Another tough loss

Some quick thoughts on the Indians' 4-2 loss to the Rangers in yesterday's home opener:

• First, the positive: Fausto Carmona was pretty good. He went eight innings, giving up just two runs. I'm still concerned about his strikeout-to-walk ratio — he had four of each yesterday — but he kept the ball in the yard. With the exception of the fifth inning, when the Rangers got both their runs, he got the big outs when he needed to.

• Now, the negative: The bullpen was bad. Chris Perez was bloody awful, for the second day in a row. Joaquin Arias opened the ninth with a double, then Perez had a chance to retire him at third on Taylor Teagarden's bunt, but made a bad throw. He obviously was totally flustered at that point, walking No. 9 hitter Elvis Andrus on four pitches. And Manny Acta had seen enough from Perez.

• Tony Sipp came in and got former teammate Ryan Garko on a popup to second, then Jamie Wright followed by getting Michael Young on a tailor-made double-play ball to end the threat. If only Wright had done as well in the 10th. He gave up Nelson Cruz's fifth home run of the young season, scoring Josh Hamilton, who had singled, and the Tribe bats couldn't get it done in the bottom of the 10th.

• The Indians came close to winning this game. If Travis Hafner were just a little bit faster — not Kenny Lofton fast, but even Sandy Alomar fast — he'd have scored from second on Matt LaPorta's single. Instead, he got thrown out at the plate. And in the bottom of the ninth, LaPorta and Luis Valbuena both made loud outs. If the wind hadn't been blowing in from right field, Valbuena's would have been a walk-off home run. But that's baseball. As it's been said many times, it's a game of inches.

Well, that hurts

I don't want to overstate the importance of a game played April 11 by a team that doesn't figure to contend for the playoffs anyway. But when you go into the bottom of the sixth with a 7-1 lead against the first-place team in your division, after getting six runs off Justin Verlander, you've just got to win. But the bullpen gave it up. After Jake Westbrook pitched into the sixth, surrendering three runs, five members of the Indians' pen finished it up, and only one of those five did his job.

• Jensen Lewis pitched an inning, giving up one run on two hits and two walks. He's lucky it was only one run, with four baserunners.

• Aaron Laffey pitched to one hitter, whom he walked.

• Joe Smith pitched to one hitter, getting Magglio Ordoñez to fly out to center. (He's the one guy who did his job.)

• Rafael Perez pitched to five hitters and only got two outs — on a double-play ball — giving up four hits and two runs in the process. The hits were all singles, and he didn't walk anybody, implying bad luck; but he also didn't strike out anybody, which is not bad luck.

• And the capper was provided by interim closer Chris Perez, who relieved Rafael in the eighth. He did get out of the eighth without any further damage, which left the score at 8-6. But in the ninth, the poor guy totally fell apart. He retired pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn on a ground ball to short. Then Ordoñez singled. Miguel Cabrera walked. Carlos Guillen doubled to drive in Ordoñez, making it 8-7. Brandon Inge grounded out, putting Perez within one out of a shaky save. Ramon Santiago walked, loading the bases, but Perez still just needed one more out. But he then walked Johnny Damon to force in the tying run. (How does a major-league closer, interim or not, walk in the tying run?) While pitching to rookie Scott Sizemore, Perez uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Guillen with the winning run. Catcher Lou Marson probably should have blocked that ball, but it was in the dirt, which is on Perez.

And the Indians are now 2-4 instead of 3-3. Not good.

Santana off to a supernatural start

If Carlos Santana gets to the majors and lasts long enough, someday I'll probably stop punning on the other, slightly more famous Carlos Santana, the one who plays the guitar. But that day hasn't come yet.

Anyway, the catcher Carlos Santana is one of the key reasons the Indians were willing to trade both Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach last year. He just turned 24 on Thursday, and celebrated by going 4-for-5 with two home runs and a double in Columbus' 17-4 opening-day win over Indianapolis. It was Santana's AAA debut. He followed that with a two-run jack and a double in last night's 14-12 loss. Santana hit .290 with 23 home runs last year in Akron, and is considered one of the top catching prospects in baseball. He was expected to open this season on the disabled list because he broke his hand playing winter ball, but healed fast, and appears to be nearly ready for the bigs.

The Indians' current big-league catcher, Lou Marson, acquired in the Martinez trade, is only three months older than Santana, and is a decent prospect in his own right. But Santana is the Tribe's catcher of the future. At some point, probably this year, Marson will either be traded to make room for Santana or become his backup. I would wrap this up with my own super-insightful conclusion, but ESPN's Rob Neyer beat me to it, and I can't really improve on his:

So, yeah: Marson's a perfectly fine place-holder, but it would be lovely for the Indians if he played so well over the next month or two or three -- however long it takes Santana to force his way into the majors -- they could flip him for a catcher-hungry team and get another prospect (or two). Because the Indians are essentially playing one game: Prospect Acquisition. Get enough of them, and they can compete in a weak division every year. Don't get enough, and just hope to get lucky every few years. At this point they're doing well with hitters, but the jury's still out (way out) with pitchers. And they have to hit on both.

I do want to add one thing: One of Santana's homers came two pitches after a purpose pitch that was thrown behind him. So the guy's pretty unflappable, too.

Fausto starts turnaround?

Fausto Carmona was bad last year, at age 25. He was bad the year before, at age 24. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball the year before that, at age 23. So what kind of year will Fausto have at 26?

Well, he started to answer that question in last night's 5-3 win over the White Sox, which evened the Tribe's record at 1-1. Carmona went six innings and gave up three runs on just one hit — Paul Konerko's second home run of the year. The hit total is encouraging, until you consider that Fausto also walked six guys in those six innings, while striking out just one. I wish I could be more optimistic, but if he keeps that up, he is going to get hammered. That the White Sox only got one hit off him was an extreme fluke. Credit the defense behind him, but if he only gets one batter out without needing the defense's help, they're not going to be able to keep bailing him out. Sorry, but despite the end result, this was not a good outing for Fausto.

The Tribe offense will be fine, however. They banged out 10 hits, led by two each from Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo and Matt LaPorta, and drew six walks. That's 16 baserunners, and we all know you have to get on base in order to score. It's a wonder they only got five runs out of that.

An instant classic in Indianapolis

That national championship game last night was one for the ages. I'm still a little bit disappointed that Butler didn't win — they came oh, so close — but the Bulldogs have absolutely no reason to hang their heads.

Lots of people have written lots of words about what a great game this was, and I'm not likely to top them just dashing off some thoughts on my lunch break. But I can't help wondering what would have happened if Gordon Hayward's six-foot jumper would have gone in with five seconds left. Duke would have had five seconds to run a play, and obviously might still have won it, but it would have been an exciting sequence.

And just imagine the celebration by the Butler players if Hayward's half-court shot had gone in at the buzzer. The Duke players would have collapsed in agony. This might have been the greatest championship game in recent memory, but that would have made it one of the greatest sporting events I ever saw in my life, right up there with the Miracle on Ice in 1980, which I don't even remember that well because I was only eight years old.

It wasn't to be. Give the Blue Devils credit, they got it done. Whether tiny Butler University truly had the second-best men's basketball team in the land this year is open to debate, but they certainly were the second-best team over the last month. And they were just inches from being the very best.

Congratulations, Butler. I know you didn't win the title, but you sure gave us some great memories.

Acta era begins today; go Butler; etc.

Very quick hits, because I don't have a lot of time this morning:

* The Indians open the season at 2:05 Eastern this afternoon on the south side of Chicago. It's not just any opening day, because former All-Star Jake Westbrook gets the start for the Tribe, in his first action since May 2008, after having Tommy John surgery. The White Sox counter with Mark Buehrle, who I will always remember as the guy who hit Travis Hafner in the mouth with a pitch in 2005. Like Westbrook, Pronk is also trying to return to his All-Star-caliber days, so maybe seeing Buehrle out there can get him going.

* Despite the Cavaliers' loss yesterday in Boston, they clinched home-court advantage throughout the postseason thanks to the Lakers' loss to the Spurs. So, with five games left in the regular season, the Cavs officially have nothing to play for. It is perhaps slightly ironic that their next game after clinching home court throughout is against their likely first-round opponent, the Raptors, tomorrow night. I don't expect the Cavs to take it too easy on them, but I don't expect them to play with fire in their eyes either. 

* It's worth noting that despite the loss yesterday, the Cavaliers came back from 22 points down against the Celtics to take the lead in the fourth quarter. And if LeBron James could have hit that three-pointer with four seconds left, the Cavs probably would have won that game. Ultimately, a loss is a loss, but that was awfully interesting.

* I don't have a whole lot of confidence that this will happen, but I'm very much hoping Butler can beat Duke tonight in the national championship game. (I rooted for Butler against Michigan State, even though my dad went to Michigan State, because I can't resist an underdog. So you can imagine how badly I'd like them to beat the Blue Devils.) Duke is probably the better team, but then, so was Syracuse, and Butler beat them too. The Bulldogs beating the Spartans on Saturday despite going over 10 minutes of the second half without hitting a field goal was one of the most unlikely things I've ever seen. Butler won it with defense, and they'll need more of that to beat Duke.

* Tiger Woods makes his return this week at the Masters. I wonder if that'll get any headlines?

Odds and ends, starting with Shaun Rogers

So they say Shaun Rogers tried to carry a gun onto a plane yesterday at Hopkins. Well, not so much "tried to" as "forgot not to," at least if you believe him. Which, frankly, I do, because how stupid would he have to be to intentionally try to carry a loaded gun onto an airplane? Don't get me wrong, it's pretty stupid to forget it's in the bag you're trying to carry on too, but ... yeah, I've got nothing to add to that.

The arrest puts the 31-year-old Rogers' career in jeopardy, because even if he doesn't get jail time, he's likely to be suspended by the league, and for a long time because he'll be a repeat offender. He tested positive for a banned substance in 2006 and was suspended for four games. The Browns are going to have to expect to play next season without him.

* Indians manager Manny Acta gave the final spot in the starting rotation to David Huff, as I predicted. Don't bother to check what I predicted, just take my word for it. OK, you're right, I thought it would be Aaron Laffey. Anyway, Huff went 8-11 as a rookie last year, with a 5.61 ERA. He walked 41 hitters and struck out 65, and gave up 16 home runs in 128 1/3 innings. Maybe Manny sees something I don't. I'll be shocked if Huff stays in the rotation all year.

* Shaquille O'Neal took part in the Cavaliers' practice yesterday, for the first time since he tore a ligament in his thumb on Feb. 25. Coach Mike Brown says he's not counting on Shaq being back before the playoffs, but the big man says he's ahead of schedule. I hope he's right; it would be nice to get at least a couple of games under his belt before they start needing to win four to advance.

* The Browns were among 30 teams (out of 32) to check out Texas quarterback Colt McCoy on Wednesday. McCoy's skills are said to be well-suited to a West Coast-style offense, which the Browns are planning to implement. We all know Jake Delhomme's not going to be our quarterback in a year or two, so whether the Browns pick up McCoy or Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen or whoever, they're picking a quarterback this year. They'd have to trade up for Bradford, and might have to trade up for Clausen too (stupid end-of-season four-game winning streak), but McCoy could be available when the Browns pick in the second round. If so, they'd be fools not to give him a shot.

Tribe rotation nearly set

I missed this the other day (sorry, loyal fans), but Indians manager Manny Acta on Monday gave the #4 spot in the starting rotation to Mitch Talbot.

WHO?

Talbot, 26, came over in December as the player to be named later in the Kelly Shoppach trade. His major league career to date consists of 9 2/3 innings in three appearances (one start) with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. He did not make the most of his opportunity, to say the least. In those 9 2/3 innings, Talbot gave up 12 runs, all earned, so his career ERA is currently 11.17. More troubling, he walked 11 men while striking out just five, and gave up three home runs. You can't win in the majors that way. But that's a small sample size, and it was two years ago, when he was just 24.

His minor-league numbers have been much better. In five seasons, he has amassed a career record in the minors of 48-40, with a 3.85 ERA. He had some injury issues last year, but went 4-4, 4.47, at AAA Durham last year. This spring, he's gone 1-1, 3.71, in 17 Cactus League innings. ESPN's Rob Neyer believes he will be a solid, if unspectacular, major league pitcher. Neyer projects that he'll put up an ERA somewhere between 4.50 and 5.00. I hope he's right. A lot of clubs' #4 starters will do worse.

Talbot joins Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook and Justin Masterson in the rotation, and there are big question marks with all of those guys. We all remember how Carmona had a Cy Young-caliber 2007, but has fizzled since then. But he's had a phenomenal spring (20 innings, 3-0, 0.45), and all observers say he's doing what he wants to out there, so there's reason for optimism. Westbrook has been an All-Star before, but hasn't pitched since early 2008, when he got shut down to have Tommy John surgery. Lots of pitchers have come back from TJS to be great, though, so we'll see. Masterson just turned 25 and has only made 25 major league starts, and though he has pitched reasonably well in the majors, he has had a tough spring — though he has struck out 22 hitters in just 16 innings, which is encouraging.

The last rotation spot is between David Huff, Carlos Carrasco and Aaron Laffey. Former future star Jeremy Sowers appears to be out of the running. Those are all guys who've got some major-league success. I'm going to guess it'll be Laffey, but that's just a guess.

George Mason, part two? Not really

We'll start today's post with a response to a previous post, regarding Butler's upset of Syracuse, from Of Fair Hooker's most frequent responder, Jeff Brown:

Mullett, as I'm sure you've heard by now, the Butler Bulldogs won their regional final game as well and are hosting the Final Four next weekend.

This team is a very, very good team.

They're much better, in my view, than George Mason, the other mid-major that went to the Final Four in 2006.

They actually have a chance to win the national title, whereas George Mason had zero chance.

I'm not saying that they will win the title, but I would not be the least bit surprised, not after seeing 3 of their first 4 tourney games thus far.

Of course, the Bulldogs are not technically hosting the Final Four, but Jeff is right in that it will be right in their back yard. Butler plays its home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, but the Final Four will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium, the year-and-a-half-old home of the Colts. The two arenas are six miles apart. So yes, it will basically be a home game (or two).

Let's take a look at that George Mason team from 2006. The Patriots entered the NCAA Tournament at 25-7, playing in the Colonial Athletic Association, and were an 11-seed. They had failed to win their conference tournament, but received one of the last few at-large bids to that year's Madness. Give them credit for their Tourney run — they beat 6-seed Michigan State, then 3-seed North Carolina, then 7-seed Wichita State before improbably knocking off top-seed Connecticut in a thrilling overtime regional final. Most observers agreed that Connecticut would beat George Mason at least nine times out of 10, but this happened to be that one time out of 10. The Patriots then fell to eventual national champion Florida in the Final Four, losing by 15 in a game that was never particularly competitive.

These Butler Bulldogs are a different story entirely. They entered the tournament at 28-4, playing in the Horizon League — admittedly, roughly comparable to the CAA in terms of quality. Butler won its conference tournament, mauling Wright State by 25 in the final. The Bulldogs started relatively slowly, but haven't lost a game since December 22, when a loss at Alabama-Birmingham dropped them to 8-4. It's worth noting that that loss to UAB was their only loss to a team that didn't qualify for March Madness; the others were to Minnesota, Clemson and Georgetown.

Since then, they have rattled off 24 straight victories. They came into the Big Dance as the 5-seed. They easily defeated 12-seed UTEP, then had a surprisingly tough game against 13-seed Murray State before righting the ship to beat top-seed Syracuse in the regional semifinal, followed by Saturday's seven-point defeat of 2-seed Kansas State. Their next game is against fellow 5-seed Michigan State, who won an instant classic yesterday against Tennessee. I think Butler will beat the Spartans — in which case they'll face off against the Duke-West Virginia winner for the title. That Duke-West Virginia game will be a battle (which I predict West Virginia will win), and the winner of that game should be the favorite in the National Championship game. But the Bulldogs have already proven, by beating Syracuse and Kansas State, that they can play against anybody.

No mid-major has won it all since 1990, when Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV Runnin' Rebels beat Duke by 30 in the title game. Most people who are old enough to remember that don't really think of that Larry Johnson-Anderson Hunt UNLV squad as a mid-major — they were in fact a 1-seed in that tournament — but they did come from the Mountain West. So it's been 20 years since it's happened. Will we see it this year? Probably not, but that's what I'm rooting for.

Another one-seed bites the dust

Oh, my goodness, did you see that Butler-Syracuse game last night? The fifth-seeded Butler Bulldogs of the tiny Horizon League (which includes Cleveland State, in case you didn't know) dominated top seed Syracuse in the first half, but the Orange came out swinging after the break and finally took a 40-39 lead on Wes Johnson's three-pointer with 13:29 to go. But there was no quit in the mighty Bulldogs.

From that point on, it was a heavyweight prize fight, with each fighter taking the other's best punches and coming back for more. Butler came back to take a five-point lead on Gordon Hayward's trey with 9:41 left, but Syracuse tied it a little over a minute later, and it was a see-saw battle after that. Kris Joseph's dunk with 5:23 remaining gave Syracuse its biggest lead of the night, after which neither team scored for 2:10 of game time. Butler's Ronald Nored broke the proverbial silence with a three-pointer at the 3:13 mark, and the Bulldogs were off to the races.

In Butler's next five possessions, Matt Howard scored on a layup after blocking a shot at the other end, Willie Veasley hit a three-pointer and a two-point tip-in, and Hayward made one of two free throws. During the same stretch, the Orange turned the ball over once, committed an offensive foul, and missed three shots, each of which was rebounded by Butler. Scoop Jardine finally hit a meaningless layup with 34 seconds left, but by that point, the Dogs had built a seven-point lead, and it would have taken a minor miracle for the favorites to prevail.

There was no minor miracle for the Syracuse Orange, but Willie Veasley seemed to have divine intervention on his side. That three-pointer he hit to put his team up four bounced high off the rim, caromed off the backboard about two or three feet away from the hoop, then fell through the hoop. And the tip-in that followed it was crazy too. I have no idea where it came from, and I saw it happen. In any case, whether they have God on their side or not, the Butler Bulldogs have reached the Elite Eight for the first time in history.

That wasn't the only exciting game of the night, though it was the only one I saw personally. Kansas State knocked off Xavier in a double-overtime thriller that ended way past my bedtime. The other two games were snoozers, with double-digit seeds falling to big favorites — two-seed West Virginia beat 11-seed Washington by 13, and one-seed Kentucky (which has to be considered the top choice to win it all after Kansas got eliminated) topped 12-seed Cornell by 17.

The Buckeyes play in St. Louis tonight against Tennessee, who they knocked out of the tournament last year. Ohio State is of course the top remaining seed in its bracket, due to Northern Iowa's upset of Kansas last weekend. The aforementioned NIU Panthers will follow against Michigan State, playing without Kalin Lucas. Those should both be interesting games. In Houston, Saint Mary's — the only remaining double-digit seed in the tournament — will likely see its Cinderella run end against Baylor, and Purdue — playing without Robbie Hummel — is probably going to see its dream end against top-seeded Duke. But this is March Madness, ladies and gentlemen. You just never know.

Catch some Z

By the time you read this, Zydrunas Ilgauskas may be a Cleveland Cavalier again. Yesterday was the first day Z could sign with the Cavs, after they traded him a few weeks ago for Antawn Jamison, following which the Wizards cut him so they wouldn't have to pay him. To be sure, it's a perverse result of the NBA's salary cap rules, but it works out well for my team, so I'm not complaining.

Z's agent, Herb Rudoy, negotiated yesterday with Danny Ferry — Z's former teammate, now of course the Cavs' general manager — but didn't come to terms. The Cavs could either sign him for the rest of the season for about $150,000 or use their "bi-annual exception" (more salary cap mumbo-jumbo) to sign him for two years at $4 million. But Rudoy says he's confident that either way, a deal will be done very soon.

I'm glad Z will be back in a Cavaliers uniform very soon — probably tomorrow night against the Hornets. I don't think I'd go so far as to say the Cavs need Z, because they've played pretty darned well without him, but he's certainly still a useful player, and with Shaquille O'Neal out, they can sure use a true center.

Let's hear it for the Bobcats!

As a graduate of Miami University, I'm legally obligated to have mixed feelings about the Ohio Bobcats' mauling of Georgetown in what is undoubtedly the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament so far. But the Miami-Ohio rivalry is far from Ohio State-Michigan, and any time a Mid-American Conference school pulls off a March Madness victory, it's good for the whole league. So I say, go get 'em, 'Cats.

The boys from Athens had already turned in one of the more improbable March runs I've seen in a long time, just by winning the MAC Tournament at the Gund Arena last weekend. They were just 17-14 going into the conference tourney, including a 7-9 record within the MAC, making them the 9-seed for the little dance. They needed overtime just to get past Ball State in the first round. Then they upset top-seeded Kent State, followed by my alma mater, before beating Akron in overtime to win the conference title. That alone was unlikely enough.

But to beat 3-seed Georgetown by 14 points in the NCAAs? Who could possibly have predicted that? The Hoyas came in at 23-10, playing in the much-tougher Big East, having lost their conference championship by just two points to West Virginia. How could they lose to a 21-14 team from the lowly MAC? ... That, my friends, is why we love March Madness so much.

The state's other two schools open play today. Xavier plays Minnesota at 12:25, and Ohio State faces California-Santa Barbara at about 9:35. The Buckeyes are a decent bet to go a long way in this tournament — but of course, that's what they said about Georgetown.

Cleveland Cavaliers, Central Division Champions

With last night's 99-94 victory over the Pacers, the Cavaliers became the NBA's first team to clinch a playoff spot this year, wrapping up their second-straight Central Division championship. It's a good time to celebrate, but keep the celebration low-key, because the Cavs have a much bigger goal than that. At 54-15, they now have a six-game lead over the Magic for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and a 3 1/2-game lead over the Lakers for the best record in the NBA. And as we've said many times in this space, the home-court advantage that would provide would be huge.

The game was much closer than you'd expect, given the teams' respective records (Indiana is now 22-46). But the Cavaliers were playing the second game of a back-to-back, having beaten the Pistons on Tuesday, and were obviously running out of gas in the fourth quarter. The Pacers cut an 18-point lead to just one, before our hero LeBron James took over. In the last four minutes of the game, LeBron scored six points along with two steals, two blocks and an assist. He simply toyed with the Pacers in the closing moments.

The Cavs have 13 games to go before opening the playoffs against the Eastern Conference's 8-seed, which if the season ended today would be Toronto, against whom the Cavs are 2-1 on the season, including an overtime win north of the border. (And if you think I'm getting ahead of myself by assuming we'll get the 1-seed, consider that coolstandings.com currently considers that a 99.2% possibility.) The top priority right now has to be keeping everybody healthy, followed by holding off the Lakers for the best record.

Delhomme is l'homme

So the Browns have given up on their young former quarterback of the future and given the job to a grizzled veteran who has had some success in the NFL. Sounds kind of like getting rid of Tim Couch and bringing in Jeff Garcia a few years ago, but this time the roles are played by Brady Quinn and Jake Delhomme. (Incidentally, Delhomme is two years older than Couch, who hasn't taken an NFL snap since 2003.)

My dad said yesterday that he didn't feel Quinn got a real shot in Cleveland, and he may have a point. A lot of young quarterbacks struggle until they've had a couple of years' worth of starts under their belts, and maybe 2010 would have been the year he'd have shown why the Browns took him with their first-round pick in 2007. But obviously, Mike Holmgren and the Browns' new regime felt they couldn't spend any more time finding that out.

So now the job belongs to Delhomme, who took the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl in the 2003 season, but who is coming off his worst year as a pro. I truly don't mean to keep comparing him to Couch, but I happen to have just looked at Couch's page on nfl.com, and Delhomme's 59.4 passer rating last year was worse than any year Couch ever had. He's 35, and I don't see a whole lot of reason for optimism that he'll do any better this year. (Incidentally, presumed second-stringer Seneca Wallace posted an 81.9 rating last year for the Seahawks, albeit throwing just 120 passes as Matt Hasselbeck's backup.)

My assumption is Holmgren plans to draft a quarterback in April, and keep Delhomme around to keep the job warm until that quarterback is ready to take over. So we're starting over at the quarterback position, as we've done so many times before. It does get tiresome, doesn't it?

Derek Anderson insults you on the way out the door

Ex-Browns quarterback Derek Anderson couldn't resist taking some shots at Cleveland fans upon his release yesterday. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter much what an ex-Brown thinks about Cleveland, but it did cause a bit of a stir in the local media. You may recall that Anderson, a Pro Bowler in 2007, stank his way through the next two seasons and lost his starting job to the also-subpar Brady Quinn. After being shown the door yesterday, he said in an e-mail to the News-Herald that Browns fans "don't deserve a winner" and that he never forgot being cheered when he injured himself against the Colts in 2008.

Look, I understand his feelings being hurt that people cheered when he got hurt. That's happened in Cleveland before — see Couch, Tim — and the fans weren't actually cheering his injury, they were cheering because he'd been playing abysmally and his injury meant the backup would get a shot. That's not very nice, but I guarantee it happens in other NFL cities too. Anderson is an adult, and should not have taken it to heart.

The release came a day after the Browns traded a late-round 2011 draft pick for Seahawks backup Seneca Wallace, whom new team President Mike Holmgren knows from his days in Seattle. I'd be a bit surprised if Wallace becomes the starter, but he'll probably get a shot to compete for the job unless they get Donovan McNabb or somebody like that. I don't think Holmgren has much confidence in Brady Quinn.

Not bad, considering ... but still a loss

With the Cavaliers in Milwaukee last night to play the 32-29 Bucks, and already playing without Shaquille O'Neal, Mike Brown decided to sit LeBron James and start Jawad Williams. He surely knew he was giving away the game, but felt that it was worth it to get LeBron some rest. Was he right? I don't know. LeBron did roll his ankle in Friday night's game against the Pistons, but Brown says it had nothing to do with that. But I'll bet there were a lot of pissed-off Milwaukee fans who paid good money for tickets expecting to see The King. (Not that that's Brown's problem.)

In any case, the remaining Cavs did a pretty decent job hanging in there, though it obviously wasn't good enough. Antawn Jamison had his best game as a Cavalier, pouring in 30 points, and Delonte West added 27. Williams, in what was probably his first NBA start (I'm too lazy to look it up) contributed precious little, tallying six points and three rebounds, and putting up a +/- of -29 in 24 minutes.

When your team is playing without its two future Hall of Famers against a plus-.500 team on the road and only loses by seven, you have to be just a little bit pleased with the effort. But still, it goes on the ledger as a loss. They said on SportsCenter that Brown is considering sitting LeBron again on Monday against the Spurs. Of course, the Spurs just lost Tony Parker to a hand injury, so maybe they can still beat them, but I'd feel better about it with LeBron in there. We're in a race with the Lakers for home-court in a theoretical Cleveland-LA Finals, and I don't think that's a small matter.

A few thoughts

* I'm glad the Cavaliers beat the Pistons last night, but the outcome of a basketball game is a lot less important than human health. When Rodney Stuckey collapsed near the bench area, it reminded LeBron James of Hank Gathers, about whom he'd recently watched a documentary. For those not old enough to remember, Gathers was a star on a very talented Loyola Marymount team who collapsed during a game and died on his way to the hospital because of a heart defect. And then there's Reggie Lewis, a former Celtics star who died the same way, albeit in an off-season practice. Stuckey's apparently OK, but that collapse was very frightening.

* That said, it was an impressive comeback by the Cavaliers. They overcame a 21-point deficit to win that game, effectively running over the Pistons in the late third and fourth quarters. But it's worth noting that Detroit was ahead when Stuckey went down. The Pistons were obviously shaken by their teammate's collapse, and played like it. They started to get it together toward the end of the game, but it was too late.

* Josh Cribbs is back in the fold. I'm glad; he's one of my all-time favorite Browns. I still think he was acting like a baby with his contract demands, but the story has a happy ending.

* The Indians won their first spring-training game yesterday against the Reds, 9-2. The Indians tattooed Cincinnati pitching all game, while holding the Reds' hitters to just two hits until Joe Smith's tough run through the eighth inning. Or maybe it was the ninth. Anyway, Smith wasn't good, but the rest of the pitchers were. In any case, it's wonderful that there's Cleveland Indians baseball again, preseason or not.

* The Buckeyes are being discussed as a potential No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after having won the Big Ten's regular season title. Ohio State is ranked No. 7 in the country, and should go far in March Madness.

Tribe plays first intrasquad game

I know that to the average fan, the first intrasquad game is a darned good reason to start yawning. Not me. It wasn't on TV, and the box score isn't printed in today's paper, but I'm reading what I can about it. Apparently Jensen Lewis and Jordan Brown were among the game's stars.

Brown, who's a longshot to make the team as an outfielder/first baseman, singled and homered in the game. At 26, Brown has yet to make his major-league debut, and players who haven't reached the show by 26 tend not to make much impact. But Brown did hit .336 in Columbus last year, with 15 home runs, and put up an OPS of .913. And while playing for Akron in 2007, he was named the Eastern League MVP. He's got some credentials.

Lewis, who pitched a 1-2-3 second inning yesterday, was expected to be a key setup man for Kerry Wood last year, but suffered through a 2-4, 4.61 season that saw him also spend some time in Columbus. Lewis struck out 62 hitters in 66.1 innings, but also gave up 13 home runs, and that's what cost him. If he can limit the long ball, he can help this team.

The Indians have their first real spring training game on Friday against the Reds. Yay!

Knickerbockers destroyed; Cavaliers cooking again

The Cavaliers dominated the 20-39 New York Knicks last night in a way we hadn't seen this year. The game wasn't as close as the 124-93 final score would indicate — and when a 31-point victory understates the way the game went, you know it was a whitewashing.

How thoroughly did the Cavs embarrass the Knicks? Just look at the quarter-by-quarter scoring: The Cavs won the first quarter, 38-26; the second, 36-22; and the third, 27-11. In the same game, our guys scored 74 points in the first half and held the Knicks to just ELEVEN in an entire quarter. The Cavaliers led by as much as 49 in the second half. The Knicks did outscore the Cleveland scrubs in the fourth quarter, 34-23, which was more or less irrelevant.

After losing three straight out of the All-Star break, the Cavs are now riding a four-game winning streak, and seem to be just fine without Shaquille O'Neal or once and future Cavalier Zydrunas Ilgauskas. In the game in which Shaq got hurt, they beat the fellow Eastern Conference power Celtics by 20 in Boston; then they beat the above-.500 Raptors in Toronto, albeit needing overtime to do it. And now this destruction of the admittedly bad Knicks.

The subtext of this game, of course, is that the Knicks are expected to go after LeBron James as a free agent this coming offseason. If this performance was any indication of what LeBron can anticipate after going over there, he's bound to say no. But who can guess what lurks in the mind of LeBron.

After surgery on his sprained thumb, Shaq could be back in about two months, or around the second round of the playoffs. It doesn't appear there's any reason to worry about what will happen between now and then.

Silver not quite so precious as gold, but what a game

That gold medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada was a thing of beauty. I've never been a very big hockey fan (except for Miami RedHawks hockey), but I sat transfixed on the TV watching that game yesterday. The Americans came this close to scoring a goal in the first period, but the puck stopped just short of the line, and the Canadians were able to take a 2-0 lead.

But there was no quit in the Red, White and Blue. Playing against the nation that invented ice hockey, on its own soil, the Americans got within a goal in the second period on Ryan Kesler's rebound shot, then pulled off the nearly unbelievable when Zach Parise scored with 24.4 seconds left in regulation, with goalie Ryan Miller pulled in favor of an extra skater, to send it into overtime.

The star-laden Canadians controlled the puck for most of that overtime period, and it came as no surprise when 22-year-old phenom Sidney Crosby finally broke through for the gold medal-winning goal 7:40 into the extra session. But it was a fantastic performance by the young Americans, who should hold their heads high after coming away with the silver.

Incidentally, that silver medal was the 37th for the USA in the Vancouver games, setting a new record for total medals by any nation in any Winter Olympics. But Canada's was the 14th gold medal for that nation, which was also a record. It was a very enjoyable Olympics, and I'm just a little bit sad that it's over.

Branyan to the rescue

So the well-known strikeout machine Russell Branyan is back in Cleveland, this time with the promise of a regular job. Scandal! Horror! How could we give daily at-bats to this train wreck of a free swinger? Don't we remember what a failure he was? ... Or so the thinking seems to go among many Indians fans.

I'm not going to sit here and claim the 34-year-old Branyan is the second coming of Lou Gehrig. Or even Andre Thornton. And when you look at the numbers baseball people have traditionally looked at — .234 career average, 164 career home runs against 946 strikeouts (averaging 174 strikeouts per 162 games played) — it looks pretty ugly. But the fact is, Branyan was actually pretty productive last year in Seattle, if you look at the numbers that actually relate to run production. His on-base percentage was .347, good enough for 46th in the American League (one notch ahead of Grady Sizemore), and his slugging average was .520, which was 16th in the AL. And anyone who thinks his batting average and strikeout totals matter more than those numbers doesn't really understand the game.

Branyan hit a career-high 31 home runs last year for the Mariners in 116 games, the most he'd played in the majors in a season since 2002, when he was 26. It's true that he's at an age when most hitters decline, and it's true that he'd never produced in the majors like he did in 2009, suggesting it might be a one-year aberration. But given that our other first-base options were Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley — two guys who have never produced much at the major-league level — it's worth giving him a shot for a $2 million, one-year contract.

A new winning streak begins

The Cavaliers struggled to get past the New Orleans Hornets last night, but hey, when you come in with a three-game losing streak, any win is good. The Cavs roared out to a 12-point lead at the quarter pole, then gave up 40 points (!) in the second to trail by three at halftime. The Cavs took the lead again in the third, then the two teams traded the lead back and forth through the fourth, before the Cavs finally pulled away in the closing minutes. Mo Williams' three-pointer with 4:13 to go gave our boys a 92-89 lead, one they never relinquished.

Antawn Jamison played well in his first Cavs start, tallying 18 points and six rebounds. He also put up a +/- of +18, tops in the game. The great LeBron James only scored 20, but added 13 assists. Fellow future Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal also put in 20, with seven boards.

The fact is, this was not a strong effort. The Hornets are a good team, but are playing without first-team all-NBAer Chris Paul (who is also killing my fantasy team by being hurt), and the Cavaliers had a lot of defensive lapses in this game. That's not going to get it done tomorrow night in Boston, not to mention the playoffs.

Belated thoughts on the big trade

This is my first post since the birth of my daughter Savannah on Feb. 13; just thought you might like to know why you haven't heard from me in a while. I probably don't have to tell you this, but that's her in the photo above. Isn't she the cutest?

While I haven't been writing about what's going on in the Cleveland sports scene over the last couple of weeks, I have been noticing, and I do have some quick thoughts about the biggest local sports story to have happened in that time frame.

As we all know, the Cavaliers are 0-3 since they traded Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Antawn Jamison. That three-game skid followed a 13-game winning streak that was the longest in the NBA this season. The Denver loss in overtime, which broke the winning streak, would likely have been a win had Z been there. It's hard to say that about Charlotte or Orlando. Both those teams are clearly inferior to the Cavaliers, but both have seemed to have the Cavs' number lately. Jamison was god-awful against the Bobcats, but bounced back for a nice performance against the Magic. He might start tonight against the Hornets. Either way, I expect him to perform well.

The Cavaliers obviously took a short-term hit by trading away the guy who's been here the longest and had a good on-court rapport with LeBron James and company. It'll take Jamison some time to develop that with this team, and there are just 25 games left in the regular season. Jamison is clearly a better overall player than Z, but that intangible is an important factor. I hope his talent can overcome the lack of familiarity.

From a sentimental standpoint, I was sorry to lose Z. He was here years before LeBron, and suffered through frequent injuries while playing on some terrible teams early in his career, and it would have been nice to keep him here to help fight for a ring. He also appears to be one of the nicest guys in the NBA. But business is business. Shaquille O'Neal and Anderson Varejao can handle the center spot for the rest of the year. Whatever happens, I wish Z the best.

Rumor has it that Z might come back to Cleveland this year, and I'd love to see it. In the bizarro world of the NBA's salary cap, the Wizards traded for Z just to buy out his contract. Their main objective was apparently to dump Jamison's salary. After Gilbert Arenas got suspended for the rest of the year for having guns in the locker room, the Wizards are going nowhere. There was speculation that the league might block Z from returning to the Cavaliers, especially if there was any sign that such a signing was prearranged between the teams, but the latest news is that there will be no such block. Apparently the Hawks are interested too, but Z spent 13 years here, and is married to a woman from Cleveland. But we'll see, I guess.

Despite the three-game losing streak, the Cavs still have the best record in the NBA, at 43-14, half a game better than the Lakers' 42-14. Home-court advantage in a hypothetical NBA Finals with said Lakers is at stake, but the Cavaliers would have to get there first. They'd better get it together, and quick.

Hey, a win's a win

The Cavaliers sleepwalked a bit through last night's 104-97 win against the NBA's worst team, the 4-47 New Jersey Nets. The Cavs have the association's best record, at 42-11, and Tuesday's win was their 12th straight. The Nets have a chance to put up the worst record in NBA history, a record currently held by the '72-73 76ers, who went 9-73. You'd hope the NBA's best team would beat what could be the NBA's all-time worst team by more than seven at home. But hey, they came out with a W, and broke 100 to get everybody in attendance a free chalupa from Taco Bell. As the kids say (or at least did 10 years or so ago), it's all good. But if they hope to win their 13th straight on Thursday against the Orlando Magic, they'll have to play better than they did last night.

It's worth noting that the Cavaliers' winning streak has been achieved mostly without Mo Williams, who has missed the last nine games; or Delonte West, who has missed the last eight. Their absence has given Boobie Gibson a chance to start for a while, and he's done pretty well in that role. We've also seen more playing time for Cleveland native Jawad Williams, who hasn't disappointed. His 17 points off the bench last night were a career-high. If he can keep that kind of performance going, he'll be a key contributor to what could be Cleveland's first championship in my lifetime.

We're talkin' baseball, Indians baseball

As The Onion's Jim Anchower would say, I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya. And it's been even longer since I rapped at ya about the Indians. But the trucks left Cleveland yesterday on their way to Goodyear, Ariz., full of the equipment the Tribe will need for spring training. Pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks, and while this figures to be a rebuilding year for the Indians, I'm excited to see how this season plays out.

Some early computer projections for how the season will play out have been completed, and I don't think it'll surprise any loyal Of Fair Hooker readers to find that the Indians are expected to finish third or fourth in the AL Central, with a sub-.500 record. This projection has our Tribe finishing third at 76-86, behind the Twins and White Sox; this one has them finishing fourth, behind those teams and the Tigers, but also 76-86. Unfortunately, coolstandings.com hasn't done its projections yet, but I would imagine it will be something close to the same.

As fans, we always want our team to contend for a title, but we have to accept that in Major League Baseball's financial climate, the Indians can't compete year after year. A team like ours has to rebuild and make a run for it every few years. They were able to stay one of baseball's top teams for a few years after the ballpark then known as Jacobs Field was built, but that stadium is no longer the advantage it once was. If they do finish 76-86, that would be a nine-game improvement over last year, and I'd be OK with that. Not happy, exactly, but OK.

Cavaliers continue to amaze

Last night at the Q, the Cavaliers did something you've never seen them do before: They hit 11 three-pointers in one quarter. That tied the team record for a half. The Cavs led the Clippers by 26 after that 46-point first quarter — again, 33 points of which came from beyond the arc — and coasted the rest of the way to a 114-89 drubbing. The Clippers actually outscored the Clevelanders by a single point over the last three quarters, but they had no chance to make it interesting.

At some point during the first quarter, my wife asked me if any team had ever scored 200 points in a game. I said no, and while I thought it outlandish to even consider the possibility, I couldn't help but wonder at that moment whether these Cavs had something like that in them on this night. It was an unbelievable performance. They would go on to hit 16 treys in the game — five by LeBron James, four by Boobie Gibson, two each by Jamario Moon and the little-used Jawad Williams, and one each by Anthony Parker, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the little-used Danny Green. It's always nice to see those end-of-the-bench guys coming in to contribute, even in garbage time.

For those interested, the record for most points in a game by one team was set on Dec. 13, 1983, by the Pistons against the Nuggets. They put up 186 in a triple-overtime game. The Nuggets on that night put up the second-highest total ever, 184. The record for a regulation game is 173, set by the Celtics against the Minneapolis Lakers all the way back in 1959, and tied by the Suns against those poor Nuggets in 1990. Special thanks to nba.com for its comprehensive records page. I was not able to find the NBA team record for three-pointers hit in a single quarter, but I did find that the most points ever scored in a first quarter was 50. So these Cavs really did something special last night.

It was the Cavaliers' eighth consecutive win, their longest streak of the season, and kept them a half-game ahead of the Lakers (who now play in Los Angeles, in case you didn't know) for the NBA's best record.

Staying hot against the Heat

The Cavs-Heat game last night was billed as a battle between two of the NBA's superstars, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. And it didn't disappoint. James and Wade both put on a heck of a show, especially in the second quarter, when they combined for 37 points (20 for Wade, 17 for James). Of course, it's worth mentioning that Wade had 30 points in the first half, but just two in the second. And Wade missed two critical free throws with 41 seconds left, after Boobie Gibson fouled him at the other end of the court while going after a loose ball.

Still, when Wade blocked James' eight-foot jumper with about 28 seconds left and his team up 91-90, it looked like the Heat had the game on ice. So with the Heat taking the ball down the floor, holding that one-point lead, and about a three-second differential between the game and shot clocks, the outlook wasn't brilliant for the Cleveland Five. The Cavaliers desperately needed a stop, and preferably fast, so they'd have some time to get a good shot off. For their part, the Heat just needed to run the clock down and try to put two more points on the board, which would have forced the Cavs to hit a three just to send it to overtime.

But that's not what happened. Wade, with James guarding him, tried to make a behind-the-back pass to a teammate on the wing. LeBron sniffed it out, got the steal and took it all the way to the hole at the other end, where Wade fouled him hard. LeBron made both his free throws, and Wade missed a 19-footer at the buzzer.

And the Cavs won because our superstar was better than their superstar in the final minute of the game. It was a thing of beauty.

That was HUGE!

Check out those Cleveland Cavaliers! After completing a sweep of the season series against the defending champion Lakers last night, the Cavs are 33-11, just percentage points behind the 32-10 Lakers for the NBA's best record. And the Cavs have an easier schedule going forward, with just 16 remaining away games and 22 at the Q. The Lakers have 25 road dates left, 15 at home. And if they should finish with the same record and meet in the Finals, the Cavaliers have just taken the tie-breaker for home-court advantage.

And it bears mention that the Cavaliers won this game without Mo Williams, their second-leading scorer and an All-Star last year. If they can beat the full-strength Lakers without their second-best player, there's no reason to think these Cavs can't be NBA champions. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I'm darned excited about this team.

Here's something I'll bet you didn't know

The NBA a couple of years ago borrowed a statistic from hockey, known as plus-minus, commonly written as +/-. For those who don't know what that means, it's simply the net difference in points when a particular player is on the floor. Let's take last night's heartbreaker against the Jazz for the sake of example. LeBron James played 40 minutes, during which time the Cavaliers outscored the Jazz by seven, so his +/- for the game is +7. Anderson Varejao's, on the other hand, was -12 in 36 minutes off the bench.

(In case you're wondering, I didn't watch it, as it started at 10:30 p.m. here in the Eastern Time Zone, and I have a job. Too bad, because it was apparently a real thriller, in which Jazz rookie Sundiata Gaines hit the first three-pointer of his NBA career at the buzzer to win it 97-96.)

The NBA keeps its +/- stats on this page. And it doesn't just keep one-player +/- stats. You can search for the best two-player combo, the best three-player combo, etc. It's really quite fascinating.

But can you guess what individual player is leading the NBA in +/-? I'll give you a hint: He plays for the Cavaliers. Of course, your first guess is likely to be LeBron James, and that would be a very good guess. But LeBron is actually #2 on this list, behind teammate ... wait for it ... Anderson Varejao.

Even after last night's stinker, the Cavs have outscored their opponents by a grand total of 337 points with Andy on the floor this season. LeBron is next with +332, followed by Kobe Bryant at +319, then Lakers teammate Ron Artest at +299, and the Hawks' Josh Smith rounds out the top five at +292. Naturally, all the top names on this list are members of the NBA's best teams, but would you have expected the #1 guy to be someone who comes off the bench?

This obviously doesn't mean Varejao is the NBA's best player. Far from it. But it does indicate that he's been a huge factor in the Cavaliers' 30-11 record at the halfway point in the season, and he's going to have to continue to play at the same level if the Cavaliers are going to keep winning at the clip they've been.

Put the baby back in his crib

All right, I don't really think Josh Cribbs is being a baby; I was going for a cheap pun. But still, I think he's acting like a bit of a spoiled brat.

Cribbs is under contract for the next three years -- a six-year, $6.77 million contract he signed before he set an NFL record for kick return TDs, and before he reached two Pro Bowls. That's the risk you take signing a long-term contract, and the Browns are under no obligation to restructure it. Still, they've offered him a raise to $1.4 million per season. Cribbs calls that offer insulting.

Listen, it's his right to ask for a better contract, and given that he's been the Browns' best player the last few years, maybe he deserves it. But he signed that contract. I wasn't there when he signed it, but I'm pretty confident that there wasn't a gun pointed at his head when he did it. And for him to call $1.4 million an insult is itself an insult to the fans who buy season tickets with their $50,000 salaries (or whatever). OK, he wants more money. Who doesn't. OK, the Browns would be a lesser team without him, and maybe he's worth more than $1.4 million to them. I would imagine that once Mike Holmgren gets his bearings, he'll make a better offer, just to keep Cribbs happy. But he doesn't have to.

I just read that Cribbs uses Twitter, and tweeted the following, in two tweets: "Thanks for all the support everyone and your words of encouragement...wise man once told me..." "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."

What a load of garbage. Asking for more money is not standing for something. It's just wanting more money. I love Josh Cribbs as a player, and I hope he stays here, but on this issue, I think he's full of something other than himself. (Though he's obviously full of that too.)

Good gravy, the Browns have won four straight!

Do you know how many NFL teams ended the 2009 season with at least four straight wins? Three. The AFC West champion Chargers, who have won their last 11; the Texans, who finished 9-7 and only missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker; and your Cleveland Browns. Do you know how many times the Browns have won four straight games since returning to the league as an expansion team? One. The last four games of the 2009 season.

And a team that was once 1-11 won their last four to finish 5-11. What are the odds of that? Has that ever happened before? I checked the Elias Sports Bureau's "Elias Says," and they don't have any information about that, but they do point out that Pro Bowler Josh Cribbs is only the second player in league history to score touchdowns on a kickoff return, a punt return, a reception and a rush (Brian Westbrook is the other); and with 127 rushing yards in Sunday's finale against the Jaguars, Jerome Harrison racked up 561 yards over the last three games, the second-highest total in league history (O.J. Simpson had 647 in 1976).

The Browns have known for months that they weren't going to get into the playoffs, but the visiting Jaguars went into yesterday's game with a 7-8 record and a chance, albeit a very slim one, of qualifying for the postseason tournament. But it was the Browns who looked as if they were playing for something yesterday. They closed the season with a 23-17 victory that would have been 23-10 if not for the Jags' meaningless final drive. There was never any doubt about this one.

The Browns won despite just 86 passing yards from Derek Anderson, probably in his last start as a Brown, possibly in his last game as a Brown. But Anderson only threw the ball 11 times, completing seven. He did throw a pick. But this game was won on the ground, with another fine performance from Harrison, plus 47 rushing yards from Cribbs and 38 yards from Chris Jennings. Jennings turned in a fine performance off the bench. Remember that run where he was trapped behind the line of scrimmage, then reversed course and wound up going for 11 yards? That kid's got talent.

And the Browns' defense played well too, holding the Jaguars to 328 total yards. Eric Mangini is a defense-minded coach, and should be pleased with the strides his defense has made this year. If he's back next year, presumably a new offensive coordinator will come in and run Mike Holmgren's preferred West Coast offense. I'd think they could work that out. If not, Mangini has made a case for his next job.

Either way, I can't wait to see this Browns team next year.

Buckeyes get the monkey off

Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes needed this one -- not just because it was a chance to finish strong, but for the long-term credibility of the Ohio State football program, and even the entire Big Ten. Ohio State came into the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on Friday on a three-game bowl losing streak, and came out with an impressive 26-17 win over the #8 Oregon Ducks. And no Big Ten team had won a BCS bowl since January 2006, when the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and Penn State beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Terrelle Pryor was the obvious MVP, having played the best game of his two-year collegiate career. He threw for a career-high 266 yards on 23-of-37 passing. He threw two touchdown passes and one interception. He also rushed for a Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi-high 72 yards, and got some big first downs with his feet. There were times when he seemed too quick to run, and maybe should have tried to hit a running back on a hot route or something of that nature, but these are minor quibbles. Pryor played a heck of a game.

Give the Buckeye defense a lot of credit for this victory in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi. They gave up some big running plays to LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, but they held Jeremiah Masoli and the high-powered Ducks passing game in check. Masoli's numbers were terrible -- 9-for-20, 80 yards, no touchdowns, one pick. And while he did run for a touchdown, Masoli only gained nine yards on the ground, on six carries. Without an effective passing game to lean on, the Ducks only got 12 first downs in the game, to the Buckeyes' 26; and were just 2-for-11 on third down conversions. And the Buckeyes win their first Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi since 1997, when it was just called the Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes have become the Big Ten's standard-bearer in the Tressel era, having won or shared six conference titles in Tressel's nine years here, including each of the last five. They've won the Big Ten's only national title in that time, and have won four of the five BCS games the Big Ten has won this century. (Iowa has a chance to add to that total in Tuesday's Orange Bowl.) With Michigan down and out the last couple of years, and nobody else stepping up to challenge them, the Buckeyes have dominated this conference. That has enabled Ohio State to play in eight BCS bowls, the most of any school since the BCS' inception in 1998. May it continue into 2010 and beyond.

You can't stop these Cavs

For the second time in less than a week, the Cavaliers beat one of the NBA's best teams on the road last night. The Atlanta Hawks came into the game with a 21-8 record and were looking like serious contenders for an Eastern Conference title. And they played our boys tough through three quarters. The Cavs were up just one point, 75-74, going into the fourth. But nearly nine minutes into that fourth quarter, the Cavs had scored 10 points, and the Hawks had scored ZERO. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis.

After a timeout, the Hawks finally found their offense, and scored 10 over the next two minutes, but the Cavs answered most of their scores and came out with a 95-84 win. Over that eight-plus-minute scoreless stretch, the Hawks took 10 shots and missed every single one. It was a singularly impressive defensive effort by the Cavs. Radio announcer Joe Tait said he'd never seen a team go scoreless that long before, and Joe Tait has watched an awful lot of basketball. And these weren't the Washington Generals — the Hawks are the Eastern Conference's highest-scoring team, averaging nearly 105 per game.

Another thing to note: The Cavs won despite just 14 points from LeBron James, on 6-for-20 shooting; and they won despite turning it over 18 times, including seven by Mo Williams.

After demolishing the Lakers in LA on Christmas and putting this effort together last night in Atlanta, these Cavaliers are looking unstoppable.

Oh, and the Cavaliers are rolling too

After falling behind 16-4 in the early going against the Rockets yesterday, the Cavaliers came back to outscore them 92-67 the rest of the way.

The Cavs have now won four straight, including a highly impressive 15-point win on the road against the Lakers on Christmas Day. The Cavs are now 24-8 on the season, after losing their first two; and have won nine of their last 10. They have the NBA's third-best record, behind the Lakers and Celtics, and have just proven they can beat LA on the road. Their first chance to prove the same about Boston comes Feb. 25, but whether they win or lose that game, these Cavaliers are a very strong contender for an NBA title.

Browns are unstoppable!

It's amazing how three short weeks can change the entire outlook of a football team. After losing to San Diego on Dec. 6, the Browns were 1-11 and looking like they might never win another football game. Three straight wins later, and suddenly our boys look like they might actually make a splash in 2010, and Eric Mangini looks like he might actually have some idea what the Sam Hill he's doing.

Yesterday's 23-9 win over the Raiders was not exactly textbook football, but hey, a win's a win. The Raiders lost that game more than the Browns won it. Both Browns touchdowns were set up by huge mistakes by the Raiders. Jerome Harrison's 17-yard run was pretty, and he went through a gaping hole the line made for him, but it only happened because Raiders quarterback Charlie Frye made a terrible decision that led to a David Bowens interception two plays earlier.

And Derek Anderson's 19-yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Massaquoi just before the half was a fine throw and catch, but that was set up by a pair of boneheaded Oakland mistakes that should embarrass the crap out of the Raiders. They provided them 30 yards via penalty on that drive: a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct call against Richard Seymour, and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness call against Stanford Routt that was so heinous it got him tossed.

Anderson was workmanlike in his return to the starting role, following Brady Quinn's injury last week. He completed eight of 17 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown, and didn't turn the ball over. When you've got Harrison running for 148 yards — about half what he got last week, but still impressive — that's plenty of production from your quarterback. The Browns were actually outgained by a fairly significant margin in this game (389 yards to 282), but the fact that Frye threw three interceptions and Anderson threw zero made all the difference.

The Browns finish up next Sunday against the 7-8 Jacksonville Jaguars, who were eliminated from playoff contention yesterday after a 35-7 blowout loss to the Patriots. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the Browns will win that game and finish the season on a four-game winning streak. That ought to set a nice tone for '10!

Quinn not so mighty

So it turns out Brady Quinn hurt his foot on that 24-yard scramble in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Chiefs, and his season is over. Quinn got the starting job out of training camp, then lost it at halftime of the third game of the season, then regained it a few weeks later after former Pro Bowler Derek Anderson was even worse. And so the Derek Anderson era begins again in Cleveland, almost certainly for the very last time. Unless Anderson gets hurt too, he'll start the last two games of the season, and quite likely never wear a Browns uniform again. If he is back next year, he'll probably be the third-stringer, behind Quinn and whoever else Mike Holmgren picks up in the offseason.

Quinn had an uneven year, to be sure. He completed 53% of his passes, throwing eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions. His 67.3 passer rating is 26th in the NFL, sandwiched between down-and-out veterans Marc Bulger and Kerry Collins. But he did improve over the course of the year, according to his coach. Eric Mangini says he was impressed with the way Quinn adapted the no-huddle offense, and of course he did go for a stretch of 150 passes without throwing an interception before having two picked by the Chiefs. And he didn't exactly have Jerry Rice and John Taylor to throw to. Guys like Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie may yet develop into stars, but they're rookies right now, and play like it most of the time. Quinn definitely showed some promise this year, and with just 13 NFL games under his belt, he looks like he could really become something.

Sunday's game against the Raiders will be Anderson's seventh start of the season, and there's precious little reason to expect much out of him. His passer rating of 36.2 would be dead last in the league by a wide margin if he had enough attempts to qualify, and it seems like eons since his Pro Bowl year of 2007. This is his fifth chance to be the starter. The Raiders are pretty bad, so it's possible that he'll luck into a victory the way he did against Buffalo, but I'd be shocked if he does very much.

Cleveland is Holmgren's new home

In case you haven't heard, Mike Holmgren is now running the Browns' front office. As my Chicago friend Mark Spencer put it, he's an accomplished football man, and I'm cautiously optimistic about having him here. I think he'll do a fine job.

I should mention that the new Browns have a history of hiring people who have had success in the NFL, but not in the roles they were hired for in Cleveland, and they've proven unequal to the task. That's not to say that will happen with Holmgren, but he's had his greatest success as a head coach. He took the Packers to two Super Bowls, winning one, and took the Seahawks to one also. When he was first hired in Seattle, he was executive vice president and general manager, in addition to being head coach. That position is probably somewhat analogous to the job he's taken in Cleveland, though at this time, there's no strong indication that he'll become the head coach (but that could certainly happen). He was fired from the front-office job after the 2002 season, but stayed on as coach. Maybe if he just does one or the other, he'll be successful. I guess we'll see. I look forward to finding out.

Two in a row? Yeah, that's right!

Never mind that the second win in the Browns' two-game winning streak came against one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Browns are also one of the worst teams in the NFL, so any win is worth celebrating.

The story of the Browns' 41-34 win over the Kansas City Chiefs obviously centers around Josh Cribbs and Jerome Harrison, both of whom set records in the game. Cribbs returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, both for three-digit yardage, and they were his seventh and eighth career kickoff returns for touchdowns. That makes him, at age 26, the NFL's career leader in scores on kickoff returns; the previous record of six was held by five others. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest kickoff returner in NFL history plays for the Cleveland Browns. Not bad for a guy who signed as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State in 2005. Just think of that! Any team in the NFL could have had him, instead of whoever they drafted in the seventh round that year. Without looking at the draft list, I'd wager every last one of them would trade that player for Cribbs.

But Harrison was just as good in this game, if not better. And his story is every bit as unlikely. Harrison came into the game with just 301 rushing yards this season, and just 750 in his four-year career, most of which has been spent as Jamal Lewis' backup. But he ran wild over the Chiefs yesterday, piling up 286 yards, the best single-game rushing performance in Browns history (any time you can break a record held by Jim Brown, that's got to feel pretty good) and the third-best in NFL history, behind the aforementioned Mr. Lewis and the Vikings' Adrian Peterson. Had the game gone into overtime, he'd have probably gotten the record — though I'm sure he's glad it didn't.

Harrison scored three rushing touchdowns, running it in from 71, 8, and 28 yards. It seemed like every time he was handed the ball, he was snapping off at least seven or eight yards. Harrison totally dominated the second half, much as Cribbs dominated the first half. He benefited from some great blocking up front — the same great blocking that allowed Brady Quinn to rush for 39 yards on just four carries — but credit Harrison for making the most of the opportunity.

Speaking of Harrison, I got this curious e-mail from regular Of Fair Hooker correspondent Jeff Brown:

What do you make of Jerome Harrison? Some game, eh? (third highest rushing total in the history of the No Fun League!)

However, what do you make of his "hot dogging" at the end of his last touchdown run, where he straddled the goal line and taunted the defender who was feebly trying to chase him down?

Jeff is a close friend, and I respect his observational ability, but I have no idea where he came up with that. Harrison was not hot-dogging, and I surely didn't see any taunting. With less than a minute left in the game as the Browns were scoring a tie-breaking touchdown, it seemed obvious to me that Harrison was just trying to tick a couple of seconds more off the clock, and give Matt Cassel just a little bit less time to work with.

Regardless, in this dismal season the Browns have had, this was one to remember. With all the talk of Mike Holmgren coming in and possibly taking over the coaching reins in addition to a hypothetical GM role, this must have felt great to Eric Mangini and his staff. And it's far from inconceivable that the Browns could make it three in a row next week against the 5-9 Raiders, though they're playing better lately too, winning three of their last five, including an improbable 20-19 upset of the Broncos yesterday. I sure look forward to watching that game, and I don't think I've said that about the Browns all year.

Moon those Nets

I'm not sure how the New Jersey Nets, a team that came into the game with a 2-22 record, managed to stay within 10 points of the Cavaliers last night at the Q. It was a lethargic effort by what is supposed to be one of the NBA's elite teams. The Cavs led by eight after one quarter, and then pretty much coasted the rest of the way. LeBron had an un-LeBron-like 23, though he did lead all scorers. The twin towers, Shaq and Z, each had 16, which was pretty big.

But the thing that stands out about this game was Devin Harris' mugging of Jamario Moon while Moon tried to go in for a layup on a fast break, after Shaq stole the ball from Harris on the other end of the court. Harris says he was going for the ball, and that may be true, but what he got was Moon's head. He clotheslined him down to the floor and was immediately grabbed by LeBron, with Shaq coming in from behind to join the fray. The officials called it a flagrant-2, which is an automatic ejection, then spent the better part of 10 minutes looking at the tape to make sure they were justified in tossing Harris. I can't imagine why it took so long — I mean, the guy tackled someone by the head, which isn't even legal in the NFL — but they did eventually make the right decision. By all accounts, Harris isn't considered a dirty player, but that was just plain ugly.

In any case, the Cavs have the 6-18 Philadelphia 76ers tonight. Five of the Cavs' seven losses this year have been to sub-.500 teams, so let's hope they don't sleepwalk through another one.

That actually happened

Yes, the rumors are true. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I might not have believed it. Our pathetic Cleveland Browns actually defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers last night, 13-6. Sure, these Steelers are not playing like the Steelers who edged the Cardinals last January for the title, as the Browns handed them their fifth-straight loss last night. Still, this was our first victory over Pittsburgh since 2003 (when Tim Couch was the quarterback!), and I don't know about you, but I intend to savor it. How did the Browns do it? There were two main factors: a fine defensive effort, and another overall outstanding game from Josh Cribbs.

The Cleveland defense was just phenomenal. Ben Roethlisberger, who had never lost to the Browns in 10 previous meetings, got sacked eight times. Eight times! Credit the pass rush, but even more, credit the coverage. Roethlisberger got sacked because he couldn't find anyone open, and the Browns' front seven wouldn't let him get out of the pocket. Roethlisberger put up decent passing numbers (18-for-32, 204 yards, no picks), but he was unable to make the big throw or big run that would change the game. The Browns stuffed the Steelers' running game too, holding Rashard Mendenhall to 52 yards on 18 carries.

And what can I say about Cribbs? That man was unstoppable. Not only did his 55-yard punt return set up the Browns' first field goal, but he kept snapping off big runs out of the wildcat formation. He was the game's leading rusher, going for 87 yards on just eight carries — including a 37-yarder, in which he broke a couple of tackles, that helped set up the Browns' touchdown near the end of the first half. Credit the offensive line, too — they opened up some nice holes for Cribbs and Chris Jennings, who scored that touchdown and rushed for 73 yards himself.

Brady Quinn was awful, throwing for just 90 yards on 6-of-19. He didn't turn the ball over, and the importance of that shouldn't be overlooked. But he really made some bad throws, especially in the second half, when things were getting tight.

But that's not important right now. What's important is that the Browns beat the Steelers last night. Sing it from the rooftops. Yes, we're 2-11, but right now, things seem OK in Browns Town.

Thanks for the memories, Jamal

Thanks to a concussion, the best offensive player in the short history of the New Browns has completed his sterling NFL career. Jamal Lewis, who ends his career 21st on the NFL's all-time rushing list, announced several weeks ago that he would hang up his cleats after this season, and he is now done for the season. He rushed for 10,607 yards in his career, the last 2,806 of which were for the Browns.

Lewis' best moment as a pro, as we all must remember, came in a Ravens uniform, in a game against the Browns. On September 14, 2003, Lewis ran wild over the Browns defense, going for an NFL-record 295 yards on 30 carries, including touchdown runs of 82 and 63 yards. He was busting long runs left and right, and the Browns were helpless to stop him. Lewis rushed for 2,066 yards that year, the second-best rushing season in NFL history, behind Eric Dickerson's 2,105 in 1984.

His career appeared to be slowing down when he came to the Browns in 2007, but he rattled off two straight 1,000-yard seasons in the brown and orange. His 1,304-yard total in 2007 was by far the best rushing season in the history of the New Browns, and the best total by any Brown in my lifetime. In fact, the great Jim Brown is the only one to top that total in a Browns uniform. Lewis will be joining Brown in Canton in a few years. I'm glad to have seen him on our team in the twilight years of his career, and wish him the best of luck in his post-career endeavors.

And so it continues

So you say you're dying to hear my thoughts on yesterday's Browns game? Here they are: It sucked.

What? You were hoping for more? All right, here's more: It really sucked.

Fine, I'll give you some thoughts, in no particular order.

• Losing to division rivals is always unpleasant, especially in this division. We have a special brand of hatred for each of our AFC North foes. Our hatred for the Bengals is probably an 8 or a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 — which makes them by far the least hated of the three, but it still hurts a little every time we lose to them. Still, would you rather they win the division, or Pittsburgh or Baltimore? By that logic, it's not so bad.

• Shaun Rogers' penalty at the end of the first half was typical of this Browns season. He tackled Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer from behind, by the shoulders, which is now called a horse-collar tackle and has been a personal foul in the NFL since 2005. This happened with no time left on the clock, and gave the Bengals enough yardage to kick a field goal. It didn't really affect the outcome of the game, but imagine if the Browns had managed to score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and lost 16-14. That field goal would have been huge.

• The Bengals out-gained the Browns, 306 yards to 169. The defensive effort was not bad at all, but once again, the offense was hideous. Brady Quinn, coming off his best game as a pro in last week's loss to Detroit, went 15-for-34 for 100 yards. Quinn did make a nice catch on a Josh Cribbs pass from the wildcat formation, and he also scored the Browns' only touchdown with his legs, but this was not a strong effort. And it was the seventh time the Browns have been held under 10 points this year.

• Speaking of the Browns' defense, they held Palmer to 110 yards passing on 13-of-24. But they did allow more than 200 yards on the ground, including Larry Johnson's first 100-yard effort since last year, when he was with the Chiefs. Still, the defense was good enough to win, had the offense done anything.

• The Browns are one of three 1-10 teams in the league, which of course is significant because they have a shot at the first pick in next year's draft. The Browns' remaining schedule includes two games they could conceivably win, against Kansas City and Oakland, who are both 3-8. The other two 1-10 teams — the Buccaneers and the Rams – have no real cupcakes left on their schedules. The Buccaneers' only win is against 7-4 Green Bay, which puts a win against someone like 4-7 Seattle or 4-7 Carolina within the realm of possibility. But the Rams' only win was against the 2-9 Lions. All but one of their remaining games are against sub-.500 opponents, but I can't see them beating any of them, even the 4-7 Bears. But we'll see, I guess.

Turkey day fun

Since I have nothing much going on today, I wanted to blog about something, but there's not much going on today in Cleveland sports. So I'm going to write about my Thanksgiving.

I learned a fun new party game yesterday at my wife's parents' house -- spoons, in which spoons are placed in the middle of the table, everybody gets four cards and passes cards around the table until somebody has four of a kind, then that person grabs a spoon, at which point everybody tries to grab a spoon. But since there is one spoon fewer than the number of players, somebody always loses. And if two people are grabbing a spoon at the same time, it becomes a battle of strength. At one point, I accidentally elbowed my mother-in-law in the face trying to pull a spoon out of the middle, then had to fight her for that spoon. I got it from her, by the way. There's something very strange about forcibly pulling something out of your mother-in-law's hand, even if it is just a game.

So it's kind of like musical chairs, but with spoons. And it's a fun way to mangle your friends and family. There were lots of broken fingernails and such, though nobody broke any bones, that I know of. There was biting, though -- and not a quick nibble, but a long, drawn-out "my teeth aren't letting go of your forearm until your hand lets go of that spoon" type of thing. And at one point, my pregnant wife, who was next to me at the end of the table and therefore had to stand to grab a spoon, knocked her chair over in standing up, but didn't realize she had knocked her chair over, and when she went to sit back down in her chair, fell all the way to the floor. I should add that nobody laughed at her until they made sure she was OK.

It's a rough game. And I look forward to playing it again soon.

1-15, here we come

Brady Quinn had by far his best day as a pro in yesterday's game against the Lions, and when he completed his fourth touchdown pass of the day to Michael Gaines, it looked good for the Browns to get their second win of the season. A Jamal Lewis run for a 2-point conversion gave the Browns a 37-31 lead with 5:44 to play. But ...

Phil Dawson's kickoff went out of bounds, giving Matthew Stafford and the Lions the ball at the 40. Fortunately, the drive ended with a Brodney Pool interception at the goal line with 3:40 left on the clock, giving Quinn and the Browns' offense the chance to put it away. The Browns managed to get one first down, taking the ball as far as their own 42 before they had to punt -- forcing the Lions to use the rest of their timeouts in the process.

Browns punter Reggie Hodges is no Dave Zastudil, but he sure did his job on this one, punting it 47 yards to the Lions' 11, where former Brown Dennis Northcutt fielded it and returned it one yard to the 12. So with 1:46 to go, the Lions had to go 88 yards with no timeouts. ... And the Browns employed what we all know to be the worst defensive scheme in the world, the prevent. It's intended to prevent big gains by allowing smaller ones. And in Eric Mangini and Rob Ryan's defense (no pun intended), it almost worked. The Lions did manage a few 11- to 17-yard gains, but their receivers were unable to get out of bounds to stop the clock, so at least in theory, the time off the clock was worth the yardage for the Browns.

When the clock got to 0:08 with the Lions having the ball at the Browns' 32, things were looking pretty good. They had one shot, maybe two, at the end zone. They might have been able to complete a quick pass to the sideline to get a little closer, but that's a risky proposition because the Browns were covering the sidelines pretty well. So they took one shot at a touchdown. The Browns put on a three-man rush and dropped everybody back to cover the end zone. It worked like a charm, as Pool intercepted Stafford's hail mary.

But Hank Poteat pulled the boner of the year, tackling a receiver who probably wouldn't have had a shot at the ball anyway. A defensive pass interference call in the end zone gives the offense the ball at the 1, and because the game can't end on a defensive penalty, the Lions got one more chance even though there was no time left on the clock. But Stafford got hurt on the previous play, meaning the Lions had to send out a completely un-warmed-up Daunte Culpepper to run the play. The Lions had no timeouts left, so there was nothing to be done about it. Presumably, Culpepper would just hand the ball off, since you can't expect a cold quarterback to throw the ball, or even run it himself.

And that's when Mangini pulled the coaching boner of the year, calling a timeout that gave the Lions a chance to evaluate Stafford and decide he had one more play in him. I understand that Mangini wanted to take a minute and make sure he had his defense set up properly, but it seems he totally failed to take into account the benefit the Lions would derive from a timeout. As we all know, Stafford came in and threw a touchdown pass that tied the game, and Jason Hanson's extra point ended it.

Hank Poteat feels awful for causing that penalty, and while it was a stupid thing for him to do, it was done in the heat of battle. Mangini has no excuse for calling that timeout.

The Browns have six games left. The schedule goes like this: Cincinnati (currently 7-3), San Diego (7-3), Pittsburgh (6-4), Kansas City (3-7), Oakland (3-7), and Jacksonville (6-4). The Raiders have looked terrible at times, but they managed to beat the Bengals yesterday behind backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski. If he plays, the Browns will lose that game. Kansas City has had a bad year too, but they beat the Steelers yesterday. I have a hard time imagining the Browns managing to get another win this year. Yesterday's game was their best shot, and they blew a 21-point lead against one of the NFL's worst teams. This team is cruising for 1-15, which would make them the worst team in Browns' history -- even worse than Tim Couch's 2-14 expansion team in '99.

The Onion picks on LeBron

No doubt playing off LeBron James' recent announcement that he would shed the number 23 in honor of Michael Jordan, and asked other players to do the same, the fine satirists at The Onion have put up a story about LeBron deciding to stop jumping during games, because that's what MJ did best. And yes, he wants other players to stop jumping too.

It's a joke, of course, but like a lot of The Onion's content, the headline is funnier than the story. And it ends with a mention of LeBron going out after making this statement and scoring 38 points Wednesday against the last-place Wizards with his feet flat on the floor. He did in fact score 34 points in a loss to the Wizards. They might as well have gotten that detail right.

Countdown to The Game

Yes, Ohio State plays Michigan at noon tomorrow. Yes, in this part of the country, that's always a big game. But it's been quite a while since The Game has meant this little. In recent years, at least one of the teams has always been playing for a BCS berth, if not a spot in the National Championship game.

This year? The Buckeyes are going to the Rose Bowl, win or lose; and the Wolverines are just trying to get out of last place in the Big Ten. At 5-6 overall (1-6 in the conference), Michigan would be bowl-eligible with a win, but so the heck what? These are not the Wolverines of Bo Schembechler or Lloyd Carr. This is perhaps a slightly better Michigan team than the one that went 3-9 (2-6) last year, but Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has probably got one more season to turn this thing around.

The Buckeyes are 13-point favorites tomorrow, but if they don't win by at least 20, they should be embarrassed. And they do at least have a national ranking to play for. They could get into the top 10 in the nation with a win tomorrow in Ann Arbor. If they then win the Rose Bowl, maybe they get into the top five. It's not a national championship, but I'd take it.

I'm not sure how I feel about Michigan being so cruddy right now. Sure, it's nice that we get a chance to whale on them, but part of being an Ohio State fan is being involved in arguably college football's biggest rivalry. If Michigan sucks, what rivalry is there?

Cavs' streak ends

The Cavaliers' five-game winning streak came to an end last night in a 108-91 loss to a Washington Wizards team that broke its own six-game losing streak in the process. How can this be? Well:

• Antawn Jamison was playing his first game of the season, after missing the Wizards' first nine games with a shoulder injury, and returned with a vengeance, scoring 31 points and pulling in 10 rebounds. He was a monster.
  
• The Cavaliers were playing the second night of a back-to-back, on the road, while the Wizards had been off the previous three days. And it was pretty obvious that played a part, as the Cavs got off to a fast start — up 17 in the second quarter — but faded down the stretch.
  
• The Cavs were without Shaquille O'Neal or Anderson Varejao, which left them with a combination of a suddenly very old Zydrunas Ilgauskas, J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson to man the post. And they simply couldn't hang. Z and Jackson each scored 10 points, but Hickson had his worst game in recent memory.
• Mo Williams, a very hot-and-cold shooter, was cold as ice in this one, going 2-for-13 from the floor.
• The Cavaliers committed 26 fouls, to the Wizards' 15. Whether that's because the Cavs actually fouled more or because the officials were calling the Cavs more tightly in enemy territory, it was definitely a factor. The Wizards went 31-of-35 from the line, the Cavaliers 14-of-15. That 17-point edge is equal to the differential in the final score.
  
• And the man the folks all pay to see, LeBron James, had a bad second half. He put up typical numbers — 34 points, nine assists — but turned the ball over six times, committed four fouls plus a technical, missed some shots badly, and while he had some fine moments, he totally failed to take control of the game. He also hurt his left wrist on a dunk, though it seems unlikely that it will make him miss any time. Hey, even superstars have off nights.

Speaking of that technical foul, it came after one of the most ludicrously bad calls I've ever seen in my life. LeBron drove the lane and was practically tackled by DeShawn Stevenson, but the official called a freaking jump ball. I can't imagine what he was looking at.

The Cavaliers now stand at 8-4, half a game ahead of Milwaukee for first place in the Central Division. This is a very good team that had a bad night.

Whatever, LeBron

So LeBron James is going to give up his #23 next year in honor of his hero, Michael Jordan. That's all well and good. I thought it was kind of dumb for him to choose that number in the first place, given that it was already associated with a player that many observers consider the greatest of all time. I felt he should have chosen a different number and blaze his own trail. But he chose #23 to honor Jordan, and now he wants to give it up for the same reason.

But he isn't stopping there. He wants all NBA players to give up #23. And he has precedent to lean on, from other sports. Major League Baseball has retired Jackie Robinson's #42, and the NHL has retired Wayne Gretzky's #99, so why shouldn't the NBA do the same?

Well, if you ask me, both of those gestures were silly to begin with, but regardless, they're different situations. Robinson's number wasn't retired because he was a great player (though, of course, he was). It was retired because he was the player who broke the color line. Really, that example has no bearing on LeBron's idea.

Gretzky is a much closer comparison. There are very few observers who do not believe Gretzky was the greatest who ever played hockey, and that's why his number is retired. But the thing about Gretzky's number is that he was given #99 to begin with because everybody knew he was special. As far as I know, he's the only player ever to wear #99 in hockey. It would be sacrilege for any other player to even consider it. There have been dozens and dozens of #23's in basketball. Sure, everybody associates it with Jordan, but it's obviously far from unthinkable for other players to wear it, unless they're playing for the Bulls. And while Jordan may be the consensus choice for greatest ever, can we all agree that he was better than Oscar Robertson or Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain or Magic Johnson or Larry Bird or ...? I'm not prepared to make that judgment. And you can't retire all those numbers league-wide.

So I don't see any reason for the NBA to retire #23 for every team, but I do think it's a positive step for LeBron to give it up, so he can have a number that's not already associated with one of the all-time greats. The number he's switching to? It's #6, the number worn by his second-favorite player, Julius Erving. ... Oh, LeBron.

I just hope that whatever number he winds up with, it's on a Cavaliers jersey.

Browns sell out, Lewis pops off

So it seems the Browns sold out Monday night's game against the Ravens just in time to avoid a blackout. I guess enough people are eager to see Brady Quinn's triumphant return (OK, his return, anyway) to the starter's job. I don't have high hopes for him or the team in general, but as it turns out, I've got Tuesday off from work, so I'll stay up and watch it. That doesn't mean I'm happy about how late it will start, but I keep harping on that, and even I'm tired of hearing me say it.

In other Browns-related news, Jamal Lewis popped off yesterday about how hard Coach Mangini is working the team. Money quote: "You can work hard as you want. You can work all day, seven days a week all the way up to Sunday in practice. But at the same time, if you're going to work like that, then maybe on Sunday you're probably not going to get what you want out of your players."

Lewis went on and on like that. Lewis is frustrated, as well he should be. He's having the worst season of his 10-year career as an individual, and this is no doubt the worst team he's ever played on. I don't think he should be running his mouth to reporters instead of talking to his coach, but since he's planning to retire after this season anyway, he really has nothing to lose. I'd bet there are other players on the team who feel the same way, and maybe they're right. I liked the Mangini hire when they made it, but now I'm thinking he was the wrong guy at the wrong time.

We need mo' Mo

In a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers took the Orlando Magic to the woodshed last night, in a game that was never as close as the final score indicated. The Cavs' lead was in the 20s all night, until the Magic outscored them 25-14 in garbage time, aka the fourth quarter.

We were all anxious to see how Shaquille O'Neal would do against Dwight Howard, who manhandled the Cavs in the aforementioned series last spring, and he did not disappoint. Though Howard did not miss a shot from the floor, he only took three, and finished with 11 points. He was also in foul trouble for much of the contest. (As was Shaq, I might add.) Shaq only scored 10, but his job is no longer to be the offensive force he used to be — not on a team with LeBron James.

Speaking of the King, he was his usual self, pouring in 36 points to go with eight rebounds. And Mo Williams was just phenomenal in leading the Cavs to their big first-half lead — they were up 15 at the half, led by Mo's 22 points on 9-for-9 shooting, including four three-pointers. Mo cooled off in the second half, but still wound up with 28 on the night.

And J.J. Hickson, starting at power forward, made a real positive conribution. Hickson had nine points and six rebounds in just 23 minutes, and always seemed to be around the ball. Hickson's plus-minus for the game was +13, which was tops on the team.

Next up, the Cavs have Dwyane Wade and the Heat tonight. It'll be a tough assignment, coming on the second day of a back-to-back, but I look forward to seeing it.

A satisfying Belcher

New Tribe manager Manny Acta has begun assembling his staff, starting with new pitching coach Tim Belcher. Belcher grew up in Sparta, Ohio, about a two-hour drive from Progressive Field down I-71. He pitched 14 seasons in the bigs, winning 146 games. He spent the last eight years with a much longer title in the Indians organization: special assistant to the baseball operations department. You don't know what that means? Well, according to Paul Hoynes' Plain Dealer article:

As a special assistant, Belcher worked with the Indians player development system in instructing and evaluating pitching talent at every level in the minor league system. He also scouted other teams, providing advance scouting reports for the last several years for the Tribe's big-league coaching staff.

It's hard to evaluate managers, and even harder to evaluate pitching coaches, especially pitching coaches who have never been pitching coaches before. We do know that the Indians have developed a few fine pitching prospects the last few years, with varying degrees of success at the big-league level, and perhaps Belcher deserves some credit for that. But perhaps not.