May 19, 2013

Despite Early Frustrations Patience Is Still In Order

October 4, 2011 by 20 Comments

This is why I hate all the prediction-itis that surrounds the NFL.  Every analyst on the planet is seemingly forced to make predictions every single week.  It is a part of the underlying formula that makes the NFL so much more popular than any other American sports.  It was gambling as far back as anyone can remember and now we’ve doubled down with the fantasy football culture.  What ends up happening is that everyone ends up prognosticating so much that they (we) lose sight of reality staring us in the face.

Andy Baskin has been a really refreshing voice on the radio since he started his “Talking Heads” slot on 92.3.  Sometimes he might sound more like NPR than a typical sports talk radio host. That might be off-putting to some of you who like your sports talk extra lively, loud and controversial.  When I listen to that show though, even beyond the delivery, Baskin has a very different attitude and philosophy.  He openly scoffs at the prospect of assigning Ws and Ls on the 16 game schedule at the beginning of the season.   [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Bright Side For Jason Pinkston and Browns Fans

August 31, 2011 by 17 Comments

When it comes to the NFL and health issues, you just have to look at the bright side sometimes.  Guys get hurt in the NFL. We all know this.  Yesterday on the radio Andy Baskin was talking about how he doesn’t buy into the Madden curse with Peyton Hillis.  I couldn’t agree with him more.  NFL players – especially running backs – get hurt.  Even if Peyton Hillis gets hurt this year it doesn’t prove out some magic dust theories.  I digress.

This is about Jason Pinkston taking over for Eric Steinbach.  As was discussed yesterday, Pinkston will get the first (and every) opportunity to fill the massive hole left by Steinbach’s back surgery.  The Browns certainly didn’t want to thrust their fifth round rookie draft choice into a starting role this year any more than they wanted to thrust their third rounder, Shawn Lauvao into action a year ago.  Big difference being that Lauvao had to play on the inside of noted turnstile John St. Clair.  If the Browns have to push a rookie, whom they feel very good about into a starting role, it is a luxury to be able to put him between Alex Mack and Joe Thomas. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

92.3 The Fan is Here – Let the Games Begin

August 29, 2011 by 60 Comments

Kiley and Booms started the day off, they handed it to Andy Baskin and Reggie Rucker.  Adam the Bull and Dustin Fox are coming up later in the day.  It is a day of excitement and chock full of guests as 92.3 WFAN looks to stack the deck for their first day on the air in Cleveland. The story isn’t even close to being told until a couple months from now when they fill the ad inventory and the overload of guests wears off.  When these hosts get into the grind of hosting a show for multiple hours every day and the newness wears off, what will the Cleveland sports talk landscape look like?

You can’t tell this story without looking squarely at WKNR.  Earlier this year, they made the decision to go more local at the expense of the first hour of the Jim Rome show.  By extending Rizzo’s show an hour, WKNR gave themselves a significant revenue opportunity.  To say that the decision went smoothly would be a lie.  Jim Rome himself has complained vocally about it, not to mention his fans.   [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The LeBron Aftermath is Surprisingly Quiet

October 12, 2010 by 27 Comments

When LeBron got on TV and took a sledgehammer to the city of Cleveland, wheels started spinning all over the NBA.  

First and foremost, Dan Gilbert got busy with the Comic Sans and wrote the fans a letter.  Beat reporter Brian Windhorst scrambled to a broken record theory about the seven stages of grieving after a loss.  Guys like Skip Bayless and Adrian Wojnarowski were basking in a glow of “I told you so” and newfound respect around the city of Cleveland.  

One of the more memorable things that was written was Andy Baskin’s blog about how he and the rest of the local media missed the boat on LeBron so badly.  It was a refreshing take from Baskin, and it rang most true out of everything else that had been written up to that point.

A few weeks later, the reporting on LeBron finally started to ramp up.  Wojnarowski unleashed an unbelievable story of LeBron almost getting kicked off of Team USA.  He told us about how Jason Kidd was basically assigned to be LeBron’s babysitter and mentor.  Brian Windhorst followed up with some additional revelations of how the recruitment meetings went with LeBron and his posse leading up to his bolting for Miami.  These two articles alone were exciting.  We might have been burned by LeBron, but at least we might get the closure of finding out exactly what happened in that Boston series, right?  Wrong. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , ,