Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

14 Feb 2012

These things tend to work themselves out

It was just a little over a week ago that Cavs fans found themselves in quite the contretemps: would it better if the team made the playoffs, even as an eighth seed, or would the Cavs benefit more from another high lottery pick?

Well, as what generally happens in these situations, things worked themselves out, as first Kyrie Irving went down with a concussion that has forced him to miss the past three games, and now Anderson Varajeo will miss at least a month after fracturing his wrist Friday night against Milwaukee.

So, for the foreseeable future, we will get a steady diet of Semih Erden, Ryan Hollins and Samardo Samuels in the pivot, starting Wednesday night when Erden gets the start against Indiana.

“I gotta give him a chance,” Cavs coach Bryon Scott told The Beacon Journal. “I think (Hibbert) is a great challenge for him. I’m hoping that last game was one of those where he felt (depressed) for Andy, because a lot of our guys did. And this game he’ll look at as ‘I’ve got a golden opportunity here. I better try and take advantage of it.’ ”

Good times!

11 Feb 2012

Would Ward look good in Orange & Brown?

As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to cut players and restructure contracts to try and get under the NFL salary cap before free agency begins on March 13, the team may have an unexpected move up its sleeve.

According to NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, the Steelers may release Hines Ward, a 14-year veteran at wide receiver.

Ward was the third wide receiver last year behind Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown, and put up his lowest receiving numbers since his rookie season – 46 receptions for 381 yards and two touchdowns (basically he was Mohamed Massaquoi).

If the report is true and the Steelers release Ward before his March 1 roster bonus is due, should the Browns take a look at bringing Ward to town? While his best days are clearly behind him, the thought of Ward joining the Browns in a mentoring role is, we have to admit, intriguing.

Ward knows how to play the game, he knows the other teams in the AFC North, and there’s little doubt he could teach Greg Little, Massaquoi, Carlton Mitchell and Jordan Norwood some important lessons about playing wide receiver at the NFL level.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Liverpool, Luis Suarez, NFL free agency, racism | Leave a comment

10 Feb 2012

Is English football more racist than American sports?

Shocking news this week out of England as Fabio Capello resigned as manager of the national team just four months before the start of the Euro 2012 tournament.

Capello got into a row with The Football Association, England’s governing body, over the group’s decision to strip John Terry of the captain’s band while a court of law determines if Terry is guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, a player on Queens Park Rangers.

“They [the FA] really insulted me and damaged my authority,” Capello told the Italpress news agency. “What really hit me and forced me to take this decision was the fact the much-vaunted Anglo-Saxon sense of justice, as they are the first to claim that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

“In Terry’s case, they gravely offended me and damaged my authority at the head of the England side, effectively creating a problem for the squad. I have never tolerated certain crossing of lines, so it was easy for me to spot it and take my decision to leave.”

This isn’t the first time Terry has been stripped of the captain’s band (and really, why is he still captain in the first place?) as Capello himself took away the honor before the 2010 World Cup because Terry allegedly had an affair with the ex-girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge, who then quit the national team. (Why are our scandals in America so less scandalous?)

Posted in Fabio Capello, John Terry, Luis Suarez, Premier League, racism | Leave a comment

09 Feb 2012

Who Loves Ya Baby?

In Cleveland sports, it seems as if every team has one player that fans love to … well, hate is too strong a word … so let’s say kvetch about.

With the Browns, it is usually the starting quarterback.

For the Indians, it’s first baseman Matt LaPorta. But the player who fits the bill on the Cavs is a bit of a surprise to us.

To find out the rest of the story, visit The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment

06 Feb 2012

Super Bowl odds & ends

The New York Giants win over New England in Super Bowl XLVI confirmed a couple of truths about life in the National Football League.

A team’s regular-season record no longer matters; all that is important is getting into the playoffs and getting the right match-ups once you are there.

At 9-7, the Giants were clearly not the best team in the league during the regular season. But they made the playoffs in part because Dallas fell apart down the stretch and, once there, the Giants made the most of their opportunities.

It helped that New York played a flawed team in Atlanta, a flat Green Bay squad and an over-rated San Francisco team. They also matched up very well with New England.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, NFL, Super Bowl | Leave a comment

05 Feb 2012

The Browns and RG3

Even though the NFL Draft is not until late April, Browns fans are already focused on what the team will do with its pick in the first round, currently the fourth overall selection.

What? It’s not like we’re going to be watching the Browns play in the Super Bowl on Sunday or anything.

As host city for Sunday’s game, Indianapolis has been ground zero this week for draft talk.

If you read and listen closely, and connect a few dots, a fairly likely scenario comes into focus about which player will be staring Browns general manager Tom Heckert in the face when the Browns make their selection.

Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III.

To find out how, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL draft, RG3 | Leave a comment

04 Feb 2012

First things first for the Tribe

It wasn’t Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, but the Cleveland Indians made two moves this week to help fill out the first base position, at least for a year.

Just a few days after picking up International League Most Valuable Player Russ Canzler from Tampa Bay in exchange for cash (just where did the Dolans get extra cash from?) the Tribe signed Casey Kotchman to a one-year contract worth $3 million plus incentives.

“I’m really excited to join the club,” Kotchman said. “Just seeing how great a start they got off to last year. That was fun for me to watch on the outside, just being a fan of baseball and seeing how good they were playing. For me to have the opportunity to go up there this season and try to help contribute to sustaining that start … it’s exciting.”

Kotchman hit .306 last season in 146 games for Tampa Bay. He had a .378 on-base percentage, and batted .313 against right-handers and .289 vs. left-handers. That followed a season where Kotchman hit just .210 in 125 games in Seattle.

Posted in Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment

02 Feb 2012

Forgive? Maybe. Forget? No Chance

You may not have heard, but Super Bowl XLVI is this Sunday. The game itself has flown a bit under the radar because the participants represent two small markets in Boston and New York.

But the game is on the minds of Cleveland fans because of New England coach Bill Belichick, who is going for his fourth Super Bowl championship. The fact that none of those championships came in Cleveland, where Belichick was coach from 1991 to 1995, still gives many Browns fans agita.

Honestly, though, it’s been more than 20 years since Belichick was hired as Browns coach and 16 years since he was fired, so we’ve pretty much forgotten why we are supposed to be mad at him.

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

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment

01 Feb 2012

The best thing we’ve read in a long time

If you are only going to read one other item the rest of today (other than this site, of course), you would be hard pressed to find a better article than Vince Grzegorek’s interview with Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner in Scene magazine.

Over the course of five interviews Grzegorek got Lerner to open up about the Browns in a way that we’ve rarely seen.

A few items stand out from the piece:

Lerner clearly cares about the team and, just as importantly, about the fans. When the NFL came up with a ridiculous prototype of a new Browns uniform – complete with white helmet – Lerner said no. When the league and his fellow owners criticize Lerner for not selling the naming rights to Cleveland Browns Stadium or for not trying to squeeze every last dollar out of Browns fans, Lerner tells them where to go.
There is little reason to believe that Lerner is somehow being fleeced by team president Mike Holmgren. The notion that Holmgren is just cashing a paycheck handed to him by a disinterested and distracted Lerner is beyond absurd.
Reading about Lerner’s charitable work – trips to Afghanistan to visit U.S. troops, co-chairman of the U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, his donation to the National Portrait Gallery in London – makes it clear he is anything but “pathetic and irrelevant.”

The biggest takeaway is that Lerner wants to get this right and bring a winner to Cleveland. Just because he doesn’t need to feed his ego by constantly going in front of a group of reporters, like Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder, doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.

Many Browns fans have a hard time wrapping their head around that idea, but that’s there problem. Lerner gets criticized for way too many things that have nothing to do with the success of the Browns.

But after reading this article, it would be hard for fans to carry on with that fiction.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Randy Lerner | Leave a comment

29 Jan 2012

It’s Cleveland; what’s not to like?

It was quite a week in Cleveland sports, with two stories dominating the headlines.

First off was Prince Fielder signing a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.

The second, while off the field, made just a much news, as The Plain Dealer pulled longtime reporter Tony Grossi off the Cleveland Browns beat after Grossi sent a Tweet that personally criticized Browns owner Randy Lerner.

And the reaction to those stories from a growing legion of fan-driven sites highlighted what makes Cleveland such a great sports town.

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