May 20, 2013

Big Series Begins Tonight…

Les discusses a series with playoff implications and here’s a hint- it doesn’t involve the Indians…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89yk8sec3Tk[/youtube]

Count me among the surprised by the Tampa Bay Rays. I’d love to see the Rays win the East. That would be the first time since 1997 that someone other than Boston or New York won the East. In fact, since the six-division format came into play, Baltimore is the only other team to win that division, and they did it only once.

Memories…of the way we were!

Les takes us down memory lane in comparing these Indians to the great Cleveland teams of the past…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkzbALSAK3g[/youtube]

Sandy Alomar gets a raw deal when those teams of the 90′s are mentioned. He was my favorite player, and helped start the turn around in Cleveland baseball. Dennis Martinez was another one that deserves credit for the Tribe success. Talk about a big game pitcher. Who was your favorite?

Scoreboard.

Les on offensive woes…quick, is he talking about the Cavs or the Indians?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk7gT-S4Pkc[/youtube]

The sad part…he’s talking about both. Sigh.

Betancourt? Kobayashi? Borowski?

Les gives his opinion on who should close out games for the Tribe…his answer may surprise you.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75bW4F9zWRA[/youtube]

None of the above? I’m just not comfortable with any of these three to be honest with you. How about you? Who do you want to hand the ball to in the ninth?

David Stern, This Is Your Doing…

Les Levine has a great take on David Stern’s comments about the pyrotechnics used in NBA arenas…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9VMbvXirHw[/youtube]

David Stern after his recent visit to the Q for game 4 of the Cavaliers/Celtics series-

“I’m going to get into trouble for this: I think they’re ridiculous. I think that the noise, the fire (and) the smoke is the kind of assault that we should seriously consider reviewing whether it’s really necessary, given the quality of our game.

“It may be these are the maniacal rantings of a fan from a different era, and I recognize that. [Read more...]

Perhaps It’s Only Appropriate…

Go English.com lists Beating a Dead Horse in between He Lost His Head, and Can’t Cut the Mustard. So, with that in mind here’s Les on the offensive woes of the Tribe…

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=po2pvxDBcNs[/youtube]

I’m not sure what more can be said. The offense sucks, hasn’t performed to expectations and fans are ticked off, voicing their displeasure. Of course, if we listen to Rick Manning during the game, we will be enlightened by hearing that all players and teams go through such slumps, and our boys will be just fine. Of course, Manning is paid by the Indians…

What Could Have Been…

Les discusses the biggest disappointment from Washington’s win…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt-jDyDcEbo[/youtube]

This was my point at the end of the game recap on Wednesday. Detroit took care of the 76ers last night. They will now face a rested Magic team. Boston has a chance to finish off their series in Atlanta on Friday. Who has the better shot at winning on the road- the Cavs in Washington, or the Celtics in Atlanta. The Hawks have played above their heads in this one already. Nobody would say Cleveland has the better shot of ending a series on the road.

So the Cavaliers could potentially be facing a game 7, while Boston sits and rests from a strangely tough series against the Hawks. Which team needs more rest? The one that ran up and down the court with Atlanta, or the one that got a constant beating from the Wizards’ thugs? (Yeah, I’m sure I’ll hear about that comment, thanks Les.)

How the Indians are put together

Les asks what type of team the Indians are trying to be…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8BUCzkFFbY[/youtube]

Les, this is not one of your better points. The Indians are obviously built around pitching. With the exception of Paul Byrd, our starters are capable of shutting down any opponent for 7 or 8 innings. The bullpen has struggled somewhat, but it’s not because they threw a bunch of untested guys out there, come on Les.

Everyone can see that the offense is the weak spot of the team. They were last year as well, [Read more...]

Hindsight Says- Should Have Made a Move

Les rants on about the Indians struggles (again)…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BauxwDWjarA[/youtube]

Hafner, Peralta, Cabrera are all struggling, and even though Martinez is hitting for average, our clean-up man hasn’t hit a homer yet. He has nine RBI. Do they have enough offense to get the job done? Will anyone be available for trade?

Haywood, Stevenson- It’s Your Fault

Les blames Wizards for losses…

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50JFbYyLvm0[/youtube]

Les and I talked about this the other week. Some players thrive when ‘extra motivation’ is given. You would think that Brendan Haywood would have learned that lesson by now. You would think that seeing LeBron continue to dominate DeShawn Stevenson would be a clue. One might think that after going down 3-1 in the best of seven that maybe the Wizards would have a little team meeting and agree to cool it on the LeBron trash talk. You’d think so wouldn’t you?

So this afternoon when the story came out that Haywood called LeBron a crybaby, I couldn’t believe it. But there it was- [Read more...]