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.

It WAS baseball season!

Sitting in my Chicago office yesterday, I was genuinely excited for the start of baseball season. The Indians had a pretty good spring, Jake Westbrook was back to hopefully stabilize the starting rotation and our young offense had been hitting the ball well. Encouraging my excitement was my deep seeded hatred for the Chicago White Sox. I never liked the sox, but the combination of Jack Parkman being such an asshole and Ozzie giving the choke sign to the fans (I would strangle him with my bare hands if given the opportunity). The guy is a prick and lacks the class you expect from professionals. Really you're going to taunt fans. F*%# you.

So I was ready to talk some smack to the sox fans yesterday, and could have parlayed my excitement of an Indians win with the fact the Cubs looked stupid. Cubs fans annoy me, so it would have been fun to taunt everyone in the office, except one other Indians fan. But it was not meant to be. The 4 wild pitches, few hits and only getting ONE baserunner to second base made me sick. It was at that point that I declared baseball season is over. I'm not going to watch this garbage anymore. I say this of course and I don't mean it. I will still check the scores, hope the Tribe can win a game or two, and watch the inept team when I get the chance. But mentally I am out. I will not be emotionally invested in this team. I have enough to worry about on my sports docket, with ESPN putting up pictures of LeBron in a Knicks jersey and the Browns not having done squat since I had nap times on carpet squares.

The NFL draft is 16 days away, the Cavs have locked up the NBA's best record, and Miami University's (NOT THE FLORIDA SCHOOL) Hockey team is playing for a national championship this Thursday, so the last thing I need is to watch future stars for other teams get valuable experience at my expense.

So until the Indians recreate Major League, I'll pretend to tell myself they don't exist.

SUPERBOWL!!!!

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