Lil'  Dane, as we call him around here, was voted the Most Valuable Player for the 2010 Buckeyes. Sanzenbacher, a senior captain, led the Big Ten in yards per catch at 17.1, and hauled in 52 catches for 889 yards. His 10 touchdowns ranked second in the conference. Some smart NFL organization will spend a fifth-rounder on him, and have themselves a steal.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State receiver Dane Sanzenbacher was voted 2010 team Most Valuable Player as announced at the 2010 Football Appreciation Banquet this afternoon at the Ohio Union.

Sanzenbacher, a senior from Toledo, also received the Paul Warfield Award as the outstanding wide receiver and the Bo Rein Award as the most inspirational senior (voted by the team). Sanzenbacher led the Buckeyes and ranked second in the Big Ten with 10 touchdown receptions. He finished the regular season with 52 catches for 889 yards for an average of 17.1 yards per catch -- the best in the Big Ten.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor received the Archie Griffin Award as the outstanding offensive player, and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward received the Bill Willis Award as the outstanding player on defense.

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More player awards at the link

The St. Edward's Eagles have a flair for the dramatic. Winning the school's first ever state football title wasn't enough. Neither was doing it against Huber Heights Wayne's Ohio State-bound quarterback Braxton Miller. Coming from behind? Still not enough. What the Eagles did was win their first title against Miller while coming from behind in the final minute and a half of a game played entirely in a driving snow.

And did I mention the kid that outdid the OSU recruit, Ed's QB Kevin Burke, is 5'9" tall and weighs 165lbs if you include his helmet and pads?

Burke and running back Terrell Bates supplied the offensive thrills while the Ed's defense did just enough to thwart Miller's final drive to escape with an exciting 35-28 win.

Congrats also goes out to the kids and coaches at Maple Heights High School who also took down a state title when their diminutive QB, Shaq Washington, rushed for four TDs and threw for three more.

Good to see a couple of high school championships on the North Coast.

The Tribe made a minor signing today, inking 3B Jack Hannahan to a minor league deal with a spring training invite.

Hannahan was pretty much the A's primary third baseman in 2008 while Eric Chavez battled injuries all year for them.  In 143 games that year, Hannahan hit .218/.305/.342 with 9 HR and 47 RBI.  He was dealt to the Mariners the following season and bounced between Seattle and AAA Tacoma.  He was then traded to the Red Sox last July, and spent all of last year in AAA for Seattle/Boston, playing both 2B and 3B.

One more name in the mix for the mess at 2B and 3B for the Indians this coming season.  The team is also considering signing longtime Twin Nick Punto.

Per Paul Hoynes’ Twitter account, the Indians and Nick Punto have “mutual interest” and while the obviousness of Nick Punto not being able to hit a baseball is relevant in the discussion, he would represent an upgrade defensively at 3B over the stylistic renderings of one Jayson Nix at the hot corner.

On the former point, Punto has spent the last 7 seasons of his career with the Twins, posting a career batting line of .247 OBP / .321 OBP / .322 SLG / .644 OPS with a career 73 OPS+.  He has found himself beneath the “Tyner line” in each of the last two seasons, posting higher OBP than SLG…and his .328 OBP for those two years are below average.

No, Nick Punto cannot hit…

He can however play defense and if the Indians are interested in improving their infield defense, Punto would represent a significant step up from Nix at 3B.  While I suppose that it is possible that the Indians are looking at him for 2B, the more likely scenario (if Punto is brought in) would be Punto entering the “3B Derby” with Nix and Cord Phelps (with all of Cleveland on the edge of their collective seat) to hold down 3B until Lonnie Chisenhall (hopefully) forces his way onto the parent club after getting his sea legs under him in AAA, where he has yet to play a game.

If you followed the “Blake/LaRocca/Selby” competition in Spring Training of 2003 with bated breath, you may be in luck next Spring if Punto is signed.  If you did not…well, you have another target at which to direct your vitriol.

Truthfully, I’d be somewhere in the middle as adding a guy like Punto makes sense (assuming they’re paying him about what they paid Mike Redmond last year) as some insurance at 3B and 2B and offering a better defensive alternative at 3B on a team heavy with groundball pitchers but he certainly doesn’t add much by way of optimism or expected wins for 2011.

Given the Indians’ infield defense in 2010 however, adding a glove like Punto may make the team much less frustrating…when he’s in the field at least.

High ankle sprains or not, we haven't seen the last of Colt McCoy this season.

That's if Colt himself has anything to say about it.

In an article in The Plain Dealer Saturday, Colt admitted it has been difficult to watch from the sidelines.

"As a competitor and a quarterback, that's all you want. You want to play. You want to be involved. I'm doing everything I can to get back out there as fast as I can. It's killing me more than it ever has," said Colt, who never missed time to injury during his college career at Texas.

Colt has become the protege of veteran Jake Delhomme, who started in last Sunday's win over Carolina, and is scheduled to start in this weekend's game at Miami. Delhomme has spent the past couple of months on the sideline supporting Colt, and with Colt now sidelined, he's trying to return the favor to Jake.

"[Delhomme has] played for 15 years, so sometimes it's hard to say, 'Did you see that?', but I help him out if I can," Colt said.

If there is a silver lining to Colt's injury, he sprained his left ankle, not his right ankle, as Delhomme and Seneca Wallace did. For a right-handed quarterback, the right foot serves as the push-off foot on throws, making recovery from a sprain more difficult.

After Sunday's game against the Dolphins, Colt will have four more games to make a return, and attempt to end his rookie season with some positive momentum. Important for a guy who now has the weight of a franchise on his shoulders.

Never before has a case of professional athletes being so out of touch with their fan base been more apparent than during Thursday night's public embarrassment at The Q.  Cavs players hugged and fraternized with LeQuitter before tip off, and then went as far as to exchange playful banter with him during the game.  And when they weren't blowing him kisses, they were laying out their matador cape for him as he made a slew of uncontested shots and drives to the basket.

Couple all that with a lack of effort as a team on the court en route to a 30 point blowout loss ... and it's pretty clear - the Cavs lost a massive chunk of the fan base Thursday night.  And rightfully so.

Boobie Gibson, who is very active on Twitter and spends a lot of time making appearances around town, likely caught the wrath of the fans worse than anyone yesterday.  And he's taken to the defensive, claiming that the sweet nothings that the Cavs were whispering into The Whore of Akron's ears weren't as romantic as they appeared to be.

Whatever Boobie. 

The Cleveland Plain Dealer website is currently featuring excerpts from Terry Pluto's new book on the Browns and their fans. One of the excerpts mentions Abe Abraham, 'the man in the brown suit' who used to catch/retrieve kicks behind the goalposts at the closed end of the Stadium.

I vaguely remember Abe- he was a mini cult hero- but not an attention seeker. I've had some links and references to him but they never really fit any articles I was working on.  This seems like a nice opportunity to present them.

Note on Abe from the Indian Fever blog.

Here he is during a game- go to 9:45. He is just under the left side of the crossbar.

In this one, at 9:20, he's the guy running out toward the end zone, from the bottom of the screen.

I am interested in any memories you have of him.

We assumed it was going to happen, and we were not wrong.  Eric Mangini confirmed today that Jake Delhomme would indeed be the Starting QB when the Browns take on the Fish on Sunday, thus increasing the odds of a Miami sweep of Cleveland in this week's sporting events.

Not that Delhomme is awful, just a clearly inferior QB option with Seneca Wallace available.

But there's not much we can do about it.  To quote Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall:  "So this is actually happening?  We're gonna let this happen?"

Thus, on behalf of Browns fans everywhere, I wish Mr. Delhomme good luck this week and implore him to avoid throwing the out to obviously covered Receivers.

Get well soon, Colt.

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez became emotional when speaking at a university event last night. The event was set up to honor the 1985 football team that finished number two in the rankings, and the embattled coach addressed the crowd with tears in his eyes. With the Michigan football teams accumulating a 15-21 record during his tenure, many people think the University will fire Rodriguez and look for a new coach after the bowl game. Apparently, the coach is feeling the heat:

“I came here three years ago, leaving my comfort zone, because I thought this was a great opportunity,” he said. "I knew after being on the job for a few months there were going to be some challenges. And more come out in front of us. We never ran away from it.

The coach began to cry during his speech as he pleaded with the crowd, "My name is Rich Rodriguez,” he said. “I’m honored to be the football coach at Michigan. I hope you realize I want to be a Michigan man.”

Later, he said that he was drawing strength from a Josh Groban song, You raise me up. After tearfully reciting the lyrics of the first verse, he had the song played over the loud speakers. At the end of the song, he held hands with his wife and the emcee and raised his arms, awkwardly. Several seconds past before the rest of the room joined him. “This may seem kind of cheesy or sappy or what have you, but I’ve been listening to it the last few weeks, and it kind of fits the mood of what we’re in right now."

No, I'm not making this up. 

Part of me was waiting to see Tom Hanks bust into the ballroom and shout, "There's no crying or Josh Groban songs in football!!!"

According to the Canton Rep:

Colt McCoy went deer hunting with Peyton Hillis on Tuesday, a players’ day off and the only chance of the Browns buddies to take advantage of Ohio’s deer gun season.

Hillis said plenty of care was taken to go easy on McCoy’s ankle, which has kept him out of practice this week.

The trip was rainy and uneventful, with no shots taken.

While I question the effectiveness of trudging through the woods with what I hope is a huge inflated walking boot - I'm talking something big enough for Bubble Boy to live in - it is oh-so-heartwarming to see that the supposed Futures of our Franchise are getting along OK.

At least one guy will have Colt's back in the huddle.