Florida. As loyal reader John Arthur Hutchison said, we can at least be happy they beat Michigan and won a share of the Big Ten.
• The Indians have had a fairly quiet offseason, but that doesn't mean they haven't done anything to improve. I love the Mark DeRosa trade, and the Carl Pavano signing is a low-risk, high-reward proposition. Pavano has been oft-injured for the last four years, but he did go 18-8 for the Marlins in 2004, and at 33 (tomorrow), he certainly could bounce back. His base salary of $1.5 million may seem like an awful lot to you and me, but it's not much to a Major League Baseball franchise. He has a chance to earn $5.3 million in incentives, and if he does the things that kick in those incentives, the Indians will gleefully pay that out.
• The NFL Hall of Fame today announced 17 finalists. None of them played for the Browns, but Cris Carter had a great career for the Buckeyes. Good luck, Cris. (I assume he's a regular reader of Of Fair Hooker.)