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June 30, 2009 - By Adam Burke
For the first time in franchise history, the Blue Jackets did not pick in the top eight of the National Hockey League Entry Draft. That did not keep General Manager Scott Howson from having an active draft day. The Blue Jackets, slated to pick 16th overall, traded down and then traded back up adding a second rounder in the process. In Adam Burke's latest, he takes a look back at the NHL Draft, and ahead to free agency, which begins tomorrow.
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June 29, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
A couple of trades have dominated the headlines on the Cleveland sports scene these past few days. Of course, there was the big news from Thursday, when the Cavs pulled the trigger on the blockbuster that brought The Diesel here to the north coast. And then on Saturday, the Indians dealt Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for relief pitcher Chris Perez and a player to be named later. In the Weekend Wrap, Peeks hits on both trades, the NBA Draft, and the latest project he's working on.
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June 27, 2009 - By Gary Benz
I always love seeing what topics Gary Benz sets his sights on each Saturday morning in Lingering Items, and this week, he's chosen three compelling stories. First he talks about the retirement of MLB Players Union Chief Don Fehr, who Gary is glad to see go. GB then turns his attention the vultures circling around the head of Indians skipper Eric Wedge and the growing displeasure with Indians GM Mark Shapiro. Finally, Gary talks about Danny Ferry, who he felt showed both courage and bravado in acquring Shaquille O'Neal.
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June 22, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
Thirteen games under .500, six straight losses, ten back of the division leading Detroit Tigers and a bullpen that has embarrassed the ‘Bullpen from Hell'. The season effectively ended this weekend in Wrigley Field. And with an off day today, does the organization make some major changes? Does Eric Wedge survive the day? Peeks hits on the current state of Cleveland Indians baseball, as well as the Donte Stallworth sentence in The Weekend Wrap.
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June 15, 2009 - By Jesse Lamovsky
Hear that sound echoing off the Appalachian hills to our east? That's the sound of celebrating, by a people near and not-so-dear to our hearts- Pittsburgh sports fans, once again achieving a level that we know only in black-and-white newsreels. And once again, the glare of their triumph illuminates the depths of our futility. Since 1970 Pittsburgh's teams have competed in seven Super Bowls, four Cup Finals, and two World Series, to two World Series and one NBA Finals for Cleveland's teams. Jesse talks about it in his latest piece.
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June 15, 2009 - By Jesse Lamovsky
Peeker's in Nashville for the Country Music Festival this weekend, so enter TCF jack of all trades/master wordsmith Jesse Lamovsky to fill in for Peeks with The Weekend Wrap. Jesse touches on Braylon Edwards injuring his ankle laying pickup basketball. He talks about the rumors that the Cavaliers front office was thinking of whacking Mike Brown in the wake of the Eastern Conference Finals loss to Orlando. And discusses the revitalized rumors that have Shaq heading to the north coast.
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June 14, 2009 - By Jesse Lamovsky
Remember the Cleveland Force? If you're over the age of thirty you probably do. The Force were one of the flagship franchises in the Major Indoor Soccer League, and in their heyday they were one of the hottest tickets in the area, packing them into the old Richfield Coliseum on a regular basis. For a period of several years in the early-to-mid ‘80s, the Force badly outdrew the struggling Cavaliers in terms of game-by-game attendance. Jesse Lamovsky thinks top tier professional soccer could once again thrive in NE Ohio, and writes his latest column about it.
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June 13, 2009 - By Gary Benz
Two coaches, with the same lineage. Yet the two men are polar opposites in every respect. I'm talking about the Browns old head coach, Romeo Crennel, and their new one, Eric Mangini. In this week's Lingering Items, Gary Benz talks about the contrast between Crennel and Mangini, and also touches on the Mike Brown firing rumors as well as how incredibly bad the American League Central division is.
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June 8, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
With the Cavs home watching the Finals, the injury ravaged Indians occupying the basement of the AL Central, and the Browns now in between minicamps and training camp ... it's a dead period for Cleveland sports right now. And Peeker's not all that upset about that. In this week's Wrap, he hits on the LeBron fine, the one player he'd like to see the Cavs acquire this offseason, Fausto's woes, his favorite Indian, and renewing his Browns season tickets.
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June 4, 2009 - By Gary Benz
Sports have always been and will forever be the cruelest of mistresses. You can buy it dinner and drinks until you're bankrupt but it will never give you everything you think you deserve. The truth is, sports, like life, don't work that way. Nothing is predestined. You never get what you fully expect just because you think you deserve it. We recently saw this with our Cleveland Cavaliers. Gary talks about it in his latest column for us.
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May 31, 2009 - By Gary Benz
Well, you knew it wouldn't be long before the slew of "LeBron to New York" columns came out. And Gary starts this week's Lingering Items by looking at a column from this weekend's New York Post that is along those lines. Gary also hits on the financial probles of the English Premier Soccer League, and the effect it's having on Randy Lerner, who owns Aston Villa. Gary also touches on Eric Manginis's tem building exercises, Josh Cribbs, and David Dellucci.
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May 29, 2009 - By Adam Burke
We've got a rematch in this year's Stanley Cup Finals. The defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings will face off with the defending Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins. It marks the first time that the same teams have competed for the Cup in back-to-back years since 1982-83 and 83-84, when the New York Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers met for Hockey's Holy Grail in consecutive years. Our resident hockey expert, Adam Burke, checks in to preview the series.
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Successful poker players may lose many small pots and still be totally happy, for their goal is to win the occasional big ones. The same thinking comes naturally in football. When the "Browns are in a fourth down, "moving all in", in the meaning of going for it, is worthwhile only if the odds for success are good enough. In most other cases, it’s probably wiser to just "fold" the hand, as in punting the ball away. In the same way, winning or losing a single yard means nothing as long as they manage to get a first down.
May 25, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
Make open shots or the season ends this week. It's a very simple proclamation but that is unavoidable when you look at the 2-1 series hole the Cavaliers have dug for themselves against the Orlando Magic. Peeks talks about the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Josh Cribbs' holdout, and tries to avoid talking or thinking about the Indians in this Monday's Weekend Wrap.
May 18, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
Not a pretty picture for the Indians this weekend. After winning the series opener Thursday night in Tampa, the Tribe proceded to lose the final three games of the series, setting the tone for the weekend by blowing a 7-0 lead on Friday night. In this week's Weekend Wrap, Peeks talks about the meltdown, the bench clearing incident on Sunday, and the Orlando Magic ... the Cavaliers freshly annointed opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals.
May 13, 2009 - By Jerry Roche
New little feature from Jerry Roche today, one I really like it. In it, Jerry takes a look around the world of Cleveland sports, hitting on some of the news stories from the past couple days that may have flown under the radar. This week, Jerry looks at one writer's demand that the Indians take steroids, Eric Mangini no showing the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club, Curtis Granderson's game winning robbery of Grady, LeBron's legacy off the court, and a little love for the city of Cleveland from an Atlanta sports website.
May 11, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
The end may be drawing near. For both Eric Wedge and the Atlanta Hawks. Losers of four straight games, seven of their last ten and now officially the worst team in all of Major League baseball, the 11-21 Indians are just finding new ways to lose games on a daily basis. Peeks talks about the Indians woeful start, Eric Wedge's head being on the chopping block, and the Cavaliers dominance over the Hawks in this Monday morning's Weekend Wrap.
May 4, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
The Cavaliers second round flotsam has been identified: It's the Cavs and Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night at 8 PM from ‘The Q'. In "The Weekend Wrap", Peeks says that the Hawks do present the Cavs some challenges, and doesn't see another sweep happening here in round two. Brian also addresses the 'Draftermath' of last weekend's NFL Draft, and hits on the floundering Indians, who have more roster moves than wins through the first month of the season.
April 30, 2009 - By Ryan Aroney
The Cleveland City Stars, Cleveland's professional outdoor soccer team, are returning for their third season home opener on Friday at 8 p.m. with high hopes. The team won the 2008 United Soccer League Second Division Championship last year in only their second year of existence, and plan on building upon that success. This year they'll be playing in the USL First Division, a huge promotion that puts them up against stiffer competition and brand name players. Ryan Aroney tells us about it in his latest column.
April 20, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
A mixed weekend for Cleveland sports. We're seeing a changing of the guard taking place in the NBA's Eastern Conference. Despite shooting nearly 50% from the floor and committing very few turnovers, the Cavaliers handled the Pistons in game one on Saturday. And Peeker has seen enough to know the demise of the Pistons is complete. The Indians on the other hand .... had a very up and down series this weekend out in New York. That did nothing to calm our fears about the pitching staff.
April 15, 2009 - By Adam Burke
The Columbus Blue Jackets have not done themselves any favors heading in to their first playoff appearance in franchise history. Looking like they had the #6 seed all locked up and a date with the Northwest Division champions, the Jackets won just one of their final five games and failed to get a point in their final two games. Unable to secure the #6 seed in the Western Conference, the Jackets' biggest thorn, the St. Louis Blues, now get to open the playoffs in Vancouver. The Jackets are now forced to carry the flag into Hockeytown for a first round series with the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Adam Burke previews the series.
April 13, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
Off the schnide! After dropping their first five games, the Tribe finally got one yesterday, defeating the Blue Jays 8-4 to erase the 0 in the win column to end a long first week of the season. And the Cavs, wow. They absolutely laid the smack down on the Celtics Sunday, leaving absolutely no doubt that the road to the NBA Finals goes through Cleveland and it's going to bumpy as hell for anyone that has to travel it. Peeks recaps the entire weekend that was in Cleveland sports in this Monday's Weekend Wrap.
April 12, 2009 - By Mitch Cyrus
Argentinean Angel Cabrera overcame two shots into the woods on the first playoff hole at the Masters, winning with a par on the second hole with a tap in to defeat hard luck sentimental favorite Kenny Perry as he strove to become the oldest winner of a major championship. It was a great final day that also saw Tiger and Phil rally from seven strokes back to push the leaders. And Mitch stops in to tell us all about it.
April 12, 2009 - By Cris Sykes
Things couldn't be going any better for the Cavs. Things couldn't be going any worse for the Indians. And the Browns? Is indifference setting in with Cleveland sports fans? These were some of the hot topics this week in the message forums of The Cleveland Fan. Not surprisingly, Tribe fans were in full meltdown this week after the team's historically poor start to the season ... and in this week's Feel Of The Fan, Cris Sykes chronicles that angst.
April 9, 2009 - By Adam Burke
Only two major sports leagues have franchises that have never made the playoffs. That changed on April 8 because the Columbus Blue Jackets solidified their first playoff berth with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Our resident hockey expert Adam Burke has been following the Jackets all year, and talks about their season in his latest column for us.
April 6, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
Opening Day 2009 is here. And in this Monday's Weekend Wrap, Peeks talks about the return of the boys of summer, and also his thoughts on spring training and his expectations of the 2009 Indians. Also, on Sunday, the Cavs righted the ship with a dominating 20 point win over the Spurs after dropping two straight to the Wizards and Magic. Peeks also hits on the Final Four and tonight's title game, as well as his thoughts on how Mangini and Kokinis will handle draft day.
April 5, 2009 - By Cris Sykes
Opening day baby! Braves/Phillies tonight, then the action really starts to get underway tomorrow. Our Indians travel to Texas to take on the Rangers in a game that starts at 2:05 PM EST. Naturally, the start of the season has been a hot topic in our message forums this week. As has the NFL Draft, which is all of the sudden just 20 days away. The Cavaliers back to back losses to the Wizards and Magic also had some fans questioning the wine and gold's ability to go all the way. Cris Sykes recaps what was a busy in week on our message boards. Come on in and talk sports with us!
I haven't listened to AM radio since I got my iPod Touch for Christmas. There are just so many good free podcasts out there, a fact that a lot of people are starting to realize each day. One of my favorite podcasts is Bill Simmons' "BS Report", and in a recent episode, Simmons had a very fascinating conversation with writer Chuck Klosterman about the demise of newspapers and the impact that the Internet and websites like ours have had on print media. Jen Blanchard took on the topic in her latest column for us.
March 30, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
60 wins in 73 games. A franchise-record 12 straight wins. A league best 35-1 record at home. The best team in professional basketball just keeps on keeping on. It's never been better to be a Cavs fan, and this team is just rollin' as the playoffs approach. In The Weekend Wrap ... Peeks hits on the Cavs prowess, his thoughts on whether or not Mike Brown should rest LeBron, The Final Four, Brian Orakpo, Cliff Lee and more.
March 23, 2009 - By Brian McPeek
Cavaliers wins on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. And 48 college basketball games over the past four days to get March Madness underway. There was a bountiful buffet of hoops games to choose from this weekend. In The Weekend Wrap, Brian McPeek talks about the Vikings tournament stunner, the Cavs closing in on home court throughout the playoffs, Donte Stallworth, and more disappointment from Travis Hafner and Adam Miller.
March 22, 2009 - By Cris Sykes
It's Sunday, which means it's time for The Feel of the Fan, Cris Sykes' weekly look at what people have been talking about all week in the world of Cleveland sports. Naturally, the tournament run of the Cleveland State Vikings was a popular topic. People also had a lot to say about all the rumors out there that the Browns are shopping their two quarterbacks and potentially have interest in Jay Cutler. Also, as Indians season draws near, discussion of the makeup of the Indians final 25 man roster started to heat up.