LeBron is still gone

• Obviously, the number-one sports story on everyone's mind in Cleveland is still LeBron James, even though it's been four days now since he made his ridiculous little announcement in a national TV special. And who am I kidding? It's still going to be the top Cleveland sports story for a little while yet. I don't want to wallow in this situation, but I can't deny the wound is still raw. My wife asked me last night if I hate LeBron James. I try not to be the kind of person who hates people in general, and especially not athletes, but I can't deny there's a little bit of hatred there. I've had fantasies about him accidentally getting one of his legs torn off, for example. That certainly doesn't come from a place of love and forgiveness. I'm not proud of those feelings, but like most Clevelanders, I feel betrayed.

• With that in mind, I understand why Dan Gilbert felt the need to spout off about LeBron after his announcement last week. If you're reading this blog, I'm sure you've read at least part of that letter, so I won't go into the details of it right now. But Gilbert was angry and frustrated, and let the world know about it. Not only did LeBron not tell Gilbert he was leaving before he told a national TV audience, he reportedly refused to return any of his voice mails or text messages at any point after the Cavaliers' playoff run ended. No wonder he was so fired up. Still ... as a team owner, he should have shown some restraint. As loyal Of Fair Hooker reader Jeff Brown pointed out in a reply to my last post, that kind of thing has the potential to scare off any other free agents that might have considered coming here.

• I didn't think the Cavaliers would do anything to help LeBron make more money, which would have involved a sign-and-trade deal. I'm happy to see I was wrong. Certainly not because LeBron will make more money, but because at least we got something out of this debacle. They got two first-round and two second-round draft picks. Given that the Heat will likely go deep into the playoffs, those picks will be low in those rounds, so we're obviously not going to get another LeBron out of any of them, but we should be able to get some decent talent out of that. The Cavs made the best of a bad situation.

• That's enough of that, at least for today. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, I'll post a list of companies that have LeBron as a spokesman, so we can all boycott them.

• The Indians go into the All-Star break with a dreadful 34-54 record, which is hardly surprising given the fact that they traded away most of their top veterans last year, and most of the rest of their top veterans have gotten hurt in the first half of the season. This team does have a lot of young talent stockpiled, but they're at least a couple of years away from contending. Thank goodness we're in the mediocre AL Central.

• The Tribe's lone All-Star is Fausto Carmona, and I'd say it's fairly doubtful that he'll get into the game. Fausto has had a fine first half (8-7, 3.64), but I think it's obvious that if it weren't for the rule that every team has to be represented, coupled with the fact that Shin-Soo Choo got hurt, he wouldn't be on the AL team. Still, he should be proud of what he's accomplished in coming back from some terrible, injury-filled years in 2008 and 2009.