Heat vs. Cavs Behind The Boxscore: Progress In The Process
November 27, 2013While We’re Waiting… Cavs fall under the national spotlight
November 29, 2013Another Thanksgiving has come. We have a tradition here at WFNY of doing our What We’re Thankful For post. You know the idea. Everyone goes around the table and says what they’re grateful for from the past year. This is our sixth Thanksgiving. Let’s carve the turkey…
Rick: It has been a interesting year. Personally it was a tough year. I am grateful for those friends and family that have been very supportive through it. I’d like to thank my friend Tom for always being ready to listen and offer advice. I’m grateful for my wife Kelly, who continues to trust and support me even when the light is very dim on the other side. I’m grateful for my mother who couldn’t be more supportive of us. I’m grateful for my daughter Rachel and all the time we get to spend together.
I’m always grateful for the WFNY team. It has been fun to see where all of our lives have taken us over the last six years. I’m very appreciative of our partners and friends of the site. Thanks to Mike, Greg and George over at GV Art and Design. A big thanks to Brent, Rob, D.J., Brian and Zak at the Browns. New faces with the team who have been very helpful.
As always, I’m grateful for you our readers. Without you, there is no WFNY team. Happy Thanksgiving.
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Jacob: Most importantly, I’m thankful for my parents (aka my roommates). I’ve been back at home for the last 18 months since graduation and they’ve been huge supporters of mine. Through good times and bad, through long nights of sports frustration and writing joy, and countless new memories with my amazing family, they’ve always been there for me. Thanks so much for everything. I love you both.
On the sports side of things, I’m thankful for my loyal readers and my awesome followers on Twitter. It’s been a pretty awesome year for me personally with the success of The Diff and WFNY Stats & Info. I passed 1,000 Twitter followers in March, then 1,500 last week. I’m humbled there are 1,500 people in the world that care at least somewhat about my sports thoughts. It’s a crazy concept.
The WFNY crew is also awesome. Scott, Rick and Andrew invited me to be a weekend contributor all the way back in spring 2009. It’s been a wild run since then as I approach my personal 5-year WFNY anniversary – including my senior year hiatus. It’s been an incredible pleasure continuing to bond with those three and the rest of the gang during this successful past year back in NE Ohio.
As a final sports roll call of my favorite memories from the past year, I’m thankful for: the return of fun Cleveland baseball; the Browns tailgates with my brothers and friends; a semblance of a Browns identity; and continued Buckeyes success. Danny Salazar, Jason Giambi, Terry Francona, Scott Kazmir, Kyrie Irving, Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron, et al are all great stories of success. We’re still Waiting For Next Year, but perhaps there’s hope, somewhere.
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TD: I wish there was more that I was thankful for in Cleveland sports. I’m thankful for the improvement and the ride the 2013 Indians gave us. For GM Chris Antonetti and President Mark Shapiro pulling off the stunner of a hire in manager Terry Francona. For the gritty play of Jason Kipnis and the smoothness of Michael Brantley. For the young fireballer Danny Salazar and the steady hand of Justin Masterson. I’m thankful for the memories of the Jason Giambi walk off blasts and the 10 game wining streak which snuck the Tribe into the playoffs. I’m thankful the Browns have a new direction and a stellar defense, led by Joe Haden. I’m thankful that the Colts were dumb enough to give up their first round pick for Trent Richardson.
Most of all I’m thankful for this great community that WFNY has become. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.
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Craig: 2013 has been a year with lots to be thankful for. Unfortunately it always feels like bad things in the news remind me to be thankful, so I’m glad to have this chance to reflect. Mine is short, so here goes…
I’m most thankful for my family. My wife and two sons still help shock me every day when I consider how much real love I have in my life. I never would have believed it before it all happened.
I’m thankful for the wonderful friends I’ve made at WFNY. I’m thankful for an Indians playoff game. As for the Browns and Cavs I’m thankful that I’ve discovered so much new music this year. 🙂
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Kirk: As always, I’m thankful for my family and friends who have always guided and motivated me to accomplish my personal and professional goals. I’m especially mindful of my grandma on this day as this is our first Thanksgiving without her. We’re so fortunate to have the readers, the commenters, the Twitter followers, and the WFNY advocates that we do. I always feel so fortunate that you guys value the opinion of regular joes like us and allow us to express ourselves analytically and creatively each day on the site. I couldn’t ask to work with more talented, intelligent, and all-around good guys than the WFNY roster.
In the sports realm, I’m thankful that all three Cleveland teams are in better shape than they were one year ago today. To me, it’s not even up for debate. Sure, the Cavaliers have gotten off to a rough start, the Browns are out of the playoff picture, and the Tribe fell short this year and has offseason needs to address, but all three teams are moving forward. Urban Meyer and Thad Matta are the two of the best coaches in the college game, and I’m glad they’re both at my alma mater THE Ohio State University building great team after great team to help me cope with the lack of Cleveland success.
I’m glad that the BCS is in its final season. I’m grateful that baseball is expanding instant replay. I’m thrilled that I got to go to my first postseason baseball game in Cleveland in six seasons. I’m happy that the Cavaliers won on opening night in a really fun Quicken Loans Arena environment that made me feel like the glory days were back, if only for one night.
I don’t have anything profound to share with you all, but I came across a quote the other day, scribbled down from an email exchange I had with Cavaliers’ play-by-play man Fred McLeod about four years ago, before I was a member of WFNY. It was in a response to a question about the anxiety about potentially not winning a championship with LeBron. He said: “I hope everyone is enjoying this season to the fullest, because the fear of getting your heart broken or the belief in a curse will only make you look back, wishing you had enjoyed the total experience to the max.”
I’ve tried to keep that in perspective. That drought’s going to be broken someday soon. When it does, instead of enjoying it in retrospect when it’s a finality, make sure you enjoy the buildup to that moment and cherish each accomplishment. It’ll make the payoff all the more enjoyable.
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Scott: I can’t believe this is our sixth edition of this very post. As cliche as this may be, it feels like it was just yesterday that we were listing players like Braylon Edwards and CC Sabathia among the laureates. This time around, it’s tough to point out just who Cleveland fans should be thankful for from an on-field standpoint. Personally, the Cleveland Indians get all of the praise—I’m thankful that Chris Antonetti was able to bring Terry Francona to Cleveland when many felt it was a pipe dream; I’m thankful for Danny Salazar, for not only being appointment television, but for giving Cleveland fans something to cling to as we turn the calendar to 2014; and I’m thankful for guys like Nick Swisher, Jason Giambi and Ryan Raburn for providing the much-needed cohesiveness that the Indians clubhouse has lacked for many, many years.
From a writing standpoint, there are too many people to thank. Curtis Danburg with the Indians, Tad Carper and Jeff Schaefer with the Cavaliers, Les Levine, Joe Lull, TJ Zuppe, Will Burge, Alan Cox, and the countless others who have been supportive of what WFNY stands for and what we have accomplished to this point. I’m thankful for all of the subjects who have been willing to be a topic of my longer reads—I’m still not sure why any of them ever say yes, but I’m forever grateful that they do. I’m thankful for Glenn Stout for being willing to work with a novice like myself and helping me craft what has undoubtedly been one of my best pieces to date. And I’m thankful for all of the support and encouragement from local scribes and broadcasters—John Telich, Tom Reed, Jordan Bastian, Zach Meisel, Brian Windhorst and many, many more.
I’m thankful for the writers at WFNY for pouring countless hours into this endeavor of ours, especially the weekend crew who works tirelessly when it’s hardly the most convenient of times, and the content borders on depressing more than enjoyable. To our readers, followers, fans and critics, there would be no WFNY without you. You’re the reason we do what we have done every single day for the last six years despite the incredible and outright embarrassing lack of wins. Thank you all.
And last, but certainly not least, I’m thankful for the love, support, encouragement and tolerance that I’ve received from my incredibly close friends and family. To my three loving girls—I know it’s not easy, nor is it much fun when a deadline is involved, but you make this all possible.
Happy Thanksgiving, you guys.
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Jon: A little inside baseball for you: typically when I write my “What We’re Thankful For…” piece every year, I copy what I wrote the prior the year, make a few edits, and send it back in. My self-plagiarism is not without some cause: I mean, really, how many ways are there to say that you’re thankful for Carlos Santana’s potential or the promise that will accompany Spring Training or that Opening Day is only four months away?
This year may require a total overhaul though. Not only has the Cleveland Indians’ landscape changed entirely since last Thanksgiving, but my own has as well. Last year, I was a childless fan of Shin Soo Choo hoping that my front office had a plan to attack the single worst team in the American League. Things can change quite a bit in 12 months. Let’s jump in.
I’ll start with this here site and the writers on it. I’m thankful for the stewardship and guidance that Rick, Scott and Andrew have given the site. They’ve built a space on the internet to which I’m proud to belong, and places like this don’t happen on accident. The fact that we have an engaged and informed stable of writers and commenters is a testament to the work of the founders, and I’m not sure any of us realize how indebted we are to their vision to get this thing off the ground.*
*Yes, that paragraph was self-plagiarized entirely, but as much as some things change, that one certainly hasn’t.
The site itself has taken some big steps this year. Craig’s podcasts have grown from little conversations between WFNY writers to the best Cleveland sports podcast out there, with regular guests who loom large on the national scene. Kirk and Rick continue to churn out high quality Film Room content, proving that there is no monopoly on analysis and insight. TD, as ever, manages the Tribe coverage with a steadfastness that I cannot imagine while still having time to drop in thoughts on NCAA basketball and the NFL. And Jacob has fully taken whatever mantle I once held claim to as our resident analytics guru with his weekly editions of “The Diff”. One of the reasons I enjoy this place so much is that we don’t do any one type of writing. You want beat coverage? You won’t get better than Scott’s work on the Cavs. You want in depth analytical takes? Jacob and Kirk have you covered. What about opinion pieces that confront organizational leadership and global trends in professional sports? I think Craig does this work better than any of us. It’s a diverse bunch; my only Marxist criticism is that they’d deign to have me as a member.
Onto the Indians. I’m thankful to have watched meaningful baseball. I’m thankful to have watched October baseball. None of this happens without Francona, so I’m thankful for him too. And he doesn’t come here without the leadership of Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti. I’m thankful that there is budding hope around the team I spend so much of my life watching—for the first time in five years. Ask TD: writing about bad baseball is a draining exercise, and we’ve been doing it for half a decade. Thank goodness that’s over, even if just for a brief window. I’m thankful for the effusiveness of Nick Swisher and the professionalism of Michael Bourn and the promise of Danny Salazar. I’m thankful that I have more reason to be excited about next September than next April.
As my recent sabbatical might indicate, I have a life outside of WFNY and the Indians that deserves some mention here. I have a career that keeps me busy, engaged, and well-fed. A close group of friends as dependable and generous as you can imagine. A family whose love and support appears limitless and without concern for the geography that divides us. A wife whose love and encouragement always makes me a better man today than I was yesterday.
Lastly, I’m thankful to have become a father since last writing one of these. Josephine is fat and happy and surrounded by waves of love that lap up on her shore in a never ending tide. Right now, she’s playing with her blocks, eyeing me suspiciously and wondering what in the world her papa is doing clicking away on that silly gray machine.
One day I’ll explain it all to her, if I ever figure it out.
Happy Thanksgiving.
2 Comments
I’m thankful that we got to see legitimate NFL quarterback play for the Browns (until Hoyer tore his ACL and then again when That Team to the East took out Campbell). Indians are on the right track as are the Browns (not underestimating Joe Banner as the ruthless decision maker), and the return of Brownie. Cavs are a different story as it seems that Gilbert has a pre-made story about a conspiracy if James returns. Whether that’s the plan or not I have no clue. Either way, they need to pull a trade to shake things up (or at least rumors of trading potentially everyone to motivate them, worked for Waiters last night).
Thanks to everyone at WFNY for being my one stop shop for Cleveland sports news.
Thanks Craig for starting the podcast. It’s a great addition to the website’s offerings.