FilteringCraig

The Browns pulled off a deal and drafted Quinn at 22 in the first round. It cost them the #36 pick in this year’s draft and the #1 pick in 2008. Knowing the Browns’ luck, that will end up being a #1 pick. But seriously folks, the Browns made a bold move this year in drafting two potential franchise cornerstones. Phil Savage said on ESPN that he hopes this is the moment that people will eventually look to as the beginning of the turnaround in Cleveland.

Let’s hope he is right.

And I couldn’t be happier. I know a lot of Cleveland fans wanted Brady Quinn, but you need to build the foundation before you do anything else. The Browns have had more sacks on offense than a Super Center WalMart with a grocery store in it. So anyway, I am happy with the pick. Even if Quinn ends up being a world-beater, he would have had a tough time doing it with a jailbreak in front of him every time the ball was snapped.

This is a good job by Phil Savage. It was the right pick no matter what happens from here.

Here are some thoughts I have as we (finally) get to the NFL draft this weekend.

• There is officially too much leadup to the NFL draft. There are mock drafts with version numbers higher than those for most upstart software packages.
• Terry Pluto from the Akron Beacon Journal said that everyone thinks about the offensive line as the season ends and then they fall in love with skill players the closer you get to the draft. With all the clamoring for Brady Quinn and/or Adrian Peterson in Cleveland, I would say that this sad fact is true.
• After a 30 second clip of anyone hyping any player with a highlight reel running in the background, you will think that player is the right choice for your team. It is a pointless exercise to watch pre-draft coverage because every player looks like a world-beater in his highlight reel.
• Mock drafts are never right. There is a trade here and there, and then you can always count on the Buffalo Bills or someone else making a very surprising pick somewhere in the mix.
• It makes you wonder. What is the point of mock drafting?
• Mel Kiper’s hair really does look cartoony the more and more you look at it. Of all people, I would have thought that I would be complaining about a hack joke about Kiper’s hair, but please do me a favor and just stare at it for 30 seconds. The more you stare, the more impossibly stupid it looks. Kind of like staring at one of those posters until you see a schooner shape appear amongst the stipple dots.
• I finally found a use for the word stipple. I would have bet my own life in 12th grade art class that I would never have found another use for that word ever again after that moment. Turns out I was wrong.
• I just made a bullet point about the word stipple. Do you see how crazy I have become with all this ridiculous mock drafting and draft coverage?
• At first I thought that Joe Thomas skipping the draft to go fishing with his dad was awesome. I wanted the guy who avoided the media hype of draft day. Then, yesterday, I heard that NFL Networks made a deal with him and they are putting a camera on his boat. I am considerably less excited by this story now.
• Thanks to this year’s draft news, I found the website ProFootballTalk where they get lots and lots of rumors. It is a great site, but there will be no greater contribution to the world by that site than their use of the term “Rocket Surgeon” in place of “Rocket Scientist” and/or “Brain Surgeon” when talking about someone who you will not need to understand a given topic. Effing brilliant.
• Has there ever been more clamoring for teams to trade down to get more picks? I think I have heard every team in the top of the draft mentioned as a partner with someone to trade down, and yet, it seems relatively unlikely that any of these deals are even real. Maybe trade rumors are right up there with mock drafts.
• Finally, I have to tell you that despite all the annoyances and everything else, I am still going to watch every second of the draft, at least on the first day. Am I sick? Probably. A glutton for punishment? Definitely.

This is the Way All Hotel TV’s Should Be, originally uploaded by FilteringCraig.

42 inch LG Plasma, baby. Plugged the laptop right into it and we were rolling with the Divx files in near-HD quality. Rock rock rock rock rock.

I am completely going to have to buy one of these when we get back. Either that, of I need to sneak it into my luggage. I should have invested in a much larger suitcase.

And what a wild wild night of NBA action it was to figure out the Eastern Conference and who the Cleveland Cavaliers would draw in the first round. On the last night of play when spots are still in question, it is interesting for whom one might find themselves rooting.

Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers had a lot of things in doubt. Were they going to be the number 2 seed? If they were going to be the number 2 then who would they play? All the action started at 7:00 PM and there wasn’t a dull moment until the final gun sounded sometime after 10:30 PM. What we were left with was the final playoff picture in the East. We now know what seeds, what games, and where they will be played. It was a good night for the Cavs as every scenario worked out the way I am guessing they wanted it to turn out.

First up the Cleveland Cavaliers had to take care of their own business at home versus the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks didn’t have anything to play for, but sometimes teams like the Bucks relish the opportunity to at least spoil something for someone on their way to summer tee times. If the Cavs didn’t take this game seriously and beat the Bucks, scoreboard watching later would be pointless. At stake for the Cavaliers was the difference between the number two seed and the number five seed in the East. It wasn’t a complete blowout by any means, but the Cavaliers had it under control for almost the entire balance of the game, finally winning 109 - 96. LeBron scored 24 points with 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

The Cavs needed to win this game, but then that wasn’t the total balance of the equation. The Bulls owned the tie-breaker against the Cavs, and their records were identical going into last night’s action. The Cavs also needed New Jersey to beat the Bulls. The Bulls were playing in New Jersey against the Nets starting at 7:30 on ESPN, so I was flipping back and forth.

The Bulls and Nets was a close game until the last three minutes when the Nets went on a mini-run to lock it up. Jason Kidd had a horrible night offensively in which he only made one field goal and two free throws. He made up for that with 11 assists and 11 rebounds. The players of the game for the Nets were Vince Carter, who almost recorded a triple double, Mikki Moore who dropped in 22 points before getting into foul trouble, and Josh Boone, who gave the Nets a giant lift with 15 points off the bench.

The Nets victory pushed the Bulls down to the number 5 seed in the East and lifted the Cavs up to the number 2 seed. Unfortunately for Cavs fans, the action wasn’t over just yet. To determine who the Cavs would play in the number 7 seed, the Washington Wizards had to win in Indianapolis against the Pacers to remain ahead of the Orlando Magic in the 8th spot.

Thankfully ESPN did a “Live Look-In” and flipped on Washington versus Indiana in Indianapolis. I didn’t see much of that game at all, but it was nip and tuck all the way to the end of the fourth quarter. Antonio Daniels made one out of two free throws with 30 seconds left in the game to make it Washington 96, Indiana 95. Magically enough, the Wizards were able to keep Indiana from scoring. Darius Songaila made two free throws and the Wizards won the game 98 - 95.

And then everyone could finally breathe. The games were done. The matchups cemented.

The final picture looks like this.
Detroit (1) vs. Orlando (8)
Cleveland (2) vs. Washington (7)
Toronto (3) vs. New Jersey (6)
Miami (4) vs. Chicago (5)

It couldn’t have worked out any better for the Cavaliers. They avoided Miami in the first round and they got a Washington team that is missing Gilbert Arenas. The playoffs start on Saturday. The Cavs’ first game is on Sunday at 12:30 PM against the Wizards at the Q in Cleveland.

Talk about this at ClevelandSportsCurse, where we talk about everything related to the Cavs, Indians, Browns and Buckeyes.

Having won each of their first three series, the Indians play in the Bronx today against the Yankees with their 6 - 3 record. The Yankees have been inconsistent thus far on their way to a 5 - 6 record. The biggest problem so far has been the starting pitching. Mike Mussina was just added to the 15-day disabled list. He will join Carl Pavano who is also there. Finally, Chien-Ming Wang is busy making rehab starts.

In the first game of the series the Indians have Jake Westbrook going against Wright. Wait. Who? Jaret Wright? No, he is with the Orioles. Jamey Wright? Nope. he is with the Texas Rangers. Tonight the Indians go up against Chase Wright. So, who is this guy?

Chase Wright is a lefty fresh from the Yanks farm system. I found an interview with him on Scout.com. When asked about his pitching repertoire, write had this to say.

I throw a 2-seam fastball in the 87-91 MPH range, sometimes hitting 93-94 MPH, but that’s pretty rare. I throw mostly 2-seamers but every once in a while I’ll mix in a 4-seamer. I throw two different curveballs. One is around 70-72 MPH and I throw a harder one around 77-82 MPH. I like to throw me a get me over curveball early in the count. I’ll throw the slower one for a first pitch strike and then the harder one with two strikes. I also throw a changeup around 78-82 MPH. When I’m locating my fastball, it is my best pitch. It just depends on the day though. Sometimes the location isn’t there with the fastball.

It sounds like whatever he throws is going to have some movement. Expect to see the typical Tribe lefty lineup consisting of Garko, Blake and Jason Michaels.

The Indians are throwing out Jake Westbrook fresh off his big inking of a $33 million dollar deal. Westbrook used to be a Yankee, but he hasn’t pitched against them since July 10th of 2005 when he gave up 6 earned runs in 6 innings in an 11 - 6 loss. But that was many moons, and many free agents ago.

Obviously the key to each game in this series is to get to the starters and make sure the bullpen isn’t in a position to hold games for the Yankees. I know Mariano Rivera got dinged last week and blew a save, but it still isn’t really a good idea to be in a position where you have to bet against him. He is the greatest closer in the history of baseball, and all.

Finally, weather could be an issue, which I know makes all the Indians fans groan. It is going to be in the 40’s with showers all week long. The Tribe can’t afford to have any more scheduling issues confront them after losing an entire 4-game series with the Mariners. It will be hard enough to find time to squeeze those games in without having to add three trips to the Bronx in there somewhere in addition.

Additional Notes:
On Wednesday, the scheduled starters are Sowers vs. Igawa
On Thursday, the scheduled starters are Carmona vs. Rasner

As always, feel free to talk about the game while it is happening at ClevelandSportsCurse.

The Indians have signed their number three starter Jake Westbrook to a deal through 2010 worth $33 million over three years. (That sounds like really nice work if you can get it!) After Gil Meche signed the deal that he signed this off-season for roughly $11 million per year, it seemed almost elementary that Westbrook would get that much.

This is a good day for Indians fans. Hopefully this is a commitment from the Indians’ ownership that when players come around who are worth signing, they will take care to keep them around. Hopefully this will spread to other players, namely Travis Hafner and CC Sabathia. Also, it would be nice if they would lock up Grady Sizemore to one of those crazy 10-year deals.

But, I won’t be greedy. Baby steps. Westbrook is a nice start.

With a team like the Browns, all these games look difficult to me.

Sep 9 Pittsburgh 1:00pm
Sep 16 Cincinnati 1:00pm
Sep 23 @Oakland 4:05pm
Sep 30 Baltimore 1:00pm
Oct 7 @New England 1:00pm
Oct 14 Miami 1:00pm
Week 7 BYE
Oct 28 @St. Louis 1:00pm
Nov 4 Seattle 4:05pm
Nov 11 @Pittsburgh 1:00pm
Nov 18 @Baltimore 1:00pm
Nov 25 Houston 1:00pm
Dec 2 @Arizona 4:05pm
Dec 9 @N.Y. Jets 4:15pm
Dec 16 Buffalo 1:00pm
Dec 23 @Cincinnati 1:00pm
Dec 30 San Francisco 1:00pm

The debate is raging over at ClevelandSportsCurse. No, we don’t only talk about sports over there. We are discussing this list from this website.

Some of the suggested moments on our board are:

• James Van Der Beek in Varsity Blues telling his father “I don’t want your life.”

• Adam Sandler in Big Daddy calling his dad to the stand to testify that Sandler is a good father
• Stallone’s speech in Rocky IV that ended communism
• Annakin screaming “Nooooooooooo” when he finds out that Padme died
• Julie Andrews and Raven doing a hip-hop fueled duet in The Princess Diaries 2

Anyway, gimme some of your favorites.

Wendy Seltzer, a scholar at the Brooklyn Law School has fought for the right to post a 30 second clip of the NFL’s copyright notice on Youtube. Each time she has posted the material, the NFL has issued a takedown notification and Youtube has removed the clip.

She claims fair use in posting the NFL’s copyright notice and then talking about what is wrong with it. The NFL claims that if she had shown it in her classroom, maybe she would have justification, but because there was no context to the posting on Youtube and because it could be seen by anyone anywhere, it broke their rules.

There are a couple things that stick out to me in this case.

First of all, doesn’t the NFL have anything better to do than fight with some teacher over a 30 second clip on Youtube? Don’t they have a record of player arrest record worse than the NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS and Nascar combined? Wasn’t there a player (Shawn Merriman) who served a suspension for steroids that was almost given an award for on-the-field achievement?

Secondly, Youtube isn’t the right venue to have this battle. Mixed in with all these legal issues, there are some pretty well-documented corporate issues where Youtube yanks content first and asks questions later. If Seltzer really wanted to push the envelope, she would host the video on her own site and refuse to take it down until the NFL sues her, or forgets the whole thing. The bottom line is that it doesn’t make much sense to me to use Youtube as the battleground for the fight.

Finally, is any of this really necessary? We are talking about a league that signs huge TV deals, huge radio deals, and has basically everything sponsored, including the halftime show. There isn’t anyone going to Youtube to replace their NFL coverage. They are going there to enhance it. This is just a lot of wasted energy on everyone’s part, probably including my own.