The World of Cleveland Sports: Eric's Take

What an exciting time to be a Cleveland fan!

CAVS

The Cavs smacked the over eager to the point of being annoying Bulls right in the mouth. If only the Bulls had any realistic expectation, it would be good to give them some payback for the Jordan era. The expectations in Chicago are not very high for the Bulls, despite getting outstanding play from PG Derrick Rose over the last few weeks. I noticed this morning walking downtown in Chicago that they have hung Blackhawks banners from the light posts. No bulls stuff anywhere. That made me happy.

I think Joakim Noah needs to keep her mouth shut after getting abused by Shaq and Andy the day before. Noah said on Sunday that Cleveland is boring and sucks. I encourage any one going to the game tonight to try to lose their voice heckling her. Now normally, I do not advocate violence against women, but in Noah deserves to be knocked down a peg, both physically and mentally. Talking shit after losing a lopsided game makes you look bitter, not like a hard ass. Maybe she was pmsing, I don't know how that all works, but its no excuse for her behavior. (I like this picture of Ms. Noah, this is the face I imagine her making after having too many drinks with Ben Roethlisberger)

INDIANS

Any time the Indians beat the Whitesox, I am happy. Any time the Indians sweep the Whitesox I am even happier. Any time the Indians sweep the Whitesox while Noah and her friends are in the process of getting swept I am exceptionally happy. Oddly enough, not a single Chicago fan has said anything to me today... Its been a good day. Saturday was another good day... I watched a friend of mine talk Jake Peavy out of a bar... Well done sir.

BROWNS

While the aforementioned sporting teams are doing a hell of a job killing time, the Browns are also poised to have a huge week. Even Chris Jennings punching a bouncer at Velvet Dog in the mouth can't ruin the week the Browns are about to have. First is the release of the schedule on Tuesday night on the NFL channel. Some of you will say, who cares the schedule is irrelevant when going undefeated and while I agree, its still pretty damn exciting. Thursday of course it the 75th NFL Draft and what should be considered a national holiday. There is still no way of knowing what the Browns might do with their picks in this draft. I am hoping to god that the Browns come away with a starting safety. If Berry is on the board at 7, thats got to be the pick. If not, maybe we can trade down and take Earl Thomas. I love the idea of moving up to get Colt McCoy if we don't think he'll be there at 38. We need a QB of the future and I think in a west coast offense, McCoy can be an absolute monster. In addition to a safey and McCoy, I'd like to see the Browns come away with a speed receiver with a 3rd round pick. I love Jacoby Ford from Clemson (4.28 speed at 5'9" and 186 lbs) and would be ok with Taylor Price, another burner, coming from Ohio University. We need to add a LB at some point as well, possibly Brandon Spikes in the 3rd round. We pimped Spikes as a low first-high second type of guy, but his SLLLLLOOOWWWW 40 time has dropped him. The man is still a beast and can still play. He'd be a perfect fit as a thumper at the Mack ILB spot.

Eric's Talking Sports

While my mind never wanders far from thoughs of the Cleveland Browns, this is plainly put the slowest time of the year in football. We are stuck in the middle ground between the Season and the Off-Season, or Business Season. At this point the college all-star games are over and the guys are gearing up for the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis at the end of the month. To occupy my time, I've ventured into thinking about other sports. Here are a few of my thoughts unrelated to the Cleveland Browns, sorta.

Cavs:
I know almost nothing about basketball. Not only do I find it hard to relate to anyone in the game, but I also like to tease my basketball buddies about the thug culture of the NBA (hi Jeff!) and the fact that the guys need to toughen up. I will never understand the way fouls are called in this sport. Having said that, the success of the Cavs over the past few years has made me a huge Cavs fan, a borderline NBA fan and a football fan still waiting for something to happen.

So now, here I am, a Cavs fan that still really does not like basketball, yet I can not stop looking at or thinking about trade rumors. I NEEED to know now what the Cavs will do to win a championship and keep LeBron. I need Amare here yesterday, or at least tell me Jamison is on his way now. This it torture.

Browns:
Speaking of torture, I'm sick of this lull in the NFL Off-Season. Also if the Browns would just win a Super Bowl I would not have to care so much about whether the Cavs win. I am just so desperate for a Championship, that I'm willing (starting to like) to watch basketball.

Winter Olympics:
Speaking of winners, we live in the United States of America. We are the greatest nation on the planet. There are times when the people of this nation or the government do really stupid things. However nothing gets me more pumped than watching the Olypics. (At least nothing I've experienced, lets go Browns) The U.S. is amazing, did you see us roll in with over 200 athletes in the opening ceremony? That is bad ass.
Good for Bode Miller. My college roommate had an almost unhealthy man crush on Bode Miller in the 2006 games. To see the failure and heartbreak in 2006 only to see Bode rebound for a Bronze this year is a great story. He looks like hes having fun and is just happy to be there. Thats really what the Olypmics are all about. The spirit of the Olympics can not be rivaled anywhere else. U.S. Curling has some serious work to do, not a proud display yesterday people. U.S. mens hockey looked good, but um... so did Canada wow! That should be a fun game on Sunday. The winter Olympics are the best. I love the skiing, the jumping the ice skating. It all looks sooo easy and graceful. Its also a reminder about how great our country is. Its nice to be part of a winner, even if we do have to technically include cities like Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincy in our great Nation.

Indians:
I am sure we will be irrelevant again. I wish we had an owner like Gilbert for the Tribe. Dolan is a cheap-ass and its annoying because we all know you can't be a regular playoff team with a baby boy team salary. But in the meantime, its nice to know that we will continue to be the farm system for the rest of the MLB.

USA!!!! (America's version of the Browns winning the Super Bowl)!!!

-Eric

Hey Cavs Fans!

With a week left before the NBA trade deadline, we've asked our Cavs expert Jeffrey Jerome to update us on the trade talk around the NBA and specifically any juicy nuggests regarding your Cleveland Cavaliers.

If you ever want to know, I suggest you take a ganders at it for yourself:

Well here we are basketball noobs, everyone’s favorite week of the NBA season: the trade deadline. Are the Cavs making a move? What about the rest of the east? Let’s get right to it…

Your… Cleveland… Cavalieeeeeeeeeeers
Are we making a move? Yes. YES. YES! Ok, maybe. Look, last year the Cavs passed on the same exact trade we made for Shaq this past off-season. It was on the table, and we said no. Um, oops. I’m not saying Shaq would have guaranteed a championship but based on our meeting with Orlando this year, perhaps we make the Finals. If you think we can afford to keep missing the Finals and keep LeBron, you're sorely mistaken. That one may have already cost us.

So, with this in mind, Danny Ferry is pulling the trigger this week. He has to. He knows it. The bigger problem is that everyone else knows this too. Here’s what we’re hearing:

Amare Stoudemire: (PER: 20.18) Would he be LBJ’s first legit second banana? Obviously. Would it work? Uhhh, no. First, Amare and Shaq both score at the basket, and we need a jump shooter. Second, even I could score on him because he doesn’t play any defense. Not happening.
Andre Iguodola: (PER: 17.84) Doesn’t fit the shooting PF role that we are looking for but would be able to be a legit Number Two for BronBron. He’s only 26 and probably going to peak in the next 3 years which means paying his contract (four years, $57 mil) isn’t a terrible thing. Rumor is that any Iggy trade will include Dalembert’s horrible contract, something we want no part of.
Antawn Jamison: (PER 17.87) Perfect Fit. Great player, and a great human being. Problems: First, he’s making a ton of money at 33 years of age (two years, $28 mil). Second, Washington is supposedly asking the world for him and we may not be willing to give up the extra pieces.
Troy Murphy: (PER: 18.02) Murphy was fourth in the league last year in double-doubles with 49. He is a 6’11 PF that roams around the three point line and is not afraid to hoist given the opportunity. But really, who’s afraid of Troy Murphy? The other three names seem to be big-time acquisitions. All things considered, he wouldn’t be a bad role player on our squad but if he is our sole midseason move, we can’t give up a lot. Rumor is we’re offering Z and only Z.

The Other Three
Here’s what we see regarding the rest of the so-called “Big Four.”

Boston: Far and away the most likely to make a move. The team has completely fallen apart (mentally and physically) over the past few weeks. Rumors continue that Danny Ainge is dangling Ray Allen’s corpse (and $19 mil expiring contract) for a player that can take the scoring load off of Pierce’s and Rondo’s hands. Expect something to happen.
Orlando: They spent a ton of money to secure their bench this off-season. If you spend money like they did and the team got worse, it may be worth spending a little more to right the ship. Expect Brandon Bass to be moved by the deadline bringing in another quality bench player.
Hotlanta: Would probably like to make a move, but I sincerely doubt they have the pieces for it. Their only expiring deal is Joe Johnson and he isn’t going anywhere (until this summer). Also, the team isn’t known for making a huge money push, even if most would argue they’ve finally made it to elite status. I expect little to no movement.

- Jeffrey Jerome

Update on YOUR CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

Occasionally, we here at SBS will venture outside the wide world of football and hear from our valued experts on other topics.  Today we welcome Jeff Jerome to SBS to share his thoughts on the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Jeff Jerome is a longtime Cavs fan and NBA enthusiast.  Check back from time to time to get his no nonsense look at our favorite basketball team.

We hope you enjoy Jeff's contribution.

Last night, the cavaliers survived a close one in South Beach. Undoubtedly, beating the Heat means more than adding one to the ‘W’ column.


Cavs-Heat impressions:
First, the Heat currently hold the fifth playoff position in the East behind the Big Four. This shows the ridiculous amount of disparity in our conference. This is nothing new, but consider this. The Cavs went into South Beach without Mo Williams, the leader of our offense that sets the pace for our entire team. Delonte West, the player typically called upon to cover Dwyane Wade, missed the game with a fractured finger. The Cavs held D-Wade to 2 points in the second half without forcing LeBron to cover D-Wade until the end of the game. Miami had a full and healthy squad last night. The Cavs were a shadow of themselves last night (health-wise) and still ended up winning.

All-in-all, this reaffirms our initial belief that aside from Boston, Orlando, and Atlanta, there are no threats in the Eastern Conference this season. And I mean NO threats. If Miami represents the rest of the field, it is pretty embarrassing for the Eastern Conference.

Of second note, can we please put the LeBron-to-Miami rumors to rest? Look when you’re given that much talent, you grow up with every coach having you control the ball the majority of the time. I’d wager the same applies to D-Wade and every other great scorer in the league who needs the ball in their hands. And we think two players like this are going to co-exist on one team? I’m not buying it.

Last night showed us exactly that. Mike Brown drew up a defensive set for the final play that had D-Wade doubled (no kidding Mike) and LeBron called it off saying that he would cover him one-on-one. LeBron wants the spotlight even on the closing defensive sets. Look, we should all be grateful that LeBron thinks the way he does, but I can’t see him coexisting on the same team as a player who acts, plays, and thinks the same way. What were the odds last night D-Wade wasn’t taking the final shot? 2%? Maybe. Now who gets that shot if LeBron and D-Wade are playing on the same team?

What seems to be skewing the view of so many in the situation is the friendship that exists between LeBron and D-Wade. This as a league-wide trend as opposed to an isolated issue with LeBron. In the 80’s and early 90’s it was clear that players of certain teams were not fond of players on the opposition. (The Bad Boy Pistons, Jordan’s Bulls, etc.) The league isn’t like that anymore. Players will be competitive on the floor, and close friends immediately thereafter. LeBron is friends with a lot of the top players in the league. Will they play hard against each other? Of course. But will they eat dinner with each other’s families that night? Not a doubt in my mind. This is a business. Who else can a twenty-four year old making nine-figures really relate to, much less become friends with?

- Jeffrey Jerome