Buckeye Pride, Cavs Trade, and Good Music, While We’re Waiting

Happy Tuesday WFNY!

Now that the holiday season is behind us, things are returning to normal for most of us. Back to regular five day work weeks, most schools are back in session, and now we settle in for winter. In sports, this means two things. One, football playoffs. And two, the NBA regular season hits its stride.

Previously I would have said NFL playoffs, but thanks to the new NCAA football playoffs, we can amend that to just say ‘football playoffs’. I don’t really care too much about the NFL playoffs this year. I can’t say I really have a favorite and other than the Ravens, there’s not really any team that I can’t stand to see win the Super Bowl.

The NCAA Playoff, on the other hand, means the world to me right now. Most of our regular readers probably know by now that I am an alum of The Ohio State University. The scarlet and gray have been in my blood and in my DNA since I was a little kid. I was a student in 2002/03 when Ohio State last won a National Championship in football. I was in the stands out in Arizona on that amazing night when the Buckeyes shocked the sports world and stunned the Miami juggernaut.

I won’t be making it out to Dallas this year. But I can’t help but feel like this year’s team shares a few similarities with the 2002 team. Granted, that 2002 team was an amazing defense with an offense that just barely did enough to get by and this year’s team is an amazing offense with a defense that just barely does enough to get by. But the similarities come when you look at the resolve of the teams and the way they seem to keep finding ways to win. Both teams had some scares against lesser teams and some impressive wins over really good teams. And heck, even the win over Alabama was somewhat similar to the win over Miami. But now, the Buckeyes still need one more.

I don’t know what’s going to happen next Monday in Dallas. As a fan, I am hopeful and yet also somewhat scared of this Oregon team. This isn’t the same kind of Oregon team that Ohio State pushed around back in the 2010 Rose Bowl. Oregon as a program seems to have learned from that loss. This Oregon team has monsters on the lines and is willing to play as physical as any opponent while still maintaining their up-tempo style. It’s going to be a tough challenge for the Buckeyes to overcome. But so was Wisconsin. And so was Alabama. I haven’t felt good going into either of those games, so what do I know?

I just know that as a Buckeye, through and through to the core of my soul, I couldn’t be happier or more proud of a team than I am of this group of guys. The things they have overcome, from devastating injuries to Braxton Miller and JT Barrett to the suspension of Noah Spence, has made this one of the more inspiring teams of my life as an Ohio State fan. And now, as an alum of the University, win or lose, I will hold my head high and be eternally proud and grateful for this year’s team.

*****

Goodbye, Dion

By now everyone is aware that the Cavaliers have traded G Dion Waiters as part of a three team deal that sees the Cavaliers get Iman Shumpert and JR Smith from the Knicks along with a pretty heavily protected first round pick from the Thunder. Kirk Lammers will have a more in depth look at this trade coming up soon, but I figured I might as well share my first reaction to the deal.

I kind of like it. It’s pretty clear Dion Waiters is who he is at this point. He can still get better, of course, but he probably wasn’t going to get much better in Cleveland. The role just has never felt quite right for him. So hopefully he can redefine himself as the kind of bench player in Oklahoma City that I thought he could be in Cleveland.

But for the Cavaliers, this more brings in JR Smith, who pretty much cancels out Dion at this point (yes, Smith is older than Dion, but I don’t think either guy is or was part of this team’s long term plans, so I don’t really care about that), and Iman Shumpert who can give the Cavaliers some perimeter defense, something I don’t have to tell you the team sorely needs, and can also score a little bit in spots. This trade gives the Cavaliers a little more depth and a couple more serviceable players.

There are risks, though. Shumpert is currently injured with a separated shoulder. JR Smith can offer some of the same frustrations that Dion has over the years. But despite those risks, I think this is a pretty solid move by David Griffin.

Quite frankly, I never really bought into the whole Cult of Dion movement that swept up so many Cavs fans. I liked the guy and I wanted him to succeed, but so many people seemed hypnotized by Dion’s antics. And when a team is as woeful and pathetic as the Cavaliers have been the last few years, we cling to any form of entertainment we can find. So I get. I just didn’t buy into it. The Cult of Dion movement has caused many Cavs fans to severely overrate Dion Waiters as a basketball player. Dion has shortcomings as a player. All players do. But Dion’s shortcomings were things that severely hurt the team on the floor. And his unwillingness to adapt his game to fill a role the Cavaliers needed was probably the final nail for him in Cleveland.

Sure, JR Smith will bring with him some of those same shortcomings as Dion. But JR Smith has been a pretty good basketball player. He didn’t win Sixth Man of the Year a couple years ago for no reason. In fact, I have often said that that particular version of JR Smith was who I felt Dion should model his game after. Now the Cavaliers have the real deal. Well, they have that player, just not that version of the player. JR Smith today is not the JR Smith of old. His shot selection has been getting worse the last couple years and he has ruffled some feathers here and there along the way.

Hopefully a fresh start was just needed for both Dion and JR. But for the Cavaliers, I get the idea behind the trade. They replace Dion’s bench scoring with an equally, if not more, capable bench scorer and they add another player who can provide perimeter defense and can also add some scoring. So I like the deal for the most part. Now they just have to make another move to bring in some frontcourt help.

*****

David Blatt is safe, or so they say

Last week in my WWW, I was pretty critical of the Cavaliers organization for allowing the Blatt rumors to fester. I still feel pretty frustrated by what all went down and the silence of the front office on the matter.

But at least David Griffin finally stepped up and shot down the rumors, proclaiming passionately and emphatically that Coach Blatt’s job is safe and that the franchise is not panicking over the early season struggles. It was long overdue.

Now the question is, do they mean it? Will Dan Gilbert be patient enough to allow this team time to figure everything out and for everyone to get on the same page? It’s frustrating that LeBron and Kyrie are out right now. Now is the ideal time for a team to gel and build momentum before the All-Star break. Instead, LeBron is out for a couple weeks, meaning he will be back in time just to have the season interrupted by the break. Essentially, the Cavaliers are looking to the late February/March stretch of the season before they can hope to have time for everyone to gel and find their role over an extended duration. That aspect is mildly concerning to me as a basketball observer. However, the good news is the Cavaliers are on the road for most of March. Yes, I said good news. Road trips are excellent for building team chemistry. The players can’t go home, so they are forced to spend more time together. I’m hoping that the month of March is where this team really gets things going and morphs into the team they can and should become.

If this team is still sputtering by then, it will probably be too late in the season to make a coaching change, but who knows what the front office will do. I just know that if I was David Blatt, I wouldn’t feel all that reassured by Griffin’s vote of confidence. Especially since it took them almost a week to offer the VoC. So often VoC’s turn into KoD’s (Kiss of Death). I can’t help but feel like Blatt’s future with this franchise is still very much up in the air.

*****

My favorite albums of 2014

On Monday Craig Lyndall offered his Top 10 Movies of 2014, so I figured I would use this space to offer my 10 Favorite Albums of 2014. And in case you missed it, Craig and I discussed our favorite music of the year in our annual year-end review podcast the other week. But here is my list of my 10 Favorite Albums of 2014 along with my Spotify playlist featuring some of my favorite songs from these albums and more.

Please, tell me what some of your favorite music of 2014 was. I love hearing what others are listening to and I truly want to know what kind of stuff you guys all enjoyed in the past year. I hope you enjoy my list and I hope you find some songs you like somewhere in the playlist.

Have a great rest of the week!

10. Weezer – “Everything Will Be Alright In the End”
09. United Nations – “The Next Four Years”
08. Death From Above 1979 – “The Physical World”
07. Wovenhand – “Refracory Obdurate”
06. Big Ups – “Eighteen Hours of Static”
05. The Hotelier – “Home, Like Noplace Is There”
04. Alcest – “Shelter”
03. F*cked Up – “Glass Boys”
02. La Dispute – “Rooms of the House”
01. Cloud Nothings – “Here and Nowhere Else”