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

.

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.

.

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.