5 Favorite Sports Stories: Browns Win Consecutive Games Against Super Bowl Contenders
December 31, 2010Cleveland Fan Sentiment Through 2010
December 31, 2010Earlier, we kicked off our Year in Review with the month of January, which got its own post due to the bevy of people we were introduced to.
With Tom Heckert, Mike Holmgren, Eric Mangini and company all in place, we now head into the late winter months where we meet a few new people, are taken to new places and accomplish a few things.
Unfortunately, these may have been the peak months in terms of city-wide morale. Let’s take a look…
February:
Once the calendar turns to February, the NBA trade rumor mill hits redline-esque RPMs. By this point, we’ve seen Andre Iguodala, Corey Maggette, Amare Stoudemire, Antawn Jamison and Troy Murphy have their names collectively linked to Danny Ferry and the Cavaliers. Jacob whips out the numbers to derive who would fit best.
The Pacers decide that they want JJ Hickson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and multiple draft picks for Murphy. Ferry laughed and went elsewhere.
The Blue Jackets made a few waves by firing their head coach Ken Hitchcock the season after their franchise first playoff appearance. DP reflects on the move:
It’s bittersweet, but sometimes these things are for the best. Sometimes a good influence can only carry a team so far. Sometimes you have to move on to get over the hump. There will be things learned from Hitchcock that will stay with a lot of these players. But, the fact is that this team is young, and the post-lockout, salary-cap era of the NHL has made it younger as well.
TD and I bothered Jhonny Peralta for the majority of an evening. Possibly the most productive evening of the shortstops career.
Denny introduces the WFNY world to the Tim Couch Bear. The WFNY world would never be the same.
So…about that Super Bowl Halftime Show…
The downfall of Brady Quinn beginsfollowing a sub-par season under center and the acquisition of some new bodies in Berea.
CAVS FANS REJOICE! ANTAWN JAMISON HAS ARRIVED!
The Cavs needed, more than ever this season, to show LeBron James they were willing to do anything to win a title. They needed to give James the equivalent of the Gasol trade. And Wednesday night, they did. – Matt Moore
And, the wait for Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ return begins….Now.
March:
Entering his arbitration season, Shin-Soo Choo hires Scott Boras as his agent. Talk about “In like a Lion…”
Setting the stage for what would be the worst wide receiver corps in the NFL, Tom Heckert came through with the following:
We like Massaquoi and Robiskie; those guys can be good enough that we don’t need to add a veteran WR
Just because of the excellent photoshop work…
Jon Steiner joins the staff, adding to the already excellent work on the Cleveland Indians. He drops some science on the batting order and why Grady Sizemore should not bad in the lead-off position. Unfortunately, he would not bat anywhere for an extended period of time.
And after what seemed to be the longest 30 days in the history of the NBA, Zydrunas Ilgauskas “decides” to return to Cleveland.
The media parade worked: Josh Cribbs got paid! The Browns continued their generosity by adding free agent veterans Ben Watson, Scott Fujita and Tony Pashos. Oh, and look at that: they traded for Seneca Wallace! Everybody’s getting paid…except for Derek Anderson.
Jake Delhomme gets his own line item. Peter King said the acquisition was beyond insane. He would not be far off….
Then in the middle of the Sunday evening news cycle, Brady Quinn and Kamerion Wimbley would be traded. The Browns would get back some scrub named Peyton Hillis and a few draft picks that would ultimately be used to draft three starting players. They got hosed…
Cleveland would later lose one of the chartered voices of WKNR, “The Professor” Geoff Sindelar.
And while it would pale in comparison to the loss of Sindelar, you all made me the “Ohio’s Best Sports Blogger” via the FOX Sports Ohio contest. After a few weeks of pestering, and several ancillary posts, your votes were tabulated and I was given the blogger’s chance of a lifetime, getting to cover the Cavaliers through their playoff run. To this day, I am still indebted.
April:
Craig waxes poetic on Santonio Holmes, saying that he could be a low-cost addition to a poor receiving corps. Holmes would later score the game-winning touchdown against the Browns. Awesome.
Coasting into the NBA Playoffs, Mike Brown is criticizedfor sitting various members of the Cavaliers. Brown would consider the last two weeks of the regular season to be “high level practices.” Hmmm…I wonder how that would work out.
Meanwhile, right down I-71, Carlos Santana his knocking the cover off of the ball. In his first four games, the switch-hitting Santana had seven hits in 16 ABs (.438) with two doubles, four homers and 21 total bases (1.313 slugging%), and eight RBI. He’s also drawn a pair of walks, so his OBP was an even .500. Not too bad.
The Indians opted for Lou Marson and the unvieling of the Tribe Social Deck! Okay, and Shin-Soo Choo…
Glen Infante over at iLTHY had his LeBron James “Born here, Raised here, Plays here, Stays here” banner approved. Then he didn’t. Then he did…
The Cavs opened up the Playoffs with a win over the Chicago Bulls. Shaquille O’Neal looked rejuvenated, Jamario Moon had the game of his life and the Bulls simply could not stop LeBron James. Happiness shared by all! Well, except Joakim Noah.
After months of criticism over not having a playoff and having what is considered to be a weak conference, The Big Ten began discussions over expanding to 12 teams.
TJ Ward, Montario Hardesty, Colt McCoy… You guys can come too. Bring your green hat! Oh, and to all of you who didn’t like the TJ Ward pick… How do you like him now?
Okay, now about that left-handed free throw…?
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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)