124 points, and a shootout thriller

124...that's how many points the Cavaliers scored in their win against Golden State on Tuesday. And you know what?....LeBron James sat the game out to rest his slightly injured toe. Now, I didn't actually get to watch this game, because I was busy reffing OSU intramural basketball and getting bitched at by college kids who take intramurals way too seriously. Anyway, Pavlovic lead the team with a career high 24 points, and the Cavs hit a season high 12 three pointers. The final score was 124-97, and the Cavs are now 26-19.

On to the NHL....I turned on the Blue Jackets game at the beginning of the 3rd period, and they were tied with Vancouver 2-2. The Jackets played the playoff contending Canucks toe to toe resulting in a scoreless 3rd period, and then another stalemate in OT, sending the game to a shootout. Vancouver went first, and missed. Then David Vyborny scored to give Columbus a 1-0 lead...which was short lived, as the Canucks hit their next attempt. After Rick Nash missed his attempt, the shootout went into the 3rd round tied at 1. Conklin, the Jacket goalie had a nice glove save to foil Vancouver's last attempt...giving Jacket shooter Nikolai Zherdev a chance to win the game. His shot beat Vancouver goalie Luongo and went in, giving the Jackets a 3-2 win. This was Columbus' 4th straight win, and they are now 20-25.

Blue Jackets Baby!

Tonight I attended my first ever NHL game. Two weeks ago I bought a ticket online to see the Blue Jackets take on the Buffalo Sabres, thinking it was just an average home game, but when I got to Nationwide Arena, I saw what must have been at least 1,000 Buffalo fans crowded about the entrance...all chanting "Lets go Buff-a-lo" over and over again. I soon found out that this was no ordinary game, but that the Jackets were facing the team who currently is the best in the the NHL Eastern Conference and the 2nd best in the entire NHL. In the hour leading up the the game Sabres fans strutted about the arena repeating their simple chants and acting very sure of a win....in fact, I'll admit that I was pretty sure Buffalo would win too. Then the game started, and the Jackets held their own and looked decent. They scored first on a Rick Nash power play goal to take a 1-0 lead, but soon found themselves tied 1-1 after the Sabres answered with a power play goal of their own. The 2nd period went like it should have on paper. Buffalo dominated Columbus and out shot them 15-4,. However, the Sabres only got one goal out of it, and took a 2-1 lead into the 2nd intermission. They key play of the 2nd period came with 18 seconds left when Buffalo failed to score on a penalty shot they had been awarded when a Columbus player tripped a Sabre who had a breakaway attempt. This gave the Jackets some momentum which they took into the 3rd period. With 14:38 to go in the game Rostislav Klesla scored to tie the game at 2, and the Jackets faithful at Nationwide Arena soon began to sense something and the atmosphere changed a bit. The "Lets go Sabres" cheers that dominated the 2nd period were now being drowned out by "Lets go Jackets" cheers. Then, 4 minutes later the place went absolutely nuts.....a shot by Jason Chimera was blocked and the rebound went to Dan Fritsche, whose first attempt was blocked by Sabre goalie Ryan Miller and it rebounded right back to Dan....and he put it in. The Jackets now had a 3-2 lead, and proceded to sit on it, by playing outstanding defense. With 2:29 to play the Jackets got a power play, and then a minute later got another. This power play prevented Buffalo from being able to pull their goalie, and the Jackets were able to run out the clock and claim victory. It was a great game and I'm glad I chose it to be my first. Buffalo fans were shocked and frustrated as they left the arena. It was a very fun atmosphere for Jackets fans. Columbus is now 19-25.

In other news, the Cavs beat Philadelphia 105-97 and are now 25-18 and in a three way tie for first in the Eastern Conference.

Hoops post: Buckeyes and Cavaliers

Saturday night the Buckeyes played host to the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, and I was there. The Bucks started off leading 9-0, but Iowa quickly came back and the game was close for most of the first half. OSU took a double digit lead into halftime, but another run by the Hawkeyes brought Iowa within 4 early in the 2nd half. Then, the Bucks exploded and took a commanding lead, and went on to win 82-63. The victory was led by the dominating force of Greg Oden, who finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. He must have had at least 7 dunks, a couple of which were offensive rebound slams where he seemingly came out of nowhere.

Now on to the Cavs, who were in Oakland playing the Golden State Warriors. When I turned this game on, it was in the 3rd quarter and they were down 65-46....so I changed channels and watched Mythbusters for a while. Then one of my roommates said, "hey, check the game, you'll be surprised" so I did...and saw that Cleveland had a 90-89 lead late in the 4th. a bit later, with the score tied at 98, LeBron James' 3 point try at the buzzer caught iron and the game went into OT. The Cavs opened up the extra session by scoring the first 5 points, taking control of OT. However, with 7 seconds left and up 106-104, the Cavs turned the ball over on an inbound attempt, and the Warriors had a chance to win it or go for the tie with their next possession. But James tipped the ball away from Golden State and Drew Gooden grabbed it and was fouled with 2.1 left.....and missed both free throws. So Golden State would have one more chance, but a 3 pointer at the buzzer was no good, giving the Cavs a 106-104 win. This was the last game of a 7 game western road trip, in which the Cavs went 3-4. They are now 24-16 and tied for the leading spot in the Eastern Conference.

Blue Jackets grab OT win

The Blue Jackets were in Chicago Tuesday in a hard fought match against the Blackhawks. After 60 minutes of hockey, the game was knotted up at 4 a piece. In regulation, Chicago and Columbus each scored 1 in the 1st period, 2 in the 2nd period and 1 in the 3rd period. But in overtime, the Jackets were the only team to score, breaking their 4 game losing streak. The game winning goal came off the stick of Jason Chimera, who beat Blackhawk goalie Nikolai Khabibulin between the legs with 2:31 left in OT to clinch the victory. Chimera was the fifth Jacket to score a goal in the game, and is seen pictured above (#25) with Anders Eriksson (#2) during the post game celebration.

Big win at Home

The Buckeye basketball team found itself in quite a pressure situation against Tennessee earlier today. After giving up a ten point 2nd half lead, the Bucks found themselves down by 1 with 23.9 seconds left in the game, with the Volunteers' best free throw shooter at the line for a 1 and 1. However, Lofton would miss and the Bucks would recover and with 11.2 seconds to go, Ron Lewis hit a three that proved to be the game winner, and the Buckeyes prevailed 68-66. Greg Oden led the team with 24 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. Ohio State is now 14-3 (2-1).

Best in the East.....(for the moment)

At 22-12, the Cavaliers are currently the team with the best record in the Eastern conference, leading Detroit by 1 game and Orlando by 1.5. Last night the Cavs were down by 15 points at halftime in Sacramento, but a 42-12 run from the end of the 3rd quarter into the 4th turned the tables and they took a commanding lead. The Kings would make one final run, but Cleveland was able to hold on and win by ten, 108-98. The biggest part of the turn around was the staunch defense the Cavs played, and it helped that LeBron James hit 3 three-pointers in a row on the offensive side to help build the newfound lead. This was the first game out of 7 Cleveland plays on this western road trip, with their next game coming on Thursday in Phoenix.

Disgust

41-14. How in the hell did this happen? It didn't help that Florida got almost every little break to go their way, and the Bucks pissed away almost every opportunity.

Wins across the board

Well last night I attended an Ohio State hockey game, because I play in the pep band. The Puck Bucks played Alaska-Fairbanks and proceeded to beat the Nanooks 6-2. The main thing to talk about in this game was the fight that took place after an Alaska player basically tacked an OSU player who was attempting a shot a the empty Alaska net with 2:00 to go in the 3rd. This was quite a fight, because it involved about 10 players and consisted of several separate battles. One thing I'll add, it's funny to watch hockey players fight because they're half worried about punching the guy and half worried about trying not to fall down in the process. It took the refs 5+ minutes to sort it all out and in the end, two players were ejected (1 from each team) and about 4-5 players from each team were given various penalties all together totaling over 30 minutes. You gotta love hockey.

Because I was at the hockey game I didn't see the Cavs or Jackets, but they both won. Cleveland beat Milwaukee 95-86 and Columbus defeated Anaheim 4-3, by scoring 4 goals in the 3rd period, with 3 of them coming in a span of 1:54. It was a good day overall in my world of sports.

LLLLLoyd Carr

What can I say about Lloyd Carr? One thing is... that that at the rate he's currently going, I hope he remains the coach of Michigan football for years to come. Any Buckeye fan would. Since the hiring of Jim Tressel, Lloyd is 1-5 vs Ohio state and 1-5 in bowl games. This a trend I wouldn't mind seeing continue for years to come. It just seems that Tressel has his number. In 2005, Lloyd led his team to its worst season since 1984 at 7-5. Even Minnesota beat them last year, and of course the Buckeyes prevailed in Ann Arbor. The end of their season at the Alamo Bowl was one of the funniest things I've seen. You probably remember the crazy lateraling and "everyone and their brother on the field while it happened" type play that "almost was" and how Michigan gave up yet another 4th quarter lead to let Nebraska back into the game in the first place.

Then came 2006. Lloyd led the team to an 11-0 start and the #2 ranking and all was well in wolverineland. Then came Nov. 18. The Buckeyes 42-39 win over Michigan sent the Wolverines into a downward spiral. First, they were passed in the polls by USC and then Florida, denying them another shot at OSU and at the national title. Then 3 days ago, UM played in its 3rd Rose Bowl in 4 years. The Wolverines played decent at first, but then looked like crap in the second half. USC beat them soundly, making all 3 of those recent Rose Bowl appearances for Michigan loses. In that game Lloyd seemed to send a message to UM fans that he was going win playing traditional style football or lose trying. And that's the style I want him to have....because he'll do the later more than not if he tries that against OSU in the future. So any way, to sum it up: Lloyd is a loser of big games, and that's how I want the coach of my biggest rival to be.

Cavs down Celtics

Last night the Cavaliers were in Boston. They started off trailing 10-2, but quickly erased that Celtics lead, only to fall behind again. This time the Celtics held the lead until early in the 4th quarter, at which point the Cavs overtook Boston and built a double digit lead. However, Cleveland would squander the big lead and make it close in the end. When a desperation 3 by Boston caught iron an bounced away as time expired, the 107-104 victory was secured and the Cavs had finally won two road games in a row. My favorite play was at the end of the first half when Lebron James caught a short attempt at a 3 by another Cavalier and put it up behind his head and in with 00:00:02 left in the period. The Cavs are now 19-12, and in second place in the division.

In other news, the Jackets lost 3-0 to the LA Kings. I didn't stay up to watch it, and I'm glad I didn't. Columbus is 15-21-4 and in 4th place in the central division.

Also, Notre Dame proved once again that if they play a top 10 team, they'll get blown out. LSU crushed the Irish 41-14 in last nights Sugar Bowl.

State of the Browns

No matter how bad they suck, I'll always be a Cleveland Browns fan. This year wasn't the best season at 4-12.

Here are some positives and negatives from this season:

Positives:

-Hey, they beat 2 playoff teams this year! Both of the Browns home wins came against the AFC wildcard teams (31-28 vs KC and 20-13 vs NYJ)

-They beat Michael Vick (CLE 17 ATL 13). (Not that that's saying much this year)

-The bad record will give them the 3rd pick in the draft.

-They had two comebacks wins from deficits of 14 points or more (@OAK and vs KC)

-There was a thrilling OT win (KC)

-The team is still in Cleveland

Negatives:

-0-6 in the division. For the first time in team history, the Browns fail to win a division game.

-The damn Steelers have tied the overall series at 55 apiece.

-Injuries. (what else is new)

-The Offensive line sucks. Frye might do a lot better if he had any time to work with.

-Frye has a tendency to lock in on his primary receiver, and as a result throws many INTs.

-They blew 4th quarter leads at home to both Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

-The last two games of the season. They lost to 2 of the leagues worst teams (TB and HOU)

That's all I got for now. When it comes to the Browns, there's always next year....

Cavaliers and Buckeyes each with big wins

Yesterday was a good day in basketball for me. Last night the Cavaliers beat the San Antonio Spurs 82-78 and the Buckeyes beat the Indiana Hoosiers 74-67.

The Cavs improved their record to 18-12 and earned a season sweep over the Spurs. This win came on the strength of a 38 point 4th quarter. I didn't get to see this game, but I'm glad they won.

For the Buckeyes (now 12-2) this was their first Big Ten game. Indiana is a pretty big basketball rival. Hoosier fans usually revert to how good their basketball team is when their football team is made fun of, so it was great to beat them in both sports. My favorite part of the game was when Greg Oden blocked a shot in the closing minute to secure the win. He knocked the ball halfway up the court, keeping it in-bounds and the clock running. He is such a beast and I can't wait for his cast to come off. One thing I noticed was that OSU missed a lot of 3 pointers while Indiana seemed to hit almost every 3 they tried. It was frustrating at times, but the fact that they won is most important.

So this is the beginning

Hi, I am an Ohio State Student from north central Ohio. This is my first blog, so I don't know how great it will be or how long it will last.

Anyway, I created this blog to talk about my favorite sports teams, which include Ohio State athletics, the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Columbus Bluejackets. And I sometimes pay attention to the Columbus Crew (MLS) and Columbus Destroyers (Arena Football) as well. My posts will mostly deal with these teams. There might be a few shots at my teams' rivals as well.

We'll see how it goes.