Never, have the words Clutch and Cleveland ever combined to equal anything even remotely close to positive. When you think of those two words in the same sentence, you think of John Elway, you think of Michael Jordan, you think of David Justice, you think of Willie Mays, and you think of Edgar Renterria.
What I witnessed on Thursday, May 31st, was hands down the greatest clutch performance in the history of sports in Cleveland. When you break it down, I don’t know how much of an accomplishment that is, because there haven’t been many to speak of. However, sports have been mainstream in Cleveland for well over a half century in some sports, and closer to a century in others.
I’ve never seen one man take over a game for a Cleveland team the way Lebron James did on May 31st. If you look at the stat line, you’ll see he came close to 50 points, but its not necessarily the stat line that impresses you.
Its the fact that he was doing to the opposition, what several other superstars have done to Cleveland in the past. For once, Cleveland gets the clutch performance. He hit big shot, after big shot, after big shot. He went toe to toe with the best team in the conference, the big bully on the block.
Not only did David take matters into his own hands and slay Goliath, he said “fuck it”, threw the rocks down, went to Goliath’s backyard and took down the bully with his bare fists. He took every punch with a grain of salt, and delivered a punch with twice as much impact in return.
Now I understand that its too soon to get excited because the same thing happened last year, and the Cavs lost the series. Growing up in Cleveland, I also understand that you’ve been exposed to the worst before, so why expect anything different?
Having said that, enjoy the moment from game five. Who knows if we’ll ever see a clutch performance for a Cleveland team like that ever again. The stage made it greater, it was on the road, against the big dogs of the conference, a team they haven’t been able to get past, and most of all, it was in the conference finals, a place the franchise has only been twice.
When you think of the Cleveland sports legends, Bernie Kosar, Albert Belle, Jose Mesa, Orel Hershiser, Jim Brown, Calavitto, Otto Grahm, and the list goes on…..did they ever dominate a game the way Lebron did in the post season on May 31st? Answer that honestly.
As far as I’m concerned, its not even close. None of the aforementioned names ever did what Lebron did on Thursday night, May 31st. As my good buddy Paulie said, we’ll be seeing that game on ESPN Classic for the next century, enjoy it.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Who to start at PG?
Larry Hughes has fallen victim to the dreaded plantar fascia tear. I thought this trend died out after Albert Pujols was out with it. Whatever. The question now becomes, who to start at the point?
The Cavs choices are Eric Snow, Daniel Gibson and Damon Jones. It doesn't make any sense to have the World's Greatest 3 Point Shooter bringing the ball up the court, so Jones is out. Eric Snow simply sucks. That leaves Daniel Gibson, an energetic rookie from Texas. Want to know the only reason you need to start Gibson? As ESPN.com put it, "LeBron James, who had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in Game 3, trusts Gibson and is confident he can fill in adequately for Hughes."
There you have it.
The Cavs choices are Eric Snow, Daniel Gibson and Damon Jones. It doesn't make any sense to have the World's Greatest 3 Point Shooter bringing the ball up the court, so Jones is out. Eric Snow simply sucks. That leaves Daniel Gibson, an energetic rookie from Texas. Want to know the only reason you need to start Gibson? As ESPN.com put it, "LeBron James, who had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in Game 3, trusts Gibson and is confident he can fill in adequately for Hughes."
There you have it.
Monday, May 28, 2007
For Whom I Root
We're all fans - but of what? Of Whom? Sure, some (or all, depending on who reads this) of us know who each other cheers for, but this is a continuing open forum and we get to share, without interruption, who we cheer for.
Today, a blast from the not so distant past, although it feels like a lifetime ago; Albert Belle.
An RBI machine, Homerun champ, 1st 50 HR/50 2B man in MLB history, 5 time All Star, 8 straight years of 30 HR & 100 RBI, TSN Player Of The Year and Lousiana Sports Hall Of Fame inductee, the man was a beast, truly the most intimidating player of the '90s and possibly all time. The only things missing - the 1995 MVP award, a World Series Title & entrance to the MLB HOF.
The justification for Belle finishing second in the MVP voting to Mo Vaughn was that had Belle not been part of the Tribe that year, they would have still won their division by 20 games (they finished 30 games a head of the 2nd place Royals). Also, different people claimed the award is for Most Valuable, not Most Outstanding Player. I'm getting very angry... If that's the case, then how the hell can the MVP award go to a last place player (Alex Rodriguez, Andre Dawson)? The insanity of not voting for Belle was a byproduct of his lack of relationship with the media. Not only does a player have to produce on the field, but he must also play nice with the reporters? There's no reason, there is no f'ing reason he should not have won that award!
Ok, I'm done with that for a minute. Belle appealed to me for many reasons. As revealed by all his accolades, the guy was a hell of a player. During his prime, you just expected him to do something big, the game was never over if Belle was coming to the plate in a close game. Before he hit (one of) his famous Grand Slam(s) off Lee Smith, Carlos Baerga, who had just drawn a walk to load the bases for #8, celebrated as if he knew what was about to happen. It was absolutely surreal, especially watching it in person - I don't think I've ever heard a baseball crowd explode in such excitement as that moment. He so often brought excitement to a sport that needed it more and more.
On the field, it was easy for fans to root for the guy, though his antics outside the white lines drove many fans away. The stories are legendary: running kids down in his SUV after they egged his house on Halloween; turning down the thermostat, then destroying it with his bat, thus earning the nickname "Mr Freeze"; putting Hannah Storm in her place; absolutely destroying Fernando Vina in the basepath; drilling a heckler in the chest with a ball; not to mention the corked bats.
Two of my favorite personal anecdotes about Albert: (1) The game when he nailed the guy who kept chanting "Joey"? I was there (his middle name being JoJuan, he went by Joey though when he tried to give up drinking, he went with Albert). I forget during which inning the incident occurred, but in all of his subsequent at-bats, the crowd mercilessly booed him. We couldn't figure out why and didn't learn the reason until the drive home after the game. How'd we miss it? Well, we were sitting in the right field bleachers and this was during the season when the centerfield wall at Municipal Stadium had that freakin' trapezoid on top of it. The thing was right in our line of vision, so we never saw it all go down. (2) Remember during the playoffs when the Red Sox tried to screw with Belle by having the umps check his bats for cork? In all his intensity, he shouted back at the visitor's dugout while pointing to his flexed bicep, indicating that he didn't need cork to beat the piss out of them. Well, my dad and I went to all of the home playoff games that year and, of course, pops made a sign. What was on the sign? Why, Belle's flexing bicep with the words, "This ain't cork!!!" inside the muscle (no it wasn't cork, but who wants to take a guess as to what may have been flowing through those veins? Plus there was actually a second sign as well, one simply stating, "Ozzie would pay to watch Omar play!").
Whew! Regardless, while many fans turned on Belle for his off field actions, I stuck with him, he was after all, my favorite player, I couldn't just turn my back on him. It wasn't until he signed with the rival White Sox that he done pissed me off. That lasted only a short while as he headed to Baltimore next and was forced to don the number 88 because some selfish prick wouldn't give up #8 to a man who actually deserved it.
Did you know about Albert: Favorite TV shows? Cheers & Married With Children; Favorite player when he was a kid? Eddie Murray; Favorite music artist? Public Enemy; He is an Eagle Scout, National Honors Society member, former VP of the Future Business Leaders of America, and he was on an episode of the television show Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.
So yea, I rooted for Albert Belle, I adored him until he went to Chicago, but I'm willing to forgive. Hell, any man that turns down a scholarship offer to Notre Dame can't be all bad, right?
Today, a blast from the not so distant past, although it feels like a lifetime ago; Albert Belle.
An RBI machine, Homerun champ, 1st 50 HR/50 2B man in MLB history, 5 time All Star, 8 straight years of 30 HR & 100 RBI, TSN Player Of The Year and Lousiana Sports Hall Of Fame inductee, the man was a beast, truly the most intimidating player of the '90s and possibly all time. The only things missing - the 1995 MVP award, a World Series Title & entrance to the MLB HOF.
The justification for Belle finishing second in the MVP voting to Mo Vaughn was that had Belle not been part of the Tribe that year, they would have still won their division by 20 games (they finished 30 games a head of the 2nd place Royals). Also, different people claimed the award is for Most Valuable, not Most Outstanding Player. I'm getting very angry... If that's the case, then how the hell can the MVP award go to a last place player (Alex Rodriguez, Andre Dawson)? The insanity of not voting for Belle was a byproduct of his lack of relationship with the media. Not only does a player have to produce on the field, but he must also play nice with the reporters? There's no reason, there is no f'ing reason he should not have won that award!
Ok, I'm done with that for a minute. Belle appealed to me for many reasons. As revealed by all his accolades, the guy was a hell of a player. During his prime, you just expected him to do something big, the game was never over if Belle was coming to the plate in a close game. Before he hit (one of) his famous Grand Slam(s) off Lee Smith, Carlos Baerga, who had just drawn a walk to load the bases for #8, celebrated as if he knew what was about to happen. It was absolutely surreal, especially watching it in person - I don't think I've ever heard a baseball crowd explode in such excitement as that moment. He so often brought excitement to a sport that needed it more and more.
On the field, it was easy for fans to root for the guy, though his antics outside the white lines drove many fans away. The stories are legendary: running kids down in his SUV after they egged his house on Halloween; turning down the thermostat, then destroying it with his bat, thus earning the nickname "Mr Freeze"; putting Hannah Storm in her place; absolutely destroying Fernando Vina in the basepath; drilling a heckler in the chest with a ball; not to mention the corked bats.
Two of my favorite personal anecdotes about Albert: (1) The game when he nailed the guy who kept chanting "Joey"? I was there (his middle name being JoJuan, he went by Joey though when he tried to give up drinking, he went with Albert). I forget during which inning the incident occurred, but in all of his subsequent at-bats, the crowd mercilessly booed him. We couldn't figure out why and didn't learn the reason until the drive home after the game. How'd we miss it? Well, we were sitting in the right field bleachers and this was during the season when the centerfield wall at Municipal Stadium had that freakin' trapezoid on top of it. The thing was right in our line of vision, so we never saw it all go down. (2) Remember during the playoffs when the Red Sox tried to screw with Belle by having the umps check his bats for cork? In all his intensity, he shouted back at the visitor's dugout while pointing to his flexed bicep, indicating that he didn't need cork to beat the piss out of them. Well, my dad and I went to all of the home playoff games that year and, of course, pops made a sign. What was on the sign? Why, Belle's flexing bicep with the words, "This ain't cork!!!" inside the muscle (no it wasn't cork, but who wants to take a guess as to what may have been flowing through those veins? Plus there was actually a second sign as well, one simply stating, "Ozzie would pay to watch Omar play!").
Whew! Regardless, while many fans turned on Belle for his off field actions, I stuck with him, he was after all, my favorite player, I couldn't just turn my back on him. It wasn't until he signed with the rival White Sox that he done pissed me off. That lasted only a short while as he headed to Baltimore next and was forced to don the number 88 because some selfish prick wouldn't give up #8 to a man who actually deserved it.
Did you know about Albert: Favorite TV shows? Cheers & Married With Children; Favorite player when he was a kid? Eddie Murray; Favorite music artist? Public Enemy; He is an Eagle Scout, National Honors Society member, former VP of the Future Business Leaders of America, and he was on an episode of the television show Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.
So yea, I rooted for Albert Belle, I adored him until he went to Chicago, but I'm willing to forgive. Hell, any man that turns down a scholarship offer to Notre Dame can't be all bad, right?
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny
When Jim Thome played for the Indians, he lived in Aurora. An alleged neighbor of his once relayed to me that the cops were called to his house pretty often for domestic violence claims. What a dick, huh? Uh, not really. Rumor is, the wife was kicking his ass! It obviously would have taken a lot of restraint to not sock her right back, so if he never did, good job (she may have just been baiting him into something).
Was this recurring problem a result of his wife's (Andrea Pacione) drinking problem or her hatred of Cleveland or is he not only dumb, but also a pushover? Considering his trip to Oprah with his wife, I'd guess a combination of all three.
By the way, were you aware that Thome has a twin sister, Jennifer? Bet she's a hottie.
Was this recurring problem a result of his wife's (Andrea Pacione) drinking problem or her hatred of Cleveland or is he not only dumb, but also a pushover? Considering his trip to Oprah with his wife, I'd guess a combination of all three.
By the way, were you aware that Thome has a twin sister, Jennifer? Bet she's a hottie.
That's why they play the games
Will we never learn our lesson? When is anything ever a sure thing? The only absolute, in my mind, is there are no absolutes - besides nothing ever being a sure thing.
Judgement has already been passed, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden are going to be studs. They'll each bring their respective teams multiple championships, you can't go wrong drafting either of them. Well, why not? Who's to say that one doesn't end up like Len Bias or just another Joe Smith? Wasn't Darko a "sure thing"? How am I supposed to be convinced of this Chinese guy's talent?
Wasn't Brady Quinn a sure Top 3 pick? If he fell past Cleveland, Miami was taking him, right? Yea, that ended well. Hey, Lawrence Phillips, Tim Couch, Tony Mandarich, Rick Mirer, Ryan Leaf, Heath Shuler, Brian Bosworth & Steve Emtman, how'd all your Hall Of Fame careers end up?
Judgement has already been passed, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden are going to be studs. They'll each bring their respective teams multiple championships, you can't go wrong drafting either of them. Well, why not? Who's to say that one doesn't end up like Len Bias or just another Joe Smith? Wasn't Darko a "sure thing"? How am I supposed to be convinced of this Chinese guy's talent?
Wasn't Brady Quinn a sure Top 3 pick? If he fell past Cleveland, Miami was taking him, right? Yea, that ended well. Hey, Lawrence Phillips, Tim Couch, Tony Mandarich, Rick Mirer, Ryan Leaf, Heath Shuler, Brian Bosworth & Steve Emtman, how'd all your Hall Of Fame careers end up?
After the recent NFL draft betrayed so many mock drafts, it was labeled a "crap shoot", being so difficult to predict, yet here we go again. Not only will people guarantee that Team X will select a certain player, but by the end of the creation of these mocks so many authors will have spent so much time convincing themselves that their picks are correct that they won't be able to envision any reasonable alternative. Then they start making claims about how many titles someone's going to win, or how many MVPs a guy will earn all the while setting personal expectations for each individual.
Sure, it's fun to imagine LeBron bringing championships to his region, but the rhetoric & hype never allowed for anything less - there was only one possibility, LeBron was going to win, he was going to be good, crap, he'll be better than Jordan! Well, yes, he's good, but it isn't appropriate yet to name him one of the best ever. Talking about potential is one thing, sure, maybe he'll end up being great, but if he retires after these playoffs to concentrate on a football career, is he a HOFer? Hell no; the guy can be fun to watch, and with his stature & charisma and our preconceptions, it's easy to envision him on top of the world, but he hasn't accomplished nearly enough.
All I'm saying is let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Is the present so boring that we just can't wait to get it over with? Just slow down, savor what we know & don't know. Go ahead and dream about such-and-such a player achieving this or that, but presenting expectations as the only possible outcome is annoying and appears simple-minded. No one is making a breakthrough by correctly predicting when something does happen as they suggested it would - throw enough shit against the wall and something's bound to stick.Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Halladays coming early
Look at that there, I took Roy Halladay's last name and turned it into a pun - a shitty one at that. I know most people reading this couldn't care less about one of the greatest pitchers of our generation, but Roy Halladay is something special. More than just being a stud on the mound, he's on my fantasy team, totally validating his worth.
Now, I don't want to be completely selfish in my motivation for posting this, but following Halladay's emergency appendectomy three weeks ago, I find this quote from his manager, John Gibbons, a bit worrisome: ""He's one of the best pitchers in the game. We want to run him out there."
The Blue Jays are lucky that their star pitcher recognized the seriousness of his situation, thus saving himself from an even worse fate and here's his manager making it clear that this guy's health and future matters not when compared to keeping his job. Gibbons, you'd better hope that he's ok, because if he isn't and you rush him out there, well, I don't think I have to tell you what happens next. Don't mess with Roy Halladay.
Now, I don't want to be completely selfish in my motivation for posting this, but following Halladay's emergency appendectomy three weeks ago, I find this quote from his manager, John Gibbons, a bit worrisome: ""He's one of the best pitchers in the game. We want to run him out there."
The Blue Jays are lucky that their star pitcher recognized the seriousness of his situation, thus saving himself from an even worse fate and here's his manager making it clear that this guy's health and future matters not when compared to keeping his job. Gibbons, you'd better hope that he's ok, because if he isn't and you rush him out there, well, I don't think I have to tell you what happens next. Don't mess with Roy Halladay.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Gushing Goddesses
Maybe I'm just being picky about my hometown. Maybe I really want the radio talk hosts and the fans to take a step back for a moment and just look at the current sports scene in Cleveland. Maybe it's time for me to get swept up in how great things are these days. Or maybe the blind loyalty that Ohio State (and pretty much any major institution) inspires has overtaken the city.
"What a great time to be a Cleveland sports fan. Has it ever been any better?" With the Indians on fire, the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Browns drafting 2 players in the first round, including a highly touted quarterback, some form or other of the aforementioned rhetoric has made its rounds through the airwaves and is spreading on the streets. It's a bit unfair that I'm writing this after the Cavs have fallen behind 0-2 in their series, but it's been on my mind for a little while now.
As a matter of fact, yes, there have been better times to be a Cleveland sports fan - like when teams won championships, or came close to doing so. How many fans believe the excitement of the Cavs season even competes with the energy and appreciation much of the city had for the Tribe during their late 90's run? Admittedly, I'm a baseball fan first, but much of the area was so caught up that the news ran warnings to not take it as seriously as fans were. If people are getting so excited about a team that we're worried about rioting or heart attacks, depending on the outcome, I'd say that was a pretty intense time to be a fan.
Sure, during much of the team's dominance, they didn't have to compete with Browns exposure or interest in the Cavs, but did that take away from the wonder of going through our formative years when the Indians were better than they'd been in 40 years? Parents were telling us we were lucky to have such a team to watch, national media outlets swooned over the climb of such a historic franchise, even "rivals" claimed the team was easy to root for.
Going back to before I was born, I'd say the success of the Browns during the 50's & 60's might have been an exciting time. More than that though, attending a mid major school right as their football team was ranked for the first time ever and having the excitement of listening to a friend call one of team's greatest upsets and most exciting endings was absolutely mind boggling. And don't forget, Bowling Green's basketball squad lost out on going to the NCAA Tournament because Notre Dame's fans "travel better".
So, here were are in May. The Browns' don't kick off for another 4 months, the Indians are 40 games into their season and the Cavs are an uninterested team "battling" for a trip to the finals. Who knows what could become of Joe Thomas & Brady Quinn? These are the Browns, remember? The Indians are in first place now, but what's it matter? The Cavs don't look like they've got any desire to move on in the playoffs. So yea, I'm sorry everyone, but there have been better times to be a sports fan, even in Cleveland.
"What a great time to be a Cleveland sports fan. Has it ever been any better?" With the Indians on fire, the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Browns drafting 2 players in the first round, including a highly touted quarterback, some form or other of the aforementioned rhetoric has made its rounds through the airwaves and is spreading on the streets. It's a bit unfair that I'm writing this after the Cavs have fallen behind 0-2 in their series, but it's been on my mind for a little while now.
As a matter of fact, yes, there have been better times to be a Cleveland sports fan - like when teams won championships, or came close to doing so. How many fans believe the excitement of the Cavs season even competes with the energy and appreciation much of the city had for the Tribe during their late 90's run? Admittedly, I'm a baseball fan first, but much of the area was so caught up that the news ran warnings to not take it as seriously as fans were. If people are getting so excited about a team that we're worried about rioting or heart attacks, depending on the outcome, I'd say that was a pretty intense time to be a fan.
Sure, during much of the team's dominance, they didn't have to compete with Browns exposure or interest in the Cavs, but did that take away from the wonder of going through our formative years when the Indians were better than they'd been in 40 years? Parents were telling us we were lucky to have such a team to watch, national media outlets swooned over the climb of such a historic franchise, even "rivals" claimed the team was easy to root for.
Going back to before I was born, I'd say the success of the Browns during the 50's & 60's might have been an exciting time. More than that though, attending a mid major school right as their football team was ranked for the first time ever and having the excitement of listening to a friend call one of team's greatest upsets and most exciting endings was absolutely mind boggling. And don't forget, Bowling Green's basketball squad lost out on going to the NCAA Tournament because Notre Dame's fans "travel better".
So, here were are in May. The Browns' don't kick off for another 4 months, the Indians are 40 games into their season and the Cavs are an uninterested team "battling" for a trip to the finals. Who knows what could become of Joe Thomas & Brady Quinn? These are the Browns, remember? The Indians are in first place now, but what's it matter? The Cavs don't look like they've got any desire to move on in the playoffs. So yea, I'm sorry everyone, but there have been better times to be a sports fan, even in Cleveland.
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