Another October At Home

I said Monday on my show that the Cavs off season has been as
eventful as my love life the first 21 years, uneventful. As the MLB trade
deadline comes and goes, I can`t but be disappointed with the Cleveland
Indians, as the only acquisition was a 40 year old outfielder. A power bat and
bullpen help is something this team has needed since the off season. Sure
Keith Foulke ending his career the day before spring training didn`t help, and
if Rafael Perez didn`t step up, who knows where this club would be right now.
Looking at the final two months of the campaign, the Indians play a bunch
of games that mean everything. In August they play the Twins 7 times, 4 in
the Homer Dome, Detroit 5 times, 3 of which are in Motown and 3 at home
against the Yankees.

Looking at September they play in the Homer Dome 3 more times,
host the Tigers for a 3 game set, and head to Seattle the last week if the season.
The Indians need to win just about every series from here on out, to get into
October. Do I think they can do it? Sure. Will they? I doubt it. They didn`t add
what they needed and we`ll see what happens.

Just remember, when you're watching baseball this October, there`s always next year. The Tribe enters play tonight a half game behind Detroit in the Central, and now just a game and a half ahead of Seattle in the Wild Card, and oh by the way, the Yankees are coming, the Yankees are coming.

The Dog Days of Summer

Thoughts while waiting for the Browns to start Training Camp and
the Cavaliers to actually do something in the NBA Offseason....

**Add my name to the list of people who aren't buying the concept of David Beckham revolutionizing football...err...soccer here in America. Look, this was tried more than 30 years ago by a guy named Pele', who frankly was ten times better than the Beckster. Don't believe me? Go rent "Victory," which is one of the most underrated sports movies of all time. But even the great Brazilian import was unable to turn soccer into a major sport in the late 70's. Then, I remember hearing that Indoor Soccer was going to be the next big thing in the 80's. And for a time here in Cleveland, it was. At one point, I'm sure there were more people going to the Coliseum in the early 80's to see the Force as opposed to the Cavaliers. But it wouldn't last. And now, a 32 year old Brit will try to become the Messiah of Soccer to millions of American youths?? Nope, don't think so.

Look, it's not that I'm a soccer hater. Not at all. In fact, I actually played soccer as a kid for a year. I played fullback for the Canton YMCA's "Blue and Red Team." I think the only thing I liked about it was the postgame snack that featured orange slices, ho-ho's, and Hi-C. But seriously, my buddy Nate has tried to convince me for years that soccer players are among the finest athletes you will ever find. And he's right. But in a sports culture that is dominated by the NFL, college sports, baseball, NASCAR, and the NBA, there is simply not enough room in our attention spans for 'The World's Game' as a major presence.

Soccer will continue to be one of our premier participation sports so you'll still see plenty of minivans out there with plenty of soccer moms taking the kids to practice. That won't change. But I just don't think that Posh Spice's husband will do anything more than be a really good player for a really mediocre team in a second rate league.

In the meantime....pass me a ho-ho!

***Ho-Hum is pretty much how I would describe this Cavaliers offseason. Except for a day's worth of trade rumors involving Drew Gooden to Sacramento for Mike Bibby, the Cavs have been dormant since being swept out of the NBA Finals. No movement into the Draft. Very little movement apparently in the progress to re-sign Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic. And most importantly, no real movement towards improving the ballclub. Sure, Danny Ferry is working the phones. Sure, they are talking trades with other clubs. So fine, I'll be patient and wait and see. One thing is for certain, the Cavs cannot simply just wait out the agents for Varejao and Pavlovic, make the deals, and call it a summer. This team needs more than that to return to the Finals next year.

***Across the plaza at Gateway, the Indians management deserves high marks for its two moves over the last week. Maybe the Dolans will finally be cut some slack by the haters after signing Travis Hafner to a long term deal. Well, probably not. But to get Hafner and Jake Westbrook locked up in the same year is a major achievement. And I like the contract extension for Eric Wedge as well. It's all about stability both in the clubhouse and in the front office right now and that can only lead to success now and in the future. That said, General Manager Mark Shapiro needs to try to hammer out one or two trades in the next 13 days. The back end of the bullpen has to be bolstered and another bat for the outfield would be helpful too. How about former Indians David Weathers and Kenny Lofton perhaps?

***Circle Wednesday August 8th on your calendar: That's the day that the Sports Krew will be hosting our Countdown to 2007 High School and College Football Show live from Quaker Steak and Lube in Sheffield from 7-9 on AM 1320 WOBL. We'll talk to area coaches and get their insights as we preview what should be a very fun season.

He can't really be that good...can he?

So if you check out the FedEx leaders board, it shouldn't surprise you that Tiger Woods is on top of the list of a point system that seems strangely tailored to suit his approach to tournaments. But here's the thing. Look closely at the number of FedEx Cup events played. 10. That's it. A dime. Of those ten appearances, Tiger racked up 3 victories and 7 top tens. Vijay Singh (aka the Road Warrior) has played 19. Almost double. Yet Singh sits in second with 2 wins and 5 top tens.

He also leads the money list, and sits on top the of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Call him a gamer. Call him clutch. Call him the best.

Yep. He's that good!

But check this out... according to his web site, Tiger's only currently scheduled for one of the four events that make up the final four that will determine who takes home the fine crystal. To be fair, he's only posted his schedule through the end of August and two of the events are in September. But it's pretty clear that he's not going to tee it up at The Barclay's in New York on August 23. So he'll sit out one of four for the championship of the entire civilized world...

He can't really be that good...can he?