What We’re Thankful For…

Getting into the spirit of the holiday season, WFNY’s authors offer up their reasons to be thankful this year…

Craig– I am thankful for Delonte West. He plays the game the right way. He is well rounded on the court with offensive and defensive skills. Off the court, he seems like a real guy. He appreciates the franchise and city almost as much as we appreciate him.

I am thankful for Josh Cribbs and Phil Dawson. There really isn’t anything else to be thankful for with the Browns, but you can’t argue with these two players.

I am thankful Windhorst and Pluto moving to the Plain Dealer. I can’t think of a time when the Plain Dealer has been more prepared to cover the Cleveland sports scene than they are today. Windhorst and Pluto (along with Mary Kay Cabot) have a whole lot to do with it.

I am thankful for the (largely) sane readership of WFNY. You guys, other than I’m Ron Burgundy? show us that commenters to websites don’t have to be completely and totally insane. (Just kidding IRB?)

I am thankful that the Indians finally got something for one of their departing free agents. We love C.C. and all he did for this city, but it is nice to know that there is at least a chance that Matt LaPorta and a couple other young guys might one day smash the baseball out of the ballpark while Tom Hamilton screams.

Speaking of which, I am thankful for Tom Hamilton and Joe Tait. No offense to the other play-by-play announcers in this town, but Joe and Tom are living legends that truly make the experience of rooting for the teams they call an absolute joy.

Finally, I am thankful for next year. Without it this site wouldn’t exist and we would have no reason to be Cleveland sports fans.

I am thankful that this year’s Big Ten college football season is over. You all know why.

I am thankful for getting to watch the best basketball player on the planet suit up for my home team each and every game, and to know at the outset of each and every game that, no matter who the Cavs are playing, with 23 you’re never really “out” of a game.

But, most of all, I’m thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given to write for this website, and for the added enjoyment it brings to following and discussing my favorite sports teams. It’s always nice to know that however ticked off I get after a Browns game, there is always this group of people who not only understand what that feels like, but are there ready to commiserate. Special thanks to Rock, Rick, Scott,and Mike for their willingness to share their forum with me.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Scott– I’m thankful for…

The Browns putting their tickets on public sale the day of my wedding. If not for that, I would have likely wound up shelling out an exponentially higher amount of money than I did this season. Impeccable timing, and quite the omen if I’ve ever seen one.

Danny Ferry. Turning Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall, Shannon Brown, Ira Newble and Damon Jones into Delonte West, Ben Wallace, Mo Williams and Wally Sczerbiak could have been the pair of moves that put this Cavaliers team over the top. Finally.

Phil Savage for turning Leigh Bodden into Shaun Rogers. Sure, it may not have exactly led to wins, but Rogers makes a difference on every play. Bodden was good, but it’s just a lot more fun to watch the big man tear through offensive lines.

And finally, I’m thankful for my wife for not giving me grief all of the times I watch or read up on sports-related events. She probably won’t even read this, but in the event that she Googles something based on thanksgiving, it may lead her here. Thanks hun!

Rick– I’m thankful for many things, but seeing as how this is a sports site I suppose I should keep it related. (But I am thankful for my God and my family!)

I’m thankful for 7-1, better known as Tressel’s record against the Wolverines. During the John Cooper era I was so mad at this team for under performing. Most of us were willing to trades chances at National Titles for some wins against the woodchucks. Now we have those wins. Who knows, the Buckeyes could stretch this streak out to 10 games with the way Michigan looked Saturday.

I’m thankful for the Indians. It would have been easy to fold up the tent and collect a paycheck, but they kept fighting, and ended the season with a much better record than most of us would have thought at the beginning of July. I’m thankful for young players that we get a chance to see develop. I’m thankful the triple A team will be in Columbus next year. I’m thankful that when spring comes around again, we can be excited about the team’s chances.

I’m thankful for the Cavs. I’m glad that we get a chance to see the best player in the sport every night. I’m thankful that the team is finally clicking, and they are having fun doing it. It really is nice to see the bench rise to their feet whenever somone makes a nice play, whether it’s LeBron, Mo, Ben Wallace or J.J. Hickson. I’m thankful that they are a serious title contender this year.

I’ll echo a few of my co-writers above and say that I’m thankful for Josh Cribbs. He is an exciting player to watch, even when he’s chasing down returners on kick coverage.

I’m very thankful that I somehow was fortunate enough to talk Rock and Scott into this venture. And just as thankful that Mike, Dan and Craig decided to joing us. It is nice to be part of this team, and I appreciate their efforts and insights, even if we don’t always agree.

I’m thankful for all who read this site. You make it worth writing when I sometimes don’t feel like it. The support we’ve gotten since we started WFNY in late January has been tremendous. We have long surpassed any goals that we set when we started, so thank you! And yes, thank you to the wives who allow us to have our little fun on the internet!

Rock – I’m thankful first and foremost to our readers. I don’t know what I expected when I first started blogging. In fact, I really had no expectations, I was just frustrated with the mainstream media and I thought I had something to say. So I started writing. One thing led to another, and here we are. We have the best community of readers and commenters on the web. I’m sure plenty of other people feel that way about their readers, but they’re wrong. You guys make this all worth it for us, and we wouldn’t still be having so much fun doing this if it weren’t for you. Thank you for all your feedback, both positive and negative. We may not always agree on issues, but my appreciation for you reading and debating back and forth with us is never diminished. The level of discourse and the quality of sports knowledge in our readers has never ceased to amaze me, and I always feel personally challenged to raise the bar on my writing quality to keep up with you guys. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for listening to what we have to say. You guys are the best and you have far exceeded my wildest expectations.

I’m thankful for my co-founders Rick and Scott. I feel extremely lucky to have found both of you in the blogosphere and shared a singular vision for where we could take our individual talents and for what this site could eventually be. There’s no doubt this site is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Not that the individual parts aren’t pretty great, too! 🙂

I’m thankful for our writing staff: Mike, Craig, and DP. I think Rick, Scott, and myself could all agree that we weren’t quite sure at first how to go about adding on new writers, but we soon realized that as long as you have quality people and quality writers, it all takes care of itself. You guys all do a great job for us and you have certainly taken this site to another level.

In the sports world, I’m thankful for Cleveland’s passion. Everywhere you turn in that city, everything is just dripping with passion and pride, even when our sports teams have done so little to warrant it. I can’t imagine being a fan of a city who lacks the passion for its sports teams.

I’m thankful for Delonte West’s contract extension. I was on pins and needles over this, because it took about 2 seconds for Delonte to become my 2nd favorite on the Cavaliers. I’m thankful for Delonte humanity, and his comfortability with standing up and facing a personal problem. The dignity and class with which he handled it was beyond words. It goes without saying that I appreciate Delonte’s skills on the court, but even more so, I admire him for who he is off the court.

I’m thankful for the Cavaliers organization. From top to bottom, the way they handled the Delonte West situation shows a level of class and caring that Phil Savage could learn a thing or two from. I’m thankful for this group of players being such a tight knit group. It’s inspiring to watch the way they all cheer for each other, support one another on and off the court, and the way they stand up for each other. I’m thankful for LeBron’s leadership, for the way he buys into Mike Browns system and forces his teammates to follow his lead. The best part about LeBron as a leader is that he doesn’t have to be a vocal leader. He leads by example, and his presence alone commands the respect of his teammates. He couldn’t command that kind of respect and following if he wasn’t such a standup human being.

I’m thankful for the Cleveland Browns. After losing the team for 3 years, I vowed I would never take them for granted again after we got them back. It would be so easy to throw in the towel and give up on this franchise right now, but I refuse to, because this is the Cleveland Browns. The franchise I grew up adoring and cheering for with all my being. As bad as things are now, they were worse in 1996 through 1998.

I’m thankful for the intelligence of the Indians front office. They’re far from perfect, but being dealt such a small number of cards compared to everyone else, it always impresses me at how they still can put together some really strong hands.

Thank you everyone…