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This is wholly unrelated to sports.  It is related to the strange emails we sometimes receive through our tips email address.  I am sure every sports blog out there with a published tips email address gets stuff like this.  I decided this one was worthy of posting.  I posted this at night when we normally wouldn’t have anything new on the site anyways.  Consider it “bonus” material.  Anyway, this mass email made me laugh.  I thought the rest of you might enjoy it too.  A fan email/ site suggestion from Emma!

To: WaitingForNextYear

From: Emma

Subject: Suggestions for waitingfornextyear.com

Hi, My name is Emma and I’m one of waitingfornextyear.com readers.

I’d like to thank you for the excellent information I’ve found on your website, especially those related to gardening…your website is one of my favorites.

Not even 24 hours after trading for quarterback Seneca Wallace, the Browns have parted ways with former Pro Bowler Derek Anderson.

Anderson joined Cleveland via waivers from Baltimore in 2005 and spent the last five seasons with the Browns. He appeared in 39 games with 34 starts during that time and completed 587 of 1,109 passes for 7,083 yards with 46 touchdowns and 45 interceptions.

“I want to thank Derek for everything that he gave to the Cleveland Browns organization over the last five years,” said Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini. “He did everything we asked of him and it was a pleasure to coach such a competitive person. I want to wish him all the best in the future.”

Every Tuesday, WFNY’s The 5-Hole brings you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…

The Week That Was

This Week: 0-2-1, 1 point
Overall: 25-30-11, 61 points (5th division; 14th conference)

The honeymoon is over. The team returned to action this week, saw its roster change a bit, and embarked upon its last far-west road trip of the season. And, things did not go well. Two blown leads, a blowout, and an injured franchise player.

Terry Pluto set the rumor mill ablaze this weekend when he mentioned the possibility of trading defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.  Two day later, the team has reportedly put the fire out by saying that they intend on keeping the Pro Bowler as they head into the 2010 season.

What Pluto said in this past Sunday’s Plain Dealer was nothing different than what he had penned for a good portion of the off-season.  Despite Rogers’ brute strength and ability to change the game on the defensive end, the Browns defense as a unit performed considerably better over the final five weeks of the season with Athyba Rubin at tackle. 

I know its the first week of spring training games, but a leader may have already emerged for the Left Field race. Because of the still head-scratching signing of Russell Branyan to be the everyday first basemen, the two main cogs of the CC Sabathia trade two summer ago – Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta – have been pitted against each other to be the everyday Left Fielder in Cleveland.

To the victor goes the spoils, and the major league experience. The loser gets a ticket down I-71 South to Columbus. GM Mark Shapiro and his trusty sidekick Chris Antonetti have said that both Brantley and LaPorta have to play every day, whether that be in Cleveland or Columbus. Why can’t they both play everyday in Cleveland? Oh that’s right, 34-year old Russell the Love Muscle has to be in the lineup.

“Oh happy day!  Our savior is here!”  I don’t believe anybody was thinking that last night after learning of the Browns’ acquisition of Seneca Wallace.  Wallace is an eight year pro who couldn’t find playing time on the Seahawks except when Matt Hasselbeck went down injured.  In eight years of NFL service, Seneca Wallace has passed the ball 556 times in 48 games.  Just for comparison’s sake, Brady Quinn has thrown 353 times in 14 games.  Seneca Wallace’s career QB rating is 83.1 while his career completion percentage is 59.9%.  He also has 25 touchdowns to 14 interceptions.  Quinn’s numbers are a QB rating of 66.8 with a completion percentage of 52.1% and 10 TDs to 9 INTs.  So what does all this mean?

Not much to be honest with you.  The Browns still don’t have a front line starting quarterback in the NFL as far as anybody could possibly know.  The Browns reportedly had to give up a single conditional draft pick for 2011 between the 4th and 6th rounds.  You have to think the conditional part is based on starts or playing time for Seneca Wallace as a Cleveland Brown.  Again, if Seneca Wallace takes the majority of the snaps for the Browns next year, is that a good thing for the franchise?  Nobody truly knows the answer to that question yet.  Still, even with the giant chasm of unknown that we have today, there are a few reasons that this should give you a few muted good vibes.

The last time the Cavaliers won without LeBron James in the lineup, Sasha Pavlovic and Ira Newble were counted on to play a heavy amount of minutes.  Given this, it was fitting that last night’s 97-95 win over the San Antonio Spurs featured at least 30 minutes from Jawad Williams, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao – all of whom are (typically) bench players this season.

It was a night where it appeared that the team was dropping like flies.  James was out once again, nursing a sore ankle.  Center Shaquille O’Neal continues to recover from his surgically repaired thumb.  Midway through the game, Anthony Parker was forced to leave with a jammed finger.  And adding even more salt to the wounds, newly acquired forward Antawn Jamison was forced to leave the contest with a sore knee.

Nevertheless, the Cavaliers managed to outscore the Spurs 25-19 in the fourth quarter to record their 50th win of the 2009-10 season.

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 at tips@waitingfornextyear.com

Hey, at least one of our guys has some hardware: “Moving obviously was a good move for [Lou] Marson, so he’d get a chance to play. It’s too bad, though, Marson just missed out on a ring and a World Series share.  Except, he didn’t miss.

“I ended up getting a ring in ‘08, a World Series ring,” said Marson, who also got some bonus money. “And [soon] I’m getting a National League [championship] ring from last year because I was up most of April.  Yeah, they took care of me over there. That was nice of them; they’re a first-class organization. [Team president] David Montgomery did the right thing by me.” [David Brown/Big League Stew]

It appears that Mike Holmgren got his guy. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Browns have traded with the Seattle Seahawks for Seneca Wallace.

More on this as it develops.

(Update: It is reported that the trade is a conditional draft pick in 2011, said to be ranging from a fourth- down to a sixth-round choice.  The Browns currently have their 11 selections for the 2010 NFL Draft)

San Antonio Spurs (36-24) vs
Cleveland Cavaliers (49-15)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Monday, March 8, 2010
7:00 PM EST
FSOH/WTAM

The Cavaliers look to rebound from their tough loss in Milwaukee by squaring off with the San Antonio Spurs for the first time this season. This is the last team that the Cavaliers have yet to play this year, and it sounds like it could be another tough test for Cleveland. LeBron James is a game time decision, and it sounds like Mike Brown would prefer to sit him, but LeBron wants to play. I’d personally like another chance to see what the Cavs can do without LeBron, and the fact that the Lakers keep dropping games left and right makes this one expendable. On the other hand, this is a prime chance to take advantage of the current Lakers slump and try to add some buffer. So I’ll support the decision either way.  

There is little secret to the fact the Browns are Derek Anderson don’t look long for each other at this point. Mike Holmgren, czar of all things Brown and Orange, even went as far as saying last week it will be a long shot to bring back both D.A. and Brady Quinn next season.

“I think it’s a long shot,” he said after addressing the national media at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Never say never. But I’ve gone on record as saying I don’t want a quarterback competition. They did that last year. And that didn’t work out.”

To a man, nobody will tell you that it’s D.A. that would make the cut over Quinn. Other than the obvious, Anderson is due a $2 million roster bonus on March 19th.

This winter, the Cleveland Browns hired a team president in Mike Holmgren.  Just last month, the Cleveland Indians announced that general manager Mark Shapiro would assume the roll of team president with Chris Antonetti becoming general manager.  And now, it appears that the Cavaliers will be doing the same with their general manager and his assistant.

The New York Post is reporting that the Cavaliers will re-sign current general manager Danny Ferry and promote him to team president.  Assuming the then vacant roll of general manager will be assistant general manager Chris Grant.

I write this in anticipation of the “what’s wrong with Mo Williams” barrage of pieces that is sure to be coming our way throughout the interweb. I am by no means a sports psychologist, nor Mo Williams’ personal physician, so to ask what is wrong with Mo just doesn’t seem practical. Is he still bothered by the shoulder injury? Could be. Has he lost some of his confidence? Maybe. Is he struggling with his role on this team? Wouldn’t surprise me. Let’s face it, the team rattled off 10 straight wins without him, including wins over the Lakers and Magic. Since his return the Cavs have acquired Antawn Jamison, who is now the second scoring option on the team.

I thought perhaps more important than speculating about what has Mo Williams off his game would be to figure out what exactly the Cavaliers need from Mo in order to succeed.

Last season Mo Williams was the second scoring option, and the go to guy when LeBron was on the bench. When the Cavs were ousted in the Conference Finals, many pointed fingers at Williams, including Mo himself, who had struggled mightily during the series. With the addition of Shaq and Anthony Parker to the starting line-up the pressure seemed to be off Williams, and he responded quite favorably early on in the season. His scoring average has now dropped each month of the season. After averaging less than 12 points per game in his six February appearances, he is averaging a mere 9.5 points in March.

Break up those Wahoo Warriors! Winners of their first two Cactus league tilts (like that matters), the Tribe hoped that opening day starter Jake Westbrook would make his spring training debut in Goodyear yesterday, but it actually rained in Arizona believe it or not. So Jake’s return to the mound for live action the first time in nearly two years will be moved to Tucson today, as the Indians face the Arizona Diamondbacks.

What’s one more day after nearly two years off anyways? You just know that Jake is chomping at the bit to show that is he 100% ready for action. Manager Manny Acta scoffs at those who don’t think Westbrook can immediately return to his pre-Tommy John surgery form. 

Remember those leaked-turned-photoshopped New York colorways of LeBron James Nike Air Max VII?  Well, it turns out that they may not have been as fake as Nike wanted the world to think. 

While they do not have the “I Heart New York” logo placed on the bottom of the heel – or question mark insoles - like the previously altered images, there will in fact be a royal blue and orange colorway of the LeBron James shoe.  This edition will be one of four colorways that the shoe company will release that plays off of his pending free agency.