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.

Welcome to Cleveland JJ

With the 19th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select... JJ Hickson? OK, so I admit it, Ferry threw a curveball at us with that one, but that does NOT mean it's a bad choice. The more I read and saw of this kid last night, the more I like him. Maybe I'm just talking myself into the pick. But I'll defer to the 'experts' to analyze this since I'm certainly not qualified.

The draft reviews are streaming in and it seems like we are getting some favorable marks from ESPN and SI.com. However, sportsline.com and nbadraft.net are not big on JJ. Locally, Bill Livingston, MSB, and David Lee Morgan weigh in on the newest Cavalier. Who knows how it will turn out, but I'm not jumping off a building this morning. I think Hickson will be just fine wearing the wine and gold uniform. And I'm excited that we finally have a guy that likes to dunk the ball and isn't named LeBron. Since he wasn't in New York last night and you may be curious to hear from him directly, here's a phone interview with Hickson courtesy of cavs.com.

Is Hickson ready to rock the rim at the Q?

Windhorst Update: Of course his analysis was missed last night, but more importantly, it sounds like his condition may be improving.

Tribe Update: The slumpbuster was at it again last night (and no, that has nothing to do with Mark Grace). I'm talking about Cliff Lee, who just stops losing streaks this season. Last night was the fourth 3-game losing skid that Lee has personally ended, to go along with a 7-gamer as well. He is still firmly on course to be the AL starter at the All-Star Game in a couple of weeks with his improbable 11-1 record and 2.34 ERA. Lee added 11 strikeouts to his already impressive resumé last night. The Tribe avoided the sweep with a 4-1 victory over the Giants. The team will continue interleague play tonight against the Reds with CC Sabathia on the mound and me in attendance. Maybe my last chance to see the big guy in person in a Tribe uniform? We'll find out soon...

Edit: I just realized that the Tribe is currently tied for last place in the Central thanks to Kansas City's five-game winning streak. Yes, I've been avoiding even glancing at the standings for a while now. This is the first time the Indians have been in last place this late in the season since 1993 - when they were still in the AL East and the Central didn't exist. Wow, what a year!

Another season ends without a title...

It's days like Sunday that remind me what it means to be a Cleveland fan. Not that I expected the Cavaliers to run away with an NBA title this year - I didn't. But it's easy to get caught up in a playoff run, especially with a unique talent like LeBron on your roster. And after the Cavs lost Game 7 yesterday I realized I wasn't quite ready for this year's run to end. After he dropped 45 on the Celtics I fully expected to walk away from there with an improbable win. But it wasn't meant to be - I should have realized this when Ben Wallace deflected a pass and it landed perfectly in the hands of Paul Pierce who drilled a three. Or when Kevin Garnett drove wildly to the hoop, lost control of the ball and is crashed hard off the backboard, somehow dropping right through the hoop. Or when the Cavaliers forced a jump ball late in the game and the tap from Z somehow squirted loose, Pierce fell on the ball with two Cavaliers and the refs somehow awarded Boston a timeout. Or really, when 87-year-old PJ Brown just couldn't miss a shot.

There were a lot of signs that the sports gods just were ready to piss on another season for me, but I had my Cleveland sports blinders on again I guess. I started to believe after Game 6 on Friday night that the Cavaliers would do the improbable, but I'm still proud of the heart most of them showed yesterday (and yes, I've gotten way too used to saying that over the years). As my buddy Niro painfully reminded me last year - we're in our early 30's now, and if we're extremely lucky we might have another 50 years on this earth at best. That leaves about 150 more chances at best to see the Cavs, Tribe, or Browns win a championship. Make that 149 at best now.

Keep fighting LBJ, you are so close

And to add insult to injury, the Tribe decided that 3 games over .500 wasn't fun and were swept by the lowly Reds in Cincinnati over the weekend. The focus shift squarely back on them tomorrow night. I think I'll use today to just mourn and hope for a big offseason for the Cavs.