Doom, awful, impending doom awaits the NFL tonight at midnight as the CBA expires and the lockout presumably begins.

Most "in the know" seem to feel that a deal is far from being reached, and the lockout will likely drag on until late August or early September.  NFL teams won't be able to trade players, sign free agents, practice, hold OTA's, hold Training Camp, even provide their players with playbooks.  This will, of course, affect all the NFL teams, but it will hurt teams like the Browns the most.

Let's say you have a new Head Coach who's also the Offensive Coordinator, and he's going to implement an entirely new Offensive system.  Let's say you have a new Defensive Coordinator who is switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3.  Let's say you have a raw and flawed 2nd year QB as your starter, and he'll be unable to use his greatest weapon - preparedness.  Let's say you have a young team with a bunch of new players that need to learn the schemes and get reps.

Now let's say you get 2 weeks to put all that together.

If you think that would be anything but a disaster for teams like Cleveland, you have a much greater capacity for hope than I do.

Even the national media thinks we're F'd in the A without V.  From an NBC article about the teams that would be hurt the most by a lockout:

3. Browns
Browns football czar Mike Holmgren will pay for delaying the end of the Eric Mangini era. Presumptive starting quarterback Colt McCoy won’t get to learn his new scheme and the defensive players don’t fit the team’s new 3-4 defense. With a first-time coach in Pat Shurmur, it’s like they are starting all over again.

They have Tennessee and Denver as the teams that will be most F'd by the lockout, but it's hard to see where even they are worse off than the Browns.  Really, if you had to rank the teams that would be most affected, you should really just list them 1A-F for about 6 teams.  There will be some ugly football in some cities this Fall.

Prepare thyself for Cleveland Browns: The Return II. 

Let's hope they do it right this time.

While it lasts, it's okay to bask in the Buckeyes being No. 1 in the nation, right?  In the game notes from last night's dismantling of Penn State are some statistics that help show why they're No. 1. For starters, they play great defense, and they don't foul.

OSU is 11th in the country in scoring defense (59.5), and they entered the PSU game ranked second in the country in fewest fouls per game, at a 14.4 average (but committed 18 vs PSU). The Buckeyes are leading the Big Ten, and are second nationally, in turnover margin at plus 5.7 per game. As a team, the Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in steals by a wide margin, at 7.7 pg.

True freshman Aaron Craft leads the Big Ten Conference in steals, at 2.1 per game. And even that doesn't tell the story of how good this kid has been on defense. Craft has had four games now with 5 steals or more, with a high of 7. And he's getting better. Craft has 64 steals on the season, but 23 of them have come in the last five games. 

Offensively, the Bucks are scoring at 77.4 ppg., and are fourth nationally in scoring margin at 17.7 ppg, and third in the nation in field goal percentage (49.3). Jared Sullinger leads the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game at 3.17.

The Buckeyes freshmen (mainly Sullinger, Craft and Deshaun Thomas) have scored 45% of OSU's points.

I know they don't have stats going back very far on consecutive field goals, but Diebler's nine 3's in a row last night has to be a record of some sort in itself. Someone from OSU will let us know eventually. I'm not sure I've ever seen a 3-point shooter hotter than Diebler was last night.. As Gus Johnson noted on BTN, he only grazed the rim once or twice on his 10 triples. 

Diebler had looked a little out of sorts Sunday against Indiana, when his shot was flat and was hitting front rim most of the night, as he went 2 for 7 from long range. Guess he got the bugs ironed out. The man is shooting 49.4% from 3-point range for the season, which leads the conference by plenty, and will probably place him second in the NCAA in 3-point accuracy when the new numbers come out this week.  It's a good time of year to get hot and stay hot.

The Indians solved their dilemma in needing to find a 40-man roster spot for newly-signed Chad Durbin. They did it by sending LHP Aaron Laffey to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for IF/OF Matt Lawson. Yes, I initially read Matt Lawton as well. Thankfully, it is not the stocky OF, but a 25-year-old who had an .811 OPS between AA Frisco (TEX) and AA West Tennessee (SEA) last season.

Manny Acta had originally said that Laffey would be extended as a starter in Spring Training to potentially have his hat in the ring of fifth starter candidates. Likely, Laffey would have been extended to be the long reliever in the bullpen.

Lawson has spent most of his minor league games at 2B, committing 47 errors in 366 games and hitting .283. He was drafted out of Missouri State in the 14th round of the 2007 draft.

Lawson will not need to be added to the 40-man, thus creating Durbin's roster. spot, sparing Shelley Duncan, who was the most likely DFA candidate.

As I'm sure you've heard, Bengals QB Carson Palmer has gone out of his way to let the team know that he has no interest in playing for them anymore and would rather retire.  The latest from a CBS Sportsline blog:

Palmer told a confidant that “I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again. … I have $80 million in the bank. I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game but that would have to be elsewhere. I'm prepared to live my life."

Indications are that Mike Brown and the Bengals have actually realized the sincerity of these proclamations and might very well take steps to move the disgruntled QB and get some return rather than a big fat Zero.  That, sports fans, would mean that Cincy would definitely be in the market for a QB, and sits pretty at #4 overall with a shot at either Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert.

Rumblings have the Bengals inftuated with the raw talent that Newton brings to the table, but there's still a good chance either Carolina or Buffalo will nab him before the FraidyCats do.

Regardless, this likely pushes a prime player like AJ Green, Patrick Peterson, Nick Fairley, or Marcel Dareus a little further down the line... to where they might be available at #6 to Cleveland.

Norris Cole added another historic achievement to his glorious career at Cleveland State.

On Monday, the senior from Dayton became the first player in Horizon League history to be named both the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

But he would trade those awards in for another Horizon League tournament championship and a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament again.

"It's a special award [being named Player of the Year]," said Cole at a press conference on Monday. "I think it shows that hard work pays off, but I rather win a championship and get back to the NCAA's. That's the primarily goal for me right now."

Cole led the Horizon League in scoring (21.6), assists (5.5) and steals (2.2), carrying CSU to a share of its first Horizon League regular season title in school history. He joins Darius Clemons (Loyola, 1980-81) as the only players to lead the Horizon League in all three categories in the same season.

He says winning the Defensive Player of the Year is most gratifying to him.

"Winning the Defensive Player of the Year, I think it says something," said Cole. "It shows that our program plays defense. And that if you put the combination of both you can be a very special player."

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard had one of the most memorable performances in recent NCAA history recording a 40-point, 20-rebound and nine assist performance against Youngstown State on Feb. 12. He joined Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) as the only players in the past 15 years to have achieved a 40-point and 20-rebound game.

"I was really overjoyed that Norris was Defensive Player of the Year, " said CSU coach Gary Waters at his media gathering on Monday. "Norris shut people down and they finally recognized him.

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The Ohio State Buckeyes have reclaimed the top spot in both the AP poll and the Coaches poll this week. Last week’s No. 1 team, Duke, fell to Virigina Tech on Satruday night, opening the door for Ohio State to climb in the polls. The Buckeyes jumped Kansas in the Coaches poll after being ranked No. 3 last week.  Ohio State and Kansas earned all 31 first-place votes available (17 for Ohio State, 14 for Kansas).

Other notable movements -- BYU jumped ahead of Duke and Pitt (who both suffered losses this weekend) and stand at No. 3 this week. BYU’s win over San Diego State impressed a lot of experts, and many think BYU could earn a “1 seed” in the NCAA tournament if they win out. Purdue jumped to No. 6 after wins at Indiana and Michigan State, and Texas dropped to No. 8 after their horrible loss to Colorado. Wisconsin gives the Big Ten three top-10 teams as it comes into the week ranked No. 10.

The Buckeyes and the Badgers will play the Big Ten season finale this Sunday, March 6.

My repeated efforts to earn an AP ballot were ignored once again this week. Regardless, you can see how I voted below:

1.  Ohio State
2.  Kansas
3.  Duke
4.  BYU
5.  Purdue
6.  Pittsburgh
7.  This Guy
8.  Texas
9.  Wisconsin
10. San Diego State

This Guy made a jump in the polls after a strong week collecting guns and “guitar hero” guitars. What really put him over the edge and into my top-10 was the addition of the swimming noodle and the loss of his t-shirt. Keep an eye on This Guy as the season comes to a close. If he can somehow find a way to work a hairless rottweiler into next week’s picture, he’ll be a top-5 selection for sure.

NFL combine results are flushing out like last night’s dinner (hooray awful imagery), and it’s always interesting to see how former Buckeyes compare when lined up next to some of the nation’s best prospects. The combine is usually the event that most SEC fans point to when making their SEC SPEED!!! arguments, and Florida fans are particularly obnoxious when it comes to “40 times”.

That’s why I was shocked, surprised and a little suspicious when the 40 times of Florida’s starting safeties, Will Hill and Ahmad Black, were released by the combine. Will Hill reportedly ran a 4.64 in the 40 yard dash and Ahmad Black chugged along for a 4.78 second 40.

For those of you unfamiliar with 40 times, 4.64 and 4.78 are painfully slow for a safety. It’s almost insultingly slow. As a matter of fact, I just ate an extra large Papa John’s meat-lovers pizza in its entirety, with a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper, then went out and posted a faster time than that.

For comparisons sake, here are some 40 times that former Buckeyes posted at the combine:

Chimde Chekwa, CB  --  4.33 seconds
Brian Rolle, LB -- 4.56 seconds
Ross Homan, (White) LB -- 4.68 seconds

Yeah, two of Ohio State’s linebackers posted better times than the duo of Florida safeties. Now, just for fun, allow me to list the defensive lineman that ran 40 yards faster than Ahmad Black. A reminder -- defensive lineman are those big fat guys that squat down in front of the linebackers:

Dontay Moch -- 4.44 seconds
Chris Carter -- 4.62 seconds
Sam Acho -- 4.68 seconds
Brooks Reed -- 4.68 seconds
Jabaal Sheard -- 4.69 seconds
Robert Quinn -- 4.70 seconds
Ugo Chinasa -- 4.71 seconds
Ryan Kerrigan -- 4.71 seconds
Allen Bailey -- 4.77 seconds

As a fun note, none of the defensive lineman listed above hail from the Southeastern Conference. SEC SPEEEEEEED!!!!

The Cavs made another minor deal last night.  They traded a second round pick in 2013 to the Celtics for young big men Luke Harangody and Semih Erden. 

Harangody’s name may sound familiar, he was a pretty prolific four year player at Notre Dame before being drafted in the second round by Beantown this past summer.  He’s a 6’8 power forward, and saw action in 28 games for the C’s this year, averaging eight minutes, two points, and two rebounds per contest.

Erden is a 24 year old 7’0 center that was drafted by Boston in the second round in 2008, and played overseas for them before joining the team this season.  He’s played in 37 games this year, starting seven, and has averaged four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes a night.  He immediately becomes the Cavaliers best center and should get pretty extensive playing time for the Cavs this year.  Not sure what that says.  He can’t possibly be worse than Ryan Hollins.

Wednesday, at the overhyped convention that is the NFL Scouting Combine, Mike Holmgren spoke these words about Browns QB Colt McCoy:

"We will draft a quarterback. You can almost count on it... I believe in the young guy we have, [but] I'm pretty sure we'll take one later in the draft."

Which is not to say that Holmgren is looking to replace McCoy, who he proclaimed to be the starting QB.

"It works best if you can identify 'the guy,' let him know he's 'the guy,' and train him appropriately to be 'the guy'.  It's nice to have all this competition and all this stuff, but it doesn't work very well, usually. So if you believe in a young man, believe he's 'the guy,' then you have to go with it."

So the Front Office is solidly behind Colt McCoy... as far as we know.  Even if they thought his chances of being a Franchise QB were slim to less than slim, they would still publicly announce they were behind Colt 100%.  However, I still think this kind of statement makes it less likely that Browns fans will see their team select Cam Newton or that guy from Missouri in the upcoming draft.

The Cavaliers made a trade last night.  They dealt Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to the Los Angeles Clippers for Baron Davis and a first round pick in this year’s upcoming NBA Draft.

The Cavs will now have two lottery picks in the 2011 NBA Draft, which by all accounts is considered weak at the top.  But still.  It’s a nice thing to have.  The Cavs will have a great shot at securing one, or possibly even two of the top four picks in the draft.  If they end up with the worst record in the NBA, the lowest their own pick can be is #4.

Davis is a two-time all-star point guard out of UCLA that has generally been one of the more talented (and more mercurial) point guards in the game during his 12-year NBA career.  He’s averaging 12.8 points, 7.0 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game for the Clippers … figures that are down considerably from the 21.8, 7.6, 4.7 numbers he posted three years ago … right before signing a 5 year, 65 million dollar deal in LA.  He’s still owed 29 mill over the next two years, and there’s a chance the Cavs could just buy out his contract and let him go, especially if he becomes a problem here, as he has in other places throughout his career.  The addition of Davis would have no impact on the Cavs potentially selecting Duke PG Kyrie Irving, who is generally considered the top prospect in this year’s draft, even given the fact he’s expected to miss the rest of the college hoops season with a knee injury.  Kudos to Dan Gilbert for taking on a lot of money in salary in exchange for the draft pick.  He essentially bought the pick from the Clips.

As far as Mo goes, sadly, I feel no emotional reaction to his departure.  He’s always been and always will be a matador defensively.  And outside of game two of the Boston series last year, he’s generally no-showed in the playoffs.  Rajon Rondo treated him like he was a turnstile in that series last year.