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In Cleveland, hope dies last

All in all, not a bad opening week for the Tribe

indians santana chisenhallThe Cleveland Indians come back to the North Coast for today’s home opener after what, for them, has to be considered a nice road trip to open the season.

Sure, 3-3 on the road doesn’t sound good on the surface, especially since the Tribe won the first two games of the trip in Toronto. But this is a Tribe team that has averaged 89 losses a year for the past five years, has been a collective 77 games under .500 on the road during that time, and was facing Toronto and Tampa Bay – only two of the American League’s better teams. Considering all that and, well, splitting the season’s first road trip isn’t a bad deal at all.

Even though six games is a small sample size, Tribe fans got a glimpse during the first week of what they will see from the team this year – and what the Tribe needs to do to be competitive.

Head over to The Cleveland Fan for the rest of the story.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Browns should heed mistakes of past drafts

2013_04_browns_momassMohamed Massaquoi, the last of the Cleveland Browns ill-fated second round selections from the 2009 NFL Draft, signed a free-agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday.

The Jaguars reportedly gave Massaquoi  a two-year deal worth up to $4.7 million. In four years with the Browns, Massaquoi had 118 receptions for 1,745 yards and seven touchdowns. He never had more than 36 receptions in a single year (his second), 624 receiving yards or three touchdowns (both in his rookie year). By comparison, Josh Gordon, a second-round supplemental pick, had 50 receptions for 805 yards and five touchdowns in his rookie season in 2012.

Massaquoi also suffered from knee and hamstring injuries, as well as a concussion delivered by Pittsburgh’s James Harrison, but in the end he just wasn’t very good – especially for someone drafted in the second round.

Read more…

It’s not how you start life, but what you do with it, that counts

candace klein wraTaking a rare break from the sports world to share a story that everyone should read.

In our day job we recently had the opportunity to cover a talk by Candace Klein, founder of Bad Girl Ventures and current CEO of SoMoLend. The two companies alone are impressive as they are dedicated to helping female business owners find funding and training for their start-up companies.

Since 2010 Bad Girl Ventures, with offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and soon to have one in Akron, has received more than 400 applicants, educated more than 250 businesses, financed 26 female entrepreneurs with $700,000 and helped create more than 150 jobs statewide.

Read more…

Browns continue roster purge, release Gocong and Young

2013_04_young_gocong_releaseThe Cleveland Browns continued the roster purge on Tuesday, releasing linebacker Chris Gocong and free safety Usama Young.

With Young’s release, third-year safety Eric Hagg currently sits at the top of the depth chart at free safety (unless you prefer Tashaun Gibson, that is). At Gocong’s position, the team has undrafted free agents Craig Robertson and L.J. Fort.

Luckily, the Browns don’t play a game until September so they have some time to work this all out.

Read more…

What does 2013 have in store for the Tribe?

neon wahooThe Cleveland Indians open the 2013 season tonight in Toronto with new faces on the field and in the dugout.

Did the Tribe do enough in the off-season to close the 20-game differential with Detroit in the AL Central standings? Or the 25-game gap for a Wild Card spot?

Will the Indians get the Terry Francona who managed the Red Sox to two World Series titles, or the one who was 78 games under .500 in four seasons in Philadelphia?

Is there any way that Nick Swisher is worth the largest free agent contract in franchise history?

Can anyone in the starting rotation pitch well enough to turn the game over to the bullpen?

We join some other writers from The Cleveland Fan to try and look for answers as to what the 2013 season holds for the Tribe.

Your season opening preview starts now at The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo courtesy of the Western Reserve Historical Society)

Browns decide to close the corral on Colt McCoy

2013_04_colt_mccoy_tradedThe Cleveland Browns severed another link to the Randy Lerner & Mike Holmgren era on Monday, trading third-string quarterback Colt McCoy to the San Francisco 49ers.

Along with McCoy the Browns threw in their sixth-round selection (173rd) in this month’s NFL Draft. In return they get San Francisco’s fifth- and seventh-round draft picks (numbers 164 and 227, for those of you keeping score at home).

Even by Cleveland standards, McCoy’s story was a strange one.

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

With Ohio State out, it’s safe to watch March Madness again

5157d8c64fe90.preview-620We had to chuckle Saturday night during the second half of Ohio State’s regional final loss to Wichita State.

After seeing our Twitter timeline littered all week with comments by Buckeye fans about how Wichita State would be nothing more than a speed bump (if that) on the way to a certain Final Four appearance, it was funny to see how quickly things turned as Wichita State put the finishing touches on a Shocker to the Bucknuts of Brutus Buckeye.

Over-confidence quickly turned to excuses, with comments ranging from how fans “didn’t really expect the Buckeyes to get this far” to “Thad Matta isn’t a big-time coach” and “(fill in the blank) is a horrible player.”

Snerk.

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Missing on Grimes not the end of the world for the Browns

2013_03_brent_grimes_miamiThe Cleveland Browns missed out on a chance to strengthen their secondary as free agent cornerback Brent Grimes reportedly agreed on Saturday to a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins.

While it is disappointing as a healthy Grimes would have looked good in the secondary opposite cornerback Joe Haden, it is by no means the end of the world for the Browns.

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Three is a magic number

birthday-cupcakeToday marks the three-year anniversary of the launch of our site.

Through almost 900 posts (and seemingly almost as many Browns quarterbacks), we’ve seen four coaches fired (Manny Acta, Mike Brown, Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur), one franchise be sold (the Browns) and, naturally, no championships.

We’ve also made new friends and met plenty of interesting people through our shared passion for Cleveland sports.

If you’ve been with us from the start, thank you.

If you’re new to the site, either because of our partnership with The Cleveland Fan or because of some other reason, welcome. Have a look around and we hope you come back.

We’re not sure what the upcoming year has in store, but it’s Cleveland so there’s no doubt it will be interesting.

Talking Indians baseball with England Tribe

ashenglandtribeBeing a fan of Cleveland sports is one of the better aspects of life, aside from the no championship thing, of course.

The allure of the Indians, Browns and Cavs is not just confined to Northeast Ohio, however, but extends not only across the country but internationally as well.

Which brings us to Ash Day.

Ash is a 24-year-old from Dorset, England, and the author of England Tribe, a blog about the Cleveland Indians as written by an Englishman. You can also find him on Twitter @AshKetchup29.

We recently came across Ash’s blog (h/t to @TalknCleveland) and Ash was kind enough to sit down for a virtual Q&A on how he became a Tribe fan and the team’s prospects for 2013.

Read more…

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