I got thinking today about the Tribe and our players leaving or being traded. It used to be, if one of our better players left, they’d be prominent players wherever they went to. Jim Thome, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez are examples, and to lesser extent Jeremy Burnitz and Brian Giles. You’d hear about them on Sportscenter, and they’d make highlights for their new team.

Now players leave and they become low-profile role players.  Players that we’d cheer for, and thought well of – Casey Blake, Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco – all go to new teams  and somewhat disappear.  Is that because the other teams don’t see the value we did? No, it’s that the Indians are so talent-deprived, that even a mediocre player comes off as a solid talent.  Only our pitchers leave and have solid careers (Cliff Lee, C.C. Sabathia, even Carl Pavano is pitching pretty well in Minnesota).

The way the Tribe is run, the only way this will change is through draft picks and a heaping amount of luck. So go grab your horseshoes and rabbits feet, folks.

It can’t hurt.

Chad Ford of ESPN recently posted via Twitter a question that provoked thought from me.  If LeBron didn’t have his 1-hour special, he asks, would Clevelanders have been fine with LeBron bolting for Miami? I don’t think so. Better, yes, but not fine.

Actually, allot better. “The Decision” was a contrived, ugly thing. An hour long LeBron ‘infomercial’  was not necessary in any way, shape or form. I know that  if he had held a short press conference to announce that he was leaving Cleveland for Miami I wouldn’t have been near as hurt. I would have seen it for what it was – a free-agent going where he wants to play – and let it go. To make this one-hour blabathon was overkill. He – or his support staff – wanted all eyes on him. Hopefully this is the last time we see this kind of act. I don’t believe any other athlete is going to want to go through what LeBron went through, PR-wise, from this. Hopefully this was a learning experience for everybody.

To go back to the original Twitter post I referenced, it’s in response to Ilgauskas leaving us for Miami. Now, this does give us another reason to hate the Heat (Taking our beloved center too? Have you no limits on your greed, Riley?), but I think the breakup with Z happened last year when he was traded. He expressed displeasure with being traded and contemplated not coming back. I don’t think I’m the only one who thought he would probably walk after the season. We’ll miss him, but I don’t think he’ll be vilified as much, unless it’s just because he went to Miami. Unlike with LeBron, we’re at the point with Z where we just want what’s best for him. You know that point, where you just want to win for a particular player, and if you can’t do it for them you’d kind of be ok with letting them go where they could win. That’s where we are with Z. All those foot injuries, all the set backs, all his hard work and we couldn’t win for him. He stuck it out in Cleveland as long as he possibly could but he may only have a year or so left in him.

It’s ok, Z. Go get that title. You’ve earned it.

Just don’t make a spectacle out of it.

I’ve got a series of thoughts on LeBron leaving town for Miami, and unlike allot of locals, I’m not a raving lunatic. I’m not going to bash the dude mercilessly, but I think some things need said.

• The one-hour special was bulls***. I’m sorry, that was worth 60 minutes of air time? That was worth a TV special? That could have very easily been distilled down to a five minute press conference. He purposefully made this a spectacle. He wanted all eyes on him, and what did he do? He hurt allot peoples feelings.
• I’m not one of those people who think he betrayed Cleveland or Ohio and he’s Hell spawn or whatever the heck people are coming up with today. I did, however, notice something i didn’t expect when he made his announcement. I figured I’d hear what he had to say and that’d be that. Instead, I felt something, something that caught me off guard. I was hurt. I felt very depressed and hurt. I thought it over, and it wasn’t because of losing him so much as losing all hope for this upcoming season. I don’t see us winning more then 35 games this year, meaning we won’t make the playoffs but we won’t be bad enough for a high lottery pick.  That means allot of losing basketball and a season without a goal, which hasn’t happened here in seven years.
• I did pick up something in LeBron’s voice during his interview: he was nervous. He sounded scared to me, almost hyperventilating. He knew what this decision meant and he seemed like he almost didn’t want to say it. You’ve got to admit, he understands what he  meant here.
• Dad Gilbert has gone completely effing overboard.  Read this stupid letter. Mr. Gilbert, you’re making a fool of yourself and us. You’re embarrassing us as fans. I hope for a swift apology, because you don’t need to be worse then Mark Cuban. Please, rectify this for us.

That’s my reaction.  Read it and relax. We’ll move on, folks.

It’s coming tonight. We’re all waiting for it, even though we may not really be ready. Truly, we  are not prepared.

What I speak of, obviously, is LeBron James’ decision, coming tonight on ESPN at 9:00. Really, how could we be prepared? How to you prepare to possibly lose what may be the best player in his sport? How could we recover? Here’s my take on the possible scenarios. I’m assuming here that Jawad Williams, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Shaq are all still free agents.

• LeBron Stays – This is the optimal situation. LeBron stays in town, the team tries to pick up some more talent to help him, and the Cavs keep rolling. Obviously, they’d have to contend with improved Heat and Knicks teams as well as Boston and Orlando so they’d need another player. That would be hard to come by, but the Cavs have looked at Mike Miller for a while now for shooting help. There’s also word that the Cavs might try to trade for Chris Paul of the Hornets. What they’d have to give up, though, is unknown. In a dream scenario, we could have CP3,  Mike Miller, LeBron, Andy Varejao/J.J. Hickson/Antawn Jamison (whoever they wouldn’t lose in the Paul trade) and a journeyman big man, maybe even a resigned Ilgauskas. More likely it would be Mo Williams, Delonte West, LeBron, J.J or Jamison and Andy. Not as flashy, but it would still work. Whenever there’s LeBron, there’s hope.
• LeBron Leaves, part 1 – The first scenario with LeBron bolting is the positive one. The Cavs make moves to pick up some talent to stay above average. Again, picking up Mike Miller would be an option. They could try to pick up Udonis Haslem and Luke Ridnour as well. The starting lineup could have  Ridnour, Anthony Parker, Miller, Jamison and Andy. Again, competitive, but probably not a playoff team. They could also stand pat, leaving them with Mo, Delonte, Parker, Jamison and Andy. This is probably a lottery team.
• LeBron Leaves, part 2 – This is the not-so-positive outlook. The Cavs could go the rebuilding route, shipping off veterans for younger players. That could mean losing Delonte, Mo, Leon Powe, and Antawn Jamison in favor of younger talent. The team would be built around Daniel Gibson, Daniel Green, J.J. and maybe Jawad Williams  (if they resign him) and Jamario Moon. They’d probably have to trade Varejao and/or J.J. if they want any talent in return.  Who wants to watch Gibson, Green, Jamario, Jawad and a journeyman big man as our starting five next year? Not me. Not after the last seven years, and not with what we could  otherwise have.

Well, that’s my two cents. I’ll check back in after the show to give me reaction to the result.

Ok LeBron… what the hell? WTF is this? A one-hour TV special on Thursday at 9 PM to ann0unce your free agency decision? I know this is a media saturated world now, but come on. A one hour show is just too damn much. I’d have no problem with showing up, giving a short press conference to the national media and calling it a day. But making a one-hour special out of it? I can’t get over it. There’s only one way this can be a good thing to me:

Stay in Cleveland. Take this hour to shut up all the people from New York, Chicago, New Jersey, Miami and where ever  else who said there was no way you’d stay here. Show them that yes, you do want to win a title here. You do want to uphold your promise of bringing a championship here. Prove to them that you won’t let it end the way it did last year, meekly falling to the Celtics.

If that’s too much, if you just have to leave, do me a favor. It’s a small one. One that I think 90% of us in Northeast Ohio share: just snub the Knicks. We’re tired of their crowing the last two years about being the only real destination for you. We won’t be nearly as mad if you don’t come back here next season to pound on the then-lowly Cavaliers wearing a Knicks uniform. We don’t like Chicago after their abuse of us in the late 80’s/early 90’s, but they’re fanbase hasn’t been as smug and annoying as the NYK fans. Miami either. Heck, if you played for the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets we wouldn’t feel as burnt. New York though would create possibly irreparable damage.

Whatever you do, don’t make a fool of yourself Thursday night. I’ll still be a fan wherever you go (yes, even NY) and I don’t want you to hurt your image. You’ve got years of good basketball ahead of you. Don’t ruin your brand in one bad decision.

I’ll be watching tomorrow night.

- A Loyal Fan

Well the Tribe won last night in convincing fashion. A 9-3 thumping of the Rangers was great, but they’ve used up their offense for the next week or so. I wish they’d conserve their runs a little better!

The big news last night was Matt LaPorta getting knocked cold in the bottom of the third. He got hit in the head at first by Elvis Andrus of the Rangers and was out on the turf for a few seconds. By the time he came to, the runner from first had come around to score. That’s the least of  Cleveland’s worries, though. Matt has been red-hot lately, and if he’s out for a period of time with this injury (a concussion, officially) that really depletes the Tribe’s offense.

Jason Nix provided allot of the pop last night with two home runs, and LaPorta and Carlos Santana pitched in with dingers as well. Nelson Cruz of the Rangers nearly had a three run blast, but the umps reviewed it and correctly saw that it had gone foul before leaving the park.

It’s nice to see the Tribe scoring, but as I said at the top, they’ve likely used up their run allowance until the All-Star break. We’ll see.

The Tribe won last night, with LaPorta playing the hero. Glad to see him swinging the bat well. Cleveland is now 6 for their last 7. Nice job!

I’m finally back. I have ADD so bad, folks, and that’s why I keep forgetting about this place (that and running e-AAGH.net). It’s not neglect, I swear! Anyway, here’s what’s on my mind.

• I couldn’t be happier that Tom Izzo opted to go back to Michigan State. I hated Izzo as a coaching option for the Cavs. What we need is an experienced, veteran coach. Byron Scott has been my favorite choice since the beginning. LeBron wants a former player as coach, too, so it fits that bill.
• My Dad says to bring back Mike Fratello. That scares me just a bit.
• Carlos Santana, folks! He’s made a good impression so far, playing a solid catcher, throwing out runners and hitting well. My only question is WTF took so long for him to get here?
• Has everyone seen my Frustrometer? I’m going to try and update it as things change here in Cleveland. As it stands, pre-July 1st, there’s neutral stress. The Browns aren’t playing, the Tribe’s losing but we expected that, and the free-agency nuttiness hasn’t started yet. Expect changes come July.

That is all for now. Hopefully I’m back for good this time.

I rechristened this blog to be a Cleveland sports fan morale relief effort, and the Tribe pops in with a ray of hope. Last night Mitch Talbot pitched a solid 8 innings against the Baltimore Orioles while the Tribe tried to see if they could set some kind of record for most players left on base in a 9-inning game. 11 men were left on base in 8 innings, leaving Talbot facing a 2-0 loss when the Tribe came to bat in the top of the 9th. There, the offense came to life (finally!) and put an 8-spot on the board to get Mitch the win. Austin Kearns hit a 3-run homer, and fresh-from-the-minors Trevor Crowe hit a two run shot. It was only the second inning in the game the Tribe didn’t leave someone on base.

On the subject of the Tribe, can I rant about Kerry Wood’s being instituted as the team’s closer for a second? I can? Good. I share most sporting events with my Dad, and have since I was a kid. He’s listened to allot of my tirades over the years about our hometown teams. He and I share a similar view on the sports world, but I dare say that mine is probably a little more cynical. Anyway, my Dad and I are shocked that Wood is the teams closer again already. We like Kerry – or want to, at least – but when he couldn’t get through one minor league rehab game without getting lit up, isn’t that a sign that he’s not ready to close for us? And was Chris Perez doing that badly that we had to bring Wood in right now? When the score was 4-2 last night and they showed Wood warming in the bullpen, all I could think was, “please… let’s score some more runs to keep Wood in the ‘pen.” Thankfully, we did. However, Wood is just another in a long line of broken-down Tribe closers since the late ‘90s. They include Jose Mesa, Mike Jackson, Bob Wickman, Mark Wohlers, John Rocker, Dannys Baez and Joe Borowski.

Cleveland: where closers go to die.

I’ve been in a state of shock since the Cavs/Celtics series started, and practically went into a coma when it ended. I was going to drown this blog in my sorrows, but instead opted to rebuild it. Like a phoenix, it rises again, this time in tribute to all those who – year-in, year-out – deal with the stress and heartbreak that comes from being a Cleveland sports fan. Those from the big media get their jollies from kicking us while we’re down, but we persevere. Hopefully, this blog will bring humor and stress-relief to all of us Clevelanders. Time to see what we’ve got.