Polar opposites

At this exact moment can you think of two sports franchises that are more opposite than the Cavs and Browns? While the Browns continue to flounder through another lost season the Cavaliers are only getting stronger. They extended their impressive run with two more easy wins over the weekend, running their current winning streak to 8 and their overall record to 17-3. On Friday night the Indiana Pacers were the victims of a 97-73 drubbing (highlights) at the Q. Then the Cavs followed it up on Saturday night in Charlotte with a 94-74 thumping (highlights) of the Bobcats. Their routine blowouts of the opposition are reaching historic proportions - the Charlotte victory was the team's 8th straight win by at least 12 points. That ties an NBA record with one team you may recall... the 95-96 Chicago Bulls that finished the year 72-10.

LBJ and the Cavs are soaring to new heights this year

That's not to say the Cavs are going to win 72 this year. I just don't see any reason to push the pedal that hard all year long, especially given their already swelling 5-game lead in the Central division over the Pistons. But with the Celtics at 20-2 and showing no signs of slowing down, the Cavs will likely be pushed all year. Both teams will be gunning for the all-important #1 seed in the East, and home court advantage that goes along with it. So it will be interesting to see just how high the win total can get this year. And to put this season into perspective, when the Cavs finally reached 17 wins last season (not until January 6th) they also already had 17 losses. Buckle your seatbelts Cleveland, we're only a quarter of the way through the regular season and this is going to be a long, enjoyable ride.

Browns Update: As I said, at the opposite end of the sports spectrum you have our Cleveland Browns. Pathetic in every way, now 4-9 after their 28-9 loss in Tennessee. I know that Ken Dorsey is our starting QB now and of course I didn't expect a win over the far superior Titans yesterday. But is it too much to ask for the coaching staff to mix things up a bit? Try something new offensively (before the 4th quarter when the game is out of reach) and make it at least bearable to watch?

Some of my favorite highlights from yesterday's game:

• Jamal Lewis' 7 total rushing yards on 7 carries.
• The Browns' total offense of 178 yards.
• Romeo Crennel's flat-out refusal (or disinterest?) in challenging a close call in which Josh Cribbs actually threw a great pass that Braylon Edwards appeared to catch on the sideline for a long gain in the fourth quarter.
• Crennel's insistence in calling a timeout in the last minute of the game when the Browns were still near midfield and Tennessee just wanted to celebrate winning the AFC South title.
• The Browns then following that timeout up by not even getting a Hail Mary pass off as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The mess of this organization is now visible in virtually every aspect of the game for this team. From the front office, to the coaching staff, to the undisciplined and quitting players (save for a handful of them) this franchise is everything the Cavaliers are not. Let's hope some of this speculation is accurate and we can get some professionalism and control back on this team.

Sinking to new lows

We've known the Browns' season has basically been over for weeks now. But they may have hit a new low, even for their own crappy standards yesterday. Their defense somehow managed to hold the powerful Colts to just 10 points, yet the Browns still found a way to lose the game 10-6. And in the process they also lost beleaguered QB Derek Anderson probably for the remainder of the season to a knee injury. Let the Ken Dorsey era begin in Cleveland!

DA's knee injury will pave the way for a possible 4-12 finish

We might as well go out and sign Tim Couch and Ty Detmer at this point because we have come full circle, all the way back to the expansion mess of 1999. I now have visions of Doug Pederson running the Browns offense in 2000, followed by the Dennis Northcutt experiment under center in that game against the Eagles. Maybe we can do the same with Josh Cribbs when the Bengals visit the Stadium on December 21st. At least that would give us some reason to actually tune into that mess of a game.

This was the first Browns home game that I personally did not attend this season, so I can't verify the magnitude of this - but it was troubling to me to hear that the fans in attendance actually cheered Derek Anderson's knee injury. Even if you're not a fan of this guy, that is just wrong. It seems that our own ineptitude and resulting inferiority complex has driven us against our own players again. But again, I wasn't there so I don't know how much this has been blown out of proportion by the papers. Either way, it's just another mess involving the Browns. And as I touched on last week, the fans' apathy is growing, as evidenced by the 20,000 or so empty orange seats.

I hope Randy Lerner hears/sees that message loud and clear. This is a team that was 7-1 at home last year and gave us reason for hope and optimism. They are now 1-6 at home, with the real prospect of going 1-7 with Ken Dorsey taking snaps against Cincinnati in the home finale. The only year they did worse at home was their 0-8 season of 1999 when they could at least lean on the crutch of being an expansion team. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Cleveland Browns! Pathetic.

Cavs Update: On to brighter news, as always seems to be the case when transitioning away from Browns talk... the Cavs are now 14-3. They extended their current winning streak to five with impressive wins over the Warriors (highlights) and Bucks (highlights) over the holiday weekend. This has to feel good for newcomer Mo Williams, whose longest winning streak last year in Milwaukee was two. He already has streaks of eight and five wins under his belts with the Cavs.

Mo has to be happy he's out of Milwaukee and now winning with the Cavs

And just looking at the schedule and the Cavaliers' next seven opponents (all .500 or worse) this streak could balloon even more. So do yourself a favor my fellow Cleveland fans. Go out and support this team. Start with LeBron bobblehead night Wednesday vs. the Knicks. Go have fun and watch a dominant team whose last 8 wins have come by at least 11 points. This is going to be a special season and you really shouldn't miss out on it.

Busy weekend

It was a busy weekend for my wife and I as she earned her Master's degree from Bowling Green State University. But in between the trip to BG on Friday, the graduation party at our house on Saturday night, and all the overnight guests, we were able to see/hear some of the Tribe's sweep in Toronto over the weekend. It's been a recurring theme this year that the team seems to play some of its best baseball when I'm occupied with other things. So I wasn't all that surprised by the sweep, I just wish they could play like this when I'm actively watching.

We caught some of Friday night's game from the patio of the great BW-3 on East Wooster in Bowling Green. That was the site of many formative drinking nights in my younger days, so it was nice to be back there again watching the Tribe. Anthony Reyes made his Indians debut and gave us reason to think that one of Shapiro's trades may already be paying off. He was able to scatter 7 hits over 6-1/3 innings, while allowing only one run in the Tribe's 5-2 victory.

"I was excited just to start somewhere fresh," Reyes said. "I think with St. Louis, that was probably it for me. I was excited for the opportunity and just excited to be coming here, having a chance to come up here and compete."

On Saturday we heard most of the game from the Ohio turnpike while heading back home. Paul Byrd was outstanding yet again, pitching a complete game (on only 93 pitches), while allowing only two runs and 6 hits in the Indians' 4-2 win. That game also featured a bizarre ending, just when it seemed things might be getting a little dicey for Byrd. At this point, I'm hoping Byrd just stays on the team (and helps on the quest for a non-last-place finish) because he's not going to clear waivers in a trade.

"I feel good with where I'm at right now," Byrd said. "I'm very confident. I know my numbers aren't great for the overall season, but right now I feel like I can beat anybody. I feel like I'm at the top of my game."

Then Sunday's game was only seen in bits and pieces between all the Olympic-watching we were doing at home. Cliff Lee became the first Indian ever to start a season at 16-2 in the 4-0 win, continuing his stellar turnaround from a year ago. He went another 8 shutout innings yesterday, giving him 17 consecutive shutout innings against Toronto this year. David Dellucci and Jhonny Peralta gave Lee all the support he would really need in the top of the first inning. Lee is inching closer to becoming the Tribe's first 20 game winner in 34 years.

Lee has dominated the Jays (and everyone else) in 2008

"It's just easier when you're having success," Lee said of his superb season. "Things go easier, you have more fun. Things flow better when you're having success. I'm going to continue to just ride it out."

The Indians will look to build on their three-game winning streak as they return home tonight and finally get to play outdoors on natural grass (the dome road trip through Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Toronto won't be missed, I'm sure). They start a four-game set against the Orioles tonight with Fausto Carmona starting for the good guys.

Browns Update: I haven't blogged since Thursday's preseason opener so I wanted to give a few quick thoughts...

• Our first-team offense looks unstoppable by anyone not named Mother Nature. I can't wait to see these guys on the field again.
• Braylon Edwards makes at least one spectacular catch per game. If he stays healthy (more on that below) he might get 20 TD's this season.
• I wouldn't worry too much about our DB's giving up big plays to the Jets. Most of the guys that were on the field at that point will be selling insurance or playing in NFL Europe (if it even still exists?) soon.
• I wish everyone would just cut Brady Quinn some slack, including Chudzinski. Everything he does seems to be hyper-analyzed by the fans/media, and overprotected by the coaching staff. Let him air it out, and let him make some mistakes in the preseason. He needs to learn more on the field, and he will no doubt be needed in a big spot at some point in the future.
• And speaking of Quinn, his value went up a few notches after watching Ken Dorsey struggle through the fourth quarter. Somehow his 8-for-26 and 2 INT's don't even begin to tell the story of how bad he was out there.

So now on to the bad news. You knew it would happen sooner or later - a freak injury to a Brown. We really cannot afford to go into battle without Edwards, so let's all just hope and pray for no staph infections, no unexpected arthroscopic surgeries, and please no "teeny, tiny fractures to the non-weight bearing bones" to any more of our Browns.

This is not a sight that any Browns fan was looking forward to...

The Browns also signed two safeties yesterday to try and shore up the depth in the defensive backfield. And K2 is looking to help a rookie teammate. Don't forget that it's Monday, which means it's time to chat with Tony Grossi at noon.

Cavs Update: LeBron did his best and almost came up with the Olympic highlight of the day on Sunday (the US men's 4x100 swimming relay team narrowly beat him out) with a resounding and-1 alley-oop dunk. And he did help lead Team USA to a resounding rout of China in their basketball opener with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Team USA takes on Angola tomorrow morning in their second game.