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In Cleveland, hope dies last

02 Jul 2013

How is the Tribe in first place?

The Cleveland Indians hit the halfway mark of the 2013 Major League season over the weekend and, thanks to their first four-game sweep of the White Sox in Chicago since 1948 and Detroit’s loss on Monday afternoon, will head to Kansas City in first place in the American League Central Division.

The sweep gave the Tribe a winning record in the month of June (15-13) for the first time since 2007. (We’ll let you decide if you want to place any significance on the years 1948 and 2007.)

The Indians lead Detroit by a half-game despite allowing 43 more runs than the Tigers (while scoring the same amount), despite having their bullpen give up essentially the same amount of runs (4.4 per nine innings) as Detroit’s sub-par bullpen (4.3), and despite blowing more saves (13 to nine) than the Tigers.

How the heck is the Tribe in first place now that the calendar has turned to July?

We start looking for answers at The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

29 Jun 2013

Tribe doubles its pleasure in sweep of White Sox

Still trying to process how the Cleveland Indians were able to sweep the Chicago White Sox on Friday night in the longest nine-inning doubleheader in Major League Baseball history.

When the Tribe fell behind 5-0 in the first inning of the opener as starting pitcher Trevor Bauer decided that pitching exclusively from the stretch (without telling anyone prior to the game) was the way to go, it seemed like it was going to be a long night for the Indians.

But somehow the Tribe rallied back with 14 consecutive runs and took the opener, then followed that up with a five-run ninth inning of the nightcap (with Nick Swisher delivering the go-ahead home run; more on him in a moment) to pull off the sweep and pull within two games of Detroit in the American League Central Division.

28 Jun 2013

3 Comments

Once again, Chris Grant kept everyone guessing

Every time the experts think they have the answers, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant changes the questions.

Grant did it again Thursday night, selecting UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Grant followed up the Bennett pick by selecting forward Sergey Karagev out of Russia with the No. 19 pick in the first round.

“With our scouting department, our evaluators during the season, the first time we saw Anthony, I think all of us walked out of the gym just amazed with his ability and talent,” Grant said on Friday during a press conference. “And the more we got to know him and learn what kind of person he was and that he was an incredibly hard worker and he was going to do whatever it takes to be the best he could be, it became a very easy decision for us.”

Almost as surprising as the Bennett pick is the reaction from the national media, which, for a change, has been positive about what is taking place in Cleveland.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers and tagged Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sergey Karagev

27 Jun 2013

1 Comment

You’re from O-H-I-O? Don’t care!

As sports fans there are a few things we should care about when it comes to the players on our favorite teams.

How they are currently performing? Very important.

What type of person are they in the locker room/clubhouse? Pretty important, but not as important as production. (After all, we lived through the Albert Belle years with no real harm).

Where the player grew up? Absolutely no importance whatsoever.

Which brings us to Nick Swisher.*

Posted in Cleveland Indians and tagged Cleveland Indians, Nick Swisher

26 Jun 2013

With the first pick in the NBA Draft the Cavs select …

The NBA Draft is Thursday and the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves sitting in a pretty good position.

Holding the top pick in the draft for the fifth time in franchise history – and the second time in the past three years – the Cavs completely control what they want to do when Commission David Stern opens the draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 7 p.m. (The team also holds picks No. 19, 31 and 33).

Stay put and add another young player to a nucleus of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller? The Cavs can do that. Make a trade with some of the assets they have spent three years (and 166 losses) compiling so they can be in contention for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference? They can do that, too.

We think we know what we would like to see the Cavs do with the first pick (more on that in a bit), and we’re fairly certain that Cavs general manager Chris Grant has made up his mind what he wants to do. Of course, what they actually will do remains in question as rumors continue to swirl around the team.

So let’s try to figure this all out as best we can. Our 2013 NBA Draft preview starts … now at The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA draft and tagged Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA Draft | Leave a comment

26 Jun 2013

Browns release player no one knew was on the roster

The Cleveland Browns released linebacker Ausar Walcott on Wednesday after it was announced that Walcott is facing charges of attempted murder for allegedly punching a man in the head outside of The Palace Gentlemen’s Club* in New Jersey.

Walcott was an undrafted free agent out of the University of Virginia that the Browns just signed in May. Until the news broke on Wednesday few, if anyone, outside of Browns headquarters in Berea even knew that Walcott was on the team.

But that didn’t stop some people from trying to portray this as the “same old Browns” making mistakes.

Really?

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

24 Jun 2013

T.J. Ward is, if nothing else, adaptable

Heading into the 2013 NFL season, Cleveland Browns safety T.J. Ward is getting ready to play under his third defensive coordinator in just his fourth season in the league.

If nothing else, Ward sounds highly adaptable.

Over the weekend, Ward talked about the changes that defensive coordinator Ray Horton is bringing to Berea.

“He’s always ramped up; he’s always ready,” Ward said on the team’s website. “He’s always here to pump you up. You hear him on the field, and he’s always giving out checks and calls, running around. Besides that, it’s the ferocity of his defense. It’s an attack style, all downhill. We’re really getting after the guys. That’s what I’m most excited about.”

Of course, Ward embraced Dick Jauron’s defense two years ago when Jauron took over as defensive coordinator.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, TJ Ward and tagged Cleveland Browns, T.J. Ward | Leave a comment

21 Jun 2013

2 Comments

What is it we’re upset about again?

A few weeks ago we pointed out how it seems like everything that revolves around Cleveland sports is now a thing.

And the aftermath of Thursday night’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals is just the latest example.

After the Miami Heat won its second consecutive title, Cleveland Browns players Josh Gordon, Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard, among others, took to Twitter to celebrate.

And now, as Cleveland fans, we are supposed to be upset.

Really?

Posted in Cleveland fans and tagged Cleveland fans

20 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Mike Lombardi busy playing to his strengths

With NFL teams off until the start of training camp in late July, there is not much going on around the league (outside of New England, of course).

Which means it is the perfect time for Cleveland Browns general manager Mike Lombardi to do what he does best – get his friends in the media to make him look good.

First came this fan boy piece from Joe Fortenbaugh at National Football Post, who reminisces about all the notebooks that he has filled with all the wisdom that Lombardi has collected in his NFL career. Judging from his track record, it would seem like those are some pretty thin notebooks, but Fortenbaugh does let out the secret to winning football that Lombardi apparently has discovered, namely that if a team’s combined rushes and passes in a game are in the “high 40s” then you are watching a winning football team. (Fortenbaugh can probably forget about getting an invite to Berea on draft day after letting that cat out of its bag.)

Yep, it really is that simple (or so Lombardi would have us believe).

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Mike Lombardi and tagged Cleveland Browns, Mike Lombardi

19 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Liverpool’s new kits? Thumbs down! USMNT? Thumbs up!

While we tend to be a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to uniforms, we admit to having a certain affinity for the off-beat.

The Oakland A’s uniforms of the early 1970s and the Houston Astros’ tequila sunrise uniforms of the 1980s, while garish to some, are ones that we particularly like. We wouldn’t even mind it if the Cleveland Browns experimented with wearing a chrome helmet from time to time, as long as it was orange.

But we just can’t get behind two of the kits that Liverpool will wear for the 2013-14 Premier League season.

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, Liverpool, US soccer, World Cup and tagged Liverpool, USMNT

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