Lewis, Reyes earn spots

Real quick, because I don't have much time and I want to say something about this ...

I'm not a bit surprised that Anthony Reyes got a spot in the Indians' rotation. (On an interesting side note, it seems every time I try to type the word "spot," my fingers want to type "sport." Well, it's interesting to me, anyway.) Reyes, 27, proved himself last year, and deserves the shot. (Not the short.)

Scott Lewis pitched very well in four starts at the end of the year — after being called up to replace Reyes — but you had to think going into spring training that Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers would find a way to claim that slot. (I don't know what a slort is, but I just typed it. I've psyched myself out a bit, I think.) But Lewis leads the club in strikeouts this spring, and he's earned his chance too.

Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona both started badly this spring, but each has pitched well in his last start. Carl Pavano ... well, let's just hope he keeps his ERA under 5. But this is a pretty good-looking rotation.

Congratulations, Cleveland State (and some other thoughts)

The Cleveland State Vikings last night clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth since that magical run in 1986, by beating heavily favored Butler, 57-54. For those too young to remember, those '86 Vikings were a 14 seed and upset Bob Knight's Indiana squad in the first round, then made the Sweet Sixteen before falling to a Navy team led by future Hall of Famer David Robinson.

At 25-10 against a Horizon League schedule, this Cleveland State team will also be a low seed, but they'll ultimately be in the same situation as 63 other teams. Win six games, and you're the champs. And every game starts at zero-zero.

* The Cavaliers nearly laid an egg last night against in L.A. against a bad Clippers team. They trailed by 19 early in the fourth quarter. But Mo Williams' three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left capped a furious comeback that also included LeBron's fifth triple-double of the season, and put the Cavs ahead to stay. I'm guessing I'm like most of you in that I didn't stay up for the end (the game started at 10:30 our time), but I did see our guys' early struggles. They're going to have to play better than that to win a championship. Give them credit, though. It's not easy to make up 19 points in one quarter in the NBA, even against a team that came in 15-48.

* I don't know how many of you are following the World Baseball Classic, but I've found it very entertaining so far. The U.S. team (featuring new Indian Mark DeRosa) won a tough game against Canada and then blew out Venezuela to move into the next round. They've got a rematch against the Hugo Chavez boys tonight to determine seeding.

* I didn't see either of the Dutch team's upsets of the Dominicans, but that's got to rank right up there with Chaminade over Virginia or the Miracle on Ice in terms of sheer magnitude of the upset. And they did it twice! Dominicana (as it says on their uniforms) outplayed the Netherlands in every phase of the game except defense — and, of course, that's why they're done. They made costly errors in both games, and the Dutch boys capitalized. And that's why they play the games, ladies and gentlemen.

* If you play fantasy baseball in a keeper league, you can sympathize with this: A league I'm in has five keepers per year, so you've got to make some tough, tough choices. My five keepers are David Wright, Josh Hamilton, Tim Lincecum, Brandon Webb and Joe Nathan. That's a fine group, to be sure, and I'm happy to have them all. But I had to leave off Prince Fielder, who had a bit of a disappointing year in '08, but still hit 32 home runs and knocked in 102 runs, and is only 25; former Indian Ryan Ludwick, the steal of last year's draft, who hit 37 dingers for the Cardinals; Cole Hamels, who had bad luck with wins and losses but struck out 196 hitters and posted a 3.09 ERA for the champion Phillies; and Alfonso Soriano, who hit 29 homers and stole 19 bases last year. Not to mention Kerry Wood, the supposed savior of the Tribe's bullpen. But the league commissioner wouldn't let me keep more than five. It hurts a little, but I'll get over it.

Clinched!

Our Cavaliers last night became the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the NBA this year, about half an hour before the Celtics joined them in Clinchville. At 48-12, our guys wrapped up their fourth straight playoff berth with more than a month left in the season, and if they can hold off Boston (48-14) and the Lakers (49-12) for the league's best record, I predict they'll win it all. I know L.A. is the only team that's beaten the Cavs at home, but if we've got home-court for four of seven, I think we can take them, especially if they can get everybody healthy for the playoffs. As Terry Pluto pointed out in his column on Sunday, the Cavaliers are 26-4 in games started by the regular group, which is LeBron, Mo, Z, Big Ben and Delonte.

I've said before that this is the best team in franchise history, and they will soon prove me right by winning more regular-season games than any Cavaliers team has before. Their best regular-season record in history is 57-25, which the Price-Daugherty-Nance Cavs did in 1988-89 and again in 1991-92. This bunch will have to go at least 10-12 the rest of the season to top that, which is about as close to a foregone conclusion as you can get at this point in the year. This team is playing extremely well right now.

Injury bug bites Cavs again

I didn't realize it had been three weeks since my last post. Bad Steve! I hope you good people can forgive me.

The Cavaliers have done a pretty good job weathering injuries from Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Delonte West this year, but losing Big Ben Wallace might hurt more than those did. Wallace is out 4-6 weeks with a broken leg after Yao Ming kicked him in the second quarter during last night's game in Houston. He played through it into the third quarter before deciding to come out and get it X-rayed, and that's when the fracture was discovered. The guy must have a high tolerance for pain!

Wallace has missed three games this year, during which the Cavaliers are 2-1. He's only averaging 3.0 points and 6.6 rebounds a game, but he's the anchor of the defense. Anderson Varejao will presumably slide back into the starting lineup, as he did when Z was hurt. He'll do a fine job, I'm sure, but he's so great bringing energy off the bench. We'll miss that.

Don't misunderstand: With or without Ben Wallace, this is still one of the NBA's elite teams. As long as you've got a LeBron James, you've got a chance to win any game. But it's going to be hard to hold off the Celtics for the East's best record as it is. We need healthy players for that.

Tsmfp, Yjpihjyd ("Random Thoughts" with my fingers one key off)

Having survived this morning's subzero assault:


* Mo Williams again got snubbed for the All-Star roster, as Commissioner David Stern chose Ray Allen to replace the injured Jameer Nelson. I'm led to understand a lot of people are upset about this, and a caller to the Trivisonno show this afternoon (hosted by Chuck Galeti in Triv's absence) suggested that LeBron should sit out the All-Star Game in protest. I hope most of us can agree that's ridiculous. I agree that Williams deserved to go, but Stern didn't do this to flip off Cleveland. Ray Allen's a pretty good player too. Reasonable people can disagree about which deserved it more.

* LeBron's performance at Madison Square Garden last night was just unbelievable -- except that we've come to expect that from him. But come on, a triple-double in which he scored 52 points? Kobe Bryant got so much attention for scoring 61 in the Garden in the Knicks' previous game, but that was with zero rebounds and three assists. LeBron's follow-up was just as good. If you add up all his positive stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks) and subtract his negative ones (turnovers, missed field goals, missed free throws), LeBron's game total is 53. Kobe took a lot of shots and didn't miss many on Monday night, but he didn't do much else. His total was 51.

* It's hard to imagine in this weather, but the Indians' pitchers and catchers will report to the club's new spring training home in Goodyear, Arizona, a week from today. There are a few things to be decided in Goodyear. Mark Shapiro and Eric Wedge have said Mark DeRosa will play third base, leaving Jhonny Peralta at short and Asdrubal Cabrera at second. It makes more sense to me to shift J.H. to third and Droob to short, but that's assuming J.H. can play third. We can't really assume that. He is supposed to see some time at third in Goodyear, so maybe that's still on the table.

* We know who the closer is (Kerry Wood), and we know we'll have Los Dos Rafael along with Joe Smith and Masa Kobayashi in the bullpen. The last spot in the pen is likely Adam Miller's to lose, but there's always a competition for that spot, and it always changes a couple of weeks into the season anyway. We'll probably see John Meloan, Tony Sipp and Rich Rundles at some point. Edward Mujica, who had a great year at three levels a couple of years ago but was pretty awful last year, is out of options, so he might be gone. But he might clear waivers anyway.

* The top of the rotation is Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona, and of course Carl Pavano has a spot locked down already. The last two spots are up for grabs, but I'm thinking Anthony Reyes has earned a chance. Unless they sign somebody else, the favorite for the fifth spot is probably Aaron Laffey. I'd sure like to see Jeremy Sowers bounce back, but he might have to start bouncing back in Columbus. (Too bad they moved the AAA team; "bouncing back in Buffalo" would have sounded better.)

* I haven't been paying close attention to college basketball this season, but I can't help but notice that after Ohio State's upset of No. 12 Purdue the other night, the Buckeyes are 16-5, 6-4 in the Big Ten, which puts them in a four-way tie for third place. They're still unranked, but they're 26th in RPI, and could make some noise come March Madness time.

Recapping one of the best Super Bowls ever

I hate to call this one of the best Super Bowls ever, simply because of who won. I wanted badly for the Cardinals to pull it out, and the fact that they didn't was very disappointing from that perspective. But it was a dramatic, thrilling heavyweight prize fight, and it will be well-remembered for years to come. And at least, as a Miami University graduate, I can be proud of my alma-mater-mate, Ben Roethlisberger. I'm not, but I can be, if I so choose.

I will now go through the game, highlight by highlight:

The Steelers' opening drive was impressive, and it seemed inevitable that they would score a touchdown. But Arizona held them tough, and of course a Roethlisberger touchdown got called back on replay. That was huge -- had Roethlisberger gotten maybe an inch farther with the ball, it would have been six, and probably seven. So one inch was worth four points, if you follow. ... Still, the way Big Ben and the Steelers drove through the Cards' D on that drive seemed to portend ill for those who prefer a tight game, and for those who were rooting for the men in red.

Of course, Kurt Warner and his gang hadn't taken the field yet. Warner, as we all know, was a Super Bowl MVP 10 years ago for the Rams, and seems to have regained his form. There has been talk over the last two weeks of a plaque for Warner in Canton, and while I can't say I really think of him as a Hall of Famer, he has at least proved this winter that at age 37, he still has the goods. But the Cardinals stalled and punted, which led to the first Australian-born player ever to play in a Super Bowl, playing in a Super Bowl. That, of course, is Cardinals punter Ben Graham. That graphic flashed across the screen, and all I could do was laugh. The things they keep track of these days, huh?

On the ensuing Pittsburgh drive, Roethlisberger started showing off his scrambling legs, making a great play to get free on an across-the-field first-down throw to Heath Miller. A quarterback who can do that is pretty dadgummed hard to stop, as we would see over and over again throughout the course of the game. Benny-boy gave credit to his offensive line in the post-game interview, but the protection really wasn't that great. He just wouldn't let those big, mean defensive linemen get to him. The Steelers, of course, banged it in on that drive, and it was 10-0. And the rout was on, it seemed.

But Kurt Warner and his three 1,000-yard receivers went to work on the next drive. Warner made some big throws on that drive, and Ben Patrick -- who hadn't caught a touchdown pass the entire season up to that point -- made a great catch in traffic to make it 10-7. And now we knew we were going to have a game.

Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes combined for a big gainer on the ensuing drive, but it got called back for holding, and the Steelers were forced to punt to Steve Breaston. The Michigan grad returned it all the way to the Steelers' 42 as the second quarter started to wane, but a big Lamar Woodley sack on Warner stalled that drive. Ah, but Carlos Dansby picked a Roethlisberger pass that had been tipped at the line, and the Cards were in bidness again.

Unfortunately, that set up what was to be probably the play of the game. On what was to be the last play of the second quarter, Warner tried to find Anquan Boldin in the end zone, but he was well-covered by defensive end James Harrison. And, it turns out, Harrison can catch, and Harrison can run. As you are no doubt aware by now, his 100-yard interception return for a touchdown was the longest play in Super Bowl history. The longest play in Super Bowl history -- made by a DEFENSIVE END. It seemed the football gods wanted the Steelers to win. Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston -- two wide receivers -- managed to catch up to Harrison before he got into the end zone, but they were not able to make the tackle. It's usually pretty comical to watch a wide receiver try to make a tackle, and this was no exception. Fitzgerald actually took Harrison down, but the only reason Harrison's knee didn't touch the ground is because Fitzgerald's body was in the way. Had Fitzgerald been maybe an inch or two to the left or right, Harrison's knee might have hit the ground, and it might have been 10-7 going into halftime. So in this case, an inch meant seven points. And it's worth noting that had the pass fallen incomplete, the Cardinals would have had time for at least one more play, maybe two. So what could have been a 14-10 Arizona lead was instead a 17-7 Pittsburgh lead. Gut-wrenching stuff, Clevelanders. How does a freaking defensive end run 100 yards for a touchdown? Come on! A defensive end!

The Cardinals no doubt were champing at the bit to get back out there and close the gap, but they had to wait through a Super Bowl-length halftime. I don't actually know how long it was, but with Bruce Springsteen out there, it seemed like about four hours. (Yeah, I'm not a fan, and I don't care who knows.) It must have been at least 20 minutes, though, and we all know halftime of a regulation NFL game is supposed to be 15 minutes. I don't care what the entertainment is at halftime, I think it's wrong to stretch it out any longer. Whatever pageantry has been assembled should automatically be subordinate to the interest of the game. Harrumph and grumble. The halftime entertainment at the Super Bowl has become a story in itself, and I'm tired of it. Call me a curmudgeon if you will, but I think if you sit down to watch the Super Bowl, you should be most interested in watching a football game, and not some dumbass singer who wears jewelry on her nipple.

Now then, getting back to the game ...

The Cardinals didn't do much on their first drive of the second half, dodging a bullet when what was originally ruled a Warner fumble that Pittsburgh's Harrison recovered, was ruled an incomplete pass on replay. His arm wasn't moving forward very much, but it definitely was moving forward. Maybe an inch.

After the Steelers got it back, it seemed the Cardinals were bound and determined to let them score, simply by giving them penalty yardage. The Cards were called for three personal fouls on that drive, though I will say one of them -- a roughing-the-passer call against Dansby -- was pretty ticky-tack. They again held the Steelers to a field goal (though Adrian Wilson gave them a second chance to go for a touchdown by steamrolling the holder on their first attempt), so it was 20-7, and starting to look like the Cardinals might want to think about their post-game plans.

The teams exchanged fruitless possessions before Warner and the Cardinals started to go to work again. Warner did a lot of dinking and dunking on that drive, completing almost all of his passes, before Fitzgerald made a fan-freaking-tastic catch on a ball the Steelers' Ike Taylor had a hand on. And now it was 20-14, and the barn was starting to burn.

A sack of Roethlisberger on second-and-six was the key to stopping the Steelers' next possession, and Warner went back to work. Taylor helped them out with a late hit out of bounds on a Boldin catch, but on two separate occasions in the next sequence, Warner almost threw an interception, and the Cards had to punt again. When the punt pinned Big Ben's Boys back behind the 1, everybody at the party I attended was yelling for a safety. Even in that situation, a safety is highly unlikely, but darned if it didn't happen, due to a holding penalty in the end zone. That made it 20-16. Given that that happened with less than four minutes to go, the points didn't make a huge difference, but the key is the Cardinals got the ball back with plenty of time to work the ball down the field.

They didn't use much -- Warner and Fitzgerald connected on a 64-yard catch and run that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 23-20 with 2:37 to go in the game. Breaston and Boldin ran out routes that took the corners toward the sidelines, and Fitzgerald caught a slant pass and outran everybody to paydirt. It was a thing of beauty, and I'm not ashamed to admit I jumped for joy.

But that 2:37 was, as we now know, more than enough time for Roethlisberger, Holmes and the boys. Roethlisberger ran wild in the pocket on the next drive, completing a big third-down pass to Holmes on one play after scrambling and another big one to Holmes after stepping up in the pocket, though his 40-yard pass to Holmes that took it down to the 6 was made from a stationary position. As the clock ticked to under a minute, it looked like we might be looking at our first overtime Super Bowl, but then Holmes made a tremendous catch in the corner of the end zone, and managed to get both feet down. Maybe it was my Browns-fan glasses, but it sure looked to me like he didn't get his right foot down before he went out. But of course, it doesn't matter what I think. Had his foot been an inch off the ground, it would have been an incomplete pass. So in this case, one inch was worth the game.

Warner didn't have enough time to return the punch, and fumbled it away while trying to make a miracle happen with five seconds left. And one of the best Super Bowls I ever saw was in the books, gone to the stinking Steelers, for the sixth stinking time.

As Slim Pickens said in "Blazing Saddles," I sure am depressed.

Cavs continue to hum

Watching from my window as the snow continues to fall ...

The Cavaliers sleepwalked through a lot of that game last night against the Kings, but two guys who didn't sleepwalk at all were (of course) LeBron James and Mo Williams. Mo scored 43, which is the most a LeBron teammate has ever scored; and they came within two Williams rebounds of being the third set of teammates since 1989 to each have a triple-double in the same NBA game. Mo was a huge addition to this team, and is the main reason why a team that struggled to stay above .500 last year now has the NBA's best record. The All-Star reserves are about to be announced, and I admit I haven't looked at the stats of players Williams might be up against for one of those spots, but it sure seems to me like he deserves to go. It's hard to believe all Danny Ferry gave up for him was Joe Smith and Damon Jones.

The Cavs are now 21-0 at home, the fifth team in NBA history to stay undefeated after more than half the season's home schedule. Of the other four, only the '95-96 Bulls (who started an NBA-record 37-0 at home) went on to win the title. Interestingly, the second-longest season-starting home winning streak belonged to another team in the same conference, the same year. Shaquille O'Neal's Magic, who lost to those Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, went 36-0 before losing their first home game in '95-96, a year after starting 21-0 at home and losing in the NBA Finals. The other team to start 21-0 at home was the '77-78 Trail Blazers, who won their first 26 home games and went on to lose in the Western Conference Finals. We are students of sporting history here at Of Fair Hooker.

As mentioned here earlier this week, Zydrunas Ilgauskas hopes to return tomorrow night in Orlando. Whether he makes it back for that marquee matchup or not, he'll be playing again soon. Delonte West will take a little longer, but should be back around mid- to late February. If this team can stay healthy after that, I'm really not sure anybody can stop them.

Happy Monday

Today's thoughts are brought to you by the number 18.4:

* George Kokinis is the new architect of the Browns' fortunes, as we all expected. They didn't get him in time to represent the team at the Senior Bowl, but he'll be running the show at the combine next month. Kokinis and Eric Mangini are old friends and both former Belichick guys, which could be good. Or bad. All I know is they've got to be better than Phil and Romeo. (I'm not saying they are better, simply that they've got to be. They've just GOT to be!)

* I don't know how long this has been up, but I just noticed the Plain Dealer's Web site is advertising the fact that they have every Browns game story ever available now on their Web site. You can search the database here. You can search by season, or by opponent, or by how many points the Browns scored or gave up, or by whether they were at home or on the road, or by whether they won, lost or tied, or by some combination of the above. I just did a search for overtime games that the Browns won, in which they scored at least 30 points, and came up with nine results dating back to a 30-27 win over New England in 1977. How freaking cool is that?

* The Cavaliers just completed a darned nice road trip, in which they went 3-1, their only loss to the Lakers. And they're about to get one of their key pieces back, as Zydrunas Ilgauskas is planning to return to the court for Thursday's game against the Magic, in a matchup of Eastern Conference heavyweights. The Celtics seem to have righted the ship again, and the above-named trio of teams are the clear class of the conference this year. Anyway, it'll be good to get Z back. Anderson Varejao played well as the starting center in his absence, but Z has four inches on him, and believe me, that makes a difference. And I like Andy bringing the energy off the bench. Z's broken ankle has cost him 14 games this year, and the Cavs have gone 10-4 in those games. That's darned nice, but they're 24-4 in games Z has played, so they've clearly missed him.

* LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time this year. We've become so spoiled by this guy. If he didn't play for my team, I'd be sick and tired of him. But he's already a strong candidate for best athlete in the history of Cleveland team sports. Sure, I'd vote for Jim Brown right now, perhaps followed by Tris Speaker, and you have to consider guys like Otto Graham and Bob Feller, but LeBron's definitely in the conversation. And he just turned 24 last month.

* There's not much going on with the Tribe right now, but pitchers and catchers report in less than a month. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian breaks down the Tribe and the entire AL Central in this piece, and concludes that the division is up for grabs. The page includes a video clip of Peter Gammons talking Tribe on Baseball Tonight. Interesting stuff.

* Go Cardinals!

Dante Lavelli, RIP

As I sit here typing this blog post, I'm picturing you as you read it. I may or may not know you, but the picture I have is of somebody like me, a guy in his late 30s who's been watching the Indians, Browns and Cavaliers fail to get a championship over and over and over again. It's possible that you personally are a woman in her 90s, sitting in New Delhi and, having just heard of Cleveland for the first time, decided to investigate and clicked links until you got to this site, but I guess that's pretty far-fetched.

So chances are that, like me, you don't remember Dante "Gluefingers" Lavelli's 11 years with the Browns, nor the seven championship teams of which he was part. He was Otto Graham's favorite target from the team's inception in 1946, leading the AAFC in receiving as a rookie and catching the winning touchdown pass in the title game. Four years later, in the Browns' first year in the NFL, he caught 11 passes in the NFL Championship Game against the Rams.

Bill Livingston's column in the PD is worth reading. It's about how loyal Lavelli was to the Browns organization, never speaking his mind about Modell until the day he announced the Browns were moving. Then he let loose on Modell, who had betrayed the city in a way Lavelli didn't respect. Livingston also mentions how Lavelli "did not so much catch the ball as attack it." It sounds like he was a lot of fun to watch, if you were a Browns fan.

Lavelli only caught 386 passes in his career, tied for 193rd on the all-time list. Of course, there were only 12 games in the regular season then, and the running game was greatly favored; at the time he retired, he was second on that list (behind Tom Fears). He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.

Happy Monday, sports fans

Having dug out from under the weekend's storm, I have the following thoughts about what's going on in Cleveland, sports, and most especially, Cleveland sports:

• The Cavaliers' win over the Celtics on Friday night was indeed satisfying, but let's not forget that, though the Celtics still have the Eastern Conference's third-best record, they came in on a major slide, having lost their last three and five of their last seven. The Cavs are currently a half-game behind the Lakers for the NBA's top record, and topped ESPN's power rankings this week.
• Our guys are 3-1 since Zydrunas Ilgauskas went down with an ankle injury. Anderson Varejao has been starting in Z's place, and has done a fine job. And J.J. Hickson has gotten some extended playing time during that stretch, and has looked pretty decent.
• The Indians signed backup catcher Kelly Shoppach to a one-year deal worth $1.95 million today, avoiding arbitration. Leaving aside the ridiculous money a backup catcher can make these days, Shoppach's a key piece for the Tribe next year, as Victor Martinez increasingly becomes an ex-catcher. Here's a question you probably wouldn't have gotten if you weren't already reading an item about Kelly Shoppach: Who led American League catchers in home runs in 2008? No, not Yogi Berra.
• Cy Young winner Cliff Lee has announced he will not pitch in the World Baseball Classic this year. As an American, I kind of think that's too bad. The other participating countries will all put their very best players on the field, but U.S.-born players just don't take it seriously. That said, I can't really blame him. He doesn't want to jeopardize his regular-season performance. I don't want him to either.
• Michael Aubrey, a former top corner infield prospect whose career has been hampered by injuries, has cleared waivers. He was taken off the 40-man roster to make room for Carl Pavano. Aubrey turns 27 in April, and most hitters peak around age 27. I hope he can get it together, but I'm not highly optimistic. We'll see.
• The stinkin' ex-Browns or the stinkin' Steelers will be AFC champs. That's depressing, to the extent that the results of a sporting event can be depressing.
• As if we didn't have enough reason to root against Baltimore, the Browns have interviewed George Kokinis, the director of player personnel over there, for the vacant general manager post, and can't sign him until the Cravens are eliminated. If he's the guy. I have no idea if he should be or not, but it kind of sucks that we have to wait to find out.
• Rickey Henderson got into the Hall of Fame on his first try, and Jim Rice got in on his last try. Henderson is a worthy first-ballot Hall of Famer; Rice is a pretender. No offense to him; he was a fine player, but several others are more deserving. (Blyleven, Dawson and Raines come to mind.) Too many voters don't understand how much Fenway Park inflated Rice's numbers. But there are other undeserving Hall of Famers, and Rice is certainly less glaring than some.
• U.S. Sen. (and Cleveland resident) George Voinovich announced his retirement from politics today. As a fiscal conservative, I admire Voinovich and would have been interested in seeing him run for president. He's an honest politician, which is far too rare. Would that there were more like him in Congress -- not to mention other offices around the country. See? I know about things other than sports.

Random thoughts

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

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

He's the Mangini!

To the surprise of none, Eric Mangini is the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns, and I think it's a good choice. He becomes the Browns' first coach with previous NFL head coach experience since Terry Robiskie, who hardly counts because of the interim label; before that, you have to go all the way back to Nick Skorich, who coached the Eagles from 1961-63 before taking the helm in Cleveland from 1971-74. So the year I was born was the last year an experienced coach started the season as the Browns' coach. And look how big I've gotten! (I know you can't see me through the computer, but trust me, I'm a decent-sized fellow.)

For them what's curious, Skorich took over a team that had gone 7-7 in 1970 and led them to the playoffs in his first two years in Cleveland, but never won a playoff game with the Browns. That's interesting, but not particularly relevant; I just thought I'd mention it.

Mangini was born the same year I was, which makes me shake my head a little, but if the Constitution says you can be President at age 35, the Browns can certainly afford to hire a man who's about to turn 38 to be their coach. He went 23-25 in three seasons with the Jets, with one good year (2006, when they went 10-6), one bad year (2007, 4-12), and one mediocre year (2008, 9-7 after starting 8-3). It's hard to evaluate coaches, but give me a guy who's had some success as a head coach over a guy who's never done the job before any day. We Browns fans all know how successful a coach can be in his second job. And Mangini has Cleveland ties, having served as a ball boy for the Browns during the Belichick era. Yeah, that still counts.

Eric Mangini (I assume you'll read this), welcome back to Cleveland. We're excited to have you on board. (That's right, I presume to speak for all Browns fans. If you disagree, that's what the comment option is for.)

Happy New Year

Some thoughts on the various sporting action from New Year's Day and the last few days of 2008:

• Pete Carroll said after USC's 38-24 win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl that "in all due respect," he doesn't think anybody can beat the Trojans this year. Setting aside the incorrect preposition and the fact that somebody actually did beat USC this year, he's got a point. Southern Cal was one of seven teams from BCS conferences to win all but one of its games, and they earned the right to play for the national title just as much as Florida or Oklahoma did. (So did Penn State, for that matter.) We're not going to see a playoff anytime soon, I'm afraid, but this should have been a playoff game.
• Penn State could have won that game if they hadn't made so many big mistakes. This despite a Rose Bowl-record .800 passing percentage and 413 yards from Mark Sanchez, who was simply outstanding. Penn State turned the ball over too many times, and got a turnover of their own called back because of an offsides penalty -- which was one of too many penalties they committed against too good a team.
• The Lions weren't the only Big Ten team to fall on Thursday. Michigan State couldn't hang with Georgia in the Capital One Bowl, and after earlier losses by Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the conference is now 1-5 in bowl games. Ohio State has a chance to make them 2-5 by beating Texas on Monday night in the Fiesta Bowl, but that's going to be tough. If not for Iowa's drubbing of South Carolina in the Outback Bowl yesterday, we could be looking at a Big Ten goose egg.
• Beanie Wells hasn't decided yet whether he'll play on Saturdays or Sundays next year. Selfishly, as an Ohio State fan, I'm hoping he sticks around another year, but if I were him, I'd go for the money. If he stayed in college another year, he might win a national title, but he would risk a very expensive injury.
• I didn't watch the hockey game that was played at Wrigley Field yesterday, but I love that there's one outdoor NHL game every year. Many hockey players grew up playing on ponds in the wintertime, and I kind of feel like that's the way the game was meant to be played. And in watching the highlights, it was kind of neat to see the hand-operated scoreboard being used for hockey.
• The Cavaliers lost their fifth game of the year the other day (on LeBron's 24th birthday), to a pretty good Heat team in Miami, two days after beating the same team in Cleveland. At 26-5, they've still got the league's third-best record, and I'm still optimistic about their chances to win it all. But they've got to get home court over the Celtics. And don't look now, but the 25-7 Magic is a threat too.
• For those who, like me, jones for baseball all winter, you should check out this Tim Kurkjian column about the Indians' outlook for 2009. Kurkjian concludes that the Tribe "could rebound in a big way," and I think he's right. Did you know our guys had the AL's second-best record after July 9 last year? That all came after the Sabathia trade, too. (Special thanks to my good friend John Arthur Hutchison for sending me the link.)
• Speaking of baseball, the MLB Network debuted yesterday, and thank goodness for that.

A pathetic epitaph for the 2008 Cleveland Browns

Today's game against the Steelers went pretty much as we all expected. Yeah, I think we all would have guessed that 31-0 would sound about right. If the first-, second- and third-string quarterbacks couldn't lead a touchdown drive, it was nearly a lead-pipe cinch that the guy who wasn't on an NFL roster a couple of weeks ago wouldn't manage it either.

So the Browns finished 4-12 for the second time under Romeo Crennel. They ended up last in the AFC North, after the Bengals managed to win their last three to best them by a half-game. They had the second-worst record in the AFC, topping only the 2-14 Chiefs. They lost their last six. During that streak, their opponents scored at least three touchdowns (off the top of my head) on plays the Browns started on offense, but the Browns did not score a single offensive touchdown in that time. Pathetic. You probably heard this, but that's the first time any team has ever rattled off that long a streak (the previous record was 22 quarters by the '74 Bears). The Browns will have a chance to lengthen it going into the first game of 2009.

I suppose I could go into recap mode, but other writers will do that, and I'm kind of lazy. I will mention that Jamal Lewis got to 1,000 yards for the second year in a row, and the third time a Brown did that in the expansion era. So that's cool. I loved Josh Cribbs all year, and of course Joe Thomas and Sean Rogers made the Pro Bowl. And hey, the Browns won four more games than the Lions. So we've got that going for us.

Cavs pull even with Celtics in loss column

It's generally accepted that there are three NBA teams that tower over the rest this season -- the defending champion Celtics, the defending Western Conference champion Lakers, and our Cavaliers. For weeks, the Cavs have been looking up at the Celtics for the best overall record, but after Boston fell on back-to-back nights to the Lakers and Warriors, we're essentially even with them now. Yes, they're 27-4, and we're only 25-4, but the important number is that 4.

There seems little reason to doubt that the Cavaliers and Celtics will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals in a few months, provided everyone stays healthy. And it seems to me the determining factor in who wins that series will be who has home court. Both teams have been nearly invincible at home: The Cavs are 15-0 at the Q, and the Celtics are 17-1 in Boston. Not that this means anything, but current tabulations on coolstandings.com predict that Cleveland will go 65-17 on the year, and Boston will go 62-20. (The Lakers are also projected at 62-20, which would give us home court for the Finals, should we face them in that series.)

It's definitely less than a 50-50 bet that the Cavaliers will be NBA champions in six months. But there has never been a better basketball team in Cleveland, and at this point, they have as good a shot as anybody. As Terry Pluto points out, there are only five players on this team who were here at this time a year ago. I used to think it took players a lot longer than that for a basketball team to come together. The '07-08 Celtics proved me wrong. I have a darned good feeling about this Cavaliers team.

Some random notes

I haven't had much time to post lately, and I don't have much time right now either, but I've got a few quick hits for you while I have a moment.

• Let it be known that the absolute low point, the very nadir, of the Cleveland Browns expansion era occurred on December 21, 2008. Losing at home, 14-0, to one of the worst teams in the NFL is just sickening. In theory, they could go lower, but they could lose 70-0 to the Steelers on Sunday and it wouldn't feel as pathetic as that loss to the Bengals did. It should be interesting to see how Bruce Gradkowski does. He can't do much worse than Ken Dorsey did against the Bungs.

• On the plus side, the Cavaliers are looking as good as ever, dispatching the 19-10 Houston Rockets in the second half last night after keeping it even at the half. Mo Williams was a big key to that effort, and LeBron had another one of his how-the-hell-did-he-do-that blocks from behind — this time on 7'5" Yao Ming.

• There's not much going on with the Tribe, but the Yankees just reminded us how much harder it is for everybody else to put a competitive team on the field, after signing Mark Teixeira. They now have the three most expensive contracts in baseball. I hope they choke on them.

• Joe Paterno's going to coach until he's 200 years old.

• I haven't had time to do a proper tribute to the late Sammy Baugh, but how amazing is it that he still, to this day, holds passing, intercepting and punting records?

May you and everyone you care about have a merry Christmas. And while I'm at it, have a merry December 26th too. I hope you don't spend the whole day returning gifts.

Kerry Wood to the mound

Before I start on Kerry Wood, let me apologize to both of my regular readers for the fact that I have not posted anything in a week and a half. I've been so very busy lately. Doesn't mean I haven't had anything to say, or that I don't love you.

My good friend Jeff Brown had this to say about the Wood signing, which as you may recall is two years, $20.5 million, with a club option for a third year at $11 million that kicks in automatically if he finishes a certain number of games in either '09 or '10:

Does Mark Shapiro know what he's doing?

They just gave over $20 million to a pitcher who has spent more time in the hospital getting surgeries and doing rehab than he has pitched over the past 8 years.

He'll go on the DL in early May, after missing most of Spring Training, then be on and off the DL all year (mostly on) and finish with 6 saves, a 5.97 ERA, and a record of 0-6.

Jeff could be right, of course, but I do not share his pessimism. There's some degree of gamble involved, just as there is some degree of gamble in signing any player, especially a pitcher. But Wood's is not a young arm anymore. He'll turn 32 on June 16. A lot of pitchers have been injury-prone during their 20s and then come around to be healthy through their 30s. In fact, I think such a pitcher might be slightly better off because all those years when he could have been putting strain on his developing arm by throwing 100 pitches every five days, he was sipping piña coladas and waiting for his arm to be ready to pitch again. The throwing arm isn't fully developed until it's been around for nigh on 30 years.

And Wood managed to stay healthy last year while pitching only the ninth, sometimes as many as three days in a row. I think his arm can handle that on an ongoing basis, and apparently Mark Shapiro does too. There's no guarantee he'll stay healthy, just as there is no guarantee CC Sabathia will stay healthy for the Yankees. But I think it's a good bet.

Anyway, the Indians introduced their new closer yesterday at Jaco ... er, Progressive Field, and Shapiro talked about what else the Indians are planning this offseason. He talked about wanting a second or third baseman to fill the hole created by the Casey Blake trade, and about how the starting pitchers who are out there are out of his price range. So we may or may not see another signing before the season starts, with Asdrubal Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta possibly each shifting one position to the left. Peralta's been working at third base in winter ball, and of course, Cabrera is a natural shortstop. So that could certainly work.

If there is no signing, we will see Jamey Carroll, Josh Barfield or Luis Valbuena playing whatever infield position is left over. I'd hate to see Carroll playing every day unless he's been hiding some hitting skills from us, and of course Barfield has been a flop the last couple of years but has actually been a good major-league hitter before. Valbuena, who came over in the three-team trade in which we gave up Franklin Gutierrez, is only 23, and his major-league experience consists of 18 games after the rosters were expanded on Sept. 1. But he hit .303 between AA and AAA last year, with 11 home runs in 452 at-bats. I don't know how his glove is, but he's got some talent with his bat.

Hall of Fame adds an Indian

The great Joe Gordon was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today, which surprised me only because I thought he was already in. He was a power-hitting, slick-fielding second basemen, which in his day was a far more unusual combination than it is now. And it's not common now either. There's Chase Utley, our old friend Brandon Phillips, ... and that's about it. AL MVP Dustin Pedroia hit 17 home runs and won a Gold Glove award this year, but Gordon routinely hit more than 20 a year in an era when that kind of power from a second baseman was almost unheard of. But Pedroia's only 25, so he's got a chance to become that kind of player.

Gordon played from 1938 to 1950, losing two prime seasons to World War II, as so many of his contemporaries did. He missed his age 29 and age 30 seasons, 1944-45. He was reportedly very strong in the field, and while they didn't have Gold Gloves in those days, the blunt defensive numbers support his reputation. He led the American League in assists four times and double plays three times.

"Flash" (a nickname anyone named Gordon is destined to be stuck with for all eternity) was the first American League second baseman to hit 20 home runs in a season -- and he did it seven times! He finished with 253 career homers in 11 seasons, which works out to exactly 23 a year, on average. If you were to suppose he'd hit 23 each of the two seasons he missed, that would have put him at 299, which is an awful lot for a second baseman in the '30s and '40s.

Gordon, of course, is not around to enjoy the honor, having died 30 years ago. That's unfortunate, but at least his family and those who remember his career can enjoy it.

Joe Gordon will no doubt be wearing a Yankee hat on his plaque, as he played seven seasons for them and just four in Cleveland. He also won four World Series in the Bronx, and one on the shores of Lake Erie. So objectively, I admit he's got to have the Yankee hat on. But I don't have to like it.

Cavs keep a-rollin'

LeBron got to sit out the fourth quarter again last night as the Cavaliers made a mockery of the Charlotte Bobcats, 94-74, in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score indicates. It was the Cavs' eighth straight win, each by at least 12 points. That ties an NBA record, which they now share with four other teams. They'll get a shot to break the mark on Tuesday against the 8-10 Raptors at the Q, and I like their chances. The wine-and-golders are now 17-3, the best start in the 39-year history of the franchise. As good as the Price-Daugherty-Nance teams were, they can't hold a candle to the '08-09 version.

This game was over before it started. The Cavs raced out to leads of 13-4, 23-11 and 27-12 on their way to a 30-14 lead at the quarter pole. Cleveland led 55-35 at the half -- the Kitties took until nearly midway through the fourth quarter to score as many points as the Cavs scored in the first half alone.

The way things are going, LeBron's not likely to successfully defend his scoring title, simply because he's not playing many fourth quarters. (At 26.5, he's currently second behind Dwyane Wade's 28.9.) James had 25 in his 28 minutes, and added a block from behind that's becoming a trademark of his. I've never seen a player who's so good at following an opponent on a drive to the bucket, then swatting the ball away from behind. It's a thing of beauty.

Boobie Gibson, who's started slowly this year, had his best game of the young season, putting in 22 points in 31 minutes. So that's good to see.

That these Cavaliers have to be taken seriously as a title contender is beyond question. Unfortunately, there are three dominant teams in the NBA this year. I do think the Cavs are perfectly capable of beating the Celtics and/or Lakers in a best-of-seven, but I'll feel a whole lot better going into either of those prospective series if the seventh game is in Cleveland.

How about those Cavaliers!

LeBron James has been named the NBA's Player of the Month for November, the eighth time he's won that award in his six-year career. More importantly, the Cavaliers are absolutely rolling, at 14-3 after winning four games in five nights by an average of 20 points each. Granted, all four games were against relatively weak teams, but still, winning four games in five days is never easy.

This very well might be the best team the Cavaliers have put on the floor in the team's 37-year history. The difference from last year is Mo Williams, who is putting up 15.7 a game, with 4.6 assists against 2.2 turnovers. Delonte West and Wally Szczqzxzerbiak have had some time to get settled in after last year's midseason trade, and 33-year-old Zydrunas Ilgauskas is quietly having a fine year, in his 11th NBA season, all as a Cav. Z is averaging 15.6 a game in just 26.6 minutes, and if he keeps that up all year (I know, there's still a long way to go, but bear with me), that would be his highest scoring output in three years.

The Cavs have the Knicks at home tomorrow night. They should win by a couple of dozen.