News and Notes on this humid Tuesday afternoon

Here's just a few of the things that have been going through my head over the last couple of days.

This internet social networking is simply amazing. People that I haven't heard from in years have reached out to my facebook page. Unreal. It's neat to see what everybody is up to, where they are at, kids, marriage... People that I'm pretty sure I would not otherwise speak to I have been in touch with. What a great thing this whole internet has done for us!

I love reading the message boards after all of the articles I read on the Plain Dealer online. Fucking hysterical! My favorite was a reader that is making his case for Brady Quinn being the starter because of a ball he threw in some preseason game last year, he can't remember which one, and he thinks Jurevicious caught it, but he's also not sure. He's claiming that it's the best throw he's seen in years. I'm not even going to comment about this further. I'll never understand why having 2 capable QBs is such a huge problem???

My girlfriend makes the most amazing Buffalo Dip.

CC is dealing in Milwaukee. Such a shame the Tribe could not keep him around.

I was in Cleveland this weekend and went for a boat ride on the Goodtime III. Very nice. it was a beautiful day and the trip up the Cuyahoga was very relaxing! I was simply amazed that the East bank of the flats is gone. Not just abandoned, but gone!!! The buildings were gone! Everything!! What a great place that was about 7 years ago.. What the hell happened.

From what I've been reading, Anderson to Braylon is looking real good in camp!! I just got chills!!!

I'm tired of the hole that keeps leaking in the middle of my living room.

It's very painful watching somebody you love in a miserable relationship with an absolutely miserable person.

And lastly, one of the most amazing things happened in Cleveland Hopkins Airport on Sunday afternoon. My flight back to Chicago was delayed 3 hours. I was with my 6, soon to be 7, year old. I thought I was going to have a hard time occupying her for the delay, but she made friends with some little girls in the airport and had a ball. But that's not the story, the story is that one of the little girls was from somewhere in the Middle East, I don't know where, and she didn't speak English, she spoke Arabic. This didn't matter to the 4-7 year olds and the fun they had. It was absolutely amazing to watch the 3 of them play together even though they couldn't communicate with the little Mid Eastern Girl. The 3 of them had so much fun. It's really something the lessons little kids can teach.

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...

Four God Damn Hits?? Is that all we got??

Yep, that's all the Indians could muster up against the Cy Young caliber Gil Meche today. The Cy Young thing was meant to be a joke. But the four hits sadly is not. No runs either. This is just sad... I apparently can't cut and paste the Indians side of the box score but I can sum it up pretty easily.

THE INDIANS ARE FUCKING HORRIBLE

Excuse the language, but they are. They're fucking horrible! They can't hit. They can't field. They can't pitch. And that's pretty much all you do in baseball. Soooo.

Looks like Manager Wedge has decided to try and shake things up by changing the lineup a bit by placing Gutierrez in the 2 spot, followed by Dellucci. Yes, you read that right. David f'n Dellucci is now hitting in the 3 spot for a major league team. Hafner has been dropped to the 6 spot, Garko to the 7th. Hafner has really responded well by going 2 for his last 10 including 2 straight games without a hit.

Earlier this season I was contemplating getting the MLB package so I could watch the Indians every night. Am I glad I opted to not spend the money.

I don't know what they can do? They should have good pitching. They should have good hitting. Victor is leading the league in hitting right now, but when you hit singles with nobody on base, what's the point? He's got 6 extra base hits and no homers. Awesome!

CC is starting to get things figured out. But when Gutierrez can't catch a fly ball and the O only scores 2 runs a game, not many pitchers are going to be good. He's now 1-5. Maybe you should have signed that deal in the off-season, eh CC??

A couple of weeks ago, I thought they needed another bat in the outfield to hit behind Victor, in front of Garko. Now, the only thing another outfielder is going to do for them is suck up payroll.

Asdrubal Cabrera?? Seriously? Is this really the best you can do?

These guys are struggling to hit .200!

Alright, I suppose I should have something good to say. Cliff Lee is having a good season. And the future on the mound should look bright with Carmona, Laffey, who pitched real well today, and Sowers.

Enough flowers and puppies. As I look at this lineup I see their 5-9 guys. Peralta, Hafner, Garko, Blake, and Cabrera. They're hitting .216, .209, .242, .202, .191. Not going to win very many baseball games with a lineup like that.

Makes me sick. You know what else makes me sick? Roger Clemens. Now it has come out that he was sticking John Daly's ex-wife on the side too. I'm sure he's sitting in a lawyers' office denying that one too.

I hope everybody watched last weeks' episode of The Real World. It was simply amazing.

I also read that Wedge is planning on putting Borowski back into the closer's role when he gets healthy. I guess it doesn't really matter if you can't score any runs, huh???

Another Rainy Chicago Day

I've missed some things over the last week.

The Browns had a pretty uneventful draft since they traded all of their picks. Which is fine with me. I think Shawn Rogers and Cory Williams are better than anything else they were going to get out of the draft. But apparently the MLB that they got from UNLV is pretty solid. So good for them. Not sure why they got another TE in the 5th round, but I've decided it's not a good thing to second guess Phil Savage these days, so I will not.

As for the rest of the draft, I just don't get it. I watch a solid share of college football and I could not tell you the positions or schools of half of the first round. I just don't get it. Especially in a year that the Browns first pick is in the 4th round, I really don't care. Not to mention the Day 2 coverage. I think it's the worst TV on TV. and this is a bad time for TV. I actually having the threat of having Mel Kiper talking really makes the draft that much more unappealing.

The Indians are starting to play some good baseball. CC figured out that he does actually have to show up for the games in order to pitch. So this is good. They're presently in 2nd place, 2.5 behind the Sox for the division lead.

I would like it to be known that the D-Rays are leadin the AL East. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if they made the playoffs and kept both the Yanks and Red Sox out?? I'm not going to hold my breath, but that would be a good day!

Saturday Afternoon Roundup

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I get to sit around the house and clean. How exciting, I know. But I'm golfing for the first time this season tomorrow. And I'm really looking forward to it. So I don't feel so bad about not really getting out of the house today.

The NBA playoffs started today. The Cavs and the Wizards are on now. Whatever.

The Indians still suck. Cliff Lee is off to a real solid start, so is Westbrook. And if I'm not mistaken, those were the 2 question marks going into the season. Whevever CC and Fausto would like to start pitching, that would be great. But you know, no rush. It's not as though the AL Central is the best league in baseball or anything. So, whenever you guys are ready. After all, combined you did win almost 40 games last year. So I hope you didn't work too hard over the winter to get ready for the season.

Have you seen the first episode of The Real World Hollywood??? I am really not sure if I'm going to be able to watch this whole season. The people that they have for the show is just amazing. The guys are something else. A roided up Johnny Bravo. A guy that's a bigger douchebag than Adam from Paris, he's already told 2 of the girls that he's all into them. They've been there 2 days. A guy who is just, "that guy that fills the last spot". And a guy that was chosen off the internet that appears, from the first hour of the show, to be the biggest ass MTV has ever had on any of their shows. And that's really saying something. This guy makes Puck look like a pretty cool dude. Think of all the Sweet 16s, True Lifes, Made, the dating shows. This guy takes the cake. And the girls. There's the southern belle that doesn't know her left foot from her right. The hot girl that seems pretty well rounded. And the stripper that has serious anger issues and a warrant out for her arrest. Yes, you read that right. Stripper. Arrest warrant. Anger issues. Should be an amazing season!

Closing Time????

We've been able to figure out a couple of things about the Indians in this early season.

1. CC Sabathia thought that since he won the Cy Young last season, batters were going to just lie down at the plate and "fear the Cy Young Winner." Well, this certainly hasn't happened, not even close. Actually, he's having more problems finding the plate than anything else. So far he's 0-2, his only no-decision came when he gave up 7 runs to the White Sox opening day when the Indians were up 7-0. ERA is up to 11.57. His cupcake intake must be through the roof too.

2. Fausto Carmona, Cy Young contended in 07, walked 8 batters in 3.1 innings the other night. The only performance that was worse in the history of the Indians was when Clarence Wright walked 8 in 2.2 innings, in '03. If you don't remember Clarence Wright there's probably a good reason for that, it was 1903 when he walked 8!!! Fausto almost broke a 105 year old record!!!!

3. Borowski is finally on the DL. Hopefully he'll not earn his closer job back when he gets healthy. It's just painful watching this guy pitch. Doesn't matter if they're up 1 run, 3 runs, 6 runs... He always seems to make things interesting. Best case was for him to get hurt, the Indians are forced into putting somebody else in that role and Borowski can figure out his problems in therapy.

4. Hafner still can't see the ball. He's got 14 Ks and 14 hits. He has to be making more contact than this. In the couple of games that I've seen, he's not swinging at strikes. He's swinging at 2-0 curveballs down in the zone. He's swinging at a fastball out of the zone on 3-1 and then watches a fastball on the inside part of the plate go by for strike 3. This just isn't the Travis Hafner of 2 years ago. He was feared, he is not now. Looks to me like he's putting too much pressure on himself, trying to hit the bases empty grand slam everytime he's at the plate. He's guessing too much. He needs to get back to whta he did in the past. See the ball, hit the ball. Get back to the basics.

5. We need Victor in the lineup. Peralta just isn't getting the job done hitting behind Hafner.

6. We need some help in the outfield. I think Gutierrez will be good, eventually, but they need another big bat out there. I don't think Delucci and Michaels are going to get the job done. Gutierrez is good hitting in the 9 spot, but they need another bat for the middle of the lineup.

7.Garko is hitting the ball pretty hard. This is very important!

8. Grady Sizemore is the best defensive CF in baseball.

9. The bullpen is horrible. Can't blame Borowski for the loss last night. 2 nights in a row the bullpen blew wins against the Red Sox. And a quick look at the standings puts the Indians at 5-9. For a team many picked to go to the Series, this is not a good start.

The season is still young, plenty of time to turn things around. Maybe you can blame the cold weather?? Who knows, excuses are not what they need right now. Good baseball is what they need right now.

Yeah, I've been pretty lazy

Well, maybe not lazy, I have been ridiculous busy. I'm trying to balance 2 jobs and dealing with health insurance problems. I think I've spent more time in the last month trying to get my health insurance issues resolved than actually finding a new job. Absolutely miserable.

World B. Free was one of the great Cleveland Cavs. One of my earliest memories was watching him at the old Richfield Coliseum. He was coming down the court on a fast break, no defense in front of him. He pulled up at the 3 point line and drained the 3. The Coliseum went nuts.

But, I've missed quite a few things. One of those things I haven't missed it a Detroit Tigers win. I guess a $140 million payroll gets you 0-7. I'm sure they're going to get things turned around, they're too good to keep losing, but that's just horrible.

The NCAA season ended with a bang. Actually a 3 pointed that's going to go down in history as one of the biggest clutch shots ever. What a great final game, as long as you weren't a Memphis fan. Back and forth, lots of athleticism, great basketball, just a great game. Considering the Saturday night games, the Championship sure made up for it.

One Shining Moment was great! As usual.

UNC being down 40-12 or whatever it was. Coming back and getting it down to 4 points, and then losing by 20. What an emotional roller coaster for Carolina fans??

My fantasy baseball team had possibly the worst week in the 9 year history of the Big 10 Units. I had 6 starts and between them they could not even muster up 25 combined points.

CC Sabathia sure doesnt' look like a Cy Young winner? He's been terrible early this season. Along with pretty much everybody else on the Indians. Hafner has more Ks than hits. Peralta is terrible. Victor is banged up. The Outfield is in shambles. Delucci is terrible. Michaels is worse. Carmona has been the lone bright spot. And I guess Westbrook put together a real nice start last night. They're 4-5. With the team they have, there is no way they should be 4-5. And Borowski is awful. They're going to need to find a new solution for the back end of the pen.

And a final note, I had to fax 5 pages to my new employer. I went to FedEx Kinko's. The total bill was $9.67. Yes, that's right, $9.67 for faxing 5 pages. 5 fucking pages, almost $10. I will never set foot in a FedEx Kinko's again.

Indians Sign Betancourt

The Indians signed Rafael Betancourt to a 2 year contract today. Now if they can just find a closer that doesn't give up 3 baserunners each appearance, they should be in good shape. Betancourt tied for last seasons lead in holds and only allowed 3 of 33 inherited runners to score.

Right now they're starting rotation should be Sabathia, Carmona, Byrd and his HGH, Westbrook, and I imagine Cliff Lee. I'd be willing to put that rotation up against just about anybody in baseball, except for the playoffs. Solid top to bottom.

The AL Central is going to be really competitive this season. The Tribe can pitch and they should hit the ball hard too. Hopefully Hafner can get over what happened last season, I'm still convinced he couldn't see the ball in the playoffs, not to mention he killed my fantasy team last season. How about some starts over at first, I hate putting him in at a utility position each week. Sizemore is up for another good season, Victor hits, Garko came on late in the season. They'll be a fun team to watch play!

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to this season, not only because of the '08 Indians, but I'm really getting sick of this cold weather. It's miserable in Chicago!

Pitchers and catchers report in 22 days!

A lot of Heartache..but a bright future

To be a Purdue and Cleveland fan, is like some sort of sick joke if you are a sports fan. So many memories of hope for a championship, and then just dashed away in the blink of an eye. Don't believe me, take a look:

-Willie Mays over the shoulder catch in '54. Granted, my mom wasn't even born yet, but I still see replays once a year. But, my grandma was 36, and she remembered it vividly.

- Right Red 88. Oakland, we lost to Oakland?? At home, to a warm weather team in the ice and snow off Lake Erie? I was 5 at this time, and I remember clearly being in a restaurant with my parents when this happened, only to have my dad yell at me to "quit acting up." My emotions were getting the best of me, at age 5.

- Put in Mike Jackson! That's what I remember screaming to Hargrove 800 miles away from Indiana, while he was sitting in South Florida. But sure enough, "Joe Table," a.k.a Jose Mesa comes trotting out of the bullpen. Then he somehow survives a terrible 9th, and Craig Counsell's missle is caught in right field by David Justice. Granted, that was just delaying the inevitable, when a Edgar Renteria single up the middle sealed the fate of the Fighting Wahoo's in '97.

- The Drive, The Fumble-- I don't even want to get into this. We all knows how this turns out. Elway in '86, and Byner in '87. Byner's huge game was overshadowed by one fumble that Dennis Smith didn't even know he caused at the goal line.

- The C.C/Fausto Meltdown in the '07 ALCS. Two potential Cy Young award winners, failing to show up for the ALCS. If they pitch just one game like they can in game 5 or 6, the Tribe goes to the World Series, and probably beat the Rockies who woke up from a coma after winning 50 straight games.

That's enough negativity, let me look toward the future now:

-The Browns, 10-6, but missed the playoffs. Yes, the Colts probably should have played their starters, look at their past performances on rest. But, the Browns should have beat the Bengals too. With a little help at D line next year, and one more receiver to compliment Braylon along with JJ, the Browns should contend for the division in '08. DA with another year under his belt, and an O Line that dominates, could make for a fun '08.

-The Tribe in '08: Same team, same good starting staff, another year of experience for young players. Look for guys like Asdrubal Cabrera, Garko, Gutierrez, Carmona, and an improving Jhonny Peralta to have strong years in '08. I know the Tigers beefed up their lineup, but I'll still take the Tribe's pitching over the Tigers pitching all day. Yes they got Dontrelle, but he's a very average pitcher, who had an ERA over 5.00 last year...in the NL. Welcome to the AL Dontrelle.

- Cavs: Get LeBron help, before he leaves. Last year was a fluke, get the man some help, before he leaves. I can't state that enough.

-Purdue- BBall looking strong for a young team. I love Matt Painter and what he's done, and also because he bought me a pitcher of Killians's at Hooters, simply because I had a Purdue hoody on. I fully expect a Big Ten title or two, over the next four years with this team. As far as football goes, we should be fine with Danny Hope. He had a high powered offense at E Kentucky, and apparantly he can recruit his butt off. Recruiting is something that has hampered the program, with the likes of Michigan, OSU, and Wisconsin in the Big Ten. I have a good feeling about Hope.

Now call me the eternal optimist, because I am. I don't forget the past and all the heartache, but I certainly look toward the future, when one of my teams is hoisted up that championship trophy.