Super Bowl Aspirations?

Training camp in Berea opened on Wednesday. And this is the season. This is the season for the Browns. This was supposed to be the season for the Indians. But we're not going to talk about that. And we're going to focus on the positive. And the positive is playing in Cleveland Browns stadium this fall!

The defense is going to be much improved. With the additions of Shawn Rogers and Cory Williams on the D-Line, which was the weakest part of the '07 Browns, may be the strength of the '08 version. The reviews on Rogers have been real good so far. He's very quickly becoming a leader on the D.

And so far all I've read are great things about Kellen Winslow. He wants a new contract, but he vows to not be a distraction... Again, positive thoughts, so we're not going there. But it really sounds like he's dedicated to being the best player out on the field.

Not to change the subject abruptly, but I'm watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. I do believe this guy has the best job in the world. He goes all over the place eating good food. Not the gourmet crap that most food reviewers go to. He's at a BBQ place in Memphis right now, and I'm seriously considering hopping into the car and heading down there...

Anyhow, all of the things I've read so far about the first 3 days of training camp are good. And of course the debate is who is goign to play QB for this team. I hate this debate, and I'll never understand why having 2 capable QBs is a bad thing?? I don't know what the stat is, but very few QBs made it through last season unscathed. Also, do we forget the DA has only been a starter for one year? He started 3 games in the lost '06 season after Charlie Frye was nearly decapitated because he enjoyed holding onto the ball and making poor, slow, decisions? DA didn't even start the first game last season? And for the majority of last season, he play fantastic football. So well that both Braylon and Winslow made the pro bowl. Along with rookie left tackle Joe Thomas. You don't think that had anything to do with the way Anderson played?? Yes, he played horribly against Cincinnati. That was painful to watch, very. But if you are going to crucify the guy for 1 or 2 bad games, in his first season as a starter, you're crazy.

It's frustrating to listen to. The blogs that I read from the Plain Dealer talked about the first couple days of Training Camp, talked about how DA threw 3 interceptions on Thursday. And there were already talking about how horrible he is and how he should be the backup, and how Brady is such the better QB, and how... Just annoying. Braylon even came out and said that it was a huge distraction last season not knowing who the QB is going to be.

DA is the guy, he's going to stay the guy. So stop all of the Brady Quinn talk for a while. I'm already tired of it. Again, what's the problem with having 2 quality QBs?? Exactly.

Looking forward to signing up for the NFL Sunday ticket! Can't wait for the season to get going! Can't wait to see the excitement in Cleveland!

Let's Get Back to Baseball!

Now that the All-Star break is over, it's going to be nice to get back to some baseball. This promises to be a fantastic 2nd half of the season. Not really for the Indians, but there are some real good races that are going to take place this summer and fall.

The best is the race in the AL East. With the Red Sox, again, leading the way after the break, it's really going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Will the Rays be able to get out of the funk they found themselves in going into the break?? Are they young enough to just go out and play baseball forgetting that they're taking on the Yanks and the Sox. Or are they going to be too young and falter in the 2nd half.

The NL Central leading Cubs who are up 4.5 on the Cards and 5 on the Brewers. Both the Cubs and the Brewers greatly improved their pitching staffs in the acquisition of Harden and Sabathia. Both of which are starting to pay dividends. This is going to be a great run. 3 teams, half a season. Lots of excitement on the Northside.

The AL Central with the Sox up a game and a half on the Twins. Not even close to what was predicted at the beginning of the season. But the real wild card is going to be what Detriot can do the rest of the season. They have really been surging in the last month or so and may come back to surprise the Sox and Twins. There's too many good players in Detriot to just falter.

The NL West, it's going to be a race. But everybody has a sub .500 record. I don't even want to comment. The Dodgers should be much better than they are. Maybe because they have Juan Pierre playing outfield. That guy has a worse arm then most kids in little league.

And another fantastic race is goign to be the NL east. Will the Phillies be able to come through and hold the half game lead over the surging Mets? Hopefully Ryan Howard learns to not strike out so much, my fantasy team would be very happy about this, but the rest of the lineup, outside of Howard, Utley, and Burrell, needs to start producing. The pitching has been solid, but they need to score some consistent runs to make the post season.

So, my predictions:

AL East - Sox. The Rays will falter. Sadly.
AL Central - Twins. The Sox just don't have enough to hold off the rest of the AL Central
AL West - Angels. Boring
NL East - Phillies. Too much offense, Howard is going to blow up in the 2nd half.
NL Central - Cubs. They're going to hold off the Brewers. The Cards will fall off, Cubs and Brewers will go down to the wire.
NL West - Dodgers, I guess.
AL Wildcard - Detroit
NL Wildcard - Brewers

My cat, Manny, just caught a fly. It was pretty cool watching him stalk this thing for the last hour or so. He's pretty excited about his catch!

Have a great Thursday!

A Busy Week-in-Review

Big week in sports. Between Brett Favre being a little bitch and not just retiring. Josh Hamilton putting on a display in the homerun contest Monday night. The Rays demise in the AL East. Life after CC. And training camp opens in a week!

Where to start where to start???

I guess we'll get the bad out of the way. Apparently Brett Favre is waging a media war against the Packers. He's now claiming that he was forced to retire. Or something, I can't stand to listen to him anymore. Just go away. Why wait until now to try and wage this battle? Why not 4 months ago. Maybe at that point they would have been more open to the idea of him coming back. You don't think the coaching staff and the management teams have been feverishly working on a game plan with Aaron Rogers?

Which brings me to my next point. Why does he have to be given the starting role? Why shouldn't he fight for the starting job. If he's the better man, then he's starts. Isn't this usually how things work? I think it's ridiculous the way he's acting! Don't get me wrong, I think Farve is a great QB. I love his intensity, the fun he has on the field, and just the way he plays the game. But this is just an old, tired act.

And the real kicker. He went on Greta's On the Record to whine about all this. How many different places could he have gone to vent? When I worked nights I watched Greta just about every night. And if you've never watched the show, you can just watch one and you've seen them all. She always has the same guests and asks the same questions. I didn't watch the interview, but I would not be the least bit surprised if she asked him if he knew where Natalee Holloway was.

Life without CC is much better than originally thought. They're somehow hitting and they just swept the Rays in Cleveland. This really shouldn't be too surprising. They're lineup is exactly the same, they just have Sowers or some other lackey pitching every 5th day. And the offense started producing. So, they swept the Rays. Stranger things have happened.

Which brings me to the fact that the Rays have collapsed. They were 7 games up in the loss column about 2 weeks ago. Now they're down a game. The All-Star break could not have come at a better time. They need this break to get back on track and start again dominating the AL East like they did for most of the first half of the season. They've got a great young team. And there's nothing more I would love to see than both the Yankees and Sox out of the postseason. I'm not holding my breath that this is going to happen, but miracles do happen.

Monday night at the "House that Ruth Built" was simply amazing. Did you know that they were tearing it down at the end of this season? Yeah, me either. Anyhow, Josh Hamilton put on an amazing display. It looked like he was hitting balls off a tee the way he was launching them out of Yankee Stadium. It looked effortless. He made it look like anybody could hit a baseball 400 feet.

It's a great story about him also. Got rid of the drugs, got his life back on track, and is now an all-star putting on a display nobody is going to forget about anybody anytime soon. It was amazing. I enjoyed watching the competition and all of the fun that the other major leaguers were having sitting and watching.

I'm not going to get into A-Rod not entering the competition.

And lastly, the Browns open training camp next Wednesday. Where did the summer go??? But I, along with most of the rest of the country, have very high hopes for the Browns this season. Let's hope they don't collapse and pull what the Indians did this summer. From what I hear, Brady is playing some good football and DA is playing better. The O-line is back together. They got some help on the D-line. The linebackers have matured, Jamal Lewis has revitalized his career. And the recieving corps is going to be 2nd to none! And with my purchase of the Sunday ticket this season, I can't wait for football to start!!

Bye Bye, CC...

Well, the Indians and their 2nd worst record in the AL went to drastic measures this weekend. They got rid of last years' Cy Young winner, CC Sabathia. This is a sad, sad day. It was very difficult to see him in a Brewers uni when he was being interviewed on Monday. I can imagine how it would feel to be playing for one team, for as long as he played with the Indians, and then have to walk out on the field for the Brewers.

And the Indians got some prospects in return. And from what I hear, these prospects are real good. I sure hope so, becuause CC was, and is, that good.

It's always tough to see a player you like to watch on your favorite team get traded. But it's a necessary evil. This trade had to happen. It was a matter of time, and the Indians management made the correct decision. And anybody who thinks otherwise is out of their mind.

This season is over, it was over about 2 weeks ago. And this is sad. The hopes for this team were real high, after the season they had last year, everybody coming back and healthy, a Cy Young winner, the best 1-3-4 hitters in the game... This should have been a huge season, but it couldn't be any worse.

They've dealt with injuries and guys just not performing. The list is pretty unreal. Cabrera was a complete waste at the plate, Garko can't hit, Hafner was hurt, Martinez lost all of his power, Blake can't make contact... Look at this lineup and you barely recognize anybody!!

So, this season was lost, CC was gone at the end of the season. They needed to get something out of a trade for him. And they did exactly that. They got some real good prospects, their future is bright.

But look at the pitching the Indians have right now. The cupboard is hardly bare. Starting out with the 11-1 Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Jeremy Sowers, and Aaron Laffey. They've got some very solid youth. And if some of these prospects they have traded for, and Hafner/Garko/Martinez remember how to hit again??? They aren't that far away from being very good again.

But it's very depressing to see a favorite player get traded, even if it is the right move.

He's still on my fantasy team, and I'm pretty happy he's going to be getting 2 starts this week...