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In Cleveland, hope dies last

17 Jun 2013

Corey Kluber, streak buster

He may not be a Ghostbuster, but Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona knows who he needs to call to help the Tribe when they are coming off a loss.

Corey Kluber.

Sunday’s start against Washington marked the sixth time that Kluber has taken the mound following a Tribe loss this season. In those six starts, Kluber has gone 4-1 with an ERA of 2.38 and 40 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work. In the other game, (May 26 against Boston), he earned a no-decision despite giving up just one run and striking out 10 as the Tribe bullpen fell apart in the ninth inning.

In his last two starts, Kluber has given up just one run in 16 innings of work, earning him American League co-Player of the Week honors for the week ending June 16. Kluber is sharing the honor with teammate Jason Kipnis, who batted .524 (11-for-21) with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs in six games.

15 Jun 2013

How bad are things right now in Cleveland sports?

How bad is it right now to be a Cleveland sports fan?

It’s bad, obviously, as to paraphrase one of Coughlin’s Laws, “everything in Cleveland sports ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t be Cleveland.”

But just how bad is it compared to other historically bad times in Cleveland sports? (And, yes, we get that comparing poor eras is a very Cleveland thing to do.)

In a town where we know a lot about losing, it’s hard to think that right now is as bad as it has ever been, especially when you consider that the late 1970s through early 1980s seemed to be just as bad, if not worse, than the current streak we are witnessing from the Big 3 teams in town.

So how do the two eras compare?

To find out, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland sports and tagged Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland sports | Leave a comment

14 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Tying up some loose ends on Josh Gordon’s suspension

It’s been a week now since the news broke that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon was going to miss the first two games of the 2013 season due to a suspension.

Because the NFL Players Association does not allow for the release of the details over player suspensions, fans have been left to speculate as to why, exactly, Gordon is in trouble. To review, Gordon’s official explanation was the following:

“In February, I was diagnosed with strep throat for which a doctor prescribed antibiotics and cough medicine. Apparently, the medicine I took contained codeine, which is prohibited by the NFL policy. The policy terms are strict about unintentional ingestion, but the NFL has not imposed the maximum punishment in light of the facts of my case. Therefore, I have chosen to be immediately accountable for the situation. I sincerely apologize for the impact on my team, coaches, and Browns fans. I look forward to working hard in training camp and pre-season, and contributing immediately when I return in week three.”

There has been much written in the aftermath of the news about the suspension, with two of the better pieces coming here from friend-of-the-program Kanciki and this one from Mike Krupka at Dawgs by Nature. They both dovetail nicely with what we wrote earlier in the week, as Kanicki looks futher into Gordon’s background, while Krupka takes a look at the NFL’s drug policy.

After reading Krupka’s article we went back over the NFL’s Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse document (some title, huh?) to see if we had missed something and what we found helps makes Gordon’s suspension a little clearer.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Josh Gordon and tagged Cleveland Browns, Josh Gordon

12 Jun 2013

Some quick thoughts on Tim Tebow in New England

We’ve never minded Tim Tebow the player, it’s always been the hoopla that continually surrounds him that has grated on us.

And that hoopla reached a higher level the past couple of days after Tebow signed a two-year contract (with no guaranteed money) with the New England Patriots, with more than 80 media credentials issued for New England’s mini-camp practice on Tuesday.

It got even better on Wednesday when New England coach Bill Belichick was asked how much “improvement” Tebow had made from Tuesday to Wednesday.

“We’re not going to get into a minute-by-minute evaluation of a player,” Belichick said. “I don’t think that’s the way to go, especially at this time of year.” (That quote right there offers some insight into why Belichick failed in Cleveland. Forget minute-by-minute, we like to evaluate our athletes play-by-play.)

So rather than be part of the solution and just ignore all the mindless noise, we decided to join in, be part of the problem, and offer up a few thoughts on Tebow the NFL player.

Posted in NFL and tagged NFL, Tim Tebow | Leave a comment

11 Jun 2013

1 Comment

Is Owen Marecic a star in waiting for the Browns?

Cleveland Browns fans can certainly be excused for cringing over the past two years whenever they have seen fullback Owen Marecic in the offensive huddle.

After all, Marecic can’t really run the ball – just four rushes for eight yards in two seasons – and can’t catch ball very well – just five career receptions.

And he lost his starting spot last season to Alex Smith – a tight end.

According to some media reports, the third-year player out of Stanford is “under the gun to prove his lead-blocking is indispensable.”

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns

09 Jun 2013

What to make of the news on Chris Perez and Josh Gordon?

When we first heard the news about Chris Perez and Josh Gordon and their “indiscretions,” our first reaction was, are you kidding?

Then, after we heard more of the details, our reaction started to change a bit.

And the more we thought about the two incidents, the more our opinion changed. While we’re more disappointed in Perez and Gordon than anything else, we definitely view the two players in a different light.

The next chapters in these little dramas have yet to be written, but one thing is clear.

This past week has been one of those “only in Cleveland” weeks that we seem to get around here all too often.

For the full story, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians and tagged Chris Perez, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Josh Gordon | Leave a comment

05 Jun 2013

This year it was supposed to be different

This season was supposed to be different for the Cleveland Indians.

Or so we were told.

Terry Francona is not Manny Acta. The manager and the front office are on the same page together.

Or so we were told when Francona was hired last fall.

Forget the left field platoon of Johnny Damon and Shelly Duncan. And the predominately left-handed hitting lineup. This year’s lineup is better.

Or so we were told.

Don’t worry about the 5-24 stretch from last August. That can’t happen again.

Or so we were told.

Don’t worry about the collapses of 2011 and 2012. This is a different team. Things will be different.

Or so we were told.

But after Wednesday’s loss to the New York Yankees, one thing has started to become crystal clear about this Indians team:

The names on the back of the jerseys and the faces in the dugout may have changed from last season, but this is still the same Tribe.

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

04 Jun 2013

1 Comment

The 57 days of Trent Richardson

The Cleveland Browns opened their three-day minicamp on Tuesday with what some will have fans believe is chilling news: running back Trent Richardson will not take part in any practices until August.

“We don’t want his muscle strain to get any worse, so we’re going to rest him now and give him a full summer to prepare,” Browns coach Rob Chudzinski told ESPN after Tuesday’s workout. “He could have went out, if necessary, and practiced these next few days, but we just didn’t see any sense in it. I don’t know the medical (risks going forward), but he’s got a strain right now. I’m not concerned about anything else at this stage.

“My only concern, really, is Trent needing to stay into it mentally while he’s out. So far, he’s done a great job taking mental reps and getting into game shape.”

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Trent Richardson and tagged Cleveland Browns, Trent Richardson

02 Jun 2013

£50m for Luis Suárez? Yes please!

If the reports are true and Real Madrid or Atletico are willing to cut a check for £50m for striker Luis Suárez, then there is only one thing that Liverpool needs to do: not hang up the phone until the deal is complete.

The mecurial Suárez, who this season became more trouble than he is worth despite scoring 23 goals, let it be known on Friday that he wants out of Liverpool, out of the Premier League and out of England. And as long as someone is willing to pay the price, Liverpool should do everything it can to grant him his wish.

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

30 May 2013

Are there any players Cleveland fans would not root for?

When the New York Yankees traded for Roger Clemens in 1999, Yankee fans were faced with a dilemma:

How do you root for a player that you despised when they played for a rival team?

Mike Lupica, writing in The New York Daily News, came up with the perfect phrase for Yankee fans to justify embracing Clemens through his steroid-aided years in the Bronx – Clemens was a player who was now “our guy, their jerk.”

We were reminded of that last week when the Cleveland Indians were in Boston playing the Red Sox. During Thursday night’s game, David Ortiz hit a no-doubt home run off of Zach McCallister and stood at home plate admiring his work (as batters are wont to do). That led friend of the program Brian McPeek to criticize Ortiz with this tweet.

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