Just like that its over

I'm talking about the Browns season. They brought in LeCharles Bentley - a Pro Bowler that can play center to protect our young QB and help the very weak offensive line. The first snap of training camp and SNAP - his tendion in his knee is torn. Season over thanks for playing and signing a 6 YEAR contract. Who in the heck gives out 6 YEAR contracts in football?? Man - Cleveland has the worst luck :-(

Who needs a Coco when you can have a Shin-Soo Choo?

Now Shapiro has learned from the Marketing Folks that you need a good name to be a top outfielder. I hope that all the Featherhead Faithful hop on the Soo-Choo!

I have now seen EVERYTHING!

Casey Blake (Yes John, number 1) just scored on an inside-the-park home run. Indians lead Detroit 12-7. This supports my observation that watching baseball, even played a team in the doldrums, can be a wonderful diversion. There is always a little twist or wrinkle that might appear from nowhere.

My other observation; at least a season such as the current Indians campaign will not be cruelly prolonged by a trip to the post-season.

Wickman is gone

So the Indians just traded Wickman. My feeling is - good for him hopefully he can help Atlanta. For me personally I didn't think he would have the same year as last year and for me not have to watch him 2 or 3 guys on just to get 3 outs is a bit of relief. Give the job to Carmona!!

Wait til next year??!!!

ok so we are all in agreement the fat lady has sung on the Indians season. I've been through this before so that means you start counting down until the Browns open up camp. Its maybe a week or two away. Am I excited?? Heck no!! I don't think the moves we made in the offseason will help us. We have Charlie Frye - I like him but he is not Bernie Kosar in his prime. And who knows if he'll reach his prime if we don't have an offensive line to protect him. Needless to say - I'm not expecting big things. Low expectations means elation when they win the game. The next "season" to look forward to is basketball. The Cavs did resign LeBron which is a huge plus but as today I don't see where they added or subtracted players to help add another dimension to the LeBron show. So that brings us to hockey - Cleveland has a minor league hockey team or is getting one - regardless they are getting alot of TV time. So that puts me to February when I am getting excited about the Tribe again - hopefully I will have something to be excited about.

Bush's comments at the G8 Summit

I don't know if anyone has seen the headlines from today's G8 Summit. Apparently some microphones on the closed circuit TV picked up a conversation between Bush and Blair. Bush was telling Blair that "The irony is what they really need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this," followed by an expletive. - I think the media should stop making a big deal of this and Tony Snow should tell them to stop him (Bush) when he is lying.

The Dubious Brothers

The Dubious Brothers - aka Broussard and Boone. I don't know why I am watching the game still I guess I just love baseball too much. But the top of the 7th has just passed and I watched Santana strike out Broussard and then Boone on both terrible pitches. Granted Santana is a great pitcher but to have Broussard and Boone bat back to back is like two automatic outs these days - rally killing guys up to bat - need I say more. Why won't anybody in the majors take these two guys off of our hands so we don't have to watch them any more. Bring up Garko and Marte - let's make a clean break and start new and you never know what kind of spark it might give this team.

The Indians Season is Officially Dunn

It is OVER! The Tribe traded away a veteran (Perez) for a prospect (insert name here) today. If this was not enough to make you think the Indians know this season has seen its best days, then consider this; nine runs given up in two innings. By the back end of the bullpen.

It was gut-check time after a tough loss in St. Louis. And we discovered what the hometown team was made of. And it ain't pretty. Do you think Wickman will ever make it back on the Byrd Christmas card list?

When do the Browns begin camp?

My Indians Fever Broke

Indians fever had me in its grip for a short period earlier in the season. It must have been the 24 hour variety. The fever broke and now I just feel cold, clammy and have a bad taste left in my mouth. In my moments of fever-induced delirium, I thought there was a chance the Indians pitching would be solid and they would produce timely hits. I also thought they could play at least .500 ball. Not so much. The Tribe really isn't a very good team.

What to do if you are suffering as I suffer? Take two aspirin and call me next April.

Who will lead the AL Central at the All-Star break?

I have Indians Fever after they took three-out-of-four from the White Sox. But I still don't know if they can get into first place by the halfway mark.

Take this poll and let me know what you think!

Why Terry Pluto is an excellent writer.

Cleveland sports fans are lucky we have Terry Pluto writing about our teams. I enjoy his writing; he obviously cares about his subjects, he researches thoroughly, he does not shy away from having a strong "voice" (call it point-of-view, if you prefer.) He is enjoyable to read because it appears he enjoys writing. Anyone who has written for a paycheck will tell you that writing is not always enjoyable.

He has a new book coming out, Dealing: The Cleveland Indians' New Ballgame. It is about the business side of professional baseball and a recent history of how the Indians try to compete, contend and rebuild all at the same time. Here is an excerpt.

Fathers Day is around the corner. If Dad is a fan of the Indians, Browns or good books in general, Terry Pluto has probably written a book he would enjoy receiving.

Excellent Short Film

I have not read "The DaVinci Code", nor do I intend to see the movie. But I am a fan of Norman Rockwell, anagrams, and Don Knotts. If you would like to see and very funny short film that combines all of the above elements check out "The Norman Rockwell Code".

Hy-Lar-Eee-Us!!

Sabathia Should Sue Team For Malpractice

C.C. Sabathia pitched a heck of a game yesterday. Too bad there were three errors committed behind him and he was tagged with a loss. Not only were there three errors, there was a notable lack of effort. Need I mention Johnny P. standing in the batter's box and looking at a ball skip back into fair territory? Gave up an EASY out in a game they could have won. What was he doing? Who is to blame for the Tribe's skid? And they call themselves professional baseball players. I'm peeved.

Are the NBA playoffs fixed?

As I saw Gilbert Arenas miss two foul shots after being absolutely unconscious all game the thought crossed my mind. "Is this thing rigged?" The next day I see LeBron interviewed and a clip of him saying something the Arenas just before the throws. Now Mr. James claims he was playing mind-games. Taunting him, saying the game was over if he missed. But just think about it. Maybe he said "Stern called. The Cavs are advancing this year. We get better TV numbers. AND I can sell a Chinese boatload of jerseys. Bloggers can't even spell your name."

All I'm saying is, it just seems odd that a guy would miss BOTH throws when he wasn't missing all night. And I think the NBA is rigged. That's all.

May 1 - Day Without Immigrants

I do not watch much television news. I did not see how the rallies were portrayed in the electronic media. But the AP story in my local paper read like a news release from the organizers. My general impression is that far fewer actually attended than predicted, the primary businesses harmed are those that employ illegals, and there seems to be an increased awareness of the crazy corner we have painted ourselves in by not enforcing the current immigration laws.

Any other observations? Perhaps any law enforcement types who know first hand about the enforcement part of the equation?

Do you cheer or boo??

Jim Thome returns to Jacobs Field for the first time since he lied and cheated on the Indians fans. Will the fans forget him saying "its not about the money" "she's my rock" That makes it tough - do you throw paper money like we did to Albert "Joey" Belle or rocks to show Thome what we think of his beloved wife?

Limber Joe - please look into your crystal ball and let me know what will happen? My guess is not much - isn't he DH'ing these days?

Many choices for the tube tonight

If you live in Cleveland you have a difficult decision ahead of you. Tonight the Indians start a series with Boston, Game 2 of the Playoffs for the Cavs and if you are a music lover like I am, American Idol starts at 8pm. The thing is with this year's American Idol, there have been many weeks on a Tuesday morning when I remember its on and then think its no big deal. I'm not sure why I feel this way - is it the genre's they have selected for the week? is it the fact that I don't have a clear favorite as I have had in the past? The crazy thing is everytime I feel this way I end up watching it and being entertained - especially by Taylor Hicks. I'm not sure what we will decide tonight. I guess this is where picture in picture in picture would come in handy - or there is always the commercial shuffle but I'm not sure my son can handle all the channel changing.

Trace Adkins

Trace Adkins recently released his newest single "Swing" on MLB.com I listened to it today and I think its pretty good. Here is the link - http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/fan_forum/swing/index.jsp

check it out and let me know what you think. One thing I do know it should not replace "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning.

LeBron and The Cavs

I'm wondering how deep the Cavaliers will go in the playoffs. They looked pretty darn good in the first game. But I am only cautiously optimistic. I saw the Wine and Gold in one of the games they played without 23 and it was not entirely pretty. They pulled it out at the end. So maybe that should be my cue. They do what they have to do when they need to do it.

p.s. This post was a collaboration with Matthew K.

THAT's the Wickman we know and love!

Whew! Bob Wickman got the save and the Tribe de-throned the Royals 6-5. (OK, I know that the Royals are on an eleven game losing streak, so the only throne they occupied is porcelain.) Indians fans still like it because we needed to see a save. The last few games were not close in either direction. Ole' Bob always makes it interesting.