I just want one of your 27

When it's been 16,384 days since any of your favorite teams have won a championship and you've only existed for 12,368 days, you tend to build up a lot of venom towards other franchises. There is an ebb and flow to that hatred usually based on how much success these other franchises experience, or what they have done to your teams directly. So forgive me if I don't rejoice at the thought of the Yankees collecting their 27th world championship last night. The thought of it actually makes me want to vomit.

I'm not sure why I even bothered to watch the end of the game last night - I guess because I like seeing the moment when a team reaches its ultimate goal. But watching the celebration of the Yankees and their arrogant fans - who had been expecting that moment since missing the playoffs last season... the whole seen was just nauseating. Again, I'll sit here and hope for a lockout someday when the owners get the balls to fix this sport. Until then we can hope for the little guys with the script I on their caps to overcome all odds and win it all... a scenario that seems completely unlikely in my lifetime given the way the sport is currently constructed. Ugh.


And on a night when the Cavs didn't play I was also following the scores around the NBA, hoping for a few other teams I dislike to chalk one up in the loss column. No such luck - the Lakers, Celtics, and Magic all prevailed last night. I hate sports nights like that, hoping for the failures of other teams for my own satisfaction and they all end up winning. I much prefer just watching my team win - like tonight when the Cavs hit the court at the Q again to take on the Bulls. I guess at least LeBron can happy that his Yankees won. And should we be happy for CC? I guess so, but then it reminds me of how ordinary he pitched in 2007 when we absolutely needed him. Just give me one title in my lifetime. Just one. Please.

Update: This guy gives a better view of the state of baseball than I ever could. Great read > http://www.bugsandcranks.com/davidchalk/baseball/yes-im-really-retiring/.

And then there were 4

Hard to believe that we are down to just four games left in the regular season... and that the playoffs will be starting next weekend! I'm already getting that nervous/sick/excited feeling that only a Cavs fan can feel... a Cavs fan at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncert- sorry, the feeling makes me go all Shawshank. I'm just ready to get these last four games out of the way. The Cavaliers beat the Wizards in ho-hum fashion last night with a 98-86 win (highlights) at the Q. Theu were up by 24 points in the third quarter and the game was never in doubt. The guys are now just two home wins away from equaling the best home NBA record ever. And just one win away from sealing up the #1 spot in the East.

It was great to see Big Ben return to action last night, making his first appearance off the bench in 10 years. We will need all of our bigs ready to go in the postseason and Ben seemed to be his normal self for the most part, after sitting out six weeks with the fractured fibula. And LeBron was able to rest for the entire 4th quarter for the 12th time this season (that would probably scare me if I were a fan of any other team in the playoffs). Five Cavs were in double figures, and three others had at least 7 points to lead a very balanced attack.

LBJ enjoyed another fourth quarter from the bench on Wednesday night

The recipe for the final four games is simple, yet complicated. Avoid injuries, keep everyone from logging too many minutes, but also keep winning in order to claim home court advantage through the Finals. Mike Brown has stated publicly that he won't overtax his team just to get the overall best record. But a little part of him has to be peeking ahead to a possible Game 7 in the Staples Center in June. I'm sure the thought of it makes him cringe as much as it does to me. For that simple reason the team will need to keep the pedal to the floor and just win, starting tomorrow night in Philadelphia. Go Cavs.

Tribe Update: Great start for our Indians, huh? Two games down, two losses, two awful pitching performances. Also, add in some weak hitting for good measure. I'm sort of glad the opener was played while I was at work, and I had the Cavs game to distract me from last night's fun. Let's just hope for some weather that is at least bearable for the home opener tomorrow. Is that really too much to ask?

Ugly #13

It was ugly, painful, and at times downright annoying. But the Cavaliers slogged their way through a night when they shot just 38% from the floor and still managed to get their 13th consecutive win, a 79-73 triumph (highlights) over the Pistons. In a game that Mike Fratello would be proud of, the Cavs again turned up their defensive pressure when they needed to, allowing only 29 second half points after giving up 44 before halftime.

LBJ could be eyeing Rasheed in the first round this year

The victory gives the Cavs their 61st win of the season, and is even more meaningful when you factor in the Lakers' loss to the Bobcats. The Cavs are now firmly in the driver's seat for home court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 3-game lead over LA with just 8 games to play. Finally the Lakers' lack of road games has caught up to them as they've had to endure a 7-game East coast trip and have dropped two games when they really couldn't afford to do so. I love it. The win also ties all-time record for a division lead, with the Cavs now 25 games ahead of the second-place Pistons. Wow.

Last night's game was a good reminder why it would be entertaining, yet also annoying to be matched up with the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. I have no doubts the Cavs would win the series, likely in 5 games at the most. They are just a superior group of talent right now and they can win in a number of ways. Detroit has no answer for LeBron and when they double- and triple-team LeBron he always finds the open man. I just worry that if it does come down to these two teams in the first round, should we be concerned with how dirty things would get? Rasheed is still a ticking time bomb and the once-proud Pistons would certainly not enjoy being dominated by the Cavs. This is one team I want to avoid for that reason alone. Gimme the Bulls or the Bobcats - teams just happy to share the brief stage in the playoffs without any chip on their shoulder. Only 8 games left until we know who it will be. Go Cavs.

The records keep falling

I'm running out of superlatives to use for the Cavaliers. It has truly been a magical season so far and I'm hoping the ride doesn't end until somewhere around June 18th (the last possible day for the Finals to end). They finished up another outstanding weekend with two more easy wins at the Q. The first was on Friday night with a 107-85 dispatching (highlights) of the Timberwolves. Then they followed that up yesterday afternoon with a 102-74 thumping (highlights) of the Dallas Mavericks. In the process they notched their 12th straight victory (yet another franchise record) and their 60th win.

The recipe for the final 9 games: wins & rest for everyone

They were outscored 30-20 by the Mavericks in the first quarter and it honestly would have been worse if not for a buzzer-beating three-pointer by of all people, Joe Smith. After sleepwalking through that slow start, the Cavs really poured it on in fashion that was reminiscent of all the early season drubbings they were handing out at the Q. They outscored the Mavericks 82-44 the rest of the way and sprinted to another fun win. It was almost too fun, aside from a couple of scares in which LeBron was left crumpled in a heap on the floor. The first came on a vicious dunk in the 2nd quarter in which he was slightly undercut and took a hard spill. The second came in the third quarter when he plowed into a referee as he was racing back down the court on defense. These are the type of tense moments we really don't need with just nine games left before the playoffs start.

The goal from here on out should be to protect the #1 overall seed for the playoffs, but to do so with caution. We don't need any injuries to derail such a great season so far. The team now has a firmer grasp of home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs, thanks to the Lakers slipping yesterday in Atlanta. So the margin for error is a little greater, and hopefully so too is the opportunity to rest some key players. Most of the starters were able to rest for almost the entire 4th quarter yesterday afternoon. Let's hope that's a trend that is able to continue. The guys hit the hardwood again tomorrow night when the once-mighty Pistons pay a visit to the Q, in what could possibly be a preview of the 1 vs. 8 matchup in the playoffs. Go Cavs.

Streaking to another record?

The Cavaliers extended their latest winning streak to 10 with a 98-87 win (highlights) over the Nets at the Q on Wednesday night. The win also gave them a franchise-best 58 wins on the year, with still 11 games yet to be played. I've been saying here for some time that the franchise record for wins was just a mere formality this season, but it is nice to officially get that record out of the way. They now hold a five-game lead over both Boston and Orlando and they have quietly crept ahead of Boston in conference record, an important tiebreaker should the wheels fall off down the stretch. Not that I think that will happen, but it seems like only a couple of weeks ago it was a foregone conclusion that we had already lost that tiebreaker to the Celtics.

LBJ flexed his muscles with a 22/8/11 line Wednesday night

Wednesday's win wasn't a thing of beauty by any stretch of the imagination. The Cavs let the Nets hang around for far too long and only finished them off with a 17-5 run in the final four minutes of the game after New Jersey actually took the lead. But I'm not really complaining - at this point of the season, wins are wins. And the Cavs need to keep piling them up because it looks like the Lakers aren't going to cooperate and lose one for us. We still hold a razor-thin one-game lead over LA for the best record in the NBA and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The good guys take the court again tonight at the Q vs. the Timberwolves and I'll be in attendance. Hopefully this one will be easy and we can look forward to setting yet another franchise record on Sunday when the Mavericks pay a visit to the Q and they notch their 12th consecutive win. Go Cavs.

No St. Patty's Day hangover...

What a night last night for the Cavaliers... I should have known it was special when I made my way towards the Q through the mass of drunken "Irish" Clevelanders amid the balmy 70-degree mid-March weather. It almost felt like playoff time even before entering the doors to the Q. And inside it really felt like the playoffs as the Cavs beat the Magic in a 97-93 thriller (highlights). Much will be made of two calls that seem to have benefited the Cavs down the stretch. The first was a 3-second call on Dwight Howard with 30 seconds remaining. But what will be conveniently left out is the fact that the Magic did miss a three-pointer on the play and the ball was rebounded by the Cavs... and Howard was camped out in the lane pretty much the entire evening.

LBJ and the Cavs came up huge on St. Patty's Day

The second call was with 8 seconds remaining when LeBron got himself "a bird" (for all us A.C. lovers) when Courtney Lee bit on his pump fake and LBJ then jumped into him. Again, it's a big call late in the game but it was a foul. LeBron calmly sank both free throws, even encouraging the raucous crowd to ramp up their "MVP, MVP, MVP!" chants, to which we gladly obliged. It was a signature win for the Cavs and a signature game (again) for LeBron with his 43/12/8 stat line. Mo also chipped in 21, including a huge 3 with 2:00 minutes remaining in the 4th. And I thought Z and Delonte provided some excellent work on the defensive end as the Magic were held to 93 points. Of course there are still some things that need to be cleaned up, but even without Big Ben there still have been major improvements on D since the guys returned home from their West coast trip.

So with their 6th straight win the Cavs move to 30-1 at the Q and 54-13 overall. And to make things even better the Celtics and Lakers decided to do us a huge favor by both losing (the Lakers did so in dramatic fashion). It was a great night all around, with the Cavs now proud owners of the NBA's best record by a full game with just 15 games left on the schedule. They also hold a 5-game lead in the loss column over both Boston and Orlando and their magic number to clinch the coveted #1 seed in the East is down to 11... but really it is smaller than that with Boston playing Orlando once more and the Cavs still with another game against each of them. It will be impossible for both Orlando and Boston to win out with their remaining schedules. But first things first, the Cavs continue their home stand tomorrow night with the young Portland Trailblazers paying a visit to the Q. Go Cavs.

With just 15 games left, I like how the overall picture looks...

Scoreboard watching

I know I shouldn't be doing this to myself (yet), but I can't help it. I'm already scoreboard watching around the NBA on a nightly basis. And last night was a good one for us Cavalier fans. The Lakers were trounced in Portland and may have lost a couple players due to suspension in the midst of a tough road trip. It was their third straight road loss. And the Magic lost in Detroit. So with a win tonight our Cavs will sit tied with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA and they will be a game and a half up on Boston and a full four up on the Magic.

Obviously grabbing the #1 seed in the East is the immediate goal, but getting the #1 overall seed could come in quite handy come June, especially given our dominance at the Q. Just something extra to think about every night the Cavs don't have a game. Thankfully tonight the Cavs are back on the court to start their final big road trip of the season. I hope they aren't looking past the Clippers, as bad as they are. This team did beat Boston just a week ago in LA. I have a feeling the guys won't be taken by surprise tonight. Go Cavs.

Another solid weekend

It was another solid weekend for our Cavaliers. On Friday they breezed to an easier-than-expected 97-86 win (highlights) over the Spurs in San Antonio. The final score really isn't indicative of just how easy it was. The Cavs were up by 23 at a couple different points early in the 4th quarter and obviously took advantage of the fact that San Antonio was missing Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili - not that we should feel bad for any team missing its starters after all of our own injury woes. It was also nice to see the team follow up Thursday night's clunker in Houston with a solid road win against a good team, with or without all its weapons.

So the team followed up Friday's win by moving along on their brutal road trip with a visit to Atlanta last night. They played a great first half, an ugly third quarter and a not-so-tidy first 3 or 4 minutes of the fourth quarter. Facing a 7-point deficit with 4:25 remaining the Cavs had to really dig deep. Anderson Varejao hit one of his patented scary "no-no-no-YES" fallaway jumpers (as only he can), then followed that up with a three-point play to cut the deficit to 2. After a few bad possessions, Delonte West nailed a long jumper to again cut the lead to 3 with 1:24 remaining. Then Mo Williams hit what I viewed as the shot of the night when he drilled a three-pointer from the corner to tie it at 87 with 47 seconds left. Then another great defensive stop set the stage for LeBron to win it. He drew a foul with 1.6 seconds remaining, hit 1-of-2 free throws, then altered a Joe Johnson jumper that clanked off the iron as time expired. Game over, Cavs win 88-87 (highlights) in one of their signature wins of this season - one they really had no business winning, but somehow they found a way to get it done.

LBJ & the Cavs escaped with a win Sunday night in Atlanta

The good news after this one? The Cavs were able to take advantage of both the Celtics and Lakers stumbling yesterday. They now hold a half-game lead for home court advantage over the Celtics with two huge games against them still looming. And only trail the Lakers by a game (now tied in the loss column) for best record in the league. The great news from yesterday? Joe Smith was bought out of his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. If all goes as planned he will be set to re-sign with his former team on Wednesday morning after he clears waivers. And the bad news from yesterday? The Cavs had some severe travel problems after the game and didn't even arrive in Miami until 6:00 this morning. So it will be a tough end to a long trip but if they can somehow pull this one off it will have been an amazing trip. Go Cavs.

23-1

Yesterday really sucked if you're a Cavs fan. A 10-point lead at halftime against the team with the best record in the league. A perfect 23-0 record at home about to be extended against arguably the NBA's most talented team. And a chance for the Cavs to really solidify themselves as the league's #1 team. Then the second half happened. Lamar Odom managed to grab about 7 billion offensive rebounds. LeBron just didn't look himself. And the Cavs finally fell at the Q, a 101-91 loss to the Lakers.

I'm not going to spend too much time dwelling on this one. I hate thinking about losses. And I'm not going to panic and say that the team definitely needs to make a move now to win a title. The Lakers are playing very well right now, as evidenced by their win in Boston on Thursday. The Cavs are still banged up, without starter Delonte West, and missing Sasha Pavlovic for most of yesterday's game. Those aren't meant to be excuses - the Cavs did piss a good chance away yesterday. But I still want to see what this team can do when they are back at full strength again. Hopefully that will happen sometime soon after this weekend's All-Star break.

For now just keep in mind that this team is still 39-10. They still own the best record in the East. And they have a quick turnaround to forget about yesterday's loss - they will be in Indiana to face the Pacers tomorrow night at 7:00. The Cavs have avenged every one of their nine previous losses with a victory - let's hope that trend continues tomorrow night.

A triple-double for the ages

All you need to know about the Cavaliers' 107-102 win (highlights) in New York last night was the LeBron Line:

52 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds

No player in the NBA had posted a 50-point triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it way back in 1975 - that is until LeBron did it last night. In fact, since 1986 there have only been three instances of a player amassing 50+ points, 9+ assists, and 8+ rebounds. The player in all three instances? You guessed it - LeBron James.

This LeBron guy is pretty good

I won't waste your time talking about how great LBJ was last night, or has been all season for that matter. You're all here presumably because you're Cleveland fans, so you know how special he is. It was just on display again last night on a big stage for the entire world to see. The fact that the game was closer than all of us probably had hoped is not surprising, especially given that this is the NBA and a road game on the second night of a back-to-back is always tough. The important thing in the end is that the Cavs got the win, improving to 16-9 on the road and 30 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Taking a glance at the Cavs' current 39-9 record got me to thinking about the big picture again. Before the season started I predicted 58 wins with the current squad. They are now set to blow that prediction out of the water. Here's a revised look at what it would take to reach certain milestones with 34 games left in the regular season:

• 19-15 (.558) to set a franchise record of 58 wins... a mere formality at this point
• 21-13 (.617) to get to 60 wins... almost a lock
• 26-8 (.764) to get to 65 wins... definitely possible
• 31-3 (.911) to get to 70 wins... we can dream can't we?

This has certainly been a special season for us as Cavs fans and nights like last night highlight that fact for us. It should get even better when the team returns to the court on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 with their perfect 23-0 home record on the line vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. Let the ridiculous LeBron vs. Kobe debate rage on until then...

Go West young Cavs...

The Cavaliers embark on their first really tough road stretch of the season tonight in Los Angeles where they face the Lakers at 10:30pm. And they do so on an up-note after beating the Hornets 92-78 (highlights) on Friday night at home. That win improved them to a perfect 20-0 at the Q and was really much-needed after the ugly loss Thursday night in Chicago.

Can we really count on this guy as we head out West?

So how did the short-handed Cavs step up and earn a relatively easy win on Friday night against a very solid Hornets team? They junked things up on defense, they slowed the pace on offense, they made their open shots, they outworked New Orleans, and of course having LeBron on your team always helps too. LBJ finished the night with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists while playing all over the court (including logging some minutes at center). And guys like Wally Szczerbiak (14 points, 4-of-5 from three-point range) and Sasha Pavlovic (19 points and 6 rebounds in 42 minutes) really stepped up. And Mo Williams was his normal solid self, chipping in 17 points, even on an off-shooting night. And it sure was good to see Big Ben back on the court. I think his presence lifted the team emotionally, even if he only logged 14 minutes as he works to get back to 100%.

So what should we expect from this four-game swing out West? Your guess is as good as mine. Will Sasha and Wally be able to stay consistent offensively? I've seen enough Cavs basketball over the last couple years to know we can't fully depend on either one of them. Hopefully they can surprise us. There will no doubt be an increased scoring load on LeBron and Mo. But others will need to chip in if this is to be a successfull trip. And I would qualify coming home with a 2-2 record or better as a definite success. I really hate to be without two of our key guys at this important time in the season. But really, it is much better to have these injuries crop up now than in April. Go Cavs!

Browns Update: As the Steelers move on to another likely Super Bowl victory (ugh), the Browns seem to finally have found their new GM (yawn). Please just let this work out. I don't want to see another rebuilding phase for a long, long time.