Let it snow!

On Sunday, the conditions at Cleveland Browns stadium could be best described as "blizzard like." The Browns and Bills met in a pivotal match up in the AFC playoff race, and the conditions definitely affected the game, vastly limiting the offense of both teams. In the end, the Browns managed to pull out an 8-0 victory, which is a final score not seen in the NFL since the 1920's. All of the points scored came from special teams: Browns kicker Phil Dawson made two field goals, one from 35 yards, and one from 49 yards (which was an unbelievable kick given the conditions), and the other 2 points came from a bad snap by Buffalo's punting unit that went out of the end zone for a safety. The end of the game ended up being very dramatic, because despite having struggled to move the ball all game, the Bills managed to drive the ball down to the Cleveland 10 yard line, and were faced with 4th and 5 with 15 seconds left. The play was a screen pass and the runner was stopped was stopped short of the line to gain, giving the Browns the ball on downs, sealing the victory.
The Browns are now 9-5 and are one game ahead of Tennessee for the last playoff spot in the AFC.

Browns improve to 8-5

For the first time since 2002, the Cleveland Browns will not have a losing season. Sunday's 24-18 win over the Jets gave the Browns their 8th win of the season, making their record 8-5 with 3 games to play. As of right now, the Browns hold the 6th and final playoff spot in the AFC and have a 1 game lead on Buffalo and Tennessee. The Browns remaining schedule consists of the Bills at home, the Bengals in Cincinnati and the 49ers at home. A win over Buffalo would go a long way to helping the Browns make the playoffs, and I think that as long as they win 2 of those last 3 games, they should get in either way.....but we'll have to wait and see.

Ohio State is in the BCS title game

After Ohio State lost to Illinois, it was considered pretty much a sure fact that the Bucks were no longer a national championship contender. The loss dropped OSU to #7 in the BCS, with one game to play. But luckily for OSU, all of the teams ranked ahead of them had more than one game left......so there was a narrow possibility that the Bucks could still make it to the title game. The only problem was, it required first and foremost, a win over Michigan.....and then for at least 5 of the 6 teams ranked above OSU to lose, which didn't seem likely.......but then things started to happen:

Nov 15 - (Thursday) #2 Oregon loses to Arizona.

Nov 17 - #7 OSU beats Michigan 14-3. #4 Oklahoma loses to Texas Tech.

OSU moves to # 5 in the BCS

Nov 24 - #1 LSU loses to Arkansas. #2 Kansas loses to # 4 Missouri.

OSU moves to #3

Dec 1 - #2 West Virginia loses to Pittsburgh. #1 Missouri loses to Oklahoma.

OSU moves to #1

SEC champ LSU moves to #2 and will play the Buckeyes in the BCS National Title game on 1-7-08 in New Orleans, LA.

Ohio State 14 - Michigan 3

OK, so I'm a bit late on this one. Anyway, after losing to Illinois, the Bucks bounced back and defeated arch-rival Michigan 14-3 to claim their 3rd straight Big Ten Conference football title, and 2nd straight outright title. OSU has now beat Michigan 4 straight times and has improved to 6-1 vs UM since the coming of Tressel.

Ohio State 38 - Wisconsin 17

This was a scary one, until the offense finally showed up. Wisconsin had a 3rd quarter 17-10 lead, but then Chris Wells exploded and scored 30 yard TD's on consecutive drives to give OSU a 24-17 lead. Then the Badgers turned the ball over inside the 30 three times (2 fumbles and a turnover on downs) from which Bucks scored 2 more TD's, including Wells' 3rd of the game, to make the final score 38-17.

It's been a while...

well, since my last post:

The Indians won the Central Division title and finished 96-66, which was tied for the best record in baseball with Boston. The Tribe then beat the Yankees 3 games to 1 in the ALDS, and then jumped out to a 3-1 ALCS lead over Boston. However, the Red Sox came back to win 3 straight games to clinch the pennant, and went on to win the World series against Colorado.

The Buckeyes are 9-0 and are ranked #1. They have had 3 big road games so far, in which they beat Washington 33-14, beat Purdue 23-7, and beat Penn State 37-17. They will play host to the 7-2 Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday.

The Browns have had a positive season so far, winning 4 of their first seven games. They beat the Bengals, Ravens, Dolphins and Rams and have lost to the Steelers, Raiders (a game that should have been won had a time out not been called just before the would be game winning field goal), and the Patriots. They play Seattle at home on Sunday.

Also, the Blue Jackets have started off the season surprisingly, going 6-3-1. Their signature win was on opening day, when they beat the defending Stanley Cup Champion Ducks 4-0.

Kenny Lofton is once again is a member of the Tribe

OK, despite the fact that at 40 years old, he isn't quite the player he was back in the days that this picture was taken, Kenny Lofton is still a decent player. He is batting .303 this year with 96 hits, 23 RBI, 21 stolen bases and 7 homers. Tonight he made his first start as an Indian since 2001, and he went 3-5 with 3 singles, an RBI and a very crucial bunt single in the 3rd that loaded the bases and opened the door to a big inning. Lofton also brought a great atmosphere to the Jake, and received a 30 second ovation when he came to the plate. Jhonny Peralta had a great night as well, hitting 2 homers.....a 3 run bomb and a 2 run bomb to give him 5 RBI on the night. The Indians had 16 hits and beat the Twins 10-4, and are now 60-43 on the year, 1 game behind Detroit in the division.

50-32

The Indians are now 50-32, and 2 games ahead of Detroit for first place. The Tribe won 7 out of 8 in this past home stand, taking 3 of 4 from Oakland and sweeping 4 from Tampa Bay. On Tuesday night the Indians rallied from a 2 run 9th inning deficit to score 5 runs and beat the A's 10-7 on Kelly Shoppach's 3 run walk off homer. Then on Friday night, Ben Fransisco made his first major league start, in which he got his first major league hit, and then his first home run....which just happened to be a walk off homer in the 9th to beat the D Rays 2-1.

On Saturday night I was at the game and had a great time....Sizemore had 3 hits and 3 RBIs on his bobble head night, and CC Sabathia became the first pitcher in the majors this year to win 12 games as the Tribe won 8-6. And today, Grady Sizemore hit his 2nd career grand slam to cap the Tribe's 7 run 8th as they beat Tampa 10-2 to complete the 4 game sweep.

It has been a great week for Indians baseball, in fact a great season so far as well.

Cavaliers get swept in Finals

The San Antonio Spurs were simply the better team. They shut down the Cavs and beat them in 4 straight games, and they deserve the title. The Cavs looked like crap....poor shooting and terriblr rebounding, but I think it's safe to credit this to the fact that the Spurs outplayed them and were in their heads.
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Though, despite losing in the finals, it was still an awsome season, I thank them for it.
Go Cavs, next year should be great.

Eastern Conference Champions!!!!!

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won the eastern Conference Championship. After trailing the Pistons 0-2 in the series, the Cavs won 4 stright to win the series 4-2.

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The deciding game 6 was on Saturday night, and I was at the Indians game next door, which was a bit of a dissapointment, as the Tribe lost to Detroit 9-5. There were a lot of Detroit fans at the game, and a lot of them were talking shit after the Tigers won, but their joy was short lived. As the Jake emptied out, thousands of people joined the allready several thousand people who were standing outside of Quicken Loans Arena watching the game on the big screens that had been st up between the Jake and the Q. As the 3rd quarter ended my father, my nest friend and I made our way through the crowd. We decided against staying right there for the rest of the game, reasons ranging from how late it already was (I had to work the next day), the possibility of a riot breaking out, the thought of the wait to get on an RTA train, and my tendency to get really nervous and pissed off during games. As we headed back to Tower City, we actually passed through a corner of the Q to get to the "walkway to the gateway", so I can now claim I was in the building the night they clinched the conference title. The ride on the RTA train was great, as people with cell phones and radios kept the whole train updated on the Cavs game, and a huge roar of cheering erupted when the score went final. There were also a few Detroit fans on our train, and the look on their faces was priceless. I can only imagine what it was like for those several thousand Detroit fans who were downtown when the Cavs blew away the Pistons in the 4th quarter.

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LeBron James had 20 points and 14 rebounds in the game, but the greatest performance came from Daniel "Boobie" Gibson, who scored 31 points including a slew of 3's in the 4th that were the daggers straight through the hearts of the Pistons. The Cavs outscored Detroit 31-16 in the 4th quarter to win 98-82.

The Cavaliers will play the Spurs on Thursday night in San Antonio in game 1 of the NBA Finals.

YES! 3-2 series lead for Cleveland!

Simply put: LeBron James was unstoppable, and led the Cavs to victory in the biggest game that they have ever played in. He scored 48 points, including the game winner that broke a 107-107 tie with 3 seconds to go to give Cleveland a 109-107 win. Actually, to put it into perspective, LeBron scored 29 of the Cavs last 30 points. He more or less won the game by himself. Until tonight, the farthest the Cavaliers have ever come to the finals was winning 2 game in the conference NBA finals, but that has now changed, as the Cavs now have an excellent chance to win the Eastern Conference as they are now up 3 games to 2. This simply an awesome game, despite the fact that the Cavs blew several chances to win it earlier in the game. They should have won in regulation, and in the first OT but missed free throws and bad possessions late in each of those periods allowed Detroit to tie it each time. But enough bitching, the Cavs won, and I am ecstatic. Game 6 will be in Cleveland on Saturday night.

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In Tribe news, the Indians beat the Tigers 11-5 on the strength of several big innings. Hafner had 4 RBIs including a 2 run HR, Martinez also had a 2 run HR, and Sizemore had a 2run triple. Cleveland is now 33-19, and 3.d games ahead of Detroit for first place.

Series Tied, 2-2

After losing two close games in Detroit, the Cavs needed to win both games in Cleveland to get back into the series, and that's just what they did, as Cleveland has tied Detroit 2 games to 2 in he Eastern Conference finals. The Cavs won tonight 91-87 on the strength of a solid game by LeBron, and a great performance off the bench by rookie Daniel Gibson, who scored 21 points. James had 25 points to lead the team, as well as 11 assists and 7 rebounds. Gooden had good game as well, scoring 19 and grabbing 8 boards, while Z scored 9 and grabbed 7 boards. Game 5 of the series will be on Thursday in Auburn Hills.

Cleveland vs Detroit

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Basketball

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Monday (5-21): Pistons 79 - Cavaliers 76. The Cavs lose game one and Detroit takes a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

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Thursday (5-24): Pistons 79 - Cavaliers 76. The Cavs blow a late opportunity to take the lead and Detroit takes a 2-0 lead in the series.

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Sunday (5-27): Cavaliers 88 - Pistons 82. Home sweet home for the Cavs, who come through for a big win, and cut the deficit in the series to 2-1.

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Tuesday (5-29): Cavaliers 91 - Pistons 87. The Cavs win again at home, and the series is tied 2-2

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Thursday (5-31): Cavaliers 109 - Pistons 107 (2OT). LeBron takes the game over late, and the Cavs win in Auburn Hills and now have a 3-2 series lead

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Saturday (6-2): Cavaliers 98 - Pistons 82. The Cavs blow the Pistons away in the 4th quarter, and clinch the Eastern Conference final.

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Baseball

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Friday (5-25): Indians 7 - Tigers 4. WP- Paul Byrd, SV- Joe Borrowski. The Indians take game one on the strength of early homers and late insurance runs. The Indians improve their record to 29-17 and retake 1st place by 1/2 game over Detroit.

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Saturday (5-26): Indians 6 - Tigers 3. WP- CC Sabathia, SV- Joe Borrowski. The Indians come from behind to tie the game in the 7th, and then take the lead for good in the 8th on a Dellucci 2 run homer. The record goes to 30-17, and the lead for first is now 1.5 games.

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Sunday (5-27): Indians 5 - Tigers 3. WP- Fausto Carmona, SV- Joe Borrowski. The Tribe scores 4 in the first, including a 3 run homer by Ryan Garko, which ended up providing the winning run. The Indians have swept Detroit and are now 31-17, with a 2.5 lead for first place in the central division.

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Thursday (5-31): Indians 11 - Tigers 5. WP CC Sabathia. The Indians use some big innings as well as the long ball to blow by Detroit and take game 1 of the 4 game series. The Tribe is 33-19, 3.5 games ahead of the Tigers for first place.

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Friday (6-1): Indians 12 - Tigers 11. WP- Roberto Hernandez. The Indians entered the 9th inning trailing 11-7, but rally to score 5 runs and win in walk off fashion. Victor Martinez had 2 home runs in the game. The Tribe is now 34-19, 4.5 game ahead of the Tigers for first place.

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Saturday (6-2): Tigers 9 - Indians 5. LP- Cliff Lee. I was at this game, the Indians lost but the Cavs game made me forget all about any feelings of frustration. The Indians are now 34-20 and 3.5 games ahead of the Tigers for first place.

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Sunday (6-3): Tigers 9 - Indians 2. LP- Jeremy Sowers. Sowers continues to struggle as the Indians lose for only the 6th time at home all year. The Indians are now 34-21, and 2.5 games ahead of the Tigers for first place.

Big Ten Tournament Champions!

The baseball Buckeyes have come from out of nowhere to win the Big Ten Tournament Championship. The #6 seed (the lowest seed) Buckeyes went undefeated in the double elimination tourney. They beat Penn State, Michigan, and then Minnesota twice, once on Saturday, and again today 4-2 in the championship game.

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That means that for 2006-2007 Ohio State sports won the following Big Ten titles:

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football

men's basketball (reg season and tourney)

women's basketball (reg season)

baseball (tourney)

softball (reg season and tourney)

men's tennis

men's gymnastics

field hockey (reg season)

Indians stay hot, Cavs blow game 1

Tonight the Indians played the first game of a series that will take 4 months to complete. Because of the snow out on opening weekend, the 4 game series with Seattle has been rescheduled for date including today, June 11th, August 27, and September 26. Tonight CC Sabathia struggled, but managed to only give up 1 run, while the offense was also struggling early. But Casey Blake hit a solo HR in the 6th and Josh Barfield hit a 2 run double in the 7th as the Indians went on to win 5-2. Joe Borrowski earned his 14th save of the year when he came on to shut down the Mariners in the 9th in a bases loaded situation with no outs. The first Place Indians are now 27-15 on the year.
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Tonight in Auburn Hills the Cavs played the Detroit Pistons in game one of the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers controlled the game early and had a halftime lead, but let the Pistons back into the game in the 3rd quarter. Late in the 4th the Cavs had a chance to take the lead but Donyell Marshall's 3 pointer came up short and the Pistons won 79-76. Detroit leads the series 1-0. LeBron only had 10 points, but the Cavs still managed to almost win, and should have won. Maybe that's a good omen.

Battle of Ohio

VS.

This weekend was the first series of the 2007 version of the annual inter league face off that has become known as "The Battle of Ohio" between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians.

The first 3 games were played at Jacobs Field, and this is how they went:

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Friday night:

The Indians put up a 6 run 2nd inning, and go on to beat the Reds 9-4, with Cliff Lee getting the W.

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Saturday night:

I was at this game with the OSU athletic band, and had a pretty good time, despite the result. Tribe starter Jeremy Sowers further demonstrated why he deserves a trip to Buffalo as soon as Westbrook comes of the DL by giving up 2 three run homers and allowing 7 runs as the Reds won 10-5.

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Sunday:

The Indians scored4 in the 4th including a Peralta bomb and a Barfield 2 run double, as well as erased the Reds Ryan Freel from the bases twice on a pick off and a caught stealing as the Indians went on to win 5-3. The last out of the game was recorder when Travis Hafner made a great diving catch at first base to rob the Reds of a double that would have allowed the tying run to come to the plate. Paul Byrd got the W and Borrowski earned his 13th save.

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The Indians won the series 2 games to 1 and now have a record of 26-15, and are in first place in the AL central. The Reds are 17-27, and in last place in the NL central. The second half of the Battle of Ohio will be played in Cincinnati on June 8-10.

The Indians now hold a 28-20 record all time against the Reds.

The Cavaliers are heading to the Eastern Conference finals!

Tonight the Cavs had a chance to close out their series with New Jersey in game 6 of the eastern Conference semifinals at the Meadowlands, and that's just what they did. The Cavs dominated the Nets in the first quarter by outscoring them 32-15, and went on to have a 53-38 halftime lead. In the 3rd quarter, the Cavs fell apart and let New Jersey back into the game, and when the 4th quarter started they lead the Nets 61-60. However, they would turn their game on again in the 4th, as they outscored New Jersey 27-12 and won the game 88-72. LeBron James scored 23 points with 8 rebounds and 8 assists, but the story of the game for the Cavs was Donyell Marshall. Today was Marshall's birthday, and he celebrated that by coming off the bench and hitting 6 three pointers for 18 points, as well as 5 rebounds. Drew Gooden also had a great game, scoring 16 and grabbing 7 boards. Another Cavalier with a good game off the bench was Daniel Gibson, who hit 2 threes and a two for 8 points. Z and Wild Thing each had 6 points and Houghes had 5.

For Cleveland, this will be the 3rd trip to the Eastern Conference finals in team history. In 1976 they made it that far and lost to Boston, and in 1992 they made it that far and lost to Chicago. In 2007 the Cavs will face the Detroit Pistons to decide who goes to the NBA finals, with game 1 of that series coming on Monday night in Detroit.

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Tonight the Indians won their 4th straight game, beating the Reds 9-4 in game 1 of the Battle of Ohio. Ryan Garko had a 3 run HR in the 6 run 2nd inning for the Tribe, and Sizemore hit a 2 run homer in the next inning. The win puts Cleveland at 25-14, and in first place in the central division. Tomorrow night I will be at the Indians/Reds game with the OSU athletic band.

The Cavs sucked tonight, while the Indians are on the rise

The Cavs more or less didn't show up for game 5, and got beat by the Nets 83-72. And that score is closer than it should have been. They now hold a 3-2 lead in the series, and will play game 6 in New Jersey on Friday night.

The Indians however have awakened from their mini slump on the road by coming home. Tuesday the had two 6 run innings and beat the Twins 15-7, and tonight CC Sabathia shut down Minnesota as the Tribe won 7-1. Cleveland is now 23-14 and 1/2 game behind Detroit for the division lead.

Cleveland splits the two game in New Jersey, leads series 3-1

On Saturday the Cavaliers lost 95-87 in New Jersey in game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. At the time it cut the Cavs lead in the series to 2-1. Tonight however, the Cavaliers were victorious by a score of 87-85. I didn't get to see either of these games because on Saturday I was at Cedar Point and tonight I was working. Tonight LeBron scored 30 to lead the team, and Houghes had 19. Z had 13 points and 11 boards, Gooden had 8 points and 10 boards and Pavlovic scored 9. Cleveland holds a 3-1 advantage in the series and game 5 is on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
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In Tribe news, the Indians went 2-4 on the west coast, beating LA and Oakland just once each. They are now 21-14 and in 2nd place in the central division.

Game 2: Advantage Cleveland

The Cleveland Cavaliers are undefeated in the playoffs thus far in 2007. Last night, the Cavs hosted the Nets in game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and sent them back to New Jersey with a 0-2 deficit by beating them 102-92. In a few days, the Cavs will also head to New Jersey, to play game 3 at the Meadowlands on Saturday night. Game 2 was close the whole way through, just like game 1. And just like game 1, the Cavs, led by LeBron, dominated the last half of the 4th quarter to take a permanent lead. LeBron scored 36 points, had 12 assists and 3 steals. Drew Gooden was a rebounding machine, grabbing 14 boards as well as according 10 points. Pavlovic scored 17, Houghes had 12, and Z scored 13 and grabbed 9 rebounds. "Wild Thing" Anderson Varejao contributed by keeping 6 possessions alive with offensive rebounds (and had 9 rebounds total) and also scoring 6 points, including a nice slam dunk.

If you add the playoffs and regular season together, the Cavaliers are 56-32.

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Also last night, the Indians won again. Cliff Lee pitched a complete game, allowing 1 run on 3 hits. Victor Martinez had 2 RBI, including a solo homer (4), Casey Blake also had 2 RBI and Grady Sizemore stole his 11th base of the year. The Indians defeated the Angles in Anaheim, 5-1.

Cavs win game 1

LeBron wasn't feeling too good on Sunday due to cold symptoms, but he still managed to lead the Cavs in scoring with 21 points as the Cavaliers defeated the New Jersey Nets 81-77 in game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The game was close the whole way, with over 15 lead changes. In the closing seconds, LeBron scored to give the Cavs a 4 point lead with 19 seconds, and then blocked Bostjan Nachbar's shot with 7 seconds left, which lead to a series of panic passes and a meaningless shot attempt by NJ that missed as time expired. One of the key moments in the game was when Jason Kidd stole the ball and had is easy lay-in attempt blocked by Sasha Pavlovic. The Cavs had 20 offensive rebounds and played great defense, which is no doubt to me the reason they won, because their shooting and passing was just plain shitty.

Larry Houghes had 17 points and Pavlovic had 15. Z and Gooden each had 14 rebounds, and 8 and 14 points respectively. Game 2 of the series is on Tuesday.

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In Indians news, the Tribe broke out of a 2 game losing streak by beating Baltimore 9-6. Trot Nixon went 5-5 with 4 RBI, CC Sabathia got the W to go 5-0 on the season, and Borrowski got his 11th save. A crucial point i the game came in the 6th when with 1 outs and the bases loaded, CC battled and fanned Millar, and then Grady Sizemore made a diving catch to rob Corey Patterson of a would be 3 RBI double to end the inning. The Indians are now 18-10, and tied for 1st place with Detroit.

Indians on a roll, sweep Toronto

The Indians are just seemingly unstoppable at the moment. Today they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5, sweeping the three game series. It didn't look good at first, with the Jays jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. But the Indians answered the early Blue Jay onslaught with 3 runs in the third inning to cut the Toronto lead to 4-3. In the forth a fight almost broke out when Barfield was tagged out trying to score, and got into an altercation with the catcher, who also began to argue with and shove Dellucci (who had been on deck at the time, and must have heard the choice words that started the problem). Both benches cleared, but nothing happened as the umps and coaches calmed everyone down before any ejections could happen. Then, in the fifth, the Tribe added 2 runs to take the lead on an RBI single by Martinez and an RBI triple by Garko. Toronto tied it at 5 in the sixth, and the score remained tied until the eighth, when Grady Sizemore hit a ground rule RBI double that scored the go ahead run, making the score 6-5. Joe Borrowski came on in the ninth to earn his 10th save, and the victory went to Fultz. Cliff Lee started the game after coming back from an injury.

The Indians are 17-8, and lead the Tigers by 2 games for first place in the Central Division. They finished this home stand 7-1 and have won 10 out of their last 11 games. The Indians winning percentage is now .680, which is currently the best record in baseball.

Post # 50 - A Tribe win

This is my 50th post. Woot.
Anyway, I started watching the Indians game, just in time to see CC Sabathia give up 3 solo homers in the first inning. Then the Tribe blew a scoring chance in the bottom of the first, and I left for work thinking all was lost. But then I get home and see that they won 12-4. That was a surprise, but I'll take it. I guess the rain delay they had snapped CC out of it, as he went on to dominate the Jays from there on, and get his fourth win of the year (he's 4-0 with two ND's.) Hafner hit a 2 run homer in the and Peralta hit a 2 run double in the 3rd. Then Peralta hit a 3 run HR in the 5th, followed by a Martinez 2 run double in the 6th. In the 8th, Trot Nixon hit a 3 run home run to finish off the scoring for the game.
Cleveland is in 1st place with a 15-8 record.

First Round Sweep!

For the first time in team history, the Cleveland Cavaliers have swept a 4 game series in the NBA playoffs. Tonight in Washington, the Cavs defeated the Wizards 97-90 to earn a trip to the second round, where they will play either New Jersey or Toronto. The Cavaliers trailed by 3 at halftime and by 1 to start the 4th quarter, but outscored the Wizards 31-23 in the 4th quarter to secure the win. LeBron had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Z scored 20 and grabbed 19 boards while Houghes scored 19 and Gooden scored 14. This win makes the Cavaliers overall record for the season so far 54-32. It might be another full week until the Cavs next game. I look for them to play the Nets next round, and I think they will beat them in 6 games, but that's just a guess.

NFL Draft, 2007

With the 3rd pick of the 2007 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns select......Joe Thomas, offensive tackle, Wisconsin. This made me very happy, because the offensive line has been the weakest part of the Browns team for the past few seasons, and they have finally made a big effort to solve this.

Then the something very interesting happened. After the Browns passed up Brady Quinn to take Joe Thomas, every other team with a shot at him also passed him up. The biggest surprise took place when the Dolphins, who were thought to have really wanted Quinn, took Teddy Ginn Jr. instead. This is when the Browns saw an opportunity that they couldn't pass up. As Quinn continued to fall past teams who were already secure at the QB position, the Browns were working out a deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Here's what happened: With seconds remaining on the Cowboys clock for the 22nd pick, a trade was announced. Cleveland gave Dallas its 2nd round pick as well as their first round pick in 2008, and Dallas gave Cleveland its first round pick, which was promptly used to take Brady Quinn.

So basically, the Browns came out of the first round with what many people are calling a "franchise" quarterback, as well as a huge offensive lineman to help protect him. I can only hope that Brady isn't as overrated as I always assumed he was while at Norte Dame.

The Browns complete draft went like this:

Joe Thomas
OL
6-6, 313
Wisconsin

Brady Quinn
QB
6-3, 226
Notre Dame

Eric Wright
CB
5-11, 190
UNLV

Brandon McDonald
CB
5-11, 181
Memphis

Melila Purcell
DL
6-5, 269
Hawaii

Chase Pittman
DL
6-5, 273
LSU

Syndric Steptoe
WR
5-9, 182

Arizona

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The corner back and defensive line were also problems last year, so I'm glad they filled some of those spots as well. Many ESPN pundits are calling the Browns the team with the best draft, so that's also great to see.

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In OSU news, the Buckeyes had 8 players drafted:

Ted Gin, WR- Miami

Anthony Gonzalez, WR- Indianapolis

Quinn Pitcock, DT- Indianapolis

Antonio Pittman, RB- New Orleans

Jay, Richardson, DE- Oakland

Roy Hall, WR- Indianapolis

Troy Smith, QB- Baltimore

Doug Datish, C- Atlanta

Cavaliers are one win away from first ever playoff sweep

The Cavs beat the Wizard's yesterday by a score of 98-92 in Washington. They now hold a 3-0 lead in the first round series and are on the verge of sweeping a playoff series for the first time in team history. I missed the game due to the fact that I was at the Indians game that night, but here are the main stats: LeBron- 30 points, Z- 24 points, Houghes and Pavlovic each had 11 and Gooden had 12 rebounds and 10 points. Game 4 is Monday night at 7:00 pm in Washington.

Also, the Indians have won 7 of their last 8.

On Thursday they beat Texas 9-5 to complete the 2 game sweep.

On Friday they scored 5 runs in the 6th inning, 3 of which came off of Grady Sizemore's inside the park home run, as they beat Baltimore 5-4.

On Saturday night I was at the Indians game, but they lost to the Orioles 7-4. This was the first Indians loss I've seen in person since 2005, because they won all 5 games I went to last year.

And then today, in a game I didn't see because I was golfing, the Tribe defeated the Orioles 6-1.

Cleveland is 14-8 and in first place by 1.5 games over MIN.

Cleveland takes 2-0 lead as series goes to Washington

Drew Gooden was on fire in the first half. He scores 19 points before halftime, and would finish with 24 as well as 14 rebounds. LeBron tossed in 27 of his own and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Wizards 109-102. It was a close game throughout, but the Cavs would prevail in the end to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Also contributing for the Cavaliers were Houghes, with 19 points, Z scored 16 and grabbed 9 boards, and Wild Thing had 6 points and 7 rebounds. The 3rd game of this best-of-seven series will be on Saturday in Washington.

Now for a report on the Indians, who have won 4 straight games. On Sunday, they beat Tampa Bay, as described below. Monday night they scored 4 runs in the top of the 12th to beat the Twins 7-3 in Minnesota. On Tuesday night they put together a 5-3 win against the Twins ace, Santana, which was the first time they had beaten him at the Metrodome. Then tonight the Indians played the Rangers at home. A 5 run second inning had the Tribe up early, but CC would give up a 5 run inning of his own. In the 9th inning, the Tribe lead 7-6 with 2 outs, but Borrowski had his first blown save of the year, allowing a run to score. In extra innings Cabrerra came on and shut down Texas, striking out 4 in two innings. In the bottom of the 11th Victor Martinez doubled, made it to third on a Kelly Shoppach single, and then scored the winning run when Jhonny Peralta hit a single to left field. It was nice to see a walk-off win, but disappointing to see the game, which should have been won in regulation, go into extra innings. The Indians are 11-7, and in sole possession of first place in the Central Division.

Cavs Take game 1, Tribe takes series

The Cavaliers rolled past Washington 97-82 today to take a 1-0 lead in the 7 game series of round 1 in the NBA playoffs. LeBron gave me a scare when he went down in pain with an ankle injury, but he would be fine, and scored 23 points. Larry Houghes led the Cavs in scoring by putting up 27 against his former team. Cleveland outscored the Wizards by 7 in the first quarter, then tied them in both the second and third quarters, and finally outscored them by 8 in the forth to secure the 15 point win. Game two is on Wednesday night at 8:00 in Cleveland.

Today Ryan Garko hit a 3 run homer in the top of the ninth in Tampa Bay to lead the Indians to a 6-4 come-back win over the Devil Rays. Peralta also hit a home run in the game, Borrowski earned his 7th save of the year, and Tribe reliever Tom Mastny got the W. Cleveland won 2 of the 3 games in Tampa and is now 8-7, and 1.5 games behind Minnesota for the division lead.

Cavs defeat bucks, claim second seed

In order to become the second seed in the Eastern Conference for the NBA playoffs, the Cavaliers need to two things to happen: they had to beat Milwaukee, and Chicago had to lose. That's exactly what happened. The Cavs knew they had to beat the Bucks, and came through with a 109-95 win. LeBron scored 24 and had 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Pavlovic had 21 points, Marshall had 14 and Houghes scored 13. The "wild thing" Anderson Varejao had a good game, grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring 9, and Z scored 10 points as well.
Cleveland finishes the regular season 50-32, which clinches the 2nd seed in the playoffs over the 49-33 Bulls who blew their opportunity to clinch the spot with their loss in New Jersey.

Cleveland will host the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs, for the second straight year.

Columbus Destroyers

Tonight I went to my first Arena Football League game. I'm in the OSU athletic band and we played at the game, which was a fun experience. The game itself was interesting to watch. The Destroyer were playing the Austin Wranglers, who scored first to make it 7-0. The Columbus tied it at 7. Each team went on to score on each possession, until the score was 28-28. Austin became the first team to fail to score when they missed a field goal late in the half, and then the Destroyers made a last second field goal to take a 31-28 lead at halftime. In the second half, the Destroyers scored on every possession, while the Wranglers threw 3 interceptions. The final score was 72-49 in favor of Columbus. It was a fun and interesting experience. Columbus is 3-3.

The Indians shut out Chicago today 4-0. Ryan Garko and Josh Barfield each homered in the second inning and Jason Michaels hit an RBI Triple in the 7th and then later scored due to an error. Paul Byrd pitched 6 solid innings to earn the victory. The Tribe is now 5-3.

Also, the Cavs beat the crap out of the Atlanta Hawks tonight, 110-76.
10 diffent Cleveland players scored tonight, and LeBron lead the team with 23. The Cavaliers are now 48-32 and tied with Chicago for the 2nd seed in the NBA playoffs.

Indians win series, Cavs blow out Nets

I'd say the Indians made a positive out of their "home" series in Milwaukee. They won the first game 7-6, then lost the second game 4-1, but came back to win the rubber match today, 4-2. Travis Hafner was the hero of the game. In the bottom of the 8th with the Tribe trailing 2-1 and two men on, Pronk drilled his 1st home run of the season to give the Tribe a 4-2 lead. Then Joe Borowski came in to the game and earned his third save of the season, clinching the 4-2 victory. Two other great plays of the game for the Tribe were: in the 6th inning Grady Sizemore hit his 4th home run of the year and pitcher Jeremy Sowers' barehanded grab and tag of first base that happened after a ground ball bounced off of first base. The Indians are now 4-2 and will play the White Sox tomorrow night in (hopefully) their first full and official game at Jacobs Field this season.

Now to the events that took place tonight at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cleveland Cavaliers pretty much blew out the New Jersey Nets. The score was 92-76, it was cose during the first half, but a 36-19 Cavs advantage in the 3rd quarter ended that. LeBron had 35 points, Houghes scored 19 and Pavlovic added 13. I didn't watch most of this game, but it was never even close in any of the parts I watched. Cleveland is now 47-32 and a lock to have no lower than the 5th seed in the playoffs.

Tribe wins "home" opener

Today at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Indians played their first "home" game of the season. Due to winter weather in Cleveland that postponed all 4 games of the Tribe/Mariners series, Major League Baseball decided to move the entire Tribe/Angels series to the indoor Miller Park. The Indians made themselves at home, and put the Angels away 7-6. Kelly Shoppach hit a 2 run bomb in the 2nd and Casey Blake added a solo shot in the 3rd to give Cleveland an early 3-1 lead. After each home run, the Indians mascot, Slider, got to go down the famous slide that is usually reserved only for the Brewers mascot. Andy Marte hit a doubles in both the 4th and 5th innings, the first one drove in 1 run and the second drove in 2, making the lead 7-3. In the top of the 9th Joe Borowski came in to save a 7-5 lead; he did give up one run, but Kelly Shoppach would gun down Angel pinch runner Erick Aybar for the final out as he tried to steal second. CC Sabathia had a great outing, in 7 innings he struck out 7 and gave up 3 runs - one earned. The Indians are now 3-1, and have two games remaining to play against LA in Milwaukee.
Also, during the game there were several tributes to the movie "Major League" (which was filmed in Milwaukee, and is one of my favorite movies.) Former Indian and current Sports Time Ohio broadcaster Rick Manning was seen wearing the famous black glasses Rick Vaugn wore in the movie, there were several signs by fans in reference to the movie such as one that said "Jobu needs a refill" and probably the coolest thing was when the sound crew people played "Wild Thing" over the PA system when the Indians clser came into the game. 19,000 fans showed up to the game, and it was a great crowd atmosphere the whole game. I take back any negative thing I said about this move, and I thank the people of Milwaukee for being so supportive. I will now consider myself a Brewer fan (unless they're playing the Tribe or the Reds)

Miller Park, home of the Cleveland Indians. WTF?

The Indians were one strike way from winning the home opener. But the idiot umpires decided to delay the game, which was in the top of the fifth inning, the crucial inning which must be completed for a game called due to weather to count. The game ended up getting postponed, and the innings played on Friday meant nothing. The entire 4 game series ended up getting cancelled due to the weather, and will be made up sometime in the future.

Now the Indians next series, a three game home stand against the Angels scheduled for April 10-12, has been moved from Cleveland. The Tribe will play a "home " series in Milwaukee's Miller Park. So basically, the Indians are getting screwed out of true home games, and will play only 78 games at Jacobs Field (and possibly less depending on the rescheduling of the Seattle series). That, and the fact that the umps prematurely ended the Friday game, is bull shit.

Tribe wins a thriller

It was a cold day in Chicago, and also a wild one. The Indians faced the White Sox today in the 2nd game of the season, which had many crazy twists. In the first inning the Sox took a 3-0 lead when Jim Thome hit a 3 run bomb. The Indians responded in the 2nd like so: double by Delucci, triple by Peralta, single by Barfield, homer by Marte (his first).....which gave them a 4-3 lead. In the 4th inning the Tribe scored 1, but then Chicago scored two in both the 4th and 5th to take a 7-5 lead. In the 7th inning, trailing 7-6, Grady Sizemore hit his second homer of the year, a two run blast to give Cleveland a 8-7 lead. The bottom of the 8th was nothing short of sickening to me....after loading the bases with no outs, the Indians got no nuns do to 3 straight strikeouts to end the inning. The Bottom of the ninth was crazy, as Joe Borowski took the hill to attempt his first save as an Indian. First batter, walk....next batter (Thome), strikeout, next batter, walk.....next batter (Dye), strike out. Then with 2 outs and runners at 1st and 2nd, Joe Crede hit a long drive to deep left.....Jason Michaels went back, lost sight of the ball, and the found it again just in time to make a falling down basket catch to end the game. Had it dropped, the Sox would have won.

The Indians are now 2-0 and have scored 20 runs so far this season.

Bucks come up short

Well, it could have happened, but they blew it. What lost the game was the piss poor 3 point shooting. Also, almost every little bounce of the ball went Florida's way. Any time there was a loose ball, Florida would take it and score. Oden was a dominate force...but for the Buckeyes, he was the only dominate force. He had 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks. No one else really stepped up, other than maybe Conley. It was truly a dissapointment.

None-the-less, it was still a great season. A final four banner will go up in the Schottenstein center, and 35-4 is not bad. In fact, 35-4 is actually the best record in NCAA basketball, but that really doesn't mean much. Next year a great recruiting class is coming in, and there is always the possibility of Oden staying, but we'll have to wait and see.

Hell of a way to start the season

Cleveland ---542000010 12 13 0
Chicago -----201000002 5 10 1

The Cleveland Indians kicked of the 2007 season by snapping their 4 game opening day losing streak with a 12-5 win over the White Sox in Chicago today. Grady Sizemore got the party going early when he redirected the second pitch of the game over the right field wall into the Indians bullpen. 5 runs total would score in the first inning as all nine Indians got an at bat. After Chicago answered with a 2 run homer in their half of the first, the Tribe responded with a 4 run second inning, which knocked the Sox starter, Contreras, off the mound and sent him to the showers early. Cleveland would add two more runs in the 3rd to make the score 11-2. Chicago scored 1 in the 3rd and in the bottom of the ninth, trailing 12-3, picked up two meaningless runs off of Indians closer Joe Borowski. CC Sabathia was a bit shaky at first, but settled down and pitched 6 solid innings to earn the win. All but two Indians that came up to bat got a hit, with new face Trot Nixon leading the charge going 3-4 with 3 runs scored and an RBI. Peralta and Martinez each had 3 RBI's and Sizemore went 2-5 with the Tribe's only homer. Hafner went 2-5 with an RBI and another new face, Josh Barfield, had a crucial first inning 2 RBI triple. It was a great opening day for the Indians, who scored their most runs in an opening day since 1925. Cleveland is 1-0 and will be in first place in the Central Division....tied with KC and Minnesota.

Buckeyes advance to National Championshiop Game!

Today was by far the biggest win for the Ohio State Men's Basketball program in my lifetime. For the first time since 1962 the Buckeyes will play for the national title. To get there, they had to defeat a fine Hoya team from Georgetown University, and it was quite a battle. Greg Oden quickly racked up 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes, and as a result sat out the rest of the first half. However, the rest of the team played very well without him, and took a 27-23 lead into halftime. In the second half the momentum of the game went back and forth like crazy. Georgetown would come back and take a lead for a bit, then OSU would take it back, then G'town would tie it, then OSU would extend another lead, then G'town would come back and make it close. This kept going on until the last few minutes when the Buckeyes took control and held on to it. In the final minute Ohio State hit the free throws it needed to and the final score ended up being 67-60. Mike Conley lead the team with 15 points and had 6 assists. Oden scored 13, all in the second half, and grabbed 9 boards. In fact all 9 buckeyes who played in the game scored. Butler had 10, Harris and Lewis each had 9, Lighty had 5, and Hunter, Cook, and Terwilliger each had 2. All in all it was a great team effort that resulted in this huge win. The Buckeyes are now 35-3 and will play the winner of UCLA/Florida in the NCAA National Championship Game on Monday night.

Also today, the Cavaliers beat Chicago 112-108 in overtime. LeBron had 39 points and Houghes and Pavlovic each scored 21. Cleveland was down 108-104 late in OT, but James would lead a 8-0 run to finish the game and improve the Cavs record to 44-29.

Cavs get it done in Indianapolis

The Cavaliers were in Indianapolis to play the Indiana Pacers tonight and came away with a 105-94 win. As usual, LeBron James lead the team in scoring....he had 26 on the night along with 6 assists and 7 boards. The big man, Z, had a great game scoring 23 with 4 rebounds and Eric Snow had 14 points, Sasha Pavlovic had 13, and Drew Gooden had 12. The Cavs decided to take the ball to the hoop in this game and did so very frequently, resulting in a 52% day shooting from the field. Cleveland finished the season series with Indiana, having won 3 of the 4 games. This was the first of a 5 game road trip for the Cavs, who are now 43-28, and they will be in New York to play the Knicks tomorrow.

Final Four!

For the tenth time in school history, the Ohio State Men's Basketball team is heading to the Final Four. On Saturday the #1 seed Buckeyes took on the #2 seed Memphis Tigers in the South Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament. It was a hard fought game and was close until the final minutes, when OSU went on a run of hitting 16 straight free throws to put away UM, 92-76. Senior Ron Lewis again was outstanding, scoring 22 points including 2 threes and 10 free throws as well as 6 rebounds. Mike Conley tossed in 19 points and Oden scored 17 of his own and grabbed 9 boards and blocked a shot. Butler stepped it up and scored 12 including a couple of threes and Lighty and Cook played a big role coming off the bench scoring 7 and 9 points respectively. This win places the Buckeyes in the Final Four in Atlanta where they will play either UNC or Georgetown for a chance to play in the national championship game. OSU is now 34-3 on the year.

This is truly an awesome thing for me...because the last time the Bucks were in the Final Four I was in the 5th grade and I really don't remember it that well.

Back from Florida

I just returned today from spending 5 days in Florida for spring break. Quite a bit happened while I was gone, most importantly, the sweet sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ohio State Buckeyes faced the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday in game I never got to see. When I first got an Internet update of the score it was 34-18 with Tennessee leading, and I began to feel that all was lost. However, the Bucks would come out in the second half and win the game on the strength of the largest come back in NCAA Tournament history for games played in the sweet sixteen of later. OSU trailed 49-29 right before halftime, and won the game 85-84 in regulation. Ron Lewis lead the team with 25 and Conley had 17. These two were the driving force behind the effort and comeback. Oden had a very sub-par game, due to foul trouble. He only had 9 points and 3 rebounds.....but still had 4 blocks, one of which sent Tennessee's last hope shot to the floor. Another key factor in the win was that the bench players Hunter, Cook, Lighty and Terwilliger all stepped up to fill Oden's vacancy by putting up 20 points all together. #1 seed OSU will play #2 seed Memphis in the South Regional final today to see who goes to the final 4.

The Cavs played 3 games while I was gone. They lost to Charlotte and Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday and then beat New York last night. They are now 42-27 and trail Detroit by 1.5 games in both the division and conference.

Lewis saves the day....and the season

Let's get right to it. Today Ohio State played like shit....but still found a way to win. The #9 seed Musketeers of Xavier gave it all they had...and came extremely close to knocking off the #1 seed Buckeyes in NCAA Tournament second round play in Lexington, Kentucky. At halftime OSU held a 4 point lead and I thought that they would step it up and put the game away in the second half....but it was not to be. The Musketeers were dropping 3's like crazy and simply out playing the Buckeyes. With 3 minutes to play in the game Xavier had a 59-50 lead..and I thought all was lost. But the Bucks came storming back with a fury unseen until that point in the game. With less than 20 second to go OSU was down 61-59 and had a chance to take the lead or tie, but a 3 pointer by Butler was no good and the follow-up attempt by Lighty missed as well. There was a mad scrum for the rebounds during all of this with no fouls called...until an XU player came up with the ball and Greg Oden fouled him with 9.3 left in the game. That was Oden's 5th foul and it sent Xavier's Justin Cage to the line with a chance to put the game away by making free throws. He made the first one, making it a 3 point game. Now for the second....it went up and rimmed out...Conley grabbed the rebound and the race to beat the clock was on. With about 4 seconds to go Ron Lewis received the ball and put up a 3 point shot......and hit it. Overtime. In the extra session, the Oden-less Bucks turned to Conley who outscored Xavier by himself, scoring 11 of OSU's 16 overtime points....with Xavier only scoring 9. The final score ended up being OSU 78 XU 71. Ron Lewis led the Bucks in scoring with 27 points, including 4 crucial threes as well as 8 rebounds. Mike Conley finished with 21 points and Greg Oden had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jamar Butler also had a good game, hitting 3 threes and scoring 13 points total. Ohio State is now 32-3 on the year and will face the winner of Tennessee/Virginia in the sweet sixteen in San Antonio, Texas next week. They will definitely need to step it up if they want to win another game. Today was pathetic, well, until the end.

For the Cavs, another win was also in order. The hated Carlos Boozer mad his first trip back to Cleveland since leaving the Cavs to play for Utah. Despite being constantly booed he actually played a decent game, putting up 19 points as well as grabbing 14 rebounds. But late in the game, with Utah down 79-73...he missed two key free throws, to the enjoyment of the crowd, which helped secure the 82-73 win by the Cavs. LeBron James scored 24 points, with 10 of them coming all at once as part of a key 12-0 run by the Cavs in the 4th quarter.....and he also grabbed a season high 17 rebounds. Sasha Pavlovic was again outstanding with 21 points and Drew Gooden tossed in 14 points of his own as well as having 12 rebounds. It was the 8th straight win for Cleveland, who are now 41-25.

OSU wins in first round....easily

CCSU just never really had a chance. Jamar Butler was on fire from behind the 3 point line, and Greg Oden dominated the inside as #1 seed Ohio State rolled past #16 seed Central Connecticut State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The Buckeyes, who shot 55% from 3 point land, won the game by a score of of 78-57 and will play Xavier in the second round on Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky. Butler went 5-6 from 3 point range, scoring 17 points as well dishing out 5 assists. Oden lead the Buckeyes in scoring with 19, as well as in rebounds with 10. Ron Lewis had 3 threes as part of his 13 points and Daequan Cook knocked down 2 threes and had a total of 9 points. The OSU/Xavier showdown is a big deal in Ohio because Xavier has always wanted a shot at OSU. There is also another factor that the media will definitely hype to an annoying extent....and is the fact that current Ohio State coach Thad Matta was the former coach of Xavier, and that just 3 years ago he led the Musketeers to the elite 8, and that the freshmen from that 2004 team are now seniors at Xavier...and will be playing against their former coach. It should be a great game.
Thursday's win improves the Buckeyes record to 31-3.

In spring training news, the Indians beat Tampa Bay 5-0.

LeBron-less Cavs still able to blow out Sacramento

LeBron James missed Tuesday night's game in Cleveland against the Kings, but it didn't matter. The Cavs destroyed Sacramento 124-100, and made it look easy. All 5 starters scored in double figures. Sasha Pavlovic was on fire, scoring 25 points including 3 threes and going 6-6 from the free throw line. Larry Houghes also had a great game, with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Ilgauskas and Gooden each had 10 rebounds, with Z scoring 19 and Drew scoring 10. Also, Ira Newble had his first start of the year and was very productive, scoring 12 points (9 of them from 3 point shots) and grabbing 7 boards. This is Cleveland's 6th straight win and it improves their record to 39-25.

Big Ten Tournament Champions!

The Ohio State Buckeyes are champions of the Big Ten. Period. They have now won both the regular season and tournament titles. To win the title, the Buckeyes had to get past the Wisconsin Badgers, who are the only Big Ten Team to beat OSU this year, as well as the team OSU had to beat (49-48) to clinch the regular sason title on Feb. 25th. The game was low scoring and defensive at first, with the halftime score being 26-20 in favor of OSU. Then in the second half the Buckeyes took control. There were a few times where the Badgers were able to close the gap to 4, but eventually the Bucks proved to be too much for Wisconsin. The final score was 66-49, but it could have been much worse, given that OSU squandered numerous prime scoring opportunities. Greg Oden was not quite as productive as yesterday, but still managed to score 12 points, grab 10 rebounds, block 4 shots and have a few put-back slam dunks. Mike Conley was the player of the game, with his 18 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists....he pretty much controlled the flow of the game. Ron Lewis was also outstanding, hitting a couple of big 3's and scoring 17 points. Ohio State has now been confirmed as the #1 seed in the South Regional Bracket and will play #16 seed Central Connecticut State in the first round on Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Cavs also won today, beating the Indiana Pacers 99-88 at home. LeBron James had 26 points and 7 rebounds, Larry Houghes had 23 points and 7 assists and Drew Gooden added 19 points and 8 boards. This was the Cavaliers 5th straight win, improving their record to 38-25.

Also, the Indians beat the Yankees 4-3 today in spring training play. Fausto Carmona had 3 scoreless innings pitched and David Delucci (new to the Tribe this year) had a solo home run.

OSU to play Big Ten title game....Cavs pull one out

Ohio State beat Purdue today 63-52 in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament. Greg Oden simply dominated. He had 17 points, and a record 19 rebounds (9 offensive)...as well as the usual 4 blocks. The biggest play he had was when he turned an offensive rebound into a massive dunk that broke the Boilermakers' spirit late in the game. Ron Lewis also had a good day with 13 points, including a 3 in the second half that gave the Buckeyes a 5 point lead (then the biggest of the game) and marked the beginning of the end for Purdue. Mike Conley had 11 points and 6 rebounds, Ivan Harris stepped up to score 10, and Jamar Butler had 7 points and 4 assists. The Buckeyes will play the Wisconsin Badgers tomorrow for the Big Ten Tournament Championship, though the game will have almost no impact on whether or not OSU takes a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney....it's pretty much a lock.

As for the Cavaliers, they found themselves down 89-81 late in the 4th quarter in Milwaukee tonight, but managed to come through. Anderson Varejao put the Cavs up by two with ten seconds to go, and after former Buckeye Mike Redd's tying attempt for Milwaukee fell short the Cavaliers were able to claim a 94-92 victory over the Bucks. Lebron scored 32 points with 9 assists and 8 rebounds, and Donyell Marshal had 19 points and hit 5 crucial threes. The Cavs had started the 4th quarter down by 12. Cleveland is now 37-25 and still 2 games back of Detroit.

It's 3:45 pm...and Michigan still sucks

Whether it's in Columbus, in Ann Arbor, or on a neutral court....it doesn't really make a difference....because in each case the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team will beat Michigan. OSU proved that this year and is now 3-0 vs UM this season, as well as 6-0 vs UM since coach Thad Matta took over. Today was the first game of the Big Ten Tournament's quarterfinal round, and Ohio State put the final nail in Michigan's coffin by beating the Wolverines 72-62. For the Buckeyes, the win means a spot in the Big Ten semi finals vs Purdue, as well as basically a lock to be a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney. As for Michigan....well let's say their fate begins with an N, ends with a T, and has an I in the middle. Greg Oden was a dominant force today, scoring 22 points as well as grabbing 8 rebounds and blocking 4 shots. Ron Lewis went 5-8 from the floor and added 4 free throws to score 16, and Mike Conley contributed 13 points and 6 assists. The Buckeyes have now won their school record 28th game of the season, and at 28-3 are ranked #1 in both polls.

In spring training news, the Indians defeated the Reds today in Sarasota, FL. Grady Sizemore hit a two run homer in the 5th, and the final score was 7-3.

Two Overtime Wins

Tonight I spent 7 hours doing a paper that's due in about 9 hours from now. My procrastination prevented me from being able to see any of these games today, but here's what went down while I was typing away. The Cleveland Cavaliers invaded the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan to play the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons. Lebron James was unstoppable, putting up 41 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. He was constantly driving the lane and scoring, and with the game tied with .09 seconds to go, he hit a three point shot at the buzzer.....but it would be reviewed and waved off. In overtime the Cavs put the Pistons away, and won the game 101-97. Drew Goden was the second highest scorer for Cleveland with 22, Z had 14 and Houghes had 12. It was a huge win, putting the Cavs just 2 games back of Detroit for both the division and conference lead, with a record of 36-25.

For the Columbus Blue Jackets, overtime would also be needed. They were playing host to the LA Kings tonight and at the start of the 3rd period were down 2-1. But David Vyborny would take over and be the hero of the game. He scored to tie the game in the 3rd period, and then again on a power play with 21.4 seconds to go in OT to win it. The 3-2 win gave Columbus their 3rd straight win, and an overall record of 27-33-7. The Jackets are now 22-20-5 since the hiring of coach Ken Hichcock.

And in Tribe news, Cleveland beat Tampa Bay 10-2 today in Grapefruit League play.

Ohio State dashes Michigan's tourney hopes

The Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes finished off their regular season today in Ann Arbor. Something else they finished off: any hope of Michigan making the NCAA tournament (barring some miraculous event in which UM wins the B10 tourney). Before the game the stage seemed set for an upset. The reason for this was that the game was @ Michigan, the Bucks had already clinched the Big Ten title, UM desperately needed a win, and it was UM's senior day. As the game progressed, this idea of the upset happening grew much more realistic, as the Wolverines were playing with a great effort and held a 3 point lead at the half. The second half wasn't much different, as the Buckeyes failed to covert on key opportunities, thus keeping UM in the lead. With 3:54 left UM opened up a 6 point lead at 61-55, and I thought all was lost. However, those would be the last points Michigan would score in the game. Ohio State would go on a 10-0 run to finish the game and win 65-61. Some key points in Michigan' late game demise were: a botched wide open dunk opportunity, a missed front end of a one-and-one that could have potentially tied the game, costly turnovers, and of course....excellent play by OSU to turn all of these mistakes into fast break points. I was literally laughing at UM in the closing seconds and it almost looks like Oden was as well (in the picture), it was so pathetic. Oden and Lewis each had 16 points and Conley had 11. The Buckeyes are now 27-3, and will play their next game in Chicago in the Big Ten Tournament....against the winner of the Michigan/Minnesota game.

Now for some Cavaliers news. The Cavs defeated the Toronto Raptors 120-97 tonight. This game was not on TV in Columbus, so I didn't get to see it. But anyway, Lebron had 36 points and Larry Houghes had 27. It was a solid win at home and it improves the Cavs record to 34-25.

Also tonight, the Blue Jackets defeated Phoenix 4-3. It was their second straight road win in as many days, and their 12th road win this season, a franchise record. Rick nash had 2 goals and goalie Brian Boucher got his first win in a Columbus uniform. They are now 26-33-7.

Baseball!

Today was the first spring training game for the Cleveland Indians. They opened Grapefruit League play at home in Winter Haven against the Houston Astros, and beat them 13-2. The Tribe had 16 hits and scored in 6 of the 8 innings they batted in. Victor Martinez had 3 of those hits, including a 3 run home run in the 3rd. Jake Westbrook started the game and only pitched two innings, which was enough to earn the win.

It's nice to have baseball back, and I can't wait for the season opener.

Big Ten Champions!

The Ohio State Buckeyes have won the Big Ten Conference regular season title. This statement is true for 2 different teams, the OSU men's basketball team, and the OSU women's basketball team. The women played their last regular season game today at Michigan, and defeated the Wolverines 72-58 to secure the outright Big Ten title, finishing the regular season 26-2 (15-1).

Now on to the men. The #1 (coaches poll) Buckeyes played host to the #1 (AP Poll) Wisconsin Badgers. The circumstances were simple: a win today would clinch the Big Ten regular season title despite the fact that there is one more game to go at Michigan....or a loss today would create a situation in which OSU could still share the title by beating Michigan, or possibly still win it outright if they beat UM and Wisconsin loses to MSU. They chose the former, and beat the Badgers 49-48 in a thriller at the Schottenstein Center to win their second outright Big Ten title in as many years. The game was close the whole way, with the largest lead by either team being only 6 points. The Badgers controlled the game in the early minutes, but the Bucks came back and held a 25-22 lead at halftime. In the second half things got really tight. With about a minute left UW took a one point lead, and the Bucks failed to score on their next possession. OSU began fouling in order to send UW to the line for one-and-one, and by the time they got to the bonus there was only 20 seconds left. When the Wisconsin shooter missed the front end of the one-and-one, the Bucks recovered the rebound and called timeout with 16 seconds left. The ensuing Buckeye possession ended with Mike Conley driving the lane and putting up a shot that bounced around the rim and then fell in with 3.9 seconds to go. Wisconsin would have one more chance, but to the dismay of the Badger faithful, UW's last second shot would fall harmlessly to the floor after being cleanly blocked by Ron Lewis. The win improved the Buckeyes record to 26-3 (14-1). Ivan Harris lead the Bucks in scoring with 13 points and Conley and Oden each had 11.

It was an awesome game, and the crowd was louder than any I've ever been a part of in an arena. The one thing that made me mad was the officials, they were terrible. The called almost none of the seemingly obvious fouls but instead called a multitude of ticky tack off-the-ball fouls. After one call where Oden was caught "traveling", despite the fact he was practically being raped from behind, the crowd went ballistic and started throwing their rally towels toward the court. Only a few made it to the hard wood, but many could be seen flying into the lower deck after being thrown from the upper deck.

After the game I stayed around for the championship trophy presentation and net cutting ceremony. Ohio State is now the first school in NCAA history to win outright conference championships in football, men's basketball and women's basketball in the same sports year. It was truly a great day to be a Buckeye.

The Bucks are one win away from outright Big Ten title

Both the men's and women's basketball teams at OSU need to win their next game to secure their respective outright Big Ten regular season titles. On Wednesday the men defeated Penn State 68-60, and today the women also defeated Penn State, 78-61. Now the men's game was no walk in the park. The Nittany Lions came out strong and actually had a 3 point lead at the half. But the Buckeyes would come back in the 2nd half and eventually take the momentum of the game, resulting in the 8 point win.
So here is the situation for the men: They have two games left, and a 1 game lead over the Wisconsin Badgers. If they beat UW on Sunday, they clinch the outright Big Ten title, regardless of the season's final game, at Michigan. If they lose, a win at Michigan would still get the Bucks a split title, or even the outright title, if Wisconsin were to lose their last game (vs MSU). I'll be at the game Sunday, and it should be a good one.
Now for the women: They have already clinched at least a tie for the Big Ten regular season title. They lead Purdue and MSU by one game, with one game to go. The lady Bucks last game is at Michigan, and a win would secure the outright title. I'm 99% confident of a win, because Michigan sucks. No, this is not just a figure of speech, at 3-10 in the league, UM's women's team is the 10th best team in the Big Ten.

Now for some Cavs news. On Wednesday Cleveland won a 86-85 thriller in Toronto that broke the Raptors' 8 game home winning streak. The winning points came from the "Wild Thing" Anderson Verejao who grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home with 16 seconds to go. Tonight though, the Cavs fell at home to the Bulls 84-78. Cleveland is now 32-23.

Variety Post

OSU Basketball:
The Buckeyes defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 85-67 today in Minneapolis. It was a good team effort and a solid win. The scoring was certainly spread around...Greg Oden had 19 points, Ron Lewis had 16, Othello Hunter had 15, and Ivan Harris had 14. Ohio State is now 24-3 overall, 12-1 in the Big Ten (tied with Wisconsin for 1st), and after Florida's loss to Vanderbilt has a good chance of being #1 come Monday.

NBA All Star Game:
Like normal, the NBA All Star Game was crappy. You can always tell the players don't really care and there is never any defense. The West won over the East 153-132. Last years MVP Lebron James had 28 points, making him the highest scorer for the Eastern Conference.

Nascar:
Wow! What a crazy finish to the Daytona 500. I will say, I was pulling for Martin at the end, and was disappointed when Harvick passed him by a nose to win. The crash that took place behind Harvick and Martin was amazing. Cars were sliding and wrecking all over the place. The driver of the #7 crossed the finish line sliding upside down and on fire. He was fine though, his car flipped back over on the infield grass and he was able to escape. I've seen crazy wrecks and I've seen close finishes, but I can't recall a time where there was a combination of both right at the end of such a big race. I was happy that there was such an exciting ending. This truly was "The Great American Race."

Hint of Spring

Today marks he beginning of another season of Indians baseball, as it is report day for pitchers and catchers. In the coming days past and prospective players will start filtering in to camp at Winter Haven, Florida. The full team report day is February 20th and the first spring training game will be March 1st. The Tribe's front office has been busy this past off season, singing several relievers including Keith Foulke, Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz, Joe Borowski and Cliff Politte to improve the bullpen. They also brought in Trot Nixon and David Dellucci as well as a few others to help beef up the bench. Some big names returning to Cleveland in 2007 are Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Casey Blake, Hector Luna, Jason Michaels, Paul Byrd, Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee, and CC Sabathia. Also returning from last year are some young and prospective players like Shin-Soo Chin, Andy Marte, Ryan Garko, Joe Inglett and Fernando Cabrera. Most of these guys will have to compete for their spots on the team during spring training, as well as a few of the new players. Another note is that Brad Snyder, who is from my hometown of Bellevue, OH will be attending his second year of spring training for the Tribe. Best of luck to him on making the team.....though he'll probably end up in AAA Buffalo this year. Last year he played for AA Akron.

Here's to a good season. Go Tribe.