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22 Mar 2011

Kickoff change much ado about nothing?

Josh Cribbs was all over the news on Tuesday after the NFL announced it was moving the kickoff spot from the 30-yard-line back to the 35-yard-line.

Cribbs is understandably upset about this as, against some teams, the extra five yards will mean additional touchbacks and fewer opportunities for Cribbs to return the ball, which he does better than anyone else in the NFL – he’s the career leader in kickoff returns for touchdowns with eight.

”I just disagree with the rule changes because it affects me tremendously and other guys tremendously,” Cribbs told The Beacon Journal. ”I count on [Chicago Bears return man] Devin Hester breaking records and everything, so I can chase him. They count on me breaking records, so they can chase me and vice versa. But without the opportunity, it takes us out of the game sometimes.”

But will it really make a difference?

Last year teams kicked away from Cribbs, usually by short kicking, to keep the ball out of his hands. There is little reason to think that strategy was going to change, no matter where they are kicking off from.

In addition, in 2010 the average kickoff went to the 6-yard-line; now with the extra five yards the ball will go to the 1-yard-line, which means returners will still have an opportunity to make a play.

When the NFL last kicked off from the 35-yard-line, in 1993, there were 57 returns of more than 40 yards and four returns for touchdowns.

In 2010, there were 113 returns of more than 40 yards and 23 kicks returned for touchdowns.

But we have to remember that in 1993 teams were not keeping players like Cribbs, Hester and Leon Washington on the roster to specifically return kicks, and that impacts the return numbers as much as the 5-yard difference.

Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff is cited as reason No. 1 why the rule change is bad. Cundiff had an NFL-record 40 touchbacks last season; it’s not like that number was going to go down anyway. Plus, he’s the exception rather than the rule here.

Teams will adjust to this rule just like they do with everything else.

“It’s going to take a lot of strategy for the coaches to come up with a plan for how to take advantage of the opportunities you do have,” Washington said on NFL.com. “I think, as a returner, you have to really study the game, study the kickers and try to approach the game from that angle. … Special-teams coaches have to really, really prepare themselves and really game-plan around how to take advantage of when you do have opportunities.”

***

While we fully expect the Browns to go defense with their first pick in next month’s NFL Draft, we were still a little bit surprised to hear that Browns GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur didn’t attend the pro day workout of Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green.

That is until we heard what went on during the day.

By NFL rule, only an NFL-draft eligible quarterback from the player’s school can throw passes during the receiver’s pro day. Since the Bulldogs don’t have anyone fitting that criteria, they are allowed to bring someone in as long as they played at the college level withing the state or live within a 40-mile radius of the school.

But the only quarterback Georgia could find is Justin Roper, who played in college at Montana but now lives 46 miles away from the Georgia campus.

Got all that so far?

So the rules required the university to send all NFL officials indoors for Green’s individual drill workout. But the representatives from the NFL teams were allowed to watch the workouts on a monitor.

But not in person.

We don’t know, either.

***

From Who Ate All the Pies comes word that the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department at Qatar University is developing an ‘artificial cloud’ that could be used to temper the desert country’s blistering heat during the 2022 World Cup.

According to the report, the cloud is positioned by remote control, made of 100 percent light carbonic materials, filled with helium, fuelled by four solar-powered engines and it’s primary function will be to hover above the various stadiums in order to ‘filter both direct and indirect UV rays, as well as controlling temperatures at pitch level’ – all at a cost of around $500,000.

I think the Indians need to get working one of these for Progressive Field.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Josh Cribbs, NFL, weird rules | Leave a comment
22 Mar 2011

Tribe pitching shaping up … sort of

With a little more than a week until Opening Day, the Indians starting rotation appears to be set.

Unfortunately, it looks like the bullpen may now be a bit unsettled.

Hey, it wouldn’t be the Indians if everything was bees and honey now, would it?

Manager Manny Acta is leaning toward naming Josh Tomlin as the fifth starter, joining Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Carlos Carrasco and Mitch Talbot in a starting rotation that will try and help the Tribe avoid its third consecutive season of 90+ losses.

As for the bullpen …

When spring training opened, Acta said he expected the bullpen to be the strongest part of team. But questions starting to pop up about the relievers.

Joe Smith is still recovering from an abdominal strain and probably won’t be ready when the season starts and Jensen Lewis has been sent to Class AAA Columbus.

Four relievers are definitely on the team: closer Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Chad Durbin. Smith was originally on this list, but if he has to go on the disabled list, that leaves three open spots.

Acta has to choose from Frank Herrmann and Justin Germano, who pitched decently for the Tribe last season, along with Doug Mathis and Vinnie Pestano, non-roster players who, if they make the team, means the Indians will have to make room for them on the 40-man roster.

Not the type of decisions Acta was expecting to face so close to Opening Day.

***

For all the talk about the Browns have blown draft after draft since 1999, turns out the Tribe is just as bad:

According to Terry Pluto’s latest in The Plain Dealer:

  • Of all the players the Indians drafted from 2004-07, Josh Tomlin is the only one who has a chance to start this season.
  • The Indians had five picks in the top 124 players in 2007: Trevor Crowe (No. 14), John Drennan (33), Stephen Head (62), Nick Weglarz (94) and Jensen Lewis (124). None of them will be on the Opening Day roster.
  • They had five picks in the top 75 in 2006: David Huff (39), Stephen Wright (56), John Rodriguez (57), Wes Hodges (69) and Matt McBride (75). The Tribe is still waiting for a payoff.
  • No one from the 2005 draft will be in the majors.

Who was running the draft during those years, Butch Davis?

There’s hope, though. Lonnie Chisenhall (first) and Cord Phelps (third) from the 2008 draft and Alex White and Jason Kipnis, the top two picks from 2009, may be with the Tribe sooner than later.

Let’s hope so, because with the Indians have zero money to spend on free agents, the draft is the only way they will get fresh talent on the diamond at Progressive Field.

***

Kent State continues its magical mystery tour through the NIT tonight in Boulder against Colorado.

Since being snubbed by the NCAA, the Flashes have totaled more than 7,500 miles by traveling to St. Mary’s in California and then to Connecticut to take on Fairfield in their first two games.

Tuesday night’s game against the Buffalo’s will be the Golden Flashes third straight on the road, all in different time zones. Since mid-February, Kent has played 11 of its 13 games away from home.

Which makes the team’s 25 wins even more impressive.

***

Josh Cribbs is not happy about the NFL changing the rules about kickoffs.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Kent State | Leave a comment
21 Mar 2011

Big Ten & Big East are big in name only

The Big 10 and the Big East certainly didn’t live up to their names in the opening weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament.

After inexplicably seeing seven of its teams make the tournament – four of which were only .500 in conference play – the Big Ten flamed out as only Ohio State and Wisconsin managed to make the Sweet 16.

Michigan State and Penn State were both one and done – not surprising when you consider they each entered the tournament with 14 losses on the season – and Michigan and Illinois quickly followed them over the weekend.

But that was nothing compared to the Big East.

Eleven teams “earned” a spot in the tournament – which is beyond ridiculous – and only two teams are left standing for the Sweet 16. And those two – Connecticut and Marquette – advanced over the weekend only by beating Cincinnati and Syracuse – fellow Big East teams.

If Connecticut and Marquette had to play non-conference teams this weekend, it’s very possible there would be no Big East teams left in the tourney.

Four Big East teams – Notre Dame, Georgetown, St. John’s and Louisville – all lost to teams seeded 10th or higher, and the Irish, Hoyas and Red Storm all lost their games by double-digits.

Oh, and the only No. 1 seed to lose so far? Pitt from the Big East, of course.

So the Big Ten and Big East have two teams each – the same as the Mountain West Conference (San Diego St. and BYU) and as many as the town of Richmond, Va. (Richmond & VCU).

Thanks for playing.

***

Bruce Pearl is reportedly out as coach at Tennessee, according to ESPN.

Pearl was charged with unethical conduct by the NCAA for misleading NCAA investigators, and Tennessee is set to appear before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions in June.

Pearl has admitted to giving investigators false information when asked about a cookout at his home attended by high school juniors.

So Pearl lied to the NCAA about giving some high school kids hot dogs and hamburgers and paid the price with his job.

Ohio State’s Jim Tressel lied to the NCAA to keep some of his best players eligible for the 2011 season. Hmm …

It would be surprising – and a bit ridiculous – if Ohio State were to fire Tressel. But in light of what happened to Pearl, you have to wonder what the NCAA is going to have to say once it completes its investigation.

***

Remember how the UFL’s Hartford Colonials were “interested” in former Browns coach Eric Mangini to replace another former Browns coach, Chris Palmer, as the Colonials’ head coach?

Well, they went with Jerry Glanville instead.

***

The NFL is considering changing the kickoff rules for next season, which would certainly impact the Browns and kick returner Josh Cribbs.

We covered this last week, someone at The Plain Dealer must be paying attention.

Posted in BIg 10, Big East, big joke, Cleveland Browns, NFL | Leave a comment
17 Mar 2011

Owners Gone Wild

It’s been a weird week among team owners, starting at Craven Cottage in North London.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed announced plans this week to unveil a life-size, color statue of Michael Jackson outside Fulham’s home ground.

The statue, which overlooks the River Thames and stands between the Riverside and Hammersmith Stands at Craven Cottage, shows Jackson standing on his toes in what is being called an ‘iconic pose’. The words to his smash hit Thriller are engraved on the podium below.

We admit we don’t know much about Fulham’s history, other than they have a thing for signing American players, but this definitely sounds odd.

But we’ll let David Lloyd, editor of the popular fanzine There’s Only One F in Fulham, have the last word:

“If you has asked me if I wanted a statue of Michael Jackson at Craven Cottage I would have said ‘no.’ However, we owe an enormous debt to the chairman and if this is one of his whims, then that’s fine. As a football chairman he is one of the best; he’s been fantastic.”

OK then.

Closer to home, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert got loose again after the Cavs beat Sacramento for Cleveland’s 13th win of the season.

Gilbert took to Twitter to taunt Yahoo! Sports’ Kelly Dwyer, who had predicted the Cavs would only reach 12 wins on the season.

Gilbert reverted to his schoolyard days by asking “who is Kellie Dwyer?” and saying “Never heard of her.”

Oh boy.

We like Gilbert’s passion and willingness to spend money to try and make the Cavs better, but it seems as if the owner of a major professional sports team could act more maturely than a 14-year-old girl who just got dumped and is taking out her feelings on Facebook.

We first learned of the tweets at Ben Blog (check it out) and Waiting for Next Year weighed in as well with a good take.

But L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling wins the prize for this week’s for wackiest owner.

While testifying in Elgin Baylor’s wrongful termination civil trial against the team, Sterling claimed that he didn’t know of Baylor’s Hall of Fame career before hiring Baylor as vice president of player personnel in 1986.

Baylor was the NBA’s first overall pick in 1958 and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary team, was an 11-time All-Star who once scored 71 points in a game and brought the Lakers to the cusp of a title they would ultimately win the season he retired.

“I didn’t know that,” Sterling said according to The Los Angeles Times. “I hired him for $3,000 a month. I didn’t really know what his role was…. He was working in a mail-order company back then.”

What a goof.

***

Lost a little bit in the NFL’s labor issue, is a proposed rule change for next season that would potentially neutralize one of the Browns best scoring threats.

The league’s competition committee is expected to propose moving the kickoff up to the 35-yard line and bringing touchbacks out to the 25 – but only on kickoffs.

In addition, the kicker will be the only player allowed to line up more than five yards behind the ball and the committee will suggest outlawing the blocking wedge on kickoffs completely.

“The injury rate on kickoffs remains a real concern for us and the players and the coaches’ subcommittee,” Falcons president Rich McKay, the chairman of the competition committee, told ESPN.com. “This is a pretty major change.”

Opposing teams were already doing everything they could to kick the ball away from Josh Cribbs. Now with a shorter field to work with, the number of non-returnable kicks should increase, limiting Cribbs’ opportunity to handle the ball on kickoffs even more.

***

James Walker at ESPN.com weighs in with some good advice for the Browns in regard to their No. 1 pick on next month’s NFL Draft:

I agree that Georgia receiver A.J. Green is a tremendous prospect. But he’s not better than Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald. The aforementioned players are elite NFL receivers and they all played for losing teams in 2010. My point is the receiver position is not very important in the NFL hierarchy.

Games are won and lost in the trenches, and if you noticed, teams like the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers take offensive and defensive linemen nearly every year. These are non-sexy draft picks that turn out to be huge when it’s time to play football.

Cleveland needs to start learning from the dominant teams in its division. President Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert drafted a lot of skill players last year and it’s time to add some meat to the NFL’s 27th-ranked run defense.

Makes a lot of sense. Here’s hoping Holmgren and Heckert are thinking along the same lines.

***

Finally, the NFL Network may start feeling some heat as players may be less than willing to appear on the network’s programs during the work stoppage because the network is owned by the league.

According to The New York Times, the NFL Players Association, which is now a trade association, has not advised players to boycott the network. But it is not pushing them to appear on it, either.

George Atallah, the association’s assistant executive director, told the paper, “My message is, regardless of the outlet, check with the association to get a sense for its previous coverage.”

Arizona kicker Jay Feely told the paper, “I wouldn’t go on there now. It’s a league-owned network, so I would take that stand. But other players can go on if they choose.”

We’ll admit, we didn’t see that one coming.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, crazy owners, Dan Gilbert, Fulham | Leave a comment
15 Mar 2011

Holmgren to fans: Keep Calm & Carry On

Browns President Mike Holmgren met the media on Monday and delivered a message to Browns fan that can be paraphrased as “keep calm and carry on.”

Holmgen said it’s “business as usual” for the team during the lockout.

“It is our feeling and hope that we will play football games [this season],” Holmgren told The Plain Dealer. “We’ve worked very, very hard to begin to establish a program that will win and we are proceeding along those lines.”

”I realize what I’m asking the Cleveland Browns fans to do because they’ve probably heard somebody say, ‘Hey, hang in there,’ for a little bit of time now. But in trying to be real straight with them, I am very, very encouraged about the direction of the football team,” Holmgren told The Beacon Journal. “This will get done, and we will play again. Stay rooting for your favorite team. It’s OK to get frustrated and ticked off on occasion, but the beauty of it is you’ll be there when the good times come.”

Good times? In Cleveland? Sign us up!

The problem is, no one knows when we will see football again. We’re still confident that, someway, there will be a season this fall, but no one really knows what impact the work stoppage will have on the Browns as they install new offensive and defensive systems.

Wisely, the Browns made sure quarterback Colt McCoy received a copy of the playbook before teams had to cut off contact with the players, which should pay off once teams can start practicing again.

“You can visualize yourself doing it and I think he can,” coach Pat Shurmur told The Plain Dealer. “When he gets more and more schooled in our approach, I think it’ll become more familiar and hopefully he’ll be happier and happier about it.

“I think he has the attributes that will make him a good quarterback in any system, especially our system. First and foremost is decision-making. If you have a guy that’s a bad decision-maker, he’ll always break your heart. But Colt’s a good decision-maker.”

We want to believe it’s just football and, since this is the NFL, the players will be able to pick up the new system somewhat easily. Shurmur sounds like he believes that to be the case.

“I guess I’m looking at it more as the glass as half-full than empty,” Shurmur said. “I feel as though the systems we’re teaching are proven. I’ve seen them be taught in a short amount of time. I’m not anxious about it.”

Well, that makes one of us, although it’s good to know the coaching staff isn’t in a panic.

***

Staying in Berea, Holmgren has some in a tizzy because he’s doing the proper thing by scouting and evaluating available college players – even quarterbacks.

“I think with our due diligence as an organization and a personnel department, it’s our obligation to evaluate the best players coming out of college football,” Holmgren said. “Cam Newton is one of those and so, yes, we are looking hard. It’s fun for me anyway; I’ve told you this before.”

This is a good thing; we’re not sure why some can’t see that.

***

Speaking of doing their due diligence, Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller will reportedly visit the Browns in April.

After his strong combine and pro day, Miller is earning a lot of interest among the teams at the top of the draft and is considered by many the top linebacker in the draft.

***

Finally, happy birthday to Liverpool FC!

The club was founded on this day in 1892 by John Houlding, owner of the Anfield stadium. Houlding needed a team for the grounds following a disagreement with Everton that saw the Toffees move to Goodison Park, so Houlding started Liverpool.

Eighteen league titles and five European Cups later, the club is still going strong.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, Keep calm, Liverpool, Mike Holmgren, NFL draft | Leave a comment
13 Mar 2011
3 Comments

NCAA gives Cinderella a shocker

Instead of fitting her for a glass slipper, the NCAA gave Cinderella a shocker on Selection Sunday.

Of the 37 at-large bids for the NCAA basketball tournament, only seven went to teams not in major conferences, one fewer than last year even though there were three more spots available in the expanded field.

St. Mary’s, which went 25-8, shared the regular season West Coast Conference title with Gonzaga and lost in the conference title game? Sorry. We need to see four teams that finished at .500 in the Big Ten (Michigan, Illinois, Penn State and Michigan State) instead.

Missouri State, also 25-8 and, at 15-3, the regular season champs of the Missouri Valley Conference? No room for you after your four-point loss in your conference title game. We need to see 14-loss USC, which suspended and then reinstated its coach this week for inappropriate behavior, instead.

And forget about Kent State. Regular season titles and overtime losses in your conference championship game don’t mean anything when you play in the Mid-American Conference. No sir, we need 11 teams from the Big East, including another pair of .500 teams in Villanova and Marquette (both 9-9 in conference play).

This year we’re stuck with five teams with at least 14 losses – all from major conferences – after only having six total make the tournament with that many losses from 1985 to 2010.

What a joke.

The game is obviously rigged to favor the big schools. If you’re from a major conference, you can play your way into the NCAA tournament if you play well in your conference tournament (see Penn State), but you can’t really play your way out (33 points total in a game Wisconsin? Seriously?)

That same opportunity doesn’t exist for the mid-major schools – one slip up and they’re gone.

By not even giving the little guys an opportunity, the NCAA robs fans of the best part of the tournament – seeing an underdog hang close and/or upset a higher-seeded team. Think about it: whenever a lower seed has a second-half lead, the crowd almost always swings its support to the underdog. Just remember Butler’s run to the title game last year.

Wait a minute … that actually may explain this year’s selections. After the Bulldogs came so close to pulling off the biggest upset in tournament history last year, the NCAA must have gotten scared of the thought of a team that’s not at the top of their preferred list winning it all.

Well, they did their best to ensure that won’t happen this year.

Gene Smith, Ohio State’s athletic director and chairman of the selection committee, tries to explain the committee’s “logic” here.

And here are some facts and figures about this year’s tournament.

***

Now that the NFL has locked out the players and the players have filed a lawsuit that makes us have to remember the Sherman Antitrust Act from high school history class, we’re left to wonder how much a prolonged work stoppage will impact the Browns.

ESPN’s James Walker believes the Browns will be one of the most affected teams:

Cleveland has a rookie head coach (Pat Shurmur) and a young quarterback (Colt McCoy) and will switch systems on offense and defense.

Cleveland hasn’t run a 4-3 defense since 2004. The team also has to make alterations in personnel to fit the scheme. With free agency delayed, the draft becomes even more important for the Browns to fix weaknesses, particularly on the defensive line.

A West Coast offense is all about timing, and McCoy will not get the usual amount of offseason preparation to learn the new playbook and work with his coaches and teammates. Whenever a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, Cleveland needs to make up for lost time ASAP.

Just another day in Cleveland sports paradise.

So instead of reading about mini-camps and OTAs, get ready for a bunch of stories like this one.

Posted in big team bias, Cleveland Browns, NCAA tournament, NFL
11 Mar 2011

Can’t we all get along?

Somehow, the NFL and the NFL Players Association were not able to decide after 16 days of work with a federal mediator how to divide up the league’s $9 billion revenue pie.

Now we’re left to wonder what’s next and when (if?) we will see the Browns and the rest of the league on the field again.

The players association has filed papers to decertify, effectively disbanding the union and giving it the chance to sue under antitrust laws if there is a lockout.

“They have chosen to choose another strategy, and that is their choice,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in published reports.

According to a statement from the NFL, the players’ union left a good deal on the table, including:

  • An offer to narrow the player compensation gap that existed in the negotiations by splitting the difference;
  • A guarantee to reallocate savings from first-round rookies to veterans and retirees without negatively affecting compensation for rounds 2-7;
  • Ensure no compensation reduction for veterans;
  • Implement new year-round health and safety rules;
  • Retain the current 16-4 season format for at least two years with any subsequent changes subject to the approval of the league and union;
  • Establish a new legacy fund for retired players ($82 million contributed by the owners over the next two years).
  • A reduction in offseason programs of five weeks (from 14 to nine) and of OTAs (Organized Team Activities) from 14 to 10;
  • Significant reductions in the amount of contact in practices.

Sounds pretty good to us.

The union responded:

The NFL Players Association announced today it has informed the NFL, NFL clubs and other necessary parties that it has renounced its status as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the players of the National Football League.

The NFLPA will move forward as a professional trade association with the mission of supporting the interests and rights of current and former professional football players.

So, for now, there is no free agency and no trades, and while there will still be a draft in April, drafted players can have no further contact with their new teams after draft day beyond the traditional congratulatory phone call.

Just great.

***

Oh, Stan? You won’t see him no more.

***

Some cool old program covers from the Indians.

We especially like the one of Chief Wahoo using his baseball bat as an arrow to aim at opposing American League teams. (h/t to UniWatch)

***

Finally, Phillip Morris at The Plain Dealer weighs in on the hypocrisy of the gumbo of lies Jim Tressel has been cooking at Ohio State:

In recent years, Ohio State has gone out of its way to project itself as a bastion of good sportsmanship. It has educated and encouraged players to demonstrate a respect for opponents, the law, the university and NCAA rules. It has made quite a show of doing this.

When the school hosted the U.S. Naval Academy to open the 2009 season, for instance, the teams lined up in the south end zone together. Tressel shook the hand of each midshipman, looked him in the eye and thanked him for his service to country. Then both teams ran onto the field together.

But it’s all been a farce. Two prominent players were then or subsequently breaking NCAA rules. They were consciously profiting from the sales of memorabilia that compliance officers had warned them against. They were consorting with at least one character who exposed the entire program to a high degree of risk.

What that means is the players were only pretending to be good sports. The same with the coach.

Tressel was only pretending to be a good sportsman. He knew what was happening. But he sat for months last year on information that he knew could cause serious harm to his 2010-2011 season. He sat on information that could harm his win-loss record and ultimately his financial future.

And Christopher Cicero, the Columbus lawyer who sent the e-mails to Tressel in April, revealed he’s received death threats since the story broke earlier this week.

Way to stay classy Buckeye fans.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Jim Tressel, NFL, Ohio State | Leave a comment
10 Mar 2011

Golden Flashes drawing NFL interest

Nine NFL teams, including the Browns, Ravens and Steelers, were represented at Kent State’s pro day this week.

Not a big surprise as the Flashes had 10 players in the NFL last season, including former Pro Bowlers Antonio Gates and Joshua Cribbs and 2008 defensive player of the year James Harrison.

Ten players and no NCAA violations. Maybe a certain school to the south should take notes.

Several eyes were on defensive end Monte’ Simmons, who finished his Kent State career with 21.5 sacks and 38.5 tackles for losses.

”He looks the part; he’s a specimen,” Raymond Jackson, Pittsburgh’s director of player development, told The Beacon Journal. ”He reminds me so much of Courtney Brown. Size-wise, he’s a rare specimen. If you go off of looks, he’s a day-one guy. The film doesn’t lie. If he can play he’s going to be on somebody’s roster.”

”I still feel like I had more in me to show,” said Simmons. ”I have another pro day on March 15, just to get myself seen more.”

Watch, the Steelers or Ravens will probably take a chance on him and Simmons will torment the Browns for the next 10 years.

Scouts were also looking at safety Brian Lainhart, who had 17 interceptions and 344 tackles as a four-year starter, and middle linebacker Cobrani Mixon.

***

According to Paul Hoynes at The Plain Dealer, Nick Johnson is expected to arrive this week at spring training for the Indians.

The oft-injured Johnson is recovering from wrist surgery and is still a few weeks away from being able to swing a bat. The minor-league deal he signed with the Indians has a July 1 out clause. If he isn’t in the big leagues by then, he can become a free agent.

If the Indians bring him to the big leagues, he’ll make $750,000. They can exercise a club option for 2012 worth $2.75 million. He can earn another $1.75 million in plate appearances.

Please don’t hurry back, Nick. No seriously, there’s no rush.

***

Every once in a while we feel a little guilty that we are not more adventurous. But then we read stories like this and realize that’s not such a bad thing:

A Weipa (Australia) fisherman desperately held on to a tree and screamed for help from his mates as a monster croc bit into his legs and tried to pull him under the water.

Rangers will converge on Weipa today to try to catch the aggressive croc that attacked Rio Tinto mine worker Todd Bairstow, 28, as he was fishing on the banks of Trunding Creek yesterday.

Mr Bairstow was fishing in the creek near Albatross Bay Resort, about 4.10pm, when the crocodile lunged at him and tore off his finger.

The crocodile lunged again, grabbed his legs and tried to pull him into the water.

A Queensland Police spokesman said while the man suffered extensive lacerations and dislocated bones, his injuries were not life-threatening.

Yeah, maybe hanging out on the couch isn’t such a bad idea after all. (h/t to Deadspin)

***

Good news as Browns running back Montario Hardesty’s recovery from a knee injury that cost him his rookie season is progressing nicely.

“Rehab is going well,” Hardesty said on the team’s website. “I think I have a little bit of work still left to get myself there. I wouldn’t say I’m well ahead of schedule, but it’s coming along great. I just have a little bit of a ways to go before I’m back to 100 percent.”

If Hardesty can give the Browns anything this season it will be much appreciated, especially by Peyton Hillis, who wore down by the end of the last. (h/t to Waiting for Next Year)

***

Not surprisingly, Zydrunas Ilguaskas is planning to retire after this season.

“I think I’ve had enough of this game,” Ilguaskas told alietuvis.com. “I’ve played enough. Sitting on the bench doing nothing is not what I want to do. The long trips and the intensive schedule have taken its toll – I’m not a 20-year-old anymore and my body is telling me that it would be the right time to retire from NBA after this season. I have given everything I could to basketball and now I’d like to spend more time with my family.”

It can’t be fun for Z to be riding the bench for a Heat team that is not as good as the Cavs teams Z played on the past two years.

***

Finally, this from The New York Times gave us a good chuckle.

Turns out Jim Tressel had to cancel a book signing appearance the other night to try and explain the web of lies he’s weaving at Ohio State.

Tressel was promoting his book, Life Promises for Success: Promises From God on Achieving Your Best.

It’s been a while since we were regulars in church, but we did go to a parochial school through eighth grade and we’re pretty sure lying to your bosses wasn’t one of those life promises.

Posted in bad ideas, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, culture of lies, Kent State, Ohio State | Leave a comment
07 Mar 2011

Surprisingly, Browns still division’s best

As bad as the Browns have been for the past couple of decades, they are still the best team in the AFC North, at least when it comes to all-time winning percentage.

  • The Browns’ .549 all-time winning percentage (485-398-13) is best in the division
  • Baltimore is at 535 (128-111-1)
  • Pittsburgh is at .520 (541-499-20)
  • No surprise, the Bengals bring up the rear at .435 (286-372-2)

So they have that going for them, which is nice. Hopefully the new regime of Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur can get the team back on a winning track before those numbers drop.

***

Oh dear, this isn’t good.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was informed that several Buckeyes players were selling memorabilia more than eight months before the school claims it was made aware of the scheme, a two-month investigation has found.

Tressel received information that players were selling items to Edward Rife – the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus – as early as April 2010, according to a source. However, neither Ohio State nor the NCAA investigated the transactions or the players’ relationship with Rife until December 2010, when the school claims it was informed of the situation by the local United States Attorney’s office.

Oh boy. If this is true, we hope Tressel doesn’t hurt himself falling off his high horse.

(H/T to Ben Blog)

***

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and New York Knicks center Amare Stoudemire have both backed Brandon Davies, who was kicked off the basketball team for a violation of the BYU honor code. The Salt Lake Tribune has reported Davies violated the code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend.

And we are supposed to care what Tebow and Stoudemire think, why?

***

Spring has returned at Anfield.

***

Interesting article at EPL Talk about how the influence of Americans on English soccer is resulting in a growth in statistical analysis among teams.

***

This was posted on UniWatch a few days ago and we still have no idea what is going on in this photo.

Posted in Anfield, Cleveland Browns, Liverpool | Leave a comment
04 Mar 2011

Browns investing wisely in McCoy’s future

The Browns took another step toward ensuring Colt McCoy’s future when they signed quarterback Seneca Wallace to a three-year deal worth $9 million plus incentives.

While Wallace talked about wanting to be a starter next season, it’s clear that the Browns (i.e. team president Mike Holmgren) convinced Wallace that staying in Cleveland is the best place for the eight-year pro.

The key here is the Browns aren’t looking for Wallace to be a starter, but someone who can accelerate McCoy’s learning curve so the Browns can find out sooner, rather than later, if McCoy has what it takes to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Since Wallace doesn’t have the talent to be a starting quarterback in the league, he’s had to work harder and study more to try and find an edge, and obviously something is working as he’s made it this far. Having him around gives the Browns another voice experienced in the West Coast offense who can work with McCoy every day – and nothing bad can come from that.

While we wouldn’t want Wallace to be the Browns starting quarterback, as we learned last year having a capable backup is a good thing. If McCoy goes down early in a game, or misses a game with an injury, Wallace can hold his own for a game or a half – it’s not like the team has to rely on Todd Philcox or Spurgeon Wynn here.

More than anything else, the Browns have to find out what they have at quarterback with McCoy. And resigning Wallace moves them one step closer to putting the puzzle together.

Oh, the Browns also resigned linebacker D’Qwell Jackson to a one-year deal.

Jackson has missed 26 games over the past two seasons with injuries.

***

Indians pitcher Mitch Talbot doesn’t want to hear about the team being too young or too poor to compete in the American League.

“Same thing we heard in Tampa,” Talbot told The Plain Dealer after making his first start of spring training against the Texas Rangers. “Enough of this. Young? I don’t care. Let’s go win.”

If nothing else, we like the kid’s moxie.

***

While watching the Kent State-Akron game, we saw a commercial for ESPN Film’s upcoming documentary on The Fab 5 from Michigan.

We can’t believe its been 20 years since Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Ray Jackson were college freshmen.

While that makes us feel old, there’s no way we’re missing this one when it airs on March 13.

***

Finally, Brian Phillips at Slate has a great read on Parity vs. Greatness: The Most Important Debate in Sports.

Phillips writes that:

We don’t usually think about sports in these terms, but a league is a design problem—an aesthetic problem, really. A professional sports league has to balance distinct and often contradictory priorities, and how it does so helps to determine, before a player sends a single ball moving through space, the sort of experience it will offer fans.

One reason people like to watch team sports is to witness intensely competitive games—contests between evenly matched opponents in which the outcome hangs in doubt. Another is to watch extraordinarily gifted players play the game at the highest level. If you engineer a league to have an even distribution of talent—tightly regulating player movement, enforcing spending limits, funneling cash and talent to the weakest teams—then you encourage close games. But because the best players are spread out across more teams, you discourage fantastic displays of skill.

Phillips makes some interesting points. And as Cleveland fans, we face that question more now than ever.

When the Indians had an All-Star at every position (or so it seemed) in the mid- to late-’90s, we wanted greatness. But the economics of baseball changed and now the Indians can’t compete.

When the Cavs had LeBron, we wanted greatness; now we long for the team to be relevant again.

As for the Browns, all we really have is enduring hope. There really isn’t anything else.

Greatness or parity?

Which would you choose?

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Colt McCoy, Seneca Wallace | Leave a comment

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