Today in sports history -- Mike Woodson

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

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

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

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

Tribe eats option

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

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

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

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

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

Cliff Lee cements his spot

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Little Lake Nellie

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

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

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

Something to witness

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

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

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

Madness indeed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beat De-Troit! Beat De-Troit!

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Tyrone Hill

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Emmett Kelly

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

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

Cliff Lee gets hammered

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Loyola Marymount

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

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

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

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

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

Spring Insanity

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

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

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

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

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

Hooray for the Lady RedHawks!

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

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

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

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

Can't stop Kent State

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

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

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

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

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

MAC tourney heats up at Q

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

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

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

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

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

John Clayton praises Browns

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Oxford vs. Cambridge

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

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

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

The King passes AC

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

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

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

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

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

AC: Good shot.

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

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

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

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

FM: And he does it in 374 games.

AC: Wow.

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

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

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

AC: Exactly.

FM: Nachbar on the inbound ...

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Frankie Frisch

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

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

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

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

Vikings hung in ... for a while

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

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

Well-said, sir. Well-said.

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

Falling apart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Reginald Weir

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

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

An off-night?

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

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

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

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

On the Horizon

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

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

It should be interesting. Go Vikings!

Offensive explosion (and pitching trouble)

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

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

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

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

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

Three weeks until opening day!

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

2. Cleveland Indians

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Steve Howe

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

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

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

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

All LeBron, all the time

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Pete Dawkins

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

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Denis Boucher and Jeff Kent

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

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

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

Ran out of gas

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

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

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

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

Watching a grown man cry

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

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

Oh, my

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

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

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

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

Today in sports history -- Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich

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

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

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

The 10 greatest quarterbacks ever

I've heard talk of Brett Favre, who announced his retirement yesterday, being the greatest quarterback of all time. And he's got a pretty strong case. He owns the following NFL records:

• 253 straight starts at quarterback (every game since Dec. 20, 1992!)
  
• 5,377 completions
• 61,655 passing yards
• 442 passing touchdowns
• 160 wins as a starting quarterback
• 3 MVP awards.

That's an impressive list, no matter how you slice it. But is he really the greatest? I'm inclined to say it's still Joe Montana, but I might be mis-evaluating Favre because he JUST retired, and therefore, I don't have the benefit of historical perspective.

But just for fun, here's my list of the 10 greatest quarterbacks of all time:

1. Joe Montana: He was a career 63.2% passer, won four Super Bowls for the 49ers, and was once the all-time leader in quarterback rating. Incidentally, he's now sixth on that list, and Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger are among the names ahead of his. Warner was sensational for a while, but only for a pretty short time, and Roethlisberger has only played four years.

2. Otto Graham: I'll grant you that I might be looking at this through orange-and-brown-colored glasses, but Graham led the Browns to championship games every one of the 10 years he played, and they won seven of those games. Four of those titles were in the AAFC, but they still went to the NFL championship game six straight years and won three NFL titles. In Graham's day, quarterbacks simply didn't put up the numbers they do now because the running game was still paramount. But Graham led his league in passing yards five times, touchdowns three times, and passer rating four times. When he retired, he was the all-time leader in passer rating, passing yards, passing touchdowns and probably a lot of other categories.

3. John Elway: I don't want to talk about John Elway. But we Browns fans know how great he was.

4. Johnny Unitas: The man with a crew-cut you could set your watch to (according to Grandpa Simpson) won three NFL titles and one Super Bowl, and when he retired in 1973, he was the all-time leader in pass completions, passing yards and touchdown passes.

5. Brett Favre: See above. I might point out that he only won one Super Bowl, losing another to Elway's Broncos. But in fairness, there were 30 to 32 teams for most of his career, which makes it a lot tougher to win titles.

6. Dan Marino: The greatest QB who never won a championship. Most of the records Favre broke were Marino's. His Dolphins lost the only Super Bowl he played in to Montana's 49ers, in just Marino's second season. He's still second on the all-time passing yards list, just 294 yards (which was about three quarters' worth for him) behind Favre, and almost 10,000 ahead of Elway, who's third.

7. Fran Tarkenton: The second-greatest quarterback who never won a Super Bowl. Tarkenton's Vikings got there three times (they played in four during his career, but Tark was with the Giants for one of them), but they lost every one of them. He passed for more than 47,000 career yards, and is still fourth on the all-time list of rushing yards by a quarterback. And he was one of the hosts of "That's Incredible!" You've got to give him that.

8. Steve Young: He'd probably be higher on this list if he hadn't been Montana's backup for so many years. When he finally became the starter in 1991, he started putting up some eye-popping numbers. His completion percentages from '91 through '97: 66.7, 68.0, 70.3, 66.9, 67.7 and 67.7. He led the league in that category all those years but '92. He's just 21st on the career passing yards list, but No. 1 in passer rating. And he's No. 2 in the career rushing-yards-by-quarterback list. (Randall Cunningham's first, if you're wondering. No. 3 is some dog abuser from Atlanta.)

9. Peyton Manning: He's only 31, so he'll move up this list, but he's already ninth all-time in passing yards, fourth in passing touchdowns, second in passer rating, and eighth in wins by a starting quarterback. And he's first all-time in passing yards per game (260.1). Ironically, in 10 years, we might not even think of him as the greatest quarterback in his family.

10. Warren Moon: Despite not coming to the NFL until he was 28, after starting his career in the Canadian Football League, Moon is fourth on the all-time passing yards list, sixth in passing touchdowns and ninth in wins by a starting quarterback. His Houston Oilers never reached the Super Bowl, but his Edmonton Eskimos won five consecutive Grey Cups, and that sure counts for something.

Many of you will disagree with me, I'm sure, and I hope some of you will post comments to that effect. I also hope we can disagree respectfully; I didn't exclude your favorite quarterback for personal reasons or because I'm stupid. I know how these things can incite passions in people.

LeBron for MVP?

Happy primary election day, Ohioans! Don't forget to vote! Though, I suppose if you need a sports blog to remind you to vote, I'm not sure if I want you to cast a ballot.

Anyway, on this somewhat Super Tuesday, "SportsCenter" last night/this morning asked various observers whether the MVP of the NBA is our LeBron James or the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. And the consensus seemed to be in favor of the one who's not from Ohio. That seems to be the nationwide consensus too, according to an espn.com poll -- Kobe got 75 percent of the vote, and LeBron only carried two states, Ohio and Rhode Island. Why Rhode Island? No idea.

It must be noted that the poll did not ask who is the MVP, but who is the best player, and that's not the same thing. But I'm sure most people would vote the same way.

I suspect much of this has to do with the fact that Kobe's the established superstar, and while he's been considered the best, or at least one of the two or three best, in the game for several years, he's never won an MVP. But who can see into the hearts of Kobe voters?

The Cavaliers are 34-20 when LeBron plays, 0-6 when he doesn't. But Kobe hasn't missed a game all year, and the Lakers are 42-18. To be fair, you have to give Kobe a little extra credit for not missing any games, even though it's not LeBron's fault he was hurt.

I still think LeBron's the guy, mostly because of the way he takes over games in the fourth quarter and seems to get wins singlehandedly. But I can't pretend to be unbiased, and I've obviously seen a whole lot more of LeBron than I have of Kobe. Anyway, it doesn't matter what I think, because I don't have a vote.

Today in sports history -- Knute Rockne

On this date 120 years ago, Knute Rockne, All-American, was born in Voss, Norway; he and his family moved to Chicago when he was but a wee lad. He is regarded as one of the greatest football coaches of all time, thanks to his innovative work at Notre Dame between 1918 and 1930, before his premature death in a plane crash on March 31, 1931. His career record at Notre Dame was 105-12-6, and he won six national championships in those 13 seasons, establishing the Fighting Irish (and whenever I think of this team name, I imagine an Irishman with his fists up, spitting out, "What did ya say about me mother?") as the preeminent national football power -- which they have remained throughout most of college football history.

Rockne's most famous moment is probably the "Gipper" speech, which he made to inspire his charges to victory using something former Notre Dame player George Gipp supposedly said to him on his deathbed at age 25, climaxing with "Win just one for the Gipper." Since there is no audio tape of Gipp's death, we'll never know for absolutely sure whether he said that, but most observers believe he didn't (though it provided a memorable movie moment for a certain future politician). Rockne almost certainly made the whole thing up. I can only wonder how Gipp would have felt about his death being used in that manner.

Would you rather be president or LeBron?

On Fox 8 news this morning, a clip was shown in which a reporter asks LeBron James what he thinks of a recent statement by Barack Obama that he'd rather be LeBron than president. I can't find any mention of it online, but regardless, it gives you some idea just how big this Cleveland athlete is.

And he showed why he's a leading MVP candidate again yesterday, dominating the fourth quarter in what became a 95-86 win against the Chicago Bulls. Starting with the game tied at 83 and 3:10 to go,
LeBron scored the next six points, including one of his patented spectacular, unbelievable, split-the-defense dunks.

LeBron wound up with 37 points, which is certainly an MVP-caliber performance. Kobe Bryant outdid him yesterday, though, going for 52 in an overtime win. But whatever; LeBron seems to genuinely care more about winning than any individual accolades, and we won, so that's the important thing.

Today in sports history -- Larry Doby

Ten years ago today, Indians great Larry Doby was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Doby was the American League's first black player, debuting a couple of months after Jackie Robinson in 1947. And he certainly had a tough time of it too, as documented in the excellent 2007 Showtime documentary "Pride Against Prejudice: The Larry Doby Story."

Doby made seven straight All-Star teams (1949 to 1955), and he had remarkably consistent seasons during that period. His first truly great year was 1950, when he hit .326 with 25 home runs and 102 RBIs, and he led the AL with a .442 on-base percentage and a .986 OPS. He finished eighth in the MVP voting that year, at age 26.

He also led the league in home runs, runs scored and slugging in 1952; and home runs and RBIs for that great 1954 team that won 111 games. Doby finished second in the MVP voting in '54, behind Yogi Berra. And he hit a pinch-hit home run in the All-Star game that year, in front of his own home fans at Cleveland Stadium.

He finished his career with 1,515 hits, 253 homers and 970 RBIs. If he hadn't been a trail blazer, would he have gotten into the Hall of Fame? Probably not. Doby was only a truly great player for about six years; most Hall of Famers were great for at least a decade. It took him nearly 40 years after his retirement to get in as it is, and the Veterans Committee undoubtedly gave him extra credit for being the AL's first black player -- as well it should have, in my opinion.

In 1997, when Robinson's No. 42 was retired throughout the major leagues, Doby was virtually ignored, despite having suffered many of the same indignities Robinson did. But the All-Star game was at Cleveland's Jacobs Field that year, and Doby was given the honor of throwing out the first pitch. Maybe that attention helped get him into the Hall the next year. I'm glad it happened when he was still alive to enjoy it (he died in 2003).

Browns stay busy

It appears the Browns have given newly re-signed quarterback Derek Anderson a new target to throw to. Donte' Stallworth, to whom the Patriots declined to give $8 million to play next year, is on board for seven years. Seven years! The deal is worth $35 million, with $10 million of it guaranteed.

It's amazing how these numbers get thrown around in sports these days. But anyway ...

Stallworth, 27, is a six-year veteran, and the Browns will be his fourth team. He caught 46 passes for 697 yards last year as the Patriots' third wide receiver, behind Randy Moss and Wes Welker. His best year was 2005 with the Saints, when he caught 70 balls for 945 yards.

He'll presumably start for the Browns, opposite Pro Bowler Braylon Edwards; and along with Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., this gives us one hum-dinger of a receiver corps.

And not only does this make the Browns better, it makes the Patriots worse. So that's another reason to like it.

Stallworth, it must be said, is a bit of a wild card. He's had some injury problems, specifically hamstring trouble. And he's got a Martian alter-ego named Nicco. I know what you're thinking, your faithful correspondent is having a laugh with you. If only! Read this post if you don't believe me. Stallworth actually blamed this Nicco character for being caught from behind in this past season's playoff game against the Jaguars. I can only hope he was having a laugh, but whatever. If he catches passes and scores touchdowns, he can have as many alien friends as he wants.

Remember Pat Tabler, Tribe fans?

Pat Tabler, the greatest bases-loaded hitter I ever saw, has a son named Troy who's a freshman at Wright State University, and plays basketball for the Raiders.

Troy Tabler, a 6-foot-3 guard, is playing 15.8 minutes a game off the bench, averaging 5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1 assist a game.

His dad, in a 12-year career with the Cubs, Indians, Royals, Mets and Blue Jays, hit just .282 for his career. But with the bases loaded, he turned into Willie Mays, Ted Williams and Ty Cobb all rolled into one, hitting .489 (43 for 88), with 108 RBIs. Who knows why? He just had a knack for it, I guess.

RedHawks icers conclude regular season

Miami (Ohio)'s hockey team completed a five-game season sweep over Ohio State (of which school I'm a fan in every sport but hockey) last night in Oxford to finish its regular season at 29-6-1, second in the CCHA, behind Michigan. The RedHawks were ranked No. 1 at one point, but after a tie and a loss against Michigan (which school I root against in every sport, including hockey), followed by an inexplicable 0-2 weekend against Ferris State, they fell to No. 5, which is where they've been the last few weeks.

They finished strong, though, winning their last four, and will host a three-game series starting March 14 in the second round of the CCHA playoffs. And Miami's a lock for the NCAA tournament, where we'll likely get a No. 2 seed. So let's hope that little blip is behind us. I mean, come on. Ferris State?

Today in sports history

Twenty years ago today, Wayne Gretzky, in his last season with the Edmonton Oilers, got his 1,050th career assist, which put him past Gordie Howe to become the NHL's all-time leader in that department.

Since then, six other players have passed Howe, but with 1,963 assists, Gretzky retains a huge lead over second-place Ron Francis, who has 1,249.

I wrote more about Gretzky here. He was one of a kind.

Looking good (against a bad team)

The Cavaliers took care of business at home last night against the Timberwolves, who have won exactly two games on the road this year. The final score was 92-84, but the Cavs were up 15 with 1:04 left, before Mike Brown put in the scrubs. On the other hand, the Cavs were only up four with four minutes left, and they were losing briefly at one point in the third quarter. You'd like to see a better effort against a 12-45 team.

But hey, a win's a win. And Mr. LeBron had one of those unbelievable plays for which he's become legendary. Damon Jones was dribbling down the key and looked like he might try for a contested layup, but he saw LeBron out of the corner of his eye, at the top right corner of the key. LeBron was at least 20 feet away from the bucket when Jones let go of the ball, but he went right to the hole and completed the alley-oop. I don't think my description really does it justice, but trust me, it was cool. LeBron finished with 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who's still recovering from his upper respiratory infection from the other day, didn't do a whole lot offensively (10 points), but came up huge on defense, with four blocks. All five starters played well, in fact.

The Cavs were without Wally Szczxzqzerbiak, who was with his wife as she is close to giving birth to their third child. Maybe he'll find his shot while he's gone, and I mean that respectfully.

Browns get better

The Browns made nice moves on both sides of the ball yesterday, signing QB Derek Anderson to a three-year, $24 million contract. Anderson became a free agent at 12:01 a.m. Friday, and reportedly had a deal worked out by 5 a.m. My assumption is that Phil Savage went out and got drunk Thursday night with Anderson's agents, and when the bars closed at 2, they went to Savage's place and sat in the hot tub for a while, drinking champagne and arguing about politics. Finally, at 5, Savage said, "OK, I'm going to bed, but first, let's talk contract. How about $24 million?"

That might not be what happened, but you can't prove it's not.

In all seriousness, this is a darned good thing. Along with the recent signing of Jamal Lewis, this means the same pieces are in place that ran the Browns' efficient offense last year. And if Anderson should falter, Brady Quinn's waiting in the wings.

And Savage improved the defense yesterday too, getting defensive tackle Corey Williams from the Packers for a second-round draft pick, then signed him to a six-year contract. Williams, whose middle name is Dornail (no lie), is 27, and tied a career high with seven sacks last year. Savage has also reportedly finalized a deal with the Lions for D-lineman Shaun Rogers for Leigh Bodden and a third-round pick. That pass pressure should take a lot of pressure off the defensive secondary.

End Zone View reports that free agent wide receiver Donte Stallworth will soon visit Cleveland as well. Die Hard Cleveland takes a more in-depth look at Friday's dealings, noting that the Browns are now without a draft pick until the fourth round next year.

There are some differing opinions on the Anderson deal. The Plain Dealer's Bill Livingston still thinks Quinn is the future. That could be, but Anderson's the guy until he proves he's not.