This morning, the Cleveland Indians announced that they have purchased the contracts of seven players and added them to their 40-man roster. Among the seven is Jordan Brown, whom we have discussed around these parts for a good portion of the last two seasons.
With Andy Marte getting his just due with the big boys last season, the move kept Brown with the Columbus Clippers. In fact, Brown was in Triple-A for two straight seasons – something that is not very common among top prospects. But with the influx of young talented outfielders like Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley, Brown had been placed on the back burner despite solid hitting statistics.
At this point the news has spread and most everyone in the Ohio State community is aware of the passing of NE Ohio native Stefanie Spielman last night after her fifth bout with breast cancer.
Together with her husband Chris and her family, Spielman fought cancer on a public stage and helped to change the image of a cancer patient. From her first diagnosis the Spielmans worked together to raise funds to fight cancer. For eleven years, through four recurrences of the disease, she made her fight with breast cancer public and raised over six and a half million dollars for the James Cancer Hospital to fight cancer.
We at WFNY want to express our condolences and sincere gratitude to her family for being so open and strong and passionate and honest. It’s often the case that in death people are memorialized and put on a pedestal. This is not an instance of that. Stefanie Spielman truly was a hero, in every sense of the word.
I missed the Ohio State UNC game last night and headed to ESPN this morning to check out the highlights. According to what I read, Ohio State made a bit of a run at the end of the game to make it interesting. Then again, according to the “highlight” video on ESPN, UNC scored 5 buckets and Ohio State didn’t score any.
ALL EYES ACROSS THE LEAGUE WILL BE GLUED TO THIS GAME. The two most hapless franchises in the league, battling it out to see who might be the worst football team of the decade—and possibly of all time—in front of maybe 400 fans. Browns! Lions! The NFL on CBS! (That sound you hear is league and CBS executives banging their heads on their office walls…)
Total offense: Detroit, 26th (15.9 ppg); Cleveland, 32nd (8.7 ppg). Total defense: Cleveland, 28th (25.0 papg); Detroit, 32nd (29.3 papg). That’s right. The league’s worst offense against the league’s worst defense. The real “battle” will be the high-20’s matchups between Detroit’s offense and Cleveland’s defense. This game is gonna be AWESOME. Without further ado…
Tomorrow afternoon The Ohio State University and The University of Michigan will square off on the football field for the 106th time. Despite DP’s unfortunate allegiance to the Maize and Blue, this site is obviously a pro-Ohio State site. Yes, we focus on professional sports, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t Scarlet and Gray in the hearts and souls of most of us who write for this site. Speaking personally, as an alumnus of The Ohio State University, The Game is of utmost importance and it tends to dominate my thoughts around this time of the year.
While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
“If LeBron [James] truly decides to change his number, he has to file his intentions in early March with the league office. That is, unless, he plans to join another team next season. [...] Does David Stern let him bypass the policy to keep the mystery?” [Stepien Rules]
We’re admittedly a little OSU heavy this week, but that’s because it’s the most wonderful week of the year. Here are my tips for how to survive the dive into Mirror Lake tonight:
2) Wear a goofy outfit – if you’re gonna do something dumb for fun, might as well be dressed for the part. My old standby was gym shorts, a bow tie, and top hat. That’s all I wore, and 60% of the time it worked – every time.
With the first rendition of Nike’s LeBron James Witness campaign gracing Cleveland for two seasons, many folks thought that the one that is currently displayed along Ontario Ave. would be replaced this season. Rumors swirled that a new version of the 10-story banner was to be hung within the last few days, but as it turns out, the city of Cleveland has turned down Nike’s proposal. Read the rest of this entry →
Sometimes you can hear a story about a future event that’s a couple years away and you can forget about it until the time draws near. That’s the case with this story. It was a few years back when the Big Ten first started kicking around the idea of adding a mid-season bye week for every team in the Big Ten, thus extending the season from 12 weeks to 13 weeks.
There are several reasons for doing this, not the least of which is that it theoretically will help the elite teams in the conference avoid a mid-season letdown game and stay undefeated, thus giving the conference a better shot of getting a team into the BCS Title Game. Furthermore, the idea is that it will help recruiting by being able to ensure kids a week off in the middle of the season.
As a person who loves tradition, though, this saddens me greatly. Growing up in Ohio, you could count on this time of year, when the air begins to chill, the leaves have fallen, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and OSU-Michigan will partake in The Game every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Read the rest of this entry →
November 19, 2009By: WFNYCraig on Twitter Category: Cleveland Browns
How many times in the histories of these two cities would a game not sell out? I know the Indians and Tigers don’t sell out over the summer, but there are enough Tigers fans who make the trip to Cleveland for me to know there should be interest enough to sell out an NFL game. That is, of course, unless you are talking about two of the worst teams in the NFL. Buffalo, St. Louis and Oakland aren’t going quietly in the race to the bottom, but Cleveland and Detroit definitely both belong in the conversation. So this clash of the titans will definitely be blacked out in Detroit this weekend as Cleveland fans will assuredly not be able to motivate themselves enough to go to Detroit for this horror-fest of a game. Read the rest of this entry →
Columbus Blue Jackets (11-6-2, 24pts) vs. Dallas Stars (9-5-6, 24pts) American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX Thursday, November 19, 2009 8:30 PM EST FSOhio TV/WWCD(fm)/WBNS(am)
The Jackets bounced back from the 9-1 drubbing at the hands of Detroit by finishing their home stand with two shoot-out wins. In those wins they did not play up to their full potential, but were able to get the win. That’s a main difference between Jackets teams of the past and this year’s team: they have been able to win games when not bringing their best effort because they have more talent and experience. Dallas has always been a proverbial thorn in the side of the Jackets, and this first meeting kicks off a five game road trip for Columbus.
November 19, 2009By: WFNYCraig on Twitter Category: Cleveland Indians
It is amazing how dates like this can sneak up on you when your expectations are nil. The Indians were semi-active last season in free agency. They went out and signed Mark DeRosa, Carl Pavano, and Kerry Wood. This season? Not so much. At this point, it is tough for me to even sit here and tell you what the Indians’ needs are. I know the Tribe could use a lot of proven players in a lot of positions. Then again, they are so filled with youth and prospects all over the field that you never quite know when you will want a veteran to just get out of the way. Unless that veteran is David Dellucci. I always wanted him to get out of the way. Read the rest of this entry →
1. causing resentful displeasure; highly irritating, angering, or annoying: offensive television commercials.
2. unpleasant or disagreeable to the sense: an offensive odor.
3. repugnant to the moral sense, good taste, or the like; insulting: an offensive remark; an offensive joke.
While the 2009-10 Cleveland Cavaliers have begun to show some signs of life over the last couple weeks, particularly on offense, something that has gone unnoticed for the most part is the unraveling of the defense.
I mentioned in the recap of last night’s game that the Cavaliers have now given up 100+ points in an astonishing four straight games, and five times total on the season. Lets try to put this into perspective. Last season, the Cavaliers didn’t give up their fifth 100+ point game until January 19th, almost 3 months into the season. They didn’t give up back-to-back 100+ point games until February 4th and 8th. They never once gave up 100+ points in three or more consecutive games. Read the rest of this entry →
While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
So when Mangini was talking about evaluating their injuries, this is what he meant… “Punter Dave Zastudil, who may have been headed to the Pro Bowl for the first time, and tight end Steve Heiden, the second-longest-tenured Brown on the active roster, were placed onto the Injured Reserve List late Wednesday afternoon and thus will be lost for the rest of the season. It’s more bad news for the bandaged-up and beaten-down Browns, who, at 1-8 and having lost four in a row, stagger to Detroit on Sunday to face the equally staggering 1-8 Lions, losers of six straight.” [The OBR] Read the rest of this entry →
The Cleveland Cavaliers came into Wednesday night’s game in Washington nursing a 5 game win streak. The Wizards meanwhile had been losers of 6 straight, a streak the Cavaliers started earlier this month in Cleveland. Both streaks would reach their end by the time this game was over.
LeBron James had a stellar offensive night with 34 points and 9 assists, but the story of the game was Antawn Jamison’s return to the lineup. Jamison came out of the gate on fire, scoring 13 points in the first quarter, and he would end up with 31 points on the night.
The Cavaliers were on fire in the first quarter and they would open up a 17 point lead at one point in the first half. Once the shots stopped falling, though, the Wizards collected themselves and used a 4 pronged attack of Jamison, Caron Butler, Mike Miller, and Gilbert Arenas to take over the game. Those 4 Wizards combined for 85 of the Wizards 108 points and the Cavaliers defense never looked up for the challenge of slowing down the Wiz. Read the rest of this entry →
Cavs at Wizards tonight. No Shaq, Andy, or Jamario for the Cavs. Antawn is back for the Wiz. Game is at 7:00 on WTAM 1100 and ESPN. Get ready for an earful of LeBron on the Browns talk – ESPN keeps it so fresh!
By now, Tribe fans are likely aware that former All-Star catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. has been named to the Indians coaching staff as a first base coach. It was only a few months ago when Alomar was inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame. It was at this time that the ex-catcher was spending time with the New York Mets.
In fact, up until this past week, it was widely thought that Mets general manager Omar Minaya would not be letting Sandy look for a position elsewhere in the bigs as he had spent two years in New York.
In today’s conference call, Alomar stated that he was a bit surprised as to how quickly things unfolded and he became a member of the Tribe’s staff in about a weeks time.
If it there was ever a testament as to how bad the 2009 Cleveland Browns season is going, we may have uncovered it today. In the thick of a 1-8 season, Browns head coach Eric Mangini and Brady Quinn would welcome LeBron James to play for their Cleveland franchise.
When asked about James by the Associated Press, Eric Mangini said, “I think he should come on down.” Read the rest of this entry →
DP and I ran through our thoughts for the game earlier in the day. This is where our conversation goes from being about this week’s game to the future, our predictions, and then quickly deteriorates into name-calling.
Denny: So if this game goes poorly for UM is Richrod done? I can’t imagine things going much worse, and aside from the “Captain Front Butt is finished” rumors, there really isn’t a more talked about (potential) coaching vacancy. Between the recent allegations of not even trying to submit the workout timesheet paperwork and the poor performance on the field, it’s gotta be a short leash for him – right?
Following an interception to Baltimore’s Chris Carr, Browns quarterback Brady Quinn dove at would-be blocker Terrell Suggs which resulted in an apparent knee injury. Today, Mary Kay Cabot reports that Quinn was fined a significant amount - the quarterback would not specify what amount he will forfeit.
Quinn’s actions riled up perennial perfect citizen Ray Lewis, who considered the tackle attempt a “cheap shot.” Lewis has yet to discuss the coddling of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who received the benefit of the doubt on several plays. In a recent press conference, Browns head coach Eric Mangini said that Quinn will in fact get the start this Sunday against Detroit. Getcha (we are) terrible towels ready.
Cleveland fans have been waiting since 1964 for the Browns to win a title. Fans have waited since 1948 for the Indians to win a World Series. Fans have never witnessed a Cavaliers Championship. They have come close, but every year they are forced to wait. And wait they will. Because Cleveland sports is a tradition; a rite of passage for millions in Northern Ohio. This site is the result of three such fans, who wanted to share their opinions, frustrations and hopefully victories with you.
This morning, the Cleveland Indians announced that they have purchased the contracts of seven players and added them to their 40-man roster. Among the seven is Jordan Brown, whom we have discussed around these parts for a good portion of the last two seasons.
Sometimes you can hear a story about a future event that’s a couple years away and you can forget about it until the time draws near. That’s the case with this story. It was a few years back when the Big Ten first started kicking around the idea of adding a mid-season bye week for every team in the Big Ten, thus extending the season from 12 weeks to 13 weeks.
While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
The Cleveland Cavaliers came into Wednesday night’s game in Washington nursing a 5 game win streak. The Wizards meanwhile had been losers of 6 straight, a streak the Cavaliers started earlier this month in Cleveland. Both streaks would reach their end by the time this game was over.
