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In Cleveland, hope dies last

20 Jun 2012

20 Big Cleveland Sports Stories – Part 1

A few weeks ago, while at the Indians game with some of our fellow writers at The Cleveland Fan, there was a point in the game where we looked around and seemingly everyone in our group was busy looking down and tapping away on some kind of device.

Being the only person in the group without a smart phone made us realize how much technology and social media has changed the way we watch and interact during sports events. We can be at home on the couch, at the stadium or the arena, and still interact with a community of Indians, Browns and Cavs fans across the country and around the world through Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. (And that doesn’t even take into account the numerous high-quality fans sites devoted to Cleveland sports).

That got us thinking about some of the biggest Cleveland sports moments in our lifetime in the pre-blog and social media era, which we are defining as anything before 2004. Because while Syknet may have become self-aware in 1999, sports blogs didn’t become prevalent in town until 2004, the same year Facebook was created, and Twitter did not launch until 2006.

So we came up with the 20 biggest sports stories that would have made the Internet blow up in Cleveland had these various social media platforms existed at the time.

To find out No. 20 through No. 16, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment
19 Jun 2012

England, France book last Euro 2012 spots

England and France are through to the quarterfinals of Euro 2012, having booked their tickets on Tuesday in the final round of group play.

France moves on to face Spain on Saturday despite seeing their 23-game unbeaten streak go up in smoke against Sweden.

“You have to be optimistic to think that we can beat Spain, but it’s hard right now to imagine that we can. We have to do better on Saturday,” manager Laurent Blanc told ESPN. “We wanted to finish top of the group but couldn’t manage it, so we have to deal with that.”

Meanwhile, England advances thanks to a goal from Wayne Rooney, seeing his first action of the tournament after serving a two-game suspension. Rooney headed in a cross from Steven Gerrard for the games only goal.

Of course, everyone will be talking about Marko Devic’s non-goal for Ukraine. Devic popped a shot over England goal keeper Joe Hart’s and as the ball was falling into the goal – clearly over the line – defender John Terry kicked the ball out.

It was certainly a goal but Devic was most likely offside, which the refs also missed, so these things even out.

England will take on Italy on Sunday.

With group play over, the quarter finals are set. On Thursday, the Czech Republic take on Portugal. Then, on Friday, Germany takes on Greece.

And we nailed seven of the eight teams to advance, missing only on the Netherlands.

(Photo by Reuters)

Posted in England, Euro 2012, Wayne Rooney | Leave a comment
19 Jun 2012

Searching for answers in Browns Town

We come here today seeking answers to a seemingly simple question:

Why?

As in, why are some Browns fans so dysfunctional?

As in, why does it matter what Jim Brown thinks about the team?

As the Browns were wrapping up the last Organized Team Activity before training camp, team president Mike Holmgren gave a relatively benign press conference last week. Overall, Holmgren didn’t say much, but he did leave fans with two takeaways: one, he would try to be more accessible with the media as long they as didn’t cause shenanigans and, two, the Browns will actually wear their Brown jerseys next season.

Easy enough, thanks, and we’ll see everyone at the end of July. And then someone had to bring up the franchise’s strained relationship with Jim Brown.

“How the Browns view Jim Brown hasn’t changed and will never change,” Holmgren said. “I would love to see Jim Brown walk in right now or come to the Legends thing, be a part of this. … Because Jim’s role changed here, I could see where he got a little upset with me, perhaps. I would like Jim Brown to come and be a part of this and feel comfortable doing that and I would welcome him with open arms.”

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Euro 2012, Kent State, Spain | Leave a comment
17 Jun 2012

Holland find no Dutch treat at Euro 2012

Wow.

The Netherlands are out of Euro 2012 following Sunday’s loss to Portugal. We knew someone among the power trio of Germany, Holland and Portugal would not make it out of the Group of Death, but we didn’t think it would be Holland, the fourth-best team in the world according to the FIFA rankings.

And we definitely didn’t think they would exit without picking up a single point in group play.

“We have failed with the entire squad,” Arjen Robben told The Daily Mail. “It is time to look in the mirror with all the players. We must all do that. Individually we should look in the mirror and as a team. We have been knocked out in a major tournament with three defeats and that is the stone hard truth. It was a disastrous campaign.”

They were done in by two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, who finally decided to show up for the tournament. Ronaldo tied the game in the 28th minute and put the winner home in the 74th minute.

Portugal advances to the knockout stage to face the Czech Republic on Thursday. Both teams advanced by bouncing back after losing their opening games in group play.

Germany also advanced out of Group B, winning all three of its matches, and will face Greece on Friday.

(Photo by Reuters)

Posted in Cristiano Ronaldo, Euro 2012, Netherlands | Leave a comment
16 Jun 2012

The Big Show, England and other random stuff

Browns team president Mike Holmgren spoke to the media on the eve of the Browns final team event before the start of training camp and surprisingly had a few things to day.

First, he’s going to try and get out in front of the press a bit more this year. As much as he tried to let general manager Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur handle things, he’s decided to throw the Cleveland media a bone once in a while.

“Now, exactly how that is going to manifest itself, I couldn’t really give you the blueprint for that yet,” Holmgren said during the press conference. “But, I’ve talked to both Pat (Shurmur) and Tom (Heckert) about this idea and they have to know and your coach has to know that the president is on your side.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a change, but we all have to understand this, this is really important, that Pay Shurmur is the coach of this football team, he will make football decisions. Tom Heckert and Pat and I talk about every football decision, but the head coach has to have that responsibility otherwise it doesn’t work very well, in my opinion. That’s how it’s going to be set up.”

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, England, Euro 2012 | Leave a comment
13 Jun 2012

When there’s nothing to write about …

write about the Cleveland Browns!

As the team closes out the final week of Organized Team Activities, the focus has turned to who will be the No. 2 and No. 3 quarterbacks on the roster this fall.

It’s been clear since draft night that, barring an injury, Brandon Weeden is going to be the starter. Which leads to speculation over which lesser of two evils – Colt McCoy or Seneca Wallace – will be holding the clipboard come game day.

As a decision doesn’t have to be made today, coach Pat Shurmur isn’t really worried about it.

“I don’t see the urgency right there, but in terms of the backup situation, I can see a scenario where all three of the players you’re talking about will be here,” Shurmur said earlier this week. “I think that’s fair.

“I favor that, keeping three. I like that model. I know we’re nearing half of the teams in the league that keep two, but I like having three.”

Wallace, a noted team player, isn’t really on board with the three quarterback scenario.

“No not really (I don’t want to be third),” Wallace told The Plain Dealer. “That’s something for no reason you go down to the third guy and we all know the third guy doesn’t dress on Sundays and if that comes down to that decision, obviously neither (he or McCoy) wants to be that third guy.”

While Shurmur may not be in a hurry to name his depth chart at the position, one of his comments may have offered a clue.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Colt McCoy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Euro 2012, NBA draft, Seneca Wallace | Leave a comment
12 Jun 2012

Tribe needs to mind the farm

If there is one thing Cleveland fans like to talk about almost as much as wins and losses it is the draft.

Doesn’t matter if it is the Browns and the NFL Draft (Justin Blackmon vs. Trent Richardson? What about that back-up long-snapper they passed on with the second pick in the seventh round?), the Cavs and the NBA Draft (Michael Kidd-Gilchrist? Harrison Barnes? Trade with Portland?) or the Indians and the seemingly never-ending Major League Draft (Can you believe they took another shortstop in the 33rd round?), everyone is an expert and everyone wants to know when we will see these guys on a major league roster.

For a team like the Indians, that can’t just spend its way into the playoffs by signing high-priced free agents to fill in the holes on the roster, the draft is critical.

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

(Photo by Texas A&M Athletics)

Posted in Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment
11 Jun 2012

Apparently, we underestimated the Ukraine

Much like Cosmo Kramer, we underestimated the strength of the Ukraine, which defeated Sweden on Monday behind two goals from 35-year-old Andriy Shevchenko.

Ukraine is ranked No. 52 in the world by FIFA and is only in the Euro 2012 tournament because they are a co-host. But obviously no one told the players that.

“We showed today our character, our good football,” Shevchenko told ESPN. “We have very good chances to qualify.”

The goals were the 47th and 48th of Shevchenko’s international career.

This is why they play the games, people.

Posted in Euro 2012, Ukraine | Leave a comment
11 Jun 2012

Tribe starters find themselves in St. Louis

What a weekend for the Cleveland Indians starting rotation.

In helping the Indians take two-out-of-three against the Cardinals, the Tribe moved to a half-game behind the White Sox and, more importantly, may have rediscovered how to pitch.

Josh Tomlin, Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez all went seven innings in their starts, with Tomlin having the “worst” performance of the trio as he gave up two runs; Masterson and Jimenez each limited St. Louis to one run in their starts. The trio also only walked one batter during the series.

When you consider that the Cardinals are the highest-scoring team in the National League, and the second highest in all of baseball, that’s a solid weekend of work.

Sunday’s game was the first time Jimenez did not walk a batter all season and, in his last two starts, he has walked just one batter. That’s pretty impressive for a pitcher that has walked 43 on the season (third highest in the American League) and hit this road trip with an ERA of 9.00 in road starts.

“Jimenez was terrific,’’ manager Manny Acta told The Beacon Journal. “He was dominating. He threw 16-of-25 first-pitch strikes, and having no walks made a huge difference. He had a good split and slider. I’m happy to see him go back to back.’’

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Indians, England, Euro 2012, Jason Kipnis, Kent State, Ubaldo Jimenez | Leave a comment
08 Jun 2012

Euro 2012 Preview – Group D

With Euro 2012 starting today in Poland and Ukraine, we finish our look at the 16 teams with Group D, which features France, Sweden, co-host Ukraine and England.

There are really only two teams worth discussing in this group – France and England – so we’ll get the other two out of the way quickly.
The Teams
Sweden (ranked No. 17 in the world) qualified for the finals as best runner-up, winning eight of its 10 games to finish three points behind Netherlands in its group.
As for Ukraine, they are ranked at No. 52 in the world and are only here because they are co-hosting the tournament (it’s there party so they have to be invited). It’s too bad the U.S. can’t work a deal with FIFA where, if the host country is ranked below No. 5, the Americans can take their place. Sure, we’re not part of Europe, but we are a former British colony and the experience would help the U.S. squad in the run up to the 2014 World Cup.
When last we saw France (ranked No. 14 in the world) the players were walking out on Les Bleus during a disastrous appearance in the 2010 World Cup. Former team member Patrick Vieira says that is all in the past for a team that enters Euro 2012 unbeaten in its last 21 matches.
“The problems which undermined France are all sorted now,” Vieira told The Daily Mail. “The French federation dealt with it decisively and now there is a new coach, a new philosophy, a new approach to the game – and Laurent Blanc is seeing the benefits of winning games, which breeds confidence and unity.”
Franck Ribéry – who has scored in his past three internationals – says the team shouldn’t look past the group stage, probably a good idea after the massive flameout at the 2010 World Cup.
“We all want to go as far as possible in the Euros, but the aim is to get past the group stage,” Ribéry told The Guardian. “First and foremost, we want to get to Ukraine and settle into our hotel, start training and preparing.”
Which brings us to England (ranked No. 6) who, despite only winning one major cup (the World Cup in 1966), carry unrealistic expectations into every tournament they qualify for (except maybe not this one). Think the Cleveland Browns but, instead of just having Northeast Ohio over-analyzing their every move, you had the entire nation scrutinizing them.
The Three Lions will not have goal-scorer Wayne Rooney for the first two games of group play because of a suspension, midfielder Gareth Barry is out with a torn muscle in his abdomen, midfielder Frank Lampard will miss the tournament with a thigh injury, as will Gary Cahill, who suffered a double fracture of his jaw.
In addition, Roy Hodgson has only been in charge of the team for little more than a month following the surprise resignation in February of Fabio Capello. Hodgson has international experience, having coached Switzerland, UAE and Finland, but you have to wonder if he has had enough time to figure out what works best with the current team.
That lack of time with the team may explain some of Hodgson’s more talked about choices as the former Liverpool manager six Reds on the squad: Martin Kelly, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Glen Johnson and Gerrard. That’s all well and good except (and this one hits close to home) Liverpool finished the recent Premier League season in eighth place.
As David Hirshey points out at ESPN, there are more Liverpool players representing England than there are Borussia Dortmnund (Bundesliga champions) on the German team and Real Madrid (La Liga champions) on the Spain squad.
Hodgson did one thing right in naming Steven Gerrard as captain. While Gerrard has not had as much success with the national team as with Liverpool, he’s hinted that this could be his last turn with the national team so he should be motivated to bring his best to the pit
And after famously running wild through Germany at the 2006 World Cup, England doesn’t even have the best WAGs at Euro 2012. What, they couldn’t find a spot for Peter Crouch so Abby Clancy could come along?
Did You Know?
France’s Adil Rami was a mechanic before he became a footballer. He also posed nude for the Dieux du Stade calendar.
Game to Watch
The June 11 match between France and England.
Who Will Advance?
Even with all the troubles and questions surrounding the two teams, England and France should both advance. If one can walk out of that first match with three points, they should top the group with the other coming in second.
So that’s it. If you are a fan you know what you are in for over the next few weeks. If you’ve never watched a European tournament before, why not check it out? You just might be surprised at what you find.
For additional coverage, be sure to check out The Daily Mail, The Guardian, EPL Talk and ESPN.
(Photo by Getty Images)
Posted in England, Euro 2012, France, Sweden, Ukraine | Leave a comment

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