Archive for the Sports Category

Cavs Land PG Mo Williams

By on August 13, 2008

I was cruising WFNY today and the place has caught fire with excited Cavs fans talking about this three-team deal that brings Milwaukee Bucks PG Mo Williams to the Cavaliers. I am a bit more cautiously optimistic than flat out excited by this news.

On the surface, it looks like a great fit, because Williams is known as a point guard who can make his own scoring opportunities. All Cavs fans know that the team needs more offensive options than what LeBron and Zydrunas Ilgauskas provide. So, with that, it should be a promising outlook as of today. Except, I want to be more cautious.

In 2005, the Cavs needed a player to play opposite LeBron James, so instead of trading, they went out and found a player with a Hollinger PER rating of 21.63. This is a statistical combination used to measure a player’s production per minute of floor time. This player had 22 points per game and almost 5 assists per game to go along with just over 6 rebounds per game. And his name was Larry Hughes.

Just to put it all in perspective, Mo Williams’ PER is 17.06 currently.

Now, I am sorry if it seems like I am trying to be a downer. I am not. I hope Mo Williams turns out to be exactly what the Cavs need in terms of getting to the next level. I think combined with Delonte West (should he return,) Wally Szczerbiak (should he not be traded,) and Daniel Gibson, the Cavs have a pretty good rotation of players ready to play in the back court in the upcoming season.

The plusses are that Williams is still a younger player at 25 years old. He just finished the first year of a 6-year $51.5 million deal that is a relative bargain compared to the amount of money that the Cavs paid Larry Hughes. Also, the Cavs unloaded dead weight in Damon Jones, and an aging veteran in Joe Smith, so they didn’t really lose a ton to pick up Williams.

So, anyway, I am excited at the prospect. I think it is a good calculated risk on Danny Ferry’s part. Then again, I thought Larry Hughes was a good calculated risk when the Cavs signed him in 2005. Let’s just hope it works and that the Cavs won’t sit idly by with Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract for too long. It is the largest expiring-contract bargaining chip in Danny Ferry’s arsenal, and I hope he uses it wisely.

Update:  The Cavs have emailed their fanbase about the trade.


“Acquiring Mo strengthens our nucleus of players for both the short and long term. He is entering his prime NBA years and will be part of the foundation of our future success,” Ferry said. “Mo is a player that excels as a traditional point guard, but also brings an extra dimension with his scoring and versatility. His ability to push the tempo, get inside the lane, shoot from the perimeter and distribute the ball will be very valuable for us.”

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When Feel-Good Stories Die

By on August 10, 2008

After the Browns released LeCharles Bentley earlier this pre-season, they still had one potential feel-good story remaining in Gary Baxter.  Baxter blew out both his knees on one play two years ago, and was making an attempt at an unprecedented comeback to the playing field.  Today, that comeback attempt is on hold, if not over completely as the Browns terminated Gary Baxter’s contract.  Last week it was announced that Baxter had arthroscopic knee surgery to remove some cartilage.

“Last year we were able to hold a roster spot open for Gary as he attempted to make a monumental comeback,” said Browns General Manager Phil Savage. “After he underwent a knee scope last week, we are unfortunately not in a position to hold a roster spot this year. We are releasing Gary today in hopes he will be able to continue his rehab and get back into the NFL, either with another team, or possibly with the Browns. Gary has made tremendous strides thus far, and we believe he can play professional football again in the future.”

In this statement it seems like Phil Savage is covering his behind in order to avoid criticism that the Browns just dumped a guy when he was hurt.  I really do believe that the Browns acted ethically in this situation, though.  They did as much as any NFL franchise would do to keep a player around even when he wasn’t able to help the team.  This season with a serious lack of depth in the defensive backfield, the Browns were just not in a position to keep the Baxter dream alive.

And no, I don’t believe that Phil Savage and company actually think Baxter will ever be back in a Cleveland Browns uniform.  It was just a really upbeat, encouraging thing for him to say.

Gary Baxter is carted off after his career-threatening injury

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Cavs Rumors Include Barbosa and Rasheed Wallace?

By on July 28, 2008

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.

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Sirius-XM Merger Finally Approved

By on July 26, 2008

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.

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Terry Glenn Waived

By on July 26, 2008

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.

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I Wanted Ron Artest and I am Dumb Sometimes

By on July 20, 2008

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.

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Cleveland Gearing Up For LeBron’s Contract Year Too

By on July 6, 2008

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.

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Cleveland Indians Fire Sale Should Begin

By on July 2, 2008

After last night’s game in Chicago where Indians “closer” Joe Borowski gave up two runs in the bottom of the tenth to waste Casey Blake’s should-a-been game winner, I think it is officially time to stick a fork in the Cleveland Indians for 2008. They are so very completely ridiculously hopelessly done in an unbelievable fall from almost beating the Red Sox to go to the World Series last October. From injuries, to sophomore slumps, to complete busts, to tired players, this team has failed in almost all facets of the game this season.

I am not going to rehash it all for you in any detail, but imagine the moustachioed man who used to do the commercials for Micro Machines…

CC Sabathia’s early season slump, the failure of Jason Michaels / David Dellucci platoon, the continued struggles and injury of Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook Tommy John surgery, Fausto Carmona hip injury, Victor Martinez elbow surgery, Asdrubal Cabrera sophomore slump, Garko failing to live up to expectations, continued inconsistency from Jhonny Peralta, Franklin Gutierrez’ utter failures at the plate, Joe Borowski injury and failures after returning, Rafael Betancourt seemingly tired and ineffective, etc, etc, etc…

So, where do we go from here now that the season is basically over?

  • Sign or trade CC now. The Indians have been making a last ditch effort to lock up CC for the long term. If they can’t get that done, they need to get as much Triple and Double A talent as they possibly can for him. I don’t know if it is three players or more or even less, but they have plenty of needs from starting pitching to corner outfield and infield.
  • Either give Andy Marte 20 games in a row or cut him. Andy Marte can’t be expected to produce when he plays sporadically. If he is going to get an actual shot at third base, give it to him.
  • As Terry Pluto has stated multiple times, let Asdrubal Cabrera and Josh Barfield play the middle of the infield when Barfield is healthy. This means doing something with Jhonny Peralta.
  • Either try to trade Jhonny Peralta or try him out at third base. Then again, with those offensive numbers maybe you cut your losses with both him and Marte.
  • Trade Paul Byrd for whatever you can get. I like Byrd, but he is as old as the hills and I don’t expect him to be back in Cleveland next year.
  • Trade Joe Borowski. I am not sure what value he has, but I am sure someone could use another bullpen guy.
  • Last but not least, and I hate to say this, but trade Casey Blake. I love Casey Blake because he can play basically any position on the field and my friends and I have all built up an irrational, unjustified worship of Casey Blake. After a pinch hitter came into the game last week he even played a couple innings at short. Casey Blake could possibly help someone in the stretch run filling in at multiple positions and pinch hitting. His numbers are excellent with men in scoring position. Plus, if the Tribe really wants him back next season he will be a free agent.

The way I see it the Indians have somewhere between 3 and 5 guys who can leave via trade. If they can average 2 players per trade that means the Indians should be able to infuse at least 6-10 guys with potential at the AAA and AA levels. That means that the Indians won’t keep themselves from competing next season with guys like Fausto Carmona, Cliff Lee, and Aaron Laffey definitely returning to the rotation, and guys like Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore and hopefully a healthy Travis Hafner to the lineup.

Finally, I have one question that I am left with after seeing this collapse this season. How is it that the Indians coaches are so beyond blame? I know Eric Wedge has had his haters all along since he was named manager of the team. I know he wasn’t as good a manager as the team performed last season. I know he isn’t as bad a manager as the team performed this season. Still, would a team with such high expectations have a staff that remains as unscathed as this one has in any other city? I don’t really know at what point the finger of blame has to end up on someone in Eric Wedge’s staff. Yet all is quiet. Seems a bit odd to me that even a hitting coach is untouchable in a situation like this. This team has regressed offensively in a big big way this season.

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I Give a Standing Ovation to WFNY

By on June 30, 2008

WFNY? That’s Waiting For Next Year for all you non-Cleveland sports fans out there.  I have been talking about this ever since the draft and an article was written by John Hollinger proclaiming that the trade of Richard Jefferson from New Jersey was undeniable proof that LeBron James was on his way to the Nets when his contract expires in 2010.  I have grown tired of the east-coast-centric bullshit that constantly beats the Cleveland Cavaliers, the city of Cleveland, and their fans into oblivion because in those tainted writers’ filthy brains somehow Cleveland isn’t good enough for a superstar of LeBron James’ caliber.

Well, I never wrote the perfect rebuttal.  And now, I don’t have to bother trying.

RockKing (probably not his real name) at Waiting for Next Year has written it.

I won’t plagiarize it here, but he goes through it all.  LeBron has already achieved amazing media success in Cleveland.  He has made millions from the Cavaliers organization.  He holds all the leverage in the world with Nike already.  And finally, LeBron can’t possibly make any more money in the NBA than he can as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  In fact, with a few mathematical assumptions it is reasonable to assume that LeBron would have to leave somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million on the table to leave Cleveland after years and escalators are taken into account.  You see, LeBron won’t definitely stay in Cleveland, but this whole air of inevitability that everyone seems to put on that he will leave is a bit ridiculous.

Enough of me paraphrasing.  Go read the article that finally smacks all those smug sports writers in the mouth.

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Tiger Woods – Linebacker

By on June 16, 2008

Tiger Woods ad-libbed this little stunt during a commercial shoot for Buick. I wouldn’t like to be the guy who stole Tiger’s clubs.

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