Disgusted

There is a reason I waited 24 hours to post regarding the LeCharles Bentley injury.

Had I posted yesterday, it would have amounted to nothing more than a profanity-laced diatribe, making me sound even more bitter and jaded than normal - something I don't need.

How ironic, the day Bud Shaw writes a column in the Plain Dealer about Bentley's value. A couple days after I swear off the local baseball team to focus on the Browns and LeBrons. Now, just like that, the Browns are all but finished for the eighth time in as many seasons since returning.

Am I overreacting? Teams often can recover from such injuries right?

the answer, as always in Cleveland, is no.

I don't know if I believe in curses. I do believe in God but aren't sure he is making a concerted effort to torment the fans of Cleveland, the case made by another popular Cleveland blog (a very entertaining one at that).

What I'm trying to say is I simply cannot explain Cleveland sports. I can't explain a string of crushing defeats, dubious injuries, lame-brained leadership and pure bad luck that stretches as far as the eye can see.

Many Clevelanders worry about never seeing a championship in their lifetimes. A championship that would mean a thousand times more to this city than any other in the country.

Personally, I have progressed passed that point. I now assume I will never see one and have begun the process of reprioritizing my life to lessen the impact Cleveland sports has on it.

I know, this stuff sounds like something Dr. Phil would say, but what true fan of Cleveland sports of at least the last 15 years couldn't use a little Dr. Phil at this point?

So what now for Browns fans? We turn our focus to what is left for this season, the Winslows or Droughns or seeing what the rookies will bring to the table. But secretly, we wait for the next inevitable sports disaster because that is what we do in Cleveland these days.

And unless you are old enough to remember Jim Brown's playing days, that may be the only thing you ever do.

I'm tired

Thats right, the Indians have finally done me in.

We all know they are horrible. We all know how Mark Shapiro butchered the offseason. We all know how cheap Larry Dolan is.

There is simply nothing else to say about this team. For the first time since the late 80s, they have taken a back seat to the Browns and Cavaliers in the city's collective heart, and rightfully so.

So really, there is nothing else to say. So from this point out, I am placing a gag order on myself from dealing with the Indians until the offseason manuevering begins. It will be all Browns and Cavs from here on out!

I look to make a relevant Browns post soon, followed by a Browns "Training Camp preview", as only I can bring (i.e. this won't be anything you will read in Tony Grossi's column).

Second-half SURGE!

The Tribe begins the second half of the season tonight looking to duplicate the spirited late-season run of last season that left them a game short of the playoffs.

All season Eric Wedge has been telling us the team's best baseball was ahead of them (it certainly couldn't be any worse!) and how there was pleeeenty of time. Its a marathon, not a sprint, Wedge cautioned.

Well, to make the playoffs the Indians would have to be no worse than second place in the AL Central, which would mean passing up either the Tigers or the White Sox.

First lets look at the Tigers, who have played .670 ball through the first 88 games of the year. If Detroit stays consistent, they are on pace to finish up at 108-54. For the Tribe to finish ahead of them and take the division, they would simply need to go 69-7 the rest of the way. PIECE OF CAKE! I mean they could lose two games a month the rest of the season and STILL have one loss left over. I'm sure they will have no trouble playing that kind of baseball. Gosh Eric Wedge is smart.

Just in case, however, something goes awry. Perhaps our prized offseason free agent signing Paul Byrd DOESN'T break Orel Herschiser's record 59 scoreless inning streak or Aaron Boone doesn't finish the season at a .450 clip. We would need to set our sights on more humble goals - the White Sox. Not as hot as Detroit, the Sox are sputtering along at a .648 clip. I know, laughable. While they have been playing right into the shrewd Wedge's hands, the Sox will still finish 105-57 at the current pace.

To overtake Chicago, the Tribe would need to rattle off a cool 66-10 record. Under normal circumstances pretty tough, but as Wedge has assured us, our best baseball is ahead of us, plenty of time.

So to wrap it up, the Indians are right where they want to be. Eric Wedge has pulled the wool over the entire division's eyes and a playoff run is all but certain.

And you Dolan haters thought a championship couldn't be won on food stamps.

Tear jerker

If you are a TRUE Browns fan, and are old enough to the 80s, then this clip should make you a little misty-eyed. Either that or you have no soul.

In a related note,

I'M READY FOR SOME EFFIN' FOOTBALL!!!

LeBron signs!

Imagine this scenario:

You have been enduring one of the worst weeks you can remember. Your personal life is a mess, your finances are shaky and it is all capped off by a horrendous day at work in which your boss called you into his office to have a "talk."

So you are driving home from work, mind thoroughly preoccupied with the bleak state of your life, when some moron blows through a red light of an intersection you just happen to be entering. Fortunately, you notice this just in time to slam the brakes, narrowly averting a potentially serious accident.

Now many of us would have different reactions to such an event, but none of which would be throwing the car in park, getting out and joyously celebrating in the middle of the street.

Where am I going with this you ask helplessly?

Well, this scenario represents how I felt when I heard LeBron James has decided to accept the Cavaliers five-year extension keeping him in Cleveland until at least 2013.

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy about this, but it's just more of a "disaster averted"-type thing than a "pop the champaign"-type thing.

For one, as Clevelanders we know NOTHING is for certain. As much as LeBron is compared to Jordan and the "experts" say it is almost inevitable he will bring championships to Cleveland, we know better.

This is the city Bill Belichick couldn't figure out how to win. This is the city that saw a 100-44 baseball team - maybe the best team of the last half-century that didn't win a title- look OVERMATCHED in the 1995 World Series. This is the city that saw it's football team lose in the AFC championship game three out of four years, to the SAME TEAM.

In Cleveland, NOTHING is certain, nothing is for sure. This contract by no means guarantees us a championship, but it does guarantee we will have a basketball team in three years.

I mean, can you imagine the Cavaliers and the city post-LeBron? Imagine attending a game at the Q when the featured attractions are a broken down Ilgauskas and an overmatched Larry Hughes desperately trying to finish his contract? Can you imagine the Cavs returning to 29-53 type seasons while LeBron thrives alongside Kobe in Los Angeles?

Fortunately, the disaster was averted and we won't have to imagine such things, at least until 2013.

Some other thoughts on the goings on in the sports world:

• What is left to say about the Indians at this point? I can remember sitting through some torturous games and seasons back at old Munie in the 80's, yet I simply cannot recall feeling so disillusioned about a Tribe team. Just the other day I had to ask my friend who pitched for the Indians the previous night. Prior to this season, that happened about never. It just feels as though Larry Dolan has sucked the fan right out of me. When you get to the point you don't want certain players to do TOO well because they will undoubtedly receive a better contract elsewhere, you know your team has shitty ownership, plain and simple.
• Not too make any excuses for the Indians this year, but how brutal is the AL Central? Do you realize the Minnesota Twins are sitting in third place, 11 games out of first at 47-38 with possibly the two best starting pitchers in the American League right now? And guess who isn't nearly as bad as people thought? Thats right, the Kansas City Royals. Considering the lack of stars on the roster and how they started the season, for them to be 31-55 while playing the Tigers, White Sox and Twins most of the year is pretty impressive. Put it this way, if you placed the Royals in a division with Tampa Bay, Seattle, Pittsburgh and the Cubs, do you honestly think they finish any worse than second?
• I'm getting increasingly excited about the Browns this year, and mostly for one man - Kellen freaking Winslow. Call me crazy, but when I think about all the Browns and Cavaliers draft picks over the last 20 years (since the MLB draft is about 70 rounds too long for any rational human being to hold any interest), Only three picks REALLY stand out in my memory: Tim Couch because it was the first of the new Browns, LeBron James for obvious reasons and Kellen Winslow Jr. I realize Winslow has struggled with minor details like "getting on the field" in his first two years, but let's not forget how good this guy was at Miami. Neither Tony Gonzalez nor Antonio Gates even approached the level of play at the tight end position that Winslow Jr. did in college. I'm optimistic his raw talent will still translate to the pro game, this year even.
• Finally, am I the only one sick of ESPN trying to dictate what I should be watching? To say they went overboard with the World Cup coverage would be the understatement of the decade. Most people will be shocked to realize the World Cup took place in 2002 as well. Don't remember it? Probably because ESPN wasn't shoving it down our throats back then. Why they decided on "all-out blitz" for WC coverage this year is beyond me. It wasn't even the games that really bothered me, it was having to listen to personalities such as Mike Golic's pathetic feigned excitement about a United States/Ghana matchup. Give me a freaking break.

Ilgauskas will haunt Cavaliers

The Chicago Bulls signed our man.

Well, he would have been our man had Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry not foolishly resigned overrated center Zydrunas Ilguaskas last offseason.

Its a move that may haunt the Cavaliers for years to come and may cost them LeBron James. Not only are Ilgauskas' best days behind him as he acts more of a hindrance than a piece to a championship puzzle. But his bloated and undeserved contract give the Cavs little flexibility to manuever under the salary cap - hence making the possibility of landing Ben Wallace impossible.

How Ferry has spent his entire life around basketball and was unable to see "Z" was and is a horrible fit for this team is unfathomable. To make it worse, as bad of a fit Ilgauskas is, is as good of a fit Wallace would have been.

The Cavaliers do not need scoring from the center position, but rather a defensive presence and someone to clean the glass - precisely how Ben Wallace has earned a living in the NBA.

In addition, Wallace is athletic and quickly gets up and down the floor to match LeBron's preferred style of play.

Ilgauskas, on the other hand, is slow and clumsy and is consistently the LAST guy down the floor on fast breaks.

Wallace is active around the basket, offering excellent help defense and crashing the boards with an attitude. Ilgauskas is soft and prefers to plant his feet 10 feet from the hoop with his back to the basket and is often boxed out by players much shorter than him.

Wallace joins a Bulls team that stood toe-to-toe with the Heat in the playoffs THIS year and features a plethora of young talent. The Bulls have quickly replaced the Cavs as the hot team to watch for next season.

And the Cavs are left with tired old Z. I doubt the Cavs could ever seriously contend for a title with Ilgauskas the player. I'm positive the Cavs can't contend for a title with the Ilgauskas contract weighing them down like a steel anchor.

Lets just hope LeBron James doesn't feel the same way.