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.
Chris Perez talks about his love of video games and beards. What could possibly be more manly? Except for that whole Ravens bit: “‘I’m actually a huge gamer,’ Perez says, adding that he brings his PlayStation 3 on road trips throughout the season to keep up with his ‘Madden’ franchise. ‘I always play as the Ravens. Ray Rice is a beast in that game. Then you have the Hit Stick with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs. That’s a team that’s tough to beat.’ But the PS3 isn’t Perez’s first foray into gaming; he’s been busting his thumbs since the early days of Nintendo.” [Jon Robinson/ESPN.com Playbook]
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Yesterday, a WWW entry called Ubaldo Jimenez the key to Cleveland’s second-half success. This fellow says differently: “Key player: Shin-Soo Choo, right fielder – The Indians faded in the second half last year. Then again, those Indians didn’t have Choo at full strength. Choo, at his best, can carry a team for a couple weeks at a time. He may need to do that for a Cleveland team that lacks a dominant starting rotation and only recently welcomed back Travis Hafner to the lineup. Choo didn’t receive a spot on the All-Star team, even with a scalding .972 OPS over his final 50 games of the first half. But if he keeps that up, he will become an MVP candidate – and the Indians could contend well into September.” [Jon Paul Morosi/Fox Sports]
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I’m going to share two conflicting views on Josh Gordon. Let’s start with the negative: “I didn’t realize how much the loss of Baylor wideout Kendall Wright to Tennessee in this year’s draft flummoxed the Cleveland Browns, but now I do. It was a setback from which they still haven’t recovered. The proof? Their choice Thursday of Baylor receiver Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft. It’s not that choosing Gordon is a bad idea, and it’s not that choosing a wide receiver is a bad idea. But choosing this wide receiver with a second-round pick is a bad idea. It’s a panic move that makes no sense.” [Clark Judge/CBS Sports]
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And then here’s the more positive spin: “In theory, Gordon is an excellent choice for the Browns, which drafted University of South Florida receiver Carlton Mitchell a few years ago, but haven’t seen a positive return on its investment. Mitchell and Gordon have a similiar physical skill set: big, strong, and fast. Paired with a strong-armed quarterback that is capable of down field accuracy, a receiver with this type of athleticism should become a greater asset than he was as a target to Colt McCoy.” [Matt Waldman/The Rookie Scouting Portfolio]
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I mentioned this to a friend yesterday as well. Should we be pushing more for a Greg Oden return to Ohio? Is it worth it for a couple million? “Greg Oden’s NBA tale is a sad one, filled with ups and downs (but mostly downs), and has been left in the same unfinished state for the last couple years. But with Oden reportedly interested in playing in the NBA again this year, we will presumably see the next chapter in his once-promising career. The question we should be asking of ourselves is whether or not it would be prudent of the Cavs to be the team to give Oden this second chance.” [Patrick Elder/Fear The Sword]
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Notes on the Cavs, beginning with The Kid: “If you’re on Twitter and follow any NBA personality at all you’ve seen and heard about Kyrie putting Kobe, Durant, Westbrook, and James Harden on the wrong end of an “And 1” highlight reel. You’ve heard Chris Paul, Kobe, Lebron, Coach K, and even the director of USA basketball itself Jerry Colangelo gushing about Kyrie Irving and the impression he’s made at the Team USA camp. Combine this recent hype with his performance at All Star weekend, the runaway ROY campaign, and the success of his Uncle Drew Pepsi Max endorsement it’s easy to draw the following conclusion: he’s ready for primetime.” [Bill Nagel/Stepien Rules]
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Let’s end on some college football: The Big Ten and Pac-12 dissolved their early talks for a schedule collaboration: “AWWWWWW, RAT FARTS. The Big Ten and Pac-12 had gone and created a really great football scheduling idea, whereby schools in each conference would play each other one-at-a-time in an out-of-conference series lasting until the end of time and leading into the Rose Bowl, but that’s all done with now.” [Jason Kirk/SB Nation]
