He's Still BOO-zer to Me

(cross-posted from my new gig on www.numbersdont.com)

All seems to be righting itself nicely in Cavalier land after a trip through Florida that saw the Wine and Gold beat the Magic and Heat in a tough back-to-back set. We found out that Shaq can be effective in neutralizing the dominance of Dwight Howard in the paint. We found out that Delonte West still cannot be counted on to be part of the rotation, but that other guys (Jamario Moon) can step up when needed. We were reminded of how entertaining the LeBron vs. Wade matchups always seem to be. We witnessed how much better the offense looks when Mo is aggressive and hitting shots. And we saw that this JJ Hickson kid can play when Mike Brown's leash is lengthened a bit. The two solid Florida wins have the Cavs now sitting at 6-3 and a strong 4-1 away from the Q.

The team will return home to face the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. And as we ponder things here on this Friday the 13th I'm reminded of a form of evil that will be visiting along the Jazz this weekend. Of course I'm referring to the one and only Carlos Boozer, and for some reason my hate for him is like Jason Voorhees. No matter what, it just won't seem to die. Old wounds never really heal for us in Cleveland and I'd like to think that Boozer will never truly be forgiven for what he did to this franchise, short of a far-fetched scenario like him rejoining that Cavs and helping to win a title.

I know it's childish and petty to still hold such a grudge more than five years after the man took the money and ran to Utah. I know the Cavs have moved on and had great success without Boozer here. But I can't help thinking what could have been had Boozer decided to stay here. He was loved by fans for his blue collar work ethic he displayed as a second-round pick. He was pretty much the lone bright spot in the pre-LeBron season of 2002-03 when the Cavs mustered just 17 wins (yes, I'm denying that the Ricky Davis era ever happened). Then we saw a resurgence and a reason for hope again the next season when the team climbed to 35 wins and it looked like LeBron and Boozer could be the NBA's next great young star pairing. But Boozer wouldn't let that happen.

I hope those of you that will also be in attendance tomorrow night at the Q will join me in giving Boozer a warm Cleveland welcome. Don't let him forget what he did to this frachise. He stabbed a blind guy in the back. He turned his back on a city that embraced him and a chance to team up with a once-in-a-lifetime star. All for some more money and a mountain view. To that I say "BOOOOOOOOO" and I will say it loud and often, every time time he puts his money-grubbing hands on the ball tomorrow night. This is Cleveland and we hold grudges. Besides, it makes an otherwise ho-hum November game in a long 82-game season a little more fun, right?

It wasn't a total loss...

After all the build-up for the game and huge hopes Cavaliers fans had heading into Friday night's showdown with the Celtics, the 105-94 loss in Boston was a tremendous disappointment. Whether it was watching the Cavs pile up a puzzling 11 missed free throws, seeing Leon Powe destroy us in the paint, having that blubbery whale "Big Baby" Davis clothesline Andy, hearing the obnoxious Boston crowd cheering in delight, or just observing the overall shrinking of the Cavs in another big road game, everything on the night was quite disheartening. It was honestly the most frustrated and upset I've been watching a Cavs game all season. Just a huge emotional letdown.

Thankfully the team played again less than 24 hours later, taking on the Heat on Saturday night in the friendly confines of the Q. And they righted the ship nicely, sprinting out to a 28-14 lead after the first quarter on their way to a 99-89 win (highlights) over Miami. They built a 20-plus point lead at various points midway through the game before the Heat fought back to make a game of it. Mo Williams led the team in scoring for a second night in a row... and even on a night when his shot wasn't falling LBJ still found a way to contribute, piling up a 14-10-12 triple double.

Joe Smith made his return to the Q on Saturday night

Friday's loss was still burning with me yesterday until some better news arrived - the Orlando Magic waltzed into Boston and beat the Celtics. I was following the game online and after a 22-point Magic lead was trimmed to just 3 late in the fourth I was sure the Celtics would find a way to win it... but thankfully Orlando held on. So really from a Cavalier fan perspective we can almost look at it as if the Magic erased our mistake from Friday night. Granted, a 3-1 season series win over Boston would have been nice if we have to come down to a tiebreaker scenario to determine the top seed in the East. But we still have a two-game cushion on the Celtics in the loss column. And it's becoming more apparent that Orlando isn't just going to roll over and die. So in the final 20 games of the season there are still three huge games looming: 3/17 vs. Orlando, 4/3 @ Orlando, and 4/12 vs. Boston. I'm elated that two of those will be at the Q (it seems like every big game we've had has been on the road this year). But first things first - one final trip out West for a three game set beginning tomorrow night in LA. We're still in a great spot as we enter the last quarter of the regular season. Go Cavs.

What a trip!

The Cavaliers concluded their grueling 4-games-in-5-nights road trip last night with a thrilling 107-100 (highlights) come-from-behind win in Miami. Down 11 points with 8 minutes left in the fourth, the Cavs went on an 18-2 run that may have been the best basketball I've seen a team play in quite some time. They switched to double-teaming Dwyane Wade and completely shut him down, after he had shredded their defense for three quarters. And the offensive execution was nearly flawless when they needed it most. The 18-2 run featured four huge three pointers (two by LeBron and two by Mo) a LeBron dunk, a Z jumper, and a Mo floater. Then LBJ capped things off with a rousing dunk that was reminiscent of the one he threw down late in the fourth quarter of his epic Game 5 performance in the Palace two years ago. Mo and LeBron combined for 72 points on the night, in what was probably their best performance together so far this year.

The L-Train throwin' the hamma down

In a season full of wins this year for the Cavs, this may have been the signature one so far. To cap off such a tough road trip in this fashion was nothing short of brilliant. The win also puts them at 12-2 on the second night of back-to-backs and 10-2 within games played in a 4-in-5-nights set (yes they've had three of those already this year, but thankfully that's the end of them). There is still a lot of season left, but every Cavs fan has to be happy today. At 47-12 they now hold a full one game lead on the Celtics for the coveted #1 seed in the East. Hopefully the team gets some much-needed rest today before maybe getting some help in the form of Joe Smith tomorrow. I'm looking forward to hearing the crowd greeting the team tomorrow at the Q... wish I was going. And then the big showdown in Boston on Friday night is looming on the horizon. Go Cavs.

Happy LeBron Day!

Well, it's December 30th and as sports fans it's time for us to celebrate a mega-star's birthday. No not Tiger Woods silly, it's our own LeBron James. Today is the King's 24th birthday and he will celebrate it down in sunny Miami, hopefully with a win against the Heat and not too much daydreaming about the post-game festivities.

Enjoy your 24th in Miami LBJ

This should be another good test for the Cavs since it is a national TV game on the road against a solid opponent. LeBron likes this kind of spotlight so I'm sure he'll be ready to play. The Cavs have hit a little bit of adversity in their last four wins, so they are getting more accustomed to perfoming under a little more pressure late in tight games. As fans we of course prefer them blowing their opponents out of the water, but they need to play some close ones too. I expect this to be another tight, defensive game.

And since today is LeBron's birthday it got me thinking to about a blog I've neglected to visit for a while. They've had some entertaining LeBron Day entries in the past (2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007) so I'm looking forward to this year's entry.

Still perfect

Still perfect, and no I'm not talking about Romeo Crennel's sparkling 0-8 record vs. the Steelers (more on that later). The Cavaliers remain a perfect 16-0 at the Q after their 93-86 win (highlights) over the Heat last night. Casual sports fans of Cleveland, I'm now begging you... please start paying attention to these Cavaliers. Somehow after their 26-4 start, I still don't think this city has fully embraced this team. But now that another Browns season is officially in the can, hopefully that will change. If you're not following them consistently, you're really missing out on something special.

Last night was just another example of how many different ways the Cavs can win now. They again looked sluggish through the first 3+ quarters of this one, much like the Wizards game on Christmas Day. But again, they turned it on when they had to, turning a nine-point deficit after three quarters into a 7-point win while outscoring the Heat 35-19 in the final quarter. They did it with their defense, timely shots, and some good free-throw shooting down the stretch. And I'd like to point out that even though Dywane Wade ended up with 29 points, Delonte West's defense was relentless. Plays like this highlight how valuable a player West can be. I also thought that LeBron and Ben Wallace were especially active on defense in that final quarter, as was Anderson Varejao (no different than how Andy always is). And Mo Williams proved how capable a sidekick to the King he can be by notching his third straight 20+ scoring night.

Smiles and hugs all around again on Sunday night

All in all, it wasn't a particularly pretty victory for the Cavs but they can't blow out teams every night. The league has taken notice of just how good this Cavs team is and they are really getting the best of most opponents on a nightly basis now. And I also think being home for the holidays might play a little into their sluggish starts the past two games. We'll see if that changes when they face the Heat again tomorrow night in Miami on LBJ's 24th birthday. To calm your Cavalier craving you can watch NBA TV all day today with their '24 Hours of LeBron' programming

Browns Update: On the uglier side of Cleveland sports, the Browns' 2008 season finally came to a merciful end. The embarrassing 31-0 loss marked the franchise's first back-to-back shutouts ever. I believe they have also gone an astonishing 24 consecutive quarters without an offensive touchdown. I'm not sure if that's an NFL record (probably because I stopped really paying attention a long time ago) but I would this level of ineptitude has to rank them up there with the all-time greats.

After a 4-12 season that began with lofty expectations (remember the 'Super Bowl' chants in training camp?) heads were sure to roll. And the team wasted no time last night, with Phil Savage the first man to the chopping block. Romeo Crennel is sure to follow today. Then Rebuild #4 can finally be underway. I heard a bunch of the coach/GM rumors last night and it was enough to make my head spin. My favorite was Bill Parcells & Scott Pioli. Why in the world would either one of them want to come here??? I'm sure Tony Grossi's head is about to explode today. I can't wait to listen to the cleveland.com podcast. Just another day in Berea for our Browns...

***Update*** Apparently as I was writing today's entry, Romeo Crennel was indeed fired. No surprises there, but just wanted to make sure everyone knew it was official.

Weekend wrap

I went into this sports weekend with high hopes for my home teams. The Tribe returned home on Friday night after their early season West coast swing. And the Cavaliers were in Chicago to try to lock down home court advantage in the first round, and beat a bad Bulls team they've had trouble with all year.

I was in attendance at The Prog for the Tribe game, hoping to see CC Sabathia break out of his early season funk. Instead, my wife and I were forced to sit in the cold wind (and it was cold, despite what the weather reports told us prior to the game) and watch Sabathia stink it up again. We NEVER (I repeat, NEVER) leave games early, no matter what the circumstances. But Friday night at The Prog was different. Down 9-1 in the 6th and facing severe weather coming in from the West we actually left the game. Of course without us in attendance the Tribe rallied to make it 9-7 with two men on in the 8th, but the rally eventually stalled out.

To make matters worse, I at least wanted to catch some of the Cavs game on the way home. Thankfully my buddy Nick texted me the following, so I knew my Friday sports night was a total loss:

"Cavs down 17
15-0 run
Pathetic."

That pretty much summed things up perfectly.

Saturday then showcased a wild Fausto Carmona, setting a career high for walks in a game for him. That made us 0-for-2 at home against a rebuilding A's club. Thankfully on Sunday the Tribe offense woke up a bit and took the finale, 7-1. That was the good win on Sunday. The bad win (and yes, there is such a thing) was what the Cavaliers came up with against the pathetic Miami Heat and its roster full of NBDLers. Mind you, the Cavs still have not locked up the 4th seed in the East. They had a lot to play for at home against a bad team. Yet they somehow still looked pathetic, actually going into the fourth quarter trailing a 13-win team. They squeezed out a 84-76 win and their magic number now stands at one to lock up home court in the first round (of course Mike Brown refused to play Damon Jones for the 5th straight game). The problem is that they have two games left @ Philly and home vs. Detroit. I'm begging you Cavaliers, just get this over with tonight...

One saving grace from Friday night's debacle - our new mezzanine seats are great

AL Central Update: The Tigers are now 2-10 after another shutout loss to the White Sox. This is the fourth time they have been shutout in just 12 games and they are now -45 in runs on the season. Even with the Tribe's crappy start we are a 3 games up on them. Perhaps we can bury them early this year with a 2-game sweep Wednesday and Thursday at The Pro/Prog?

Big sports Friday

Tonight is a big sports Friday in Cleveland. Most importantly, the Cavaliers travel to Chicago holding onto a 2-game lead for the #4 spot (home court advantage in the first round) in the East. The next two games are very winnable (Chicago and Miami), but anyone who has followed the Cavs this year knows that you can't predict anything with this team. Our magic number is really 3 with four games remaining. Any combination of Washington losses and Cleveland wins equaling three will clinch home court in the first round. So we'll keep watch here and hope that we can get LeBron some rest in the process.

Also, the Tribe returns home tonight to face the A's after a 2-4 West coast trip. I will be attending that game and will post some pictures afterward. I'm somewhat looking forward to and somewhat dreading attending a game that CC is pitching. He looked pretty shaky in his previous two outings so hopefully he can right the ship tonight.

And I wouldn't be a good Cleveland sports blogger without mentioning this little nugget involving the Browns and yet another staph infection. Let's hope it's not as serious as some of the others and Joe J can return soon. He is one of my favorite Browns.

Here we go again with the staph infections...