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.

Romeo's swan song

Another day at the Stadium, another embarrassing defeat. This time at the hands of the lowly Houston Texans 16-6, themselves bringing in a 3-7 record and a road losing streak stretching over a year. It was another game filled with dropped passes, desperate coaching moves, terrible play calling, and more defensive ineptitude. The Browns are now 1-5 at home after being 7-1 there last year, including winning 7 straight. And they 4-7 on the season overall, one in which they entered with such hope.

Thankfully and finally the fans' patience has run out with this team. I've been inside the Stadium for every home game this year and I honestly didn't think it would happen. I've looked around me and seen blind support for a team of losers while they inexcusably pissed away second half leads against the Ravens and Broncos. I think there were still a lot of believers even before yesterday's game when a win would have brought the Browns to only 5-6. But this pathetic performance finally sapped all support from the fans here in Cleveland. Congratulations Browns, I didn't think you could do it. But I'm glad you finally did.

One of the better signs in the Stadium yesterday shows
just how these fans feel about #17's play this year

This moment had to come. Something needs to change with this franchise. This season has been filled with as much nonsense off the field as on it. The Kellen Winslow staph infection adventure, followed by his one-game suspension. The text messaging saga to Winslow's phone from Browns staffers urging him to keep quiet. GM Phil Savage's email-gate. Players talking about quitting. I'm so sick of all of it. And then yesterday came Romeo Crennel's decision to pull Brady Quinn after two interceptions and insert the embattled Derek Anderson. It was a desperate move by a desperate coach of a desperate team. And likely one of Crennel's final moves as the head man on the Browns' sidelines.

Please Browns, if you're going to rebuild again (and you definitely should), please, please, please do it the right way this time. Don't bring in another guy that has never been an NFL head coach before. Back up the Brinks truck to Bill Cowher's home in North Carolina or Strongsville (I loved that dumb rumor) or wherever the hell he is living now. Make him an offer he can't refuse. Show the fans you care about this team's image as much as they do (or did). The current state of the franchise is beyond embarrassing and Cowher can instantly restore some credibility.

Other Browns Notes: Brady Quinn reacts to his benching... Terry Pluto talks about how the Browns torment their own fans... Braylon Edwards hears and accepts the boos... And don't forget about Tony Grossi's noon chat today. This should be a fun one to recap.

Cavs Update: Now for a team that actually rewards you for being a fan: the Cavaliers laid the wood to the Hawks on Saturday night with a 110-96 win at the Q. If you didn't see the game, check out the highlights here. LeBron made three plays that were simply jawdropping to me, and luckily all three of them made that highlight reel. The first is around the 1:25 mark after Ben Wallace blocks a shot, Delonte West picks up the loose ball and thows an alley-oop to LeBron from nearly half court. Just watch LBJ streak past the defense. His speed in the open court is unbelievable. The second play is featured right after that one when LeBron drives through two Hawks defenders in the paint, gets hammered and still throws it down left-handed while losing his headband. His strength is ridiculous. And the third play is shown right after that dunk when LeBron drives through the lane, fakes a behind the back pass, cocks his right arm back and as Austin Carr would say, "throws the hammer down!" Just listen to the sound of the rim. And watch Mo Evans scurry to get out of the way.

So with the win the Cavs are now a perfect 7-0 at home, their best start ever at the Q. And they are 10-3 overall with a two game cushion in the Central over the Pistons. They will have a big stretch of games this week with four games in five nights beginning tomorrow night in New York (where we will surely hear more rumors of LeBron bolting for the pathetic Knicks). Three of the four games will be against sub-.500 teams. In fact, 6 of the Cavs' next 8 games will come against teams that currently have losing records. I feel another streak coming on...

Mike Brown credits his "Committee" for helping the Cavs get off to a fast start this season... And Coach Brown isn't a big fan of gambling for steals... And LeBron isn't tired of the 2010 rumors (yet).

More bad publicity

So I was watching all the cable news channels last night, flipping around to get all the perspectives (I admit, I'm somewhat addicted during election season even though I can't wait for it to just all be over). On CNN I noticed something to this effect scroll across the bottom of the screen: "Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow to appeal his one-game suspension - AP."

Now I know going into this season the Browns were expecting lots of attention. With five prime time games on the schedule the team was hoping that all of the media focus would be based on what was happening on the field. Somewhere I'm sure Phil Savage was just shaking his head at the latest embarrassment for this franchise yesterday. Now everyone knows that not only have the 2008 Cleveland Browns underachieved, they've also managed to get caught up in a PR mess that doesn't figure to disappear anytime soon.

Good luck trying to cheer us up this year Phil

I defended K2 yesterday, but upon hearing that he is now appealing his one-game suspension I'm done defending him. It looks to me like this is all a ploy to keep his game check ($235K) that he is scheduled to miss during his suspension. I gave him the benefit of the doubt yesterday, assuming that he spoke out in frustration. But given that his agent is the one-and-only Drew Rosenhaus, Winslow's history of injuries that have likely shortened his career, and his longing for a new contract, this whole scenario just screams 'Pay me or I'll make a mess for you.' And if that's the case it is despicable, embarrassing, and completely unacceptable.

"As a grown man, if you make your bed, you have to lay in it. I'm not Kellen Winslow. I don't really understand what's going on with him and the team. I'm sure he felt he did what he needed to do." - Darnell Dinkins

Winning usually cures most ills for a team but I'm not sure even that (as unlikely as it seems with these up-and-down Browns) would help with K2. The Browns are nearing a crossroads with him and it just might be time to cut ties and rid the team of yet another distraction that they just don't need.

Other Browns Notes: Steve Heiden is hurting, but still expects to play Sunday vs. the Jags... And speaking of tight ends (that seems to be all we're talking about today), rookie Martin Rucker may be activated for Sunday's game. Yet another indication that K2 is expendable? I guess we'll have to see how he does, but we already know we have two decent stop-gaps in Heiden and Dinkins, so the more the merrier... I'll give my fearless prediction for Sunday right here tomorrow and you just might be surprised.

Cavs Update: The Cavaliers sleepwalked their way to a 97-79 loss to the Pistons last night in their almost-preseason-finale. Not exactly the best way to debut themselves to basketball-starved fans on Fox Sports Ohio's only preseason telecast. But when you take into account that #23 was a DNP for the night, I think we can all agree that this game doesn't mean jack$hit. They will finally end their marathon of a preseason tomorrow night on ESPN against the Wizards... The Cavs are expected to make their final roster announcement today so we'll see if Jawad Williams or Ronald Dupree will be the last man standing... I always like to read Brian Windhorst's take on these preseason games, so here you go if you didn't already see it... Dan Labbe put together a nice piece today on how the Cavs stack up to Cleveland's other pro teams... And finally, Bob Finnan reports that LeBron James was already crowned the league's MVP in a preseason NBA poll of general managers. Way to go out on a limb there guys!

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008-09 MVP

K2 out & Cavs season fast approaching

First order of business today - Kellen Winslow was suspended for one game by the Browns yesterday. He will miss the Jacksonville game on Sunday and isn't allowed to re-join the team until Monday. While the suspension is completely justified, I'm actually quite surprised that the Browns did it. This seems a little out of character for them and illustrates just how upset Phil Savage must have been after the reported 'heated exchange' he had with K2 outside of the Browns locker room after Sunday's loss to the Redskins. Here are pieces of what Savage had to say yesterday:

"The Cleveland Browns are committed to winning and taking care of our players. We are also committed to protecting the privacy of our players, particularly with regard to medical issues. To that end, following discussions with Kellen Winslow and his representation, the Browns agreed to make every effort to maintain the confidentiality of his recent medical condition."

"Kellen has expressed his desire to be a productive member of the Cleveland Browns. His comments and behavior on Sunday evening, however, were unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessarily disparaging to our organization. His statements brought unjustified negative attention to our organization, and violated the team-first concept of our football squad. Therefore, disciplinary action will be taken in the form of a one-game suspension without pay for conduct detrimental to the club."

And part of Winslow's response:

"I remain loyal to the Browns organization, my teammates, the fans and the city of Cleveland. I remain a hard worker on and off the field in support of my teammates and our goal to have a winning season. I hope to be a Brown for a very long time. I know that the organization and I can move forward and focus on having a successful season, which I believe everybody agrees upon."

I don't envy Phil Savage's job at all. He has been trying to rid this franchise of its downtrodden image ever since he arrived in Cleveland. Now he has this mess to deal with on two levels. The first is figuring out what to do with Winslow. And the second is convincing the players that they are safe from staph infections.

I can go either way with Winslow. On the one hand, I'm a huge fan of the guy's passion and heart. Many people still tend to villanize him for his 'soldja' comments he made years ago. Or his boneheaded decision to recklessly ride his motorcycle which obviously led to some very serious injuries and directly hurt his career. But I look at what he went through to get back onto the field and then how he performed last season when he clearly was not 100% physically. He is a warrior on the field and he wants to win as much as anyone in the NFL. But on the other hand, he needs to realize that the team is bigger than just him. He cannot put Savage or the organization in this position and think there will be no consequences. I'm glad Savage stepped in and acted swiftly, but I wonder where this leads regarding Winslow's future with the Browns. I guess time will tell.

And as far as the staph infection thing goes, I don't know how you handle that one. It really sounds like the Browns have done everything they can to find the source of the problem. And I work for the Cleveland Clinic, so I'm not even gonna touch that one. But I do see other guys in other organizations go through this too (Tom Brady anyone?) so who knows where this is really coming from. I'm definitely not scientifically qualified to speculate, but I would be concerned if I was a player on the Browns or any other NFL team for that matter.

Cavs Update: Only six days away now. The Cavs collected their second win of the preseason last night in Philadelphia with a 91-83 win over the Sixers. LeBron led the way with 20 points in 25 minutes, as all of the starters' playing time increased in preparation for the regular season. Boobie Gibson also chipped in 17 off the bench with a nice 6-of-9 shooting night, including 3-of-5 from long range.

Mo also added 13 for the wine and gold

The Cavs will head to Detroit tonight to take on the Pistons in their second-to-last preseason game and this one will finally be on Fox Sports Ohio. And speaking of Fox Sports Ohio, there were some excellent Cavs-related programs on last night, particularly 'Cavs Spotlight: Joe Tait' and 'Cavs Spotlight: Daniel Gilbert'. Here is the broadcast schedule that show's all the dates and times they will be re-run. Excellent viewing to get you ready for the season.

Curb your enthusiasm?

No, I'm not talking about Larry David's HBO masterpiece. I'm referring to the need for us as Browns fans to keep our excitement in check. But damn it, with the lost summer courtesy of the Tribe it's just impossible. This city's thirst for a title is so unquenched that a 10-6 team that just missed the playoffs has us chanting "Super Bowl!" during the first two days of training camp. And obviously, Cleveland has always been a football-first town, which helps ramp things up during training camp anyway. So optimism is now in full swing and I have no choice but to dive in too and soak it all in.

DA spending some time with fans on Day 2 of training camp

K2 has vowed to not be a distraction and so far is living up to his word. This is good news and I think the guy still takes a lot of heat from some fans for things he said when he was a young, dumb kid in college. And obviously the motorcycle incident was a complete bonehead move. But the way he has handled himself since then has been exemplary. I'm glad he's a Cleveland Brown and can't wait to see him catching everything thrown his way again this season.

"I'm sure [the media] thought I wasn't coming, but I'm not that type of guy," Winslow said. "I don't want to be a distraction. My job is to just help this team win and come out here and play to the best of my ability."

Tony Grossi reports that Ryan Tucker is getting healthy and itching to return. I think one of the most amazing things about Phil Savage's reign so far as Browns GM is the fact that we aren't devastated by Tucker's hip injury. He has built such depth on the offensive line that Tucker doesn't have to be rushed back and a guy like Rex Hadnot can be plugged in and the line won't miss a beat. That's what happens on winning football teams and is something we have been waiting for as Browns fans since the new incarnation of this franchise.

One of my favorite parts of the start of football season is Peter King's annual "Postcards from Training Camp" series. Yesterday he gave us his thoughts on the 2008 Browns. He did correctly predict Jamal Lewis's huge year last summer, so let's hope he's right this year about the Rogers/Williams combo helping to shut down the run. And if nothing else, we know our chefs are some of the best in the league. King's visit also hinted at a possible SI cover story featuring the Browns. Let's hope the SI cover curse doesn't hit this town again...

Tribe Update: Just a couple things to note today... apparently the team has 'rebounded emotionally' from the C.C. Sabathia trade. Let's just hope that translates to more wins on the field. And the Mets may be interested in a trade for Casey Blake.

The Indians return to action tonight at the Prog against the Minnesota Twins, with Cliff Lee going against that bastard Livan Hernandez (remember the '97 World Series?).

Cavs Update: Not much to report today, just a strange story about the possibility of Delonte West heading to Russia. I doubt this has any legs and I'm hoping it's just a negotiating ploy from West's agent. He doesn't have much leverage as a restricted free agent so we'll see how this plays out.

Back in action

At last, the Tribe will be back on the field again tonight in Seattle. I'm very curious to see how they will perform in the second half of the season. If I'm Eric Wedge, the one goal I'm setting for this team is to get back to the .500 mark by the end of the season. With 68 games remaining, that means they would need to go 40-28 (a .588 clip) the rest of the way. Given the way they've performed so far this year, that may seem like a lofty expectation. But with less pressure, hopefully a more stable roster, and maybe, just maybe some guys returning off the DL (namely Victor Martinez and Fausto Carmona... I'm not really expecting anything from Hafner's bum shoulder this year), the team might start to look more like the AL Central champs of 2007.

But with the trade deadline approaching, there may still be some changes coming. As I noted yesterday afternoon, Asdrubal Cabrera was called back up from Buffalo and will join the team for tonight's game in Seattle. He was able to correct himself at the plate in AAA, hitting .326 (46-for-141). I still expect to see Casey Blake traded to a team in contention before the deadline so that could cause some re-shuffling in the infield. If Blake is indeed moved, then I would really look at DH'ing Jhonny Peralta, moving Cabrera to shortstop (his natural position), taking an extended look at Andy Marte at third, keeping Jamey Carroll at second (damn that Barfield injury and Phillips trade), and getting Garko back to regular time at first. This way you can look toward 2009 to really see what these guys can do.

And before next season, I'd be completely open to bringing Blake back on a smaller contract. He's a great clubhouse guy, a decent hitter, and a very versatile guy on defense. He'd be an ideal utility player for probably a couple more years. But we'll see how everything plays out over the next couple weeks. Terry Pluto also has a plan for the second half, with an eye towards the 2009 season.

Will Casey be dealt before the deadline?

Browns Update: Yesterday Phil Savage confirmed that Joe Jurevicius will likely start the season on the PUP list, meaning he will miss the first 6 weeks (five games) of the season. At this point I'm just hoping he is able to make it back to the field in what will likely be his final season in the NFL. Jurevicius was huge for the team last year, especially on third down, where he so often kept the chains moving with big catches. Get well soon JJ.

''We're obviously very concerned about Joe's situation,'' Savage said. ''It's been very frustrating for everybody. Every time he's taken a step forward it's been two steps back."

Cavs Update: Not really an update on the Cavaliers, but an interesting story about ousted PD Cavs beat writer Branson Wright. He was definitely not one of my favorite writers, and the biggest newspaper in the state owes it to the team and its fan base to get someone better in there. (Pssst... I will work for much less than you paid him. All I require is a cushy chair courtside at the Q and a laptop.)

The Cavs summer league team will also be in action again tonight at 8:00 in Las Vegas against the Wizards. You can catch the action on NBATV or for free here if you're bored on a Friday night. I promise I won't tell anyone...

Happy to have a night off

I'm happy the Tribe played a day game yesterday. I'm even happier they have the night off tonight. My wife and I had to catch up on five episodes of "Lost" we missed during the end of the NBA season and the playoffs. And our DVR has been at about 99% capacity for the last week. So we got in three episodes last night and will probably get the other two tonight. That has to be more entertaining than watching the '08 Indians invent new ways to lose every game.

Yesterday's loss was really a backbreaker in a couple ways. First, the Tribe is now 5.5 games behind the White Sox, instead of 3.5 had they won. But more crushing was how they lost this game. They took an early 2-0 lead in the first, of course still leaving runs on the board when they couldn't score again with no outs and men on first and third (shaking my head as I type this). Then after falling behind 3-2, Jhonny Peralta hit a big HR to put the Tribe back on top 5-3 in the sixth. In comes Rafael Betancourt in the top of the 7th to promptly give up the lead and the game.

More of the same at the Prog on Wednesday afternoon

Betancourt, who was so dependable last year, is now sporting an ERA of 5.56. And Eric Wedge is not happy about his performance yesterday. Even more troubling to me is the fact that the Tribe has now not scored a run in the 7th inning or later in 10 straight games. Just stop and think about that for a second and it becomes clear why they are 2-8 in those ten games. They get back on the horse tomorrow night in Kansas City and it looks like Pronk will give it a go with his bum shoulder, even if he is afraid of needles. Personally, I'd rather see him go on the DL and get himself straightened out. It's not like we'd miss his hitting (or lack thereof).

Cavs Update:
Terry Pluto has put together a fictional conversation between Danny Ferry, Dan Gilbert and Mike Brown that is mildly entertaining. This obviously will be a huge off-season for the wine and gold and the clamoring has already started to put Michael Redd in a Cavalier uniform. It will be interesting to see what Mr. Ferry can pull off this summer with all these expiring contracts (Wally Szczerbiak $13M, Eric Snow $7.3M, Joe Smith $4.8M, Damon Jones $4.4M, not to mention Andy Varejao's one year left with a player option in 09-10, Sasha Pavlovic's non-guaranteed contract after this year, and deciding what to do with Boobie Gibson and Delonte West). It should be an interesting summer.

Browns Update:
I caught an interesting interview with Phil Savage on the drive home from work yesterday. Every time I hear this guy talk I like him more. Check it out if you haven't heard this two-part interview from WKNR: part one & part two.