Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Senior CLASS fan voting has ended, and the results can be found here. Jackie Batteast fell to a distant second behind Kendra Wecker of Kansas State, while Chris Thomas ended in a third place tie behind two big names in the tournament, Wayne Simien and Taylor Coppenrath. At least he beat the new Smirnoff Ice King, Daniel Ewing.
- Ellen - the next time you talk to Nick Setta, ask him if it's distracting to play with a giant beer logo on his jersey.
- So, the Cavs are floundering, and the Cleveland sportswriters are panicking. The fear is that LeBron James will be gone once his contract is up, and may even ask for a trade at the end of this season. Why? The team is in a freefall, and everyone is pointing to new owner Dan Gilbert's apparent overeagerness to load the staff with "his guys." Paul Silas, supposedly hand picked to be LeBron's guiding hand in the NBA, was fired weeks ago. Silas was known not to be a great X's and O's guy, but he could connect to the players and was putting together a support staff that was good at X's and O's. But, as much as he could connect with the players, he couldn't connect with the new management, and he let everyone know about it as soon as the sale rumors started. LeBron was confused and maybe upset by the firing, but he was also reportedly upset to the point that he didn't want to be a Cav when John Lucas was fired during Lebron's senior year of high school (during which he illegally worked out with Lucas and the Cavs). Rumor has it that Gilbert's friend Bill Laimbeer (who owes what he is to Notre Dame and the beer at CJ's) may be the next head coach. Laimbeer, however, claims he's happy in the WNBA (a fact that seems to confuse many meathead sports guys). Meanwhile, GM Jim Paxson, best known for helping to piss Paul Silas off by making the monster deal for Jiri Welch at the trade deadline, is said to be gone at the end of the year. Originally, it is claimed that when Gilbert first made the announcement, he said that Paxson would be out "within 48 hours." That has since changed to the end of the season, but it hasn't helped Gilbert's image any.
- To top everything off, there's the Jeff McInnis debate. McInnis was benched by Silas, and later by new coach Brendan Malone. The knock against him was that he couldn't run the halfcourt offense. So, he was replaced by veteran Eric Snow, and in fact McInnis found nights when he didn't even play at all. But, the Cavs were taking 15 points and 5 assists out of the lineup. It didn't help that in one of the first games that McInnis sat, Snow had 0 points. Well, it turns out that the Cavs will be bringing Snow back next year, but McInnis most likely will be gone. So, why not start the guy you'll have next year, and bring the short-timer off the bench? Well, McInnis's ego is why not - he couldn't handle coming off the bench. So, McInnis is starting once again, but Snow (who's also a superior defender) is seeing increased playing time.
- Meanwhile, I don't even want to think about Zydrunas Ilgauskas (a free agent after this year), Michael Redd, Ray Allen, or Joe Johnson. I do know this, though - if Gilbert loses LeBron, he'll be run out of town like the next Art Modell.
- Remind me next week to do another NFL Draft Preview. As of right now, NFL.com lists Collins (who's been doing surprisingly well from what I've heard), Curry, Goolsby, and Tuck on their Draft Tracker, while Bernie's Insiders adds Budinscak, Clark, Ellick, Grant, and Palmer to that list. Most places I've seen list Tuck as the #6 DE - impressive since that position is absolutely loaded with talent this year. According to sources, Tuck could go late first round/early second, and also could be used as an outside linebacker in a 3-4, a la Terrell Suggs. Collins is a nice #6 at tight end on Bernie's Insiders, while Grant is the #14 running back. NFL Draft Countdown.com basically lists Collins as yet another victim of the talent graveyard.
Transaction Wire
- Browns sign safety Brian Russell. Russell followed a 9-interception sophomore 2003 with only 1 interception in 2004, and many pointed the finger at this performance as one of the main reasons for the Vikings' secondary struggles. Russell did have 81 tackles, however, and can't be any worse than Robert Griffith when it comes to wrapping people up.
- The 1999 Indians add Wil Cordero to the DL and activate Carlos Baerga. Oh wait, sorry, that's actually the 2005 Nationals.
- Astros sign P/OF Brooks Kieschnick. Let's see, the Astros have Kieschnick, and the Cards have Rick Ankiel. Quick, Mike, get someone to teach Jerry Hairston to throw off a mound if you want any chance of winning this division!
And that's all for tonight. Remember, your second lineup deadline of the season is this Friday at 5 pm.
