The WFNY Cavs newsletter with Brian Spaeth – WFNY Podcast – 2014-09-30
September 30, 2014Dan Gilbert ranked No. 117 in Forbes’ Richest People in America
October 1, 2014The Wednesday WWW was manned by the great Rick Grayshock, who has since moved onto other endeavors. It will be a tough act to follow him, but on most Wednesdays during the Tribe offseason, I will be taking this space over. So wish me luck and I hope you enjoy my spin.
Did you know that since 1986, the Minnesota Twins have had just TWO managers? That’s right. Two. Tom Kelly, who managed their team to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 and his protege Ron Gardenhire, who took over when Kelly retired after the 2001 season. During that same time frame, your Cleveland Indians have had eight, not including interim stints from John Hart and Joel Skinner.
- Pat Corrales 1983-87 (.441 winning percentage)
- Doc Edwards 1987-89 (.455)
- John McNamara 1990-91 (.427)
- Mike Hargrove 1991-99 (.550)
- Charlie Manuel 2000-02 (.537)
- Eric Wedge 2003-09 (.495)
- Manny Acta 2010-12 (.446)
- Terry Francona 2013-present (.546)
Gardenhire, like Kelly, was an extremely likable man who took a mid-market club and made them into contenders, winning six AL Central titles in his first nine years on the job. The last four years though, the Twins minor league pipeline that churned out the likes of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Johan Santana had dried up. His team’s finished last three times and fourth in the other and GM Terry Ryan announced Monday that he had relieved his friend and long time skipper of his duties.
Gardy was well respected around the league and beloved in the Twin Cities. Tom Powers of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press weighed in:
The Twins refused to call it a firing, which apparently sounds too harsh. Instead, they said they were “replacing” Gardenhire.
“I agree with this,” Gardenhire said of his own firing.He could afford to be magnanimous. As much as he hates leaving Minnesota — and he does hate the thought of that — he will be a hot commodity this winter. Plenty of offers will come his way.
Gardenhire has managed the Twins the past 13 seasons. He took over in 2002 with the franchise coming off the brink of contraction and led the team to the playoffs. The Twins made the playoffs in six of his first nine seasons as manager.
Probably the toughest part about the firing — from Gardenhire’s perspective — is that he won’t get a chance to manage that next wave of prospects. He always became animated when talking about the great potential he saw in youngsters Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas. And he couldn’t wait for kids such as Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to arrive.
Which way will the Twins go? My guess is that native son Paul Molitor will get the first crack. Regardless, Gardy will be a tough act to follow and as a fan of a fellow AL Central team I will miss his competitiveness and fire. There aren’t many better men in the game than Ron Gardenhire.
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On September 21, just two weeks ago, the Browns played the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. At halftime of the game, the team was honoring some of the legends that were in attendance. None of the old players got even close to the reception of one man, the greatest Running Back to ever play the game, Jim Brown.
I was in attendance. Browns fans cheered wildly as old No. 32 stood and raised his hand in triumph. And why shouldn’t he? He was among the fan base that loves him unconditionally. Remember, this was the guy who started a war of words with then team-President Mike Holmgren who attempted to phase him out of his front office job with the Browns and wanted to, according to Brown, turn the great into a “glorified cheerleader.” Selfish to the end, Brown elected to skip the ceremony on Opening Day in 2010 that unveiled the new Cleveland Browns “Ring of Honor” because of his petty feud with the Browns new Team President. It was a complete and utter weak move on his part.
So here Browns fans were again though, almost four years later, now with Brown in attendance. The stadium gave him a resounding hero’s welcome. Those of you who cheered him that day must have awfully short memories.
You do know that back in 1968 Brown was arrested for throwing his then model-girlfriend off a second-story balcony in Los Angeles. Charges were never filed. Eh, that was long ago you say. Different times. What about in 1999 when his wife called 9-1-1 and told police that Brown threatened to kill her and hit her car with a shovel? His wife then recanted her story, but Brown was fined and sentenced to probation and domestic violence counseling.
There was no video of either incident, but Brown’s reputation as a man who has been violent towards women is well documented, but according to him, unfounded.
But you cheered him anyways.
Aren’t you the same people (aren’t we all?), who were all over the Ravens for their enabling of wife-beating Running Back Ray Rice? Calling out the Baltimore organization in every way possible and rightfully so? I for one did not and would never cheer Jim Brown. What he has done for the African-American community both here in Cleveland and nationally is remarkable, but Rice had a spotless reputation as a pillar of the Baltimore community before he was seen on video punching his then-fiancee, now wife, in the face and dragging her out of a Casino elevator. As Ravens play by play man Gerry Sandusky (no, not that one) told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo “if you asked me to pick the last guy in the locker room I think would do something like this, it would be Ray.”
Just keep all of that in mind next time you give a standing ovation to Jim Brown.
For more on the enigma that is JB, read this outstanding piece by Diane K. Shah
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If you are a WFNY regular, you know where my first allegiance is: The Indians. I write about them almost on a daily basis and if you are a Twitter person, you know that I can be borderline insane during games. Do I tweet too much? Probably. Is it fun? Absolutely.
Tribe Twitter is a friendly place where you can cross paths with some interesting folks. I get trolled hard from time to time, which I just do not understand, but it is par for the course. But overall, the Tribe Twitter experience enhances the game-watching experience for me. Later today, I will be dropping my second annual Cleveland Indians Power Rankings for the season that just passed. With that, it is time to doll out my Tribe Twitter season ending Power Rankings for 2014. This list is fans only, so that takes out the likes of IBI’s Jeff Ellis, Jim Berdysz, and Tony Lastoria, Jason Lukehart of Lets Go Tribe, Matt Bretz and Ed Carroll of Wahoos on First, and those of that ilk.
1. SPORTS YELLING – Yes, she’s a woman. A very funny woman. This die-hard Tribe fan is one of the few people I know who attends as many games as I do and is as deeply and sickly invested in the team the way I am. She’s comedy gold and easy to interact with. But trolls beware, she don’t play. And yes, I have met her. She has even watched my son for a half inning while I went and got ice cream. And ask her about Michael Brantley’s bat.
2. Brutal Stephanie – Another absolute dynamo on the keypad. I was late to the party, but she won me over with something I can’t write on this page regarding John Axford’s mustache. Like SY, its adult Tribe humor at its finest and if you mess with her, you get the horns.
3. Monte The Color Man – Monte is a bleacher creature who is as smart and engaging during games as anyone I follow. His tweets are more insightful than comedic, and he also appreciates and often pays homage to Hammy and Rosey in the booth.
4. Nominataur – Insightful Tribe takes, often backed up by advanced statistics put him on this list. These are mostly original takes as well. No trolling here, just fun Tribe talk during the season.
5. Andrew Zelman – The new brains behind Scene Magazine goes to more games than you do. Every time I am there, he is. On Twitter, he enjoys asking the same questions I do, as in why Terry Francona hits Jason Kipnis fifth and Yan Gomes seventh and often likes to jab the front office for the likes of J.B. Shuck and Chris Gimenez. Low-hanging fruit? Yes. But Andrew is a smart and informed Tribe fan.
Honorable Mentions:
Kim aka Princess wikki – Loves her Tribe as does her son Will.
Laura – Laura engages almost nightly during Tribe games and usually agrees with me. Always a plus.
JaradReganoGuy – Jarad can’t crack the top five because of his hard-core anti “Shapanetti” stance. Always tweets at Shapiro. I cringe, but enjoy it.
Kirk Lammers – Kirk just misses the cut, but he is hilarious when things don’t go the Tribe’s way. My man likes to curse at managers and players.
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I am an old school Hip Hop head. Each week I will post one of the all-time greats of my favorite genre of music. This time around you get to enjoy De La Soul’s classic “A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays.” This beat is as good as it gets.
75 Comments
They should put a pink $ with a bow around it because that’s how it feels especially this year!
They should care the message has been corrupted but I’m guessing they probably don’t which is why I don’t believe we have heard a word from them, have we?
So if the goal was to win 85 games, you’d be more okay with this season?
We were basically the team I thought we’d be. Whatever the team’s stated or unstated goal, my hope was for playoffs and beyond but I realized that was unlikely. For that to happen, a lot of teams would have had to stumble and a lot of things would have had to go right for us. It didn’t happen. That’s why I’m not beating my breast over this past season. C’est la vie.
Are there people out there who aren’t familiar with breast cancer at this point?
NFL is evil.
The important part from that article:
8.1 percent to the American Cancer Society for research; 3.24 percent to the administration at the Society; and 1.25 percent to the NFL.
http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/aint-even-mad.gif
you enjoyed watching Shelley Duncan play LF?
Brent Lillibridge is flailing to be included in this list of LFers.
Bad day?
Dude that’s my guy – he was a beast!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8243/8664624510_5bec30b8ea_o.gif
TD, thanks for having the cajones to poke the town’s blind fawning over Cleveland’s sacred cow. Aside from the domestic battering, Brown’s post-career petulance with the franchise hardly began when Holmgren booted him from Berea and cut his paycheck.
Sometimes I think this town ignores his boorishness because people feel he’s all we have, that only LeBron is someone anyone else calls “greatest.” Worshipping Kosar only goes so far and stars like Sipe and Sherk actually have full lives and no obvious need to relive glory days. You know, Brown was followed by a fabulous back, an actual HOFer, and a great guy in personal interactions and in public. His name is Leroy Kelly. He’s made no demands of the franchise and he should get at least some occasional love.
it always surprises me that Otto Graham doesn’t often get put into that group too.
Where’d the rest go taxes?
Dave Duncan is rolling over in his grave!
and you can’t say it’s because they didn’t see Otto play. No one on this blog saw Jim Brown play, except via this method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMHQsIidL7k#t=193
Btw, Jim was an objectively remarkable athlete, but the blocking, as seen here, was pretty dang good also.
50 percent to the retailer; 37.5 percent to the manufacturer;
—Realize, the article is using sales and not profits when demonstrating it’s headlines.
Also, noting that 1.25%:
According to the Business Insider report, citing information from the
NFL, any money the league makes that is not donated to the American Cancer Society goes directly toward covering the costs of the actual Breast Cancer Awareness program.
Now, in many cases the NFL can be the acting retailer. So, the question moves to if the NFL (or individual team) should be pushing that money there and what is the % they actually get when they are the ones selling it.
also, for all the hand-wringing over poor tackling technique nowadays, every time I see film of the older NFL the tackling looks worse than HS games.
I wonder where the merch was manufactured.
You should watch Ohio State play this year if you think that’s bad!
Uh, I guess it would be “more okay.” But again, and based on 2013, I can’t for a moment believe that this was the goal for the Indians. I just don’t believe that they’re “okay” with how the year went, but I could be wrong. They might have a case of Browns Disease, but I doubt it.
I’m honestly not beating my breast, either. I know that I sound critical, but that’s only because I’ve chosen to be the (sole?) voice of contrary opinion. 85 wins was “good.” It certainly beats recent years, and the standard for the Browns. I still want more, though.
How many is that, bud?
I don’t know about that.
His role as Fireball was pretty terrible.
We can hang the pennant on the back of the Thome statue.
There is some arm tackling, but you can see he simply pancaked a lot of guys. In that era he was a freak, as big and strong as the linebackers and able outrun the secondary. Kinda the Lebron of his day.