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In Cleveland, hope dies last

25 Jul 2013

Browns training camp preview Part 1: In Norv We Trust

The Cleveland Browns open training camp today in Berea with a new outlook on the offensive side of the ball.

But unlike the defense, the changes on offense come not from an influx of new players but from one key area – offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

We’ve been intrigued to see what Turner will bring to the field ever since the Browns hired him. Even before the team has played a single game or held a real training camp practice, Turner is clearly the best offensive coordinator the Browns have employed since … well, probably Lindy Infante. From Maurice Carthon, who hasn’t had an offensive coordinator position since being fired in Cleveland; to Brian Daboll, who has had head coaches fired in Cleveland, Miami and Kansas City; to Pat Shumur, who is now getting coffee and sandwiches (allegedly) for Chip Kelly in Philadelphia, Browns fans have been witness to some of the worst offensive minds in the NFL over the years.

We take a look at what Turner could mean to the Browns offense in 2013 in Part 1 of our training camp preview at The Cleveland Fan.

25 Jul 2013

Will Jurgen Klinsmann be on the bench for Gold Cup final?

The U.S. Men’s National Team will be in Chicago on Sunday for the final of the 2013 Gold Cup, having earned a spot Wednesday night by beating Honduras.

What’s not clear is whether or not coach Jurgen Klinsmann will be joining him as he faces a suspension after being ejected near the end of Wednesday’s semifinal for arguing a call.

We have the details in our latest post at World Soccer Talk.

(Photo by USA Today)

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, USMNT | Leave a comment

24 Jul 2013

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Are the Indians nearing a tipping point on the season?

The Cleveland Indians head into an off day on Thursday at what could be a tipping point for their season in teams of staying relevant in Cleveland.

With training camp opening for the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, the Tribe could be in trouble of losing their spot as the current focal point among fans.

The Tribe finished off a disappointing road trip on Wednesday on a high note, beating Seattle by the score of 10-1. The Indians went just 2-4 on the six-game trip to open the second-half of the season and head home knowing they will be no worse than 3.5 games behind Detroit when they wake up in the morning. That is certainly not an insurmountable number by any means.

Posted in Cleveland Indians and tagged Cleveland Indians

23 Jul 2013

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Liverpool rejects Arsenal’s latest bid for Luis Suárez

Arsenal reportedly submitted a club-record bid of £40 million plus £1 for Liverpool striker Luis Suárez on Tuesday, but the Reds quickly rejected the bid.

Wait, what?

Rather than being grateful that someone is willing to take Suárez off his hands for a fair price, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers got shirty over the request.

“Obviously (Arsenal’s first bid of £35 million) was an offer we didn’t deem worthy of the talent and even if they came back with that kind of amount (£55 million) there’s no guarantee he would be sold even for that because we are trying to build something here,” Rodgers told The Guardian.

Even if the club is bent out of shape over the offer, it still represents a 76 percent increase on the price that Liverpool originally paid for Suárez (£22.7 million). That’s not a bad return on investment.

Posted in Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool, Luis Suarez and tagged Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool, Luis Suarez

23 Jul 2013

Tribe should be cautious as trade deadline nears

With the non-waiver trade deadline a little more than a week away, Cleveland Indians general manager Chris Antonetti has a big decision to make.

Should he be a buyer to help the Tribe stay in the race with Detroit in the AL Central Division and, if so, at what price?

Despite losing three of their first four games coming out of the All-Star break, the Indians went into Tuesday night’s game in Seattle just 2.5 games behind the Tigers. The Indians were 5.5 games back of Detroit a little more than a month ago and fought their way back into the race. While we don’t want to see them fall that many games back again, obviously, with the way this team has streaked (both good and bad) this season it’s not unreasonable to think that they can bounce back in the standings again.

But even if the Tribe gets hot over the next 10 days and forces Antonetti’s hand in making a trade, what are the realistic options and how much should Antonetti – and fans – expect to see from this particular Tribe team if it somehow finds its way into the playoffs come October?

We try to figure things out at The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Cleveland Indians and tagged Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment

14 Jul 2013

Is Liverpool missing its best chance to move Luis Suárez?

Liverpool striker Luis Suárez made it known once again this week that he is eager and willing to leave Anfield.

Suárez wants to go to Real Madrid, but the Spanish club isn’t really expressing any interest. Manager Brendan Rodgers says he talks to Suárez every day and wants him to stay. Last week, Liverpool turned down £30 from Arsenal for the enigmatic striker who scored 23 goals in 33 games last season.

The question now becomes, what is the club waiting for?

We start looking for answers in our latest post at World Soccer Talk.

(Photo courtesy of BBC.com)

Posted in Liverpool, Luis Suarez and tagged Liverpool, Luis Suarez | Leave a comment

11 Jul 2013

Cavs willing to take a chance on Andrew Bynum

The Cleveland Cavaliers took the bait on Wednesday, agreeing to a two-year contract with free agent center Andrew Bynum.

So what are the Cavs receiving from an oft-injured player who missed all of the 2012-13 season and brings career averages of 11.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game?

For starters, Bynum is probably a better player than his career stats would indicate. He has trended upward since his rookie year, when he averaged just 1.6 points and 1.7 rebounds a game, culminating in 2011-12, when he had career highs with 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. Bynum put up those numbers under coach Mike Brown, who was with the Los Angeles Lakers that season and is now back in Cleveland as Cavs coach.

So, statistically at least, Bynum’s career is trending in a good direction.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers and tagged Andrew Bynum, Cleveland Cavaliers | Leave a comment

10 Jul 2013

Jimmy Haslam missing out on a prime chance to go global

Everyone wondered what was going on when Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam announced that the family was putting the Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team up for sale.

We thought we had found the answer when we saw the headline that owner Mohamed Al Fayed was planning to sell Premier League-side Fulham to an American investor – one that currently owns an NFL franchise.

Haslam had to be the guy, right? It made perfect sense. After all, we have experience here in Cleveland with a Browns owner also owning a Premier League team and that worked out all right for everyone, yes? (Wait, don’t answer that).

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Premier League and tagged Cleveland Browns, Premier League | Leave a comment

09 Jul 2013

Is Andrew Bynum really the answer for the Cavs?

If the Cleveland Cavaliers believe that Andrew Bynum is the answer, then it may be time for them to start rethinking the question.

The Cavs hosted the free agent center on Monday and reportedly offered Bynum a two-year, $24-million contract with the team holding an option on the second year.

During his career Bynum has played in just 61 percent of his team’s games, hasn’t played a full season since 2006-07 and didn’t play at all last year due to a lingering knee injury.

The Cavs pursuit of Bynum has been labeled as a “low risk, high reward” signing.

But that still leaves one question needs to be answered:

Is the reward really worth the risk?

We try to figure it out at The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers and tagged Andrew Bynum, Cleveland Cavaliers | Leave a comment

07 Jul 2013

From the editor’s notebook …

A look at a few items that warrant attention but not necessarily a full post …

The Indians still have some fight in them

They made it a lot harder than it had to be, but the Cleveland Indians finally hit back against Detroit on Sunday.

After losing the opening two games of the series in rather unpleasant fashion, the Tribe bounced back on Sunday to beat the Tigers, 9-6, thanks to Michael Brantley’s two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Brantley had two home runs and five RBI on the day, the fifth anniversary of the C.C. Sabathia trade that brought Brantley to Cleveland.

The win was just the Tribe’s sixth against Detroit in their last 20 games dating back to last season and it was made harder by the Tribe’s increasingly ineffective bullpen.

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