Cavs Rumors Include Barbosa and Rasheed Wallace?

The Bleacher Report has an article stating these two rumors. Now, I love a good trade rumor as much as the next fan, and I love the idea of the Cavs signing Leandro Barbosa to run with LeBron, but let’s be serious.  The reports are as follows.

A trade scenario would be trading Joe Smith or Anderson Verajo and a first-round pick for Barbosa.

Now, even the wording of this is kind of funny.  That is an astute statement.  That would be affirmatively referred to as a “trade scenario.”  Trading FilteringCraig for Steve Nash also would be a trade scenario.

The other rumor states that the Cavs would trade Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Rasheed Wallace.

The most interesting deal I have been hearing about for a while has been that the Pistons are looking at adding veteran big man Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

The trade that would work is sending Rasheed Wallace and Arron Afflalo to the Cavs for Ilgauskas and Damon Jones.

Now, I don’t know how interested the Cavs would really be in bringing a personality like Rasheed Wallace into the fold in Cleveland.  He has always been a great talent and he plays with a lot of intensity.  He also has a history of playing with Ben Wallace.  It would also be a nice deal for the Cavs who would gain one more expiring deal, as opposed to Big Z who has two years left on his deal.

Let’s look at these two deals together.  The Cavs would lose 2 of their top bigs in bringing back Rasheed Wallace, Leandro Barbosa and Arron Afflalo.  That would mean the Cavs’ rotation in the frontcourt would include Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, either Joe Smith or Anderson Varejao depending on which player gets traded for Barbosa.

I am going to have to let all this sink in, but right now all I can think of is how loud the “boos” have been for Rasheed Wallace in the past few years in Cleveland.

Sirius-XM Merger Finally Approved

The FCC finally approved the merger of the only two satellite radio services in the country.  It is kind of funny that it has taken this long, but we are starting to see the future for this new company.  The funny thing is that I am betting it will only have to do with satellites in the very very short term.

The reason?  This product.

This, looks like an ordinary wireless router, but it isn’t. This is a mobile wifi router from a company called WAAV. It has been announced already that mobile wifi technology will be available in some of next year’s Chrysler cars. This device grabs the mobile data signals from cellular carriers like AT&T or Sprint and broadcasts it inside your car (and about a 50-100 foot radius outside your car) so you can access the internet on the go. This means laptops, video games, and soon enough wifi radios.

This is an important point because if the internet starts being an accessible network on the road in every car, it will certainly marginalize the need for a lot of satellite technology. All that money that Sirius and XM have spent over the years will seem completely wasted as more and more people stop bothering with satellite antennae.

Then, the new merged Sirius/XM company is no longer anything more than a content company. Instead of selling a technology, they are just selling Oprah, Martha Stewart, Opie and Anthony, Howard Stern, NFL Football and Major League Baseball.

Except those last two will probably stop renewing their contracts with Sirius/XM because they won’t need a middleman to broadcast the radio descriptions of their games straight to consumers. So there is one lost selling point for Sirius/XM.

Also, the Sirius/XM music channels will have stiff competition from Slacker and Pandora that use user data to customize radio stations just for you, not to mention iPods which will easily be connected in any car on the road in the next couple of years. As it stands now, I would guess that at least 50% of cars being produced today have MP3 player functionality, at least by way of headphone jack.

It is through this filter that I find all the debate over Sirius/XM so hilarious. These two companies have done an amazing job developing a technology that will be completely unnecessary in a matter of years. As that happens, the content producers will be able to go directly to the consumers more and more, thus marginalizing the need for a company to consolidate talent into a service platform once and for all.

Does this sound like a monopoly to you? It doesn’t sound like a monopoly to me either.

Hat tip to MisterCrunchy, who actually commented on this site well over a year ago that satellite technology was going to be marginalized and obsolete.

Terry Glenn Waived

For all the Browns fans that were panicking about the injury to Browns third receiver Joe Jurevicius, the time for worry is over.  Sure, it would be great if Joe J was suited up and ready to go for training camp, but the bottom line is this.  The Browns have two good receivers in Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth.  Consider that last season the Browns were able to claw their way out of the basement of the NFL with Edwards, Jurevicius and Tim Carter playing wide receiver.  So now the Browns have Edwards, Stallworth, Jurevicius whenever he gets back from injury, and some younger guys like Travis Wilson, and Joshua Cribbs.

The Browns are deep right now and the options are only going to grow.  They have Kevin Kasper in camp competing for a WR job.  Eric Parker just got cut by the San Diego Chargers this week.  And now Terry Glenn has been waived by the Dallas Cowboys.  Glenn has had injury problems over the last few years, but he might be a very viable option for the Browns at third wide receiver.

I only point this out because this is the same thing that is going to happen with the cornerback position.  The Browns seem understaffed at that position now, but I am not concerned yet.  They have young guys in camp showing what they can do and if they fail, the Browns will have plenty of options from veterans who end up getting cut in favor of rookies who come into camp and shine.  Remember that the NFL is a salary-cap driven game.  If an NFL team can move a middle aged journeyman making decent money off the roster in favor of a third-round draft choice, the dollars dictate that they do so.

7 Random Facts (A Goofy Meme)

Some people claim to like when I just write about me on this site. I am not at all sure why that is, but for the sake of vanity, I will not argue. Plus, I have an excuse now that I have been “tagged” by my friend Chris at MisterCrunchy.

So, here are the rules…

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog; some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are the facts, although they aren’t very random.  These are facts mostly related to the purchase of my new home….

1. I just bought a new house.  Actually, I just bought about 10% of a new house.  My wife bought another 10% and an ever-changing roster of banks owns 80%.  Think about that for a second.  You own less than 50% of your house when you buy it and the majority owner can’t say a damn thing if you decide to paint your walls all purpley green.
2. I want a pool.  I live in Ohio.  I am about the most pragmatic sumbitch you have ever met in your life, but that doesn’t exclude me from the occasional bout of irrationality.  The amount of investment it takes to get a pool vs. the amount of time per year you can actually use that pool in the Cleveland area is quite disproportionate.  Still.  I want a pool.
3. One of the first things I looked at buying for the new house is a basketball hoop.  I feel like a 15 year-old, but I miss having a hoop available to shoot on.  I was never a particularly good basketball player, but I was serviceable.  A little secret for you.  I was able to trick myself into becoming a jogger last year by playing with my iPod and the NikePlus chip that tracked my mileage.  It has been really hard for me to trick myself into jogging in year 2.  I would much prefer to do something active that has more of a point.  If that means playing some solo basketball for a while on my new, flat driveway, then I need to buy a basketball hoop for myself.
4. In the last numbered fact, I wrote “I feel like a 15 year-old.”  That reminds me that I have called for a jihad on a verbal crutch that Jen and I have.  We got in a really bad habit of saying, “I feel like” as a precursor to just about anything we would say.  “I feel like the plumber doesn’t really know what he is talking about.”  “I feel like this show could be a lot better than it is.”  “I feel like we have gotten ourselves into the habit of using ‘I feel like’ as an awful, time-filling verbal crutch that is utterly meaningless.”  I started pointing it out, and now Jen and I have almost cured ourselves of this annoying verbal crutch.  Some people said it on TV last night for about 5 sentences in a row and I thought Jen’s head was going to explode.
5. I feel like (just kidding.) It is symptomatic of the modern age that one of my biggest priorities with moving is getting the cable company lined up, not so I have TV, but so I don’t have to live long without the Internet.  I find it wholly unsettling to not have access to the Internet.  I know I am not alone in this, but it is a bit sad.  I make a conscious effort to not go anywhere without Internet access.  OK, I just said it is a bit sad, but I don’t really believe that.  Others may find it sad.  I don’t really care.
6. I find the HGTV-ification of America a bit annoying.  I like granite countertops.  I like stainless steel appliances.  By no means does this mean that EVERY HOUSE ON EVERY TV SHOW NEEDS THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO.  They are both nice, but so are black appliances.  White appliances work in some kitchens too.  Corian, quartz, individual tiling and even concrete are all good options to outfit your kitchen counters.  Granite and stainless are options, and good options, but by NO MEANS, are they the ONLY options that will make your kitchen “POP.”
7. Jen and I have already started hunting for the right breeder so we can get a dog after we move to the new house.  Jen’s commute will be cut from about 40 minutes to about 15 minutes.  My commute will be down from about 15-20 minutes to under 10 minutes.  This means that one or both of us will be available to go home during lunch to let a dog out mid-day.  I have heard all the warnings about not getting a dog because it is such a huge responsibility and it starts to take over your life.  Still, I am launching myself headlong into this anyway.  I figure I am a bigtime homebody anyway, and I don’t really thrive on a lot of travel, so it is actually a convenient excuse for me to not travel for more than just the occasional long weekend.  Plus, I will get all the wonderful benefits of having a puppy.

I tag Deezo, Kiddicus, Jarataur, DittoHeston, Jen, and frequent commenter Bill from NothingButLove.net who I like to read.  Bill even went and did some glass blowing which he was kind enough to email me details about.

This bonus fact comes free of charge.  I have always wanted to try my hand at blowing glass.  (No jokes please.)  I stood and watched people melt it down and shape it when I was a kid at Hale Farm Village a long time ago, and I have wanted to do it ever since.  Maybe I will actually get to it sometime.

The End of An Over-Reaction

Well, folks, the Janet Jackson / Justin Timberlake nipple-gate-pasty-wardrobe-malfunctioning affair is finally over.  The date Justin Timberlake attempted to but really didn’t make Janet Jackson “naked before the end of this song” was February 1st 2004. Yesterday, a Federal Court of Appeals struck down the fine against CBS stations nationwide that totaled $550,000, levied by the seemingly toothless FCC. It makes me happy that the legal process played out this way, but the effects have already been so sweeping that the $550,000 is really the least of the country’s problems. This Janet Jackson nipple has caused sweeping puritanical change in the last 4+ years since it all went down because the FCC was able to get the maximum penalty raised from $27,500 per incident to $500,000 per incident.

Let’s count the ways:

1. Television had to institute delays in most live broadcasts
2. Television producers stopped pushing the envelope on nudity and language in their programming, even after 10 PM
3. Radio tightened up their rules about language.  It is to the point now where lawyers for CBS have instructed the Opie and Anthony Show that they can’t say “douche bag,” or “scum bag,” but they are allowed to use the word “douche,” and “scum,” individually.  The (over)thinking is that the addition of the word “bag” constitutes a “description of a bodily fluid” and thus potential for FCC fines.
4. Howard Stern moved to Sirius Satellite Radio at least partially as a result of the climate created by the event.  Within a month of “nipplegate” Clear Channel, a syndicator or Stern’s show, removed Stern from its stations, citing raunchy material.

And who knows how many more examples there are of “standards and practices” departments at networks getting out of control with censorship.  And this all went down as the result of an event that was EVENTUALLY OVERRULED IN A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT!

That’s just awesome.

How many comedians, entertainers, writers, and other artists have been stifled in the last 4 years, unnecessarily.  The people that live on forever generally push the limits of what we are used to seeing.  How much farther have we been set back?

Luckily, I don’t think we have been set back.  While these companies were overreacting to the FCC and all the mock outrage over this incident, it has caused other avenues to thrive.  Today, some of the most popular shows in the country have existed on HBO, Showtime, FX and other cable outlets that don’t censor themselves.  While the networks have spent time nitpicking show creators on their networks, we have had the pleasure of watching the final seasons of The Sopranos, The Wire, Weeds, Dexter, Lucky Louie, Big Love, Rescue Me and what is reportedly the only show that Comedy Central doesn’t censor, South Park.

While the satellite radio companies seem set to merge because of negative economic realities facing the two companies, it isn’t a referendum on the content that the companies tend to put out.  It is more a statement about the delivery method that the companies bought into with satellites.  Still, as the first “cable” networks for radio, XM and Sirius have thrived content-wise with Opie and Anthony, Howard Stern, Ron and Fez, and others who all do uncensored talk.  In addition XM and Sirius have channels that play songs and comedy unaltered for language like terrestrial radio has to play them.

I would like to think that the tightening of rules has actually pushed people to these alternative outlets over the years.  So while I think that the reaction to this event was stupid, maybe we will look back at it one day as the catalyst that the U.S. needed to push the boundaries in different directions to places outside of the ridiculous realm of “indecency” that is created and monitored by a governmental group that has almost no checks and balances.

It may have taken more than 4 years, but there is some sense of justice in seeing these fines overturned.

The Dark Knight is Very Good but Not Perfect

I am guessing compared to most of the reviews that will be written about The Dark Knight, this one could end up being misconstrued as the one that smashes the film. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen by addressing it right here and now. There is something I want you all to remember as you read the rest of this review. The Dark Knight is very, very good. It is a movie that builds upon the wonderful re-start that Batman Begins began a few years ago.

The Dark Knight has great performances by some great actors. The action scenes are remarkable at times. Specifically, when Batman makes a harrowing, unauthorized extradition of a criminal in a foreign country, you will forget just how impossible it all is because of the imaginative nature and beauty the scenes and the action. Where the final scenes of Batman Begins were a bit corny, The Dark Knight lets no such goofiness creep in.

That lack of goofiness, in a large part, is due to the performance of Heath Ledger. Ledger’s performance is very good. He was probably even better than Jack Nicholson from Tim Burton’s 1989 iteration of Batman, but let’s be serious. Can you give an actor an Oscar for playing a role that at this point in pop culture is just an amalgamation of all the performances that have preceded it? While I will try not to disparage the memory of a very good actor, if you start to hear his name and the word Oscar in the same sentence, I fear that this might just be an overreaction to the sadness related to his young death.

The story itself was also very good. We were presented with more than just your average hero storyline. Good and evil were blurred lines and the fickle nature of a city with a masked crusader was handled beautifully. And just when you thought you couldn’t be any more disillusioned with humanity, they were given an opportunity to implode, and instead the citizenry of Gotham rose to the occasion. Trust me when I tell you the movie’s story arcs were well thought out.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t paced nearly as well as it could have been. At 150 minutes the film felt like 150 minutes. That is not a good thing. The movie had at least three moments that could have been considered suitable endings. But Christopher Nolan wasn’t able to quite pull it off perfectly with his multi-pronged storyline. What we are left with is a good movie that tends to plod along occasionally in its own self-impressed manner, not wanting to act like an action-based comic book movie and maintain even the slightest bit of popcorn feeling with a tidy ending.

You see why I wrote that first paragraph? I feel like I just trashed the movie. I want to reiterate just how good this movie is. I just don’t want to let the negatives get overlooked or the movie’s quality level get overstated. Expectations are important in the relationship between movies and viewers. As I said, this movie is a welcome addition to the Batman franchise, but based on some of the reviews I have read so far, I think the movie is turning out to be a bit overrated. It is either because Batman is such a valuable franchise, or it is an unnecessarily forced tribute to Heath Ledger who died before the movie could hit theaters.

Just know that when you watch The Dark Knight, you will enjoy it immensely, but upon a second screening I think you might feel that it could have been perfect and wasn’t.

I Wanted Ron Artest and I am Dumb Sometimes

Since last season, I have always suggested that the Cavs would do well to acquire the services of Ron Artest.  My thoughts on the subject were that he plays some of the toughest defense in the NBA this side of Bruce Bowen, and he has the ability to score and rebound better than probably anyone else on the Cleveland roster that doesn’t have the first name of LeBron.  My problem is that I never updated my opinion after the blockbuster trade that brought in Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and (wait for it) Ben Wallace.

I am as dumb as they come.  Take a look at the two people involved in catalyzing the ugliest incident in NBA history.

Oh yeah! Ben Wallace and Ron Artest got into a fight. According to some sources when Artest was lying on the scorer’s table right before he got the beer rained down on him he was yelling to Ben Wallace, “You can suck my balls!”

Uhh, yeah, so maybe the Cavs shouldn’t try and mend that fence by bringing Ron Artest in to be a teammate of Ben Wallace.

My bad.

And because I have been such a bad boy with updating this site lately because of an impending move to the country, I should probably also comment on Daniel Gibson’s resigning. I love this for a lot of reasons. First, Daniel Gibson has earned the right to earn his contract in the NBA. He has progressed from being a second-round draft pick to one of the better spot-up 3-point shooters in the NBA. He finished 5th in the league in percentage last season.

At the same time, he and his father (who helped handle negotiations with the Cavs) realize that he is like a BJ Armstrong, or Steve Kerr and didn’t try and hold up the Cavs for every last penny, pretending that Daniel was some kind of superstar in training. They got him a really nice 4-year $21 million deal that can reportedly be worth more if Daniel reaches incentives. This is a really fair deal for both sides.

As an NBA fan, I wish I could feel this way about more deals that players sign in the NBA.

Google Maps is POWERFUL (Comedy Skit)

I wish SNL was this good.

Google Maps Catches Girlfriends Cheating - Watch more free videos

Cleveland Gearing Up For LeBron’s Contract Year Too

While the national media continues to focus on the fact that Cleveland is undoubtedly going to lose LeBron James, we here in Cleveland continue to think otherwise.  Maybe it is delusion.  Maybe it is desperation.  I don’t know for sure.  The fact is that nobody really knows for sure.  And now, I have a new take on the whole LeBron situation.  I haven’t read anyone else who put this argument together, but I am sure I will hear about it in the next few days if someone already has.

But before I get into my new take, just for the sake of completeness, here are the basic thoughts being tossed around already.  First the camp that insists LeBron has to leave:

• LeBron has to leave because he is friends with Jay-Z who owns an infinitesimal piece of the New Jersey Nets
• The New Jersey Nets are moving to Brooklyn and LeBron has to go help kick off the new era of the franchise
• The Nets traded Richard Jefferson, meaning they are readying themselves for LeBron
• There are escalators in LeBron’s Nike contract which pay him more if he is in a major market like NYC

Then the other side is basically:

• LeBron likes his hometown
• Nobody can give LeBron a bigger NBA contract than Cleveland
• LeBron reached the finals in Cleveland
• Terry Pluto’s brilliant argument that says you never know where the talent is going to be centered a year from now let alone two years from now
• LeBron has stated that he wants to bring a parade to Cleveland because he knows we are suffering as sports fans (this interview answer is one that the national media NEVER mentions because it doesn’t fit their pre-determined storyline that Cleveland doesn’t deserve LeBron James)

Well, I have a new take.  Everyone was so quick to point out that the Richard Jefferson trade on draft night was definitely designed at getting LeBron to the Nets in two years.  Well, you know which team is gearing up to have a ton of cap space when LeBron’s contract year comes around?

THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

As of this writing, the Cavaliers don’t have a single player under contract for more than LeBron’s two year deal.  When next season starts the Cavs might have two players under contract for longer than LeBron and those will probably amount to somewhere in the $10-12 million dollar range COMBINED with Daniel Gibson and Delonte West.  That’s it.  Maybe some draft picks will end up with deals that range longer than LeBron’s two years remaining.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his nearly $11 million comes off.  Ben Wallace’s almost $15 million comes off.  In addition, LeBron’s salary comes off.  And guess what else.  Because LeBron is such an influential guy, the market is going to be flooded with free agents.  Dwayne Wade followed LeBron’s lead and only signed a five year deal when he was up for his first free agent contract.  Chris Bosh also followed LeBron’s lead in that department.

You will also remember that LeBron really did lead the charge on the 5-year deals at that time.  This means that LeBron has influence.  Who’s to say that LeBron wouldn’t be able to recruit some guys to come in and play with him in two years?  Could you imagine Dwayne Wade and/or Chris Bosh playing alongside LeBron?  The bottom line is that these types of situations can only occur where tons of cap space exists.

As long as Cleveland doesn’t screw this up and load up the roster with too much salary, the Cavs will have $40 million dropping off the cap in order to pull in top talent along with LeBron in his contract year.  Think about what the Clippers just did to try and keep Elton Brand in LA.

I am not guaranteeing that this will happen, but it is JUST as likely as all the presumed OBVIOUS scenarios that get bandied about by the national press when they are looking to pull the greatest sports figure in Cleveland history out of this town.

I am a geek

I will be watching these two pages for more details in the coming months.  Please no Shia LaBeuf.  Please no Shia LaBeuf.  Please no Shia LaBeuf.

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