All That Jazz: Cavs-Utah, Behind the Box Score
March 15, 2016Jon Gruden says Carson Wentz is “most NFL-ready QB” in past couple years
March 15, 2016
Happy Tuesday WFNY!
Here in Ohio, it’s finally our turn to have our say in the presidential primary elections. The primary process in this country is so bizarre. In a perfect world, every state would vote at the same time, and whoever got the most votes would be the candidate. But instead we have this long, drawn out process where some states don’t even get to vote before the winner is already established. I don’t know, I’m sure there are plenty of people who like this process, but I can’t stand it. Regardless, it’s election day, so go out there vote, just don’t vote for Tr……………..oops, sorry, almost got political there.
I kid, I kid. Vote for who you want, this is America and that’s your right and this is not the place for me to lecture anyone on why certain candidates are better or worse than others. Come to think of it, I’m not sure the right place for that exists. The debates? Hah, please. The debates have become nothing more than another Snarknado … a chance for everyone to jump on Twitter and see who can dish out the best snark.
Voting is by nature intended to be a personal thing. We all have our own criteria of what is most important to us, and from there we find the candidate most in line with us on those issues. If people are swayed by ads on TV and radio, or by their friends’ posts on Facebook and Twitter, well, then perhaps that is a symptom of a deeper problem with the American political machine.
Anyway, I know you guys don’t come here for politics, so let us move on to something else.
Hmmm, I’ve got nothing. Again. This seems to be happening a lot lately. And I’m not just referring to my own struggles with finding interesting WWW topics. No, I’m referring to a general drought of interesting sports topics to discuss even with friends and family.
I think many of us are tired of talking about the Cleveland Browns. How many different ways can we say that the Browns are a joke? Worrying about or debating over free agency moves and draft picks and front office hires all seems like such a waste of energy. The Browns are a joke, and they will make the wrong decision. Until they prove otherwise, it seems ridiculous to project any hope on them.
And the Cleveland Cavaliers have lulled us into such a deep state of senior-itis. You guys remember that feeling, right? Your test scores were in, you were already accepted at the college of your choice, you had enough credits to graduate, and you could fail the last few tests and still graduate. So, what was the point of those last few weeks of school?
What’s the point of these last few weeks of the NBA season? The Cavaliers’ test scores are in, and we know where they are headed in April. Sure, there’s still some question over who will be Eastern Conference valedictorian, but even worst case scenario, being salutatorian will be ok. I hear you, the Cavs’ record in Toronto (0-2) is concerning. The Raptors shouldn’t be overlooked. They are a very good team and they can do some things that exploit weaknesses that the Cavaliers have. But I can’t get excited about the race for the No. 1 seed in the East. I just can’t do it.
Perhaps the only team worth talking about right now is the Indians, and they are the team I am least qualified to talk about. Interestingly enough, you can make an argument that with the Golden State Warriors being a thing, the Indians are the Cleveland team with the best chance of winning a championship. Maybe.
Vegas1 gives the Indians a 20/1 shot at winning the World Series, while the Cavaliers currently have the second best odds at 7/2. So if Vegas says the Cavaliers have a more than five times better chance of winning the NBA Championship, how can anyone argue the Indians have a better chance?
The Warriors are really the X-Factor here. Typically, these odds aren’t weighted on any one specific team. There’s a lot of unknowns in futures betting. Steph Curry could get hurt, Draymond Green could be taken in the Rapture. Anything can happen. These odds need to reflect that uncertainty. But if the Cavaliers do play the Warriors, I have a feeling their odds will fall. Probably not to 20/1, but they won’t be given much of a chance.
I don’t really think the Indians have much of a chance, but if you wanted to argue for them in this non-existent straw man debate, I would start by leaning on that pitching staff and pointing out that all they have to do is find a way to get in the playoffs, and then all bets are off. Anything could happen, and a team with an excellent pitching rotation can do serious damage in the playoffs.
We are two weeks from Opening Day. This year, the Indians get the somewhat rare experience of opening the season at home, being the first time since 2012 they’ve opened at home. It’s been incredibly frustrating in recent seasons watching the Indians crawl out of the gate, falling way behind my midseason, only to make futile but furious charge at the end of the season to build up hope for the next year. This year, the Indians need to get off to a good start, and there’s no better way to do that than by taking care of business in an opening series at home.
I’m excited for another season of Corey Kluber, for more Jason Kipnis, for what I am hoping will be a return to form year for Yan Gomes, for the continuing emergence of Francisco Lindor. There was a lot of hype for the Indians last year, and their miserable April sucked the life out of the season before it began. Just as I wanted to maintain excitement last year, I want to see the Indians give Cleveland fans something fun to root for all summer long. And that starts in April. In two weeks, at home, against the Boston Red Sox. I can’t wait!
*****
New music of the week
I was so prepared to talk about the new Mind Spiders album, “Prosthesis”, in this space today. Then I went and fell in love with the Into It. Over It. album “Standards”, and I knew I had to talk about this amazing album here.
But then I got sidetracked yet again. This time, it was Philly rockers Sheer Mag and their new EP, “Sheer Mag III”. This is a band who prefers to live life as though we were still in the 70s. Their whole aesthetic is built around the 70s underground rock lifestyle, pulling in influences from the likes of Thin Lizzy and The Stooges. From logo design to album cover and even to music videos, this band has a singular focus on design and sound.
This is a punk band with rock and roll soul. Everything they do is carried out with so much life and energy and passion, but with all the excesses of 70s rock kept securely in place. It’s impossible to ignore the influences, but when you see their music videos, you understand this is all quite intentional.
“III” is the band’s third release, naturally, and I enjoy putting all three EPs together and listening to it as if it were one 12-song album. You can listen to these guys however you please, but I encourage everyone to check them out by heading over to their Bandcamp page where you can listen for free before deciding if you want to buy.
But also, check out those Mind Spiders and Into It. Over It. albums I mentioned above. They’re excellent, too. But I can only pick one band to spotlight for this space, and for me, Sheer Mag just grabbed my attention in a very serious way. I’ve been enjoying all three of their EPs and I hope you guys like them as well.
- Bovada, to be specific. [↩]
39 Comments
44 days until the draft.
Two weeks from opening day and I don’t think WFNY has had any posts about Spring Training.
*checks archives*
Nope. A single post announcing the start of spring training.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-go6eKiLPFH0/UnYgZyHTkNI/AAAAAAAAOko/4iaTvSmv–I/s1600/cookie-monster-waiting.gif
hahaha…happened to submit one this morning. stay tuned…
Allow me to reiterate:
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http://www.mandependence.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Lou-Brown.jpg
http://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/360/6d401a60-2712-0132-4ea1-0ebc4eccb42f.gif?
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Whenever you start feeling angst about the primary system, just remember that this has absolutely nothing to do with the democratic process. This is just how two independent, private political parties pick their candidate for the final democratic (actually, representative republic) process.
Thank you for noting that it’s a representative republic process. It is a pet peeve of mine that people don’t recognize the difference.
Holy **** I literally just said the same thing verbatim to someone here.
On WFNY? Freel? That’s crazy.
Er… here at work haha
Wait . . . this isn’t our job? Well that explains the lack of paychecks, but boy is my wife going to be pissed.
“Wait . . . this isn’t our job? Well that explains the lack of paychecks, but boy is my wife going to be pissed.”
This applies to WFNY staff as well.
I’m still filing a complaint with my union rep.
Enjoy, my friend:
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2016/03/the-10-percent-indians-spring-training-updae/
Oh, so sorry. He seems a bit busy at the moment:
https://libcom.org/files/131536-lisa-simpson-playing-guitar-gi-Bw8L.gif
(after being vetted by the powers that be)…so we enjoy all the E-Z streamlined feels of an oligarchy!
Hey, it’s not like we will have a Clinton v Bush election!
Both have also been refined over time in an attempt to ensure that the nomination actually represents the majority of the party. For all the faults of our current two party system, it’s arguably much more transparent and democratic than it has been for a good portion of our history.
And as an aside, I personally think Trump’s campaign and the dialogue it is forcing within the Republican party will ultimately be good for both the party and American politics. The sky isn’t falling. We’re just watching democracy in action and that isn’t always pretty. I think we forget that because we’ve been blessed (cursed?) with a post-1968 status quo that has minimized intra-party conflict during the nomination process. People need to realize that a brokered convention won’t be the end of the world.
I read “oligarchy” in this comment with the shouting voice of a 110-year-old jewish man from New York, and I imagine your head stooped really low with both arms raised over your head pointing straight forward.
Well said. Appreciate the calm voice of reason. For perspective on this whole process, I recommend that anyone read about how Lake County’s own James Garfield was nominated. That was an absolutely crazy process, but one that ultimately found a truly decent man and strong leader. We are going to be fine. The Republic will survive. It has survived far worse.
I no longer care about either party, but I do agree that this whole process will be good for American politics.
I hope I have any sort of animation when I’m 110.
I really, really hope the Republican convention does end up being a sh!tshow just so I can make jokes like – “well, what else did you expect when you held the thing in Cleveland?”. Hopefully the whole thing will go down in the annals of American history as a major event and get a cool name so GLBC can turn it into a cool sounding beer.
I’m not on the GOP side of the aisle, but I think Trump will be good for that party in the long run…in the sense that he’s like a coffee/Metamucil/Chlorox smoothie for them. After all of the bad that is/will come out…they’ve got a chance to rebrand.
Anything short of a riot. How great would that be?
I’m not sure why either party would really want to make a (draft) pick from Cleveland – and both wanted to do so!
Done.
I recently started a book about the 1924 Democratic National Convention where it took 103 ballots over seventeen days to decide on a candidate. It featured heavy involvement by the Ku Klux Klan (and all the fun they bring along), a vicious split in the party over prohibition, East Coast elites running up against the religious South… basically all kinds of dysfunction. Yet despite being such a divisive (and interesting) moment in our history, who remembers anything about it? This too shall pass.
Is the spirit of your voting piece I’m going to exercise my right to vote…with my remote. No more late night Cavs games on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Howard the Duck of National Conventions
We need an option for the general election – none of the above – now go back and send us some qualified candidates.
When I saw the draft of 5436 dollars, I accept that my friend’s brother was like really generating cash in his free time with his PC. …vt His aunt’s neighbor has done this for only 10 months and by now repaid the loan on their home and bought a new Car .
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aaz….