Finally, one for the good guys

The Tribe was finally able to end their horrific 10-game losing streak last night in a 13-2 beatdown of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Indians needed a game like this, especially after the meltdowns in Detroit. For a while it did look like more of the same as the Rays took a 2-0 lead into the 5th inning. But then the Tribe exploded for 13 runs to give the home crowd something to cheer about at last. My favorite stat line from last night was turned in by Rays reliever Gary Glover in the bottom of the 8th inning. It took him 46 pitches to record two outs and give up 7 runs on six hits and two walks. Ouch. Unfortunately, he probably won't make an appearance out of the Rays 'pen tonight:


My fear after a game like last night's is that the Tribe used up all their runs and I'll be stuck with nothing to see tonight at the Prog. But the good news - Cliff Lee will be on the mound in his final tune-up before the All-Star Game. So that's something to actually look forward to...

Finally something to smile about for the Tribe

More Tribe: The Indians did apparently hold a team meeting before yesterday's game. We can only hope it produces similar results to last night's for rest of this season. I'm coming to terms with the rebuilding or re-tooling or whatever you want to call it this year... sometimes these things happen and 2006 may have just prepared the team for a great year last year. Or maybe I'm just forcing myself to be optimistic. Speaking of optimism, Travis Hafner thinks he might be able to play again this year. Remember him?

One final note about the Indians today... well, maybe more of a rant. I've been defending the Dolans for years now. I haven't necessarily agreed with the way a lot of casual fans refer to them as "cheap" and non-caring towards this city. I've occasionally tried to stick up for them here and on message boards that I frequent. I think I have a decent grasp of how MLB is currently set up and I can see that mid-market teams just don't have the cash to compete on a level playing field. I like what the Dolans have done creating STO - basically their own sports network (which is much better than I originally expected), and even selling the naming rights to Jacobs Field (as much as it pains me that it's not 'the Jake' anymore, the name change did generate a lot of cash).

Having said that, there are a couple things have bothered me lately under current ownership:

a) When going to games this year I have noticed a lot of people at the Prog in florescent greenish-yellow shirts. These people spend much of the game going up to fans and asking if they can take their picture. I didn't think much of it at first until I saw how obtrusive they were, even during the games (sometimes in the middle of at-bats). And then I learned that once your picture is taken you can purchase the digital image from the team.
b) I got an e-mail yesterday, supposedly sent out to all season ticket holders. It pointed me in the direction of this page, which allows you an opportunity to get tickets to sit in the visitors' dugout for the post-game fireworks show tonight and tomorrow night. The only catch? You have to pay $50 (on top of the price of your regular game ticket) per person. And only 24 people are allowed for each game. So ownership is now reduced to gimmicky ways to generate an extra $2400 this weekend? It just seems a little bit like panhandling to me, and I'm beginning to understand now why some fans get the impression that the Dolans are "cheap."

Cavs Update: The Cavaliers inked first-round pick J.J. Hickson to a two-year deal yesterday. And we still await word on free-agent forward James Posey's destination of choice.

Gladiators Update: Terry Pluto gives a little insight on the Gladiators as they prepare for the conference championship game on Saturday at 1:00pm in Philadelphia.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Well, last night marked my debut as an Arena Football League fan. I went into the Gladiators first playoff game in Cleveland not really knowing what to expect, but came away thoroughly entertained. The Gladiators' big 69-66 win over the Orlando Predators featured some solid action. And I was more than impressed with the play of our receivers, led by fellow BG alum Robert Redd's 14 catches for 204 yards and 4 TD. And the crowd of nearly 14,000 fans in the Q was much louder and less AFL-obsessed than I had feared. I think most people there were just casual fans like me looking for some good entertainment.

The game was very much in doubt until a big fumble by the Predators late in the 4th as they were marching down the field for the go-ahead score. The Gladiators then capitalized on an 8-yard TD run to seemingly put the game out of reach with 52 seconds left. But in true arena football action, the last minute seemed to last forever. Orlando marched down the field to score again and cut the lead to just three points. And then the Gladiators still needed a throwaway pass on fourth down to burn the final second off the clock. Now they advance to face the Atlanta Force in Georgia next Monday night. I have been converted into a fan now and I will be watching!

Brandon Hefflin recovers a big fumble late for the good guys

Tribe Update: The Indians misery continued last night in Chicago. Jeremy Sowers gave the White Sox a huge 8-1 lead after three innings, and with our sporadic offense and nightmarish bullpen, it was just too much to overcome. They lost 9-7 to now fall 10.5 games out of first and grab sole possession of last place in the Central.

Cavs Update: A couple of big name free agents decided to opt-out of their contracts last night as the NBA free agency period began at midnight. I'd welcome either of them into a wine and gold uniform this season, but obviously they would have to come via sign & trade, and those deals are always tricky. Given our current salary cap situation, don't expect any big free agent signings this summer, it's just not realistic.

Terry Pluto is looking to end the ridiculous sky-is-falling talk of LeBron to New York in 2010. I can't wait to hear this nonsense for the next two years (sigh). WFNY has a great take on the subject, and *gasp* it is actually well-thought and makes sense, instead of what most of the 'experts' in the national media keep spouting out. And LeBron does have a good message for kids this summer, even if he can't wait to bolt from Northeast Ohio ;)

2nd Best in Ohio?

Let me start by saying that I hate the Cincinnati Reds. It all started back in college for me. I went to Bowling Green State University from 1994-1998, during basically the glory years for my Cleveland Indians. Two World Series appearances while I was in college and a guaranteed playoff appearance every year. Well, BGSU was home to a lot of people from the Cleveland area and a lot of people from the Cincinnati/Dayton area. I never really cared either way about any National League team until my college years. The Reds fans that I encountered were some of the most obnoxious fans I've ever been around. Many of them took a rooting interest against the Indians back then for reasons I never really understood. And since they hated the Tribe, I in turn hated the Reds, and still do. And them acquiring a productive Brandon Phillips from us for nothing only fuels the fire for me now.

So anyway, with losing two of three this weekend to that team from down South, the Tribe ended this year just 1-5 against the lowly Reds. I guess that pretty much sums things up for the Indians this season. At least I picked the good game to go to on Friday night. Saturday and Sunday were just more examples of our pathetic offense and disastrous bullpen. At least it should now be crystal clear to Shapiro - the fire sale needs to start soon and hopefully we can re-tool for next year. I'm happy I got to see Sabathia pitch well for perhaps the final time for me in a Tribe uniform.

Watching the Tribe this year feels a lot like getting run over by Adam Dunn

Cavs Update: The weekend brought some semi-shocking news out of New Jersey. Let me just say that if VC were a Cavalier, he might be the only Cavalier I've ever hated. I can't stand the guy and I've joked in the past that I'd be screwed if he ever was on my favorite team. Let's just hope it never really happens and forget we ever heard such nonsense...

Gladiators Update: Tonight at 7:00 the Gladiators take on the Orlando Predators in their opening round playoff game at the Q. It will also be my Arena Football League debut as a fan and I'm interested to see how it goes. Here's a great story on the franchise's rapid turnaround in Cleveland from Sunday's PD.

A Little Life Left?

Maybe we shouldn't give up on these Indians yet. Bud Shaw certainly thinks it's too early for that. The Tribe didn't get the sweep against the Dodgers yesterday, primarily thanks to Paul Byrd's horrific first inning of work (gotta love hearing Vin Scully's voice in that clip!). But they did gut out two nice extra-inning wins on Friday and Saturday. And I think we've finally found our power-hitting DH to stick in the middle of the order. Now that was a bomb.

Byrd didn't have it in the 1st, but lasted 7 innings in the LA heat

That now makes three out of four series wins for the Indians, but still just a 10-11 record in June. Yes, the sweep in Colorado was awful, but they are still somehow only 6.5 out of first. More concerning to me is the fact that they are now 1.5 games behind the Tigers, who seem to have finally found themselves. The Tribe will enjoy an 0ff-day today and then welcome old friend Omar Vizquel back to Cleveland.

Cavs Update: LeBron hosted his annual bikeathon in Akron over the weekend and raised $150,000 for local charities. And this week, we'll turn our attention towards Thursday night's draft. Here's an overview to get us started. More details to come throughout the week. All I know right now is please, no Kosta Koufos.

I'm pretty sure 330 is not an area code in New York...

Gladiators Update: The Gladiators are in the playoffs after a 47-35 win over Columbus on Saturday night. They will host a wild-card playoff game at the Q next Monday vs. the Orlando Predators. I will likely make my Arena Football fan debut for this one!

This is sucking the life out of me...

...well, not really but you know what I mean. I hate to be a downer, but none of my teams have won since Friday night's Game 6 Cavaliers win in Cleveland. The Tribe looks terrible right now, with a season-high 5-game losing streak after last night's 7-2 debacle. The script was went pretty much the same as it has lately... Paul Byrd pitched 5 strong innings (only giving up 1 hit!), and, of course, the offense struggled. So with a slim 2-0 lead in the 6th, Byrd completely unraveled. After the dust settled, Indians pitchers (Byrd, Jorge Julio, and seldom-used Craig Breslow) gave up 3 home runs in the final 3 innings and have now given the White Sox a ton of confidence. And to rub salt in the wound, Jim Thome hit another home run against his former team. At least I'm not the only one who's frustrated.

Maybe I need to start following the Gladiators more closely. I just checked and they did actually win on Saturday, moving to 7-4 on the season, so scratch my comment above. Our teams haven't won since Saturday. That makes me feel a LOT better. Sigh.

Time to start following summer football more closely?

Browns Update: More bad news from Berea and the season is still 3-1/2 months away. It looks like we have lost a cornerback for the season to another injury. Great. But there was some good news yesterday - super a-hole agent Drew Rosenhaus stated that Kellen Winslow, Jr. will be in June minicamp and July training camp, instead of holding out for a new contract.

Cavs Update: The Chicago Bulls, fresh off their draft lottery win, might be interested in Eric Snow as their next head coach. Personally, I doubt the Cavaliers would allow this, especially since Snow's expiring contract will be so valuable as a trading piece this year. We'll have to keep watching to see what happens.

Finally, on a totally unrelated note - SplitVizionz over at RCF put together this incredible image of a Zoolander parody featuring some of our Cavaliers. Maybe the target audience is small (Zoolander fans & Cavalier fans) but I nearly pissed myself when I first saw it. Nice work.