Red Right 88

Cleveland sports fan and sports writer

Name:
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, United States

quit my job decided to drive west

Friday, May 01, 2009

Bulls-Celtics

Watching the Bulls and Celtics has been fun. It has been a very entertaining series. But I imagine my perspective has been different than most who have watched it.

Naturally it has fueled my hatred of the Celtics. The Celtics are a bunch of arrogant bullies who love to play the victim. Paul Pierce earned my respect last season but he has lost most of it. He is a very unlikable man. I have taken great joy watching him miss important free throws and then be the goat last night when he got stripped by Noah of all people and then commit a stupid foul to force himself out of the game. You have to like Rondo's game but he is punk just like his older teammates. Rondo could have been tossed from the last two games and if they weren't playoffs games, he would have. And in a series he hasn't played in, Kevin Garnett still found a way to increase his unlikabilty.

And the thing is, as much as I would enjoy watching the Celtics lose game seven at home, I want to play them this year. It bugged me that they waived the white flag before the playoffs so they would have an excuse when the Cavs pummel them. Their fans including Bill Simmons are now saying this is their finals since they can't beat the Cavs. I so want Garnett to get healthy because I want to watch LeBron and company destroy these jerks and leave them no excuses. But I will gladly watch the Cavs slap around a banged up Celtics. I don't like these guys and I want to be the team to eliminate them.

And while pundits are praising the Bulls, I see something else. The Bulls have let the Celtics stick around and not the other way around. For every great thing Ben Gordon has done in this series, I would never want him on my team. He is having a great series but Rose should have the ball at the end of the game. For every great shot Gordon has drained, he has missed more. It seems to me his two biggest shots were more luck than skill. He has hurt the Bulls just as much in big moments. Also I think the Bulls has achieved in spite of their coach. He doesn't look like he knows what he is doing to me. I don't think he has any control over what is happening on the floor. That way work for a series but it won't for the long haul. People are saying Bulls have arrived for years to come. That may be true but I think it is more likely they will underachieve next season, ole Vinny will get canned and then maybe a good coach will find a way to make this team better. Because there is no doubt that Rose is truly the real deal.

It is easy to take shots at Mike Brown. This is clearly LeBron's team but Brown as much as any coach could has also made it his. Brown held back the offense for years but because of that the groundwork of a defense mentality has taken hold. Ferry has found the right type of players to back up his superstar and Brown is the right personality to guide the ship. Del Negro is just there. I get the feeling this is just a Bull flash in the pan.

Regardless I have not had been so engaged in a non-Cleveland playoff series in long time. Let's hope for five overtimes tomorrow night.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Indians limp along

On Tuesday during the top of the third inning, I thought to myself, "I can't believe the Indians season is over before the Cavs season."

Of course the Indians rallied and won the game. They won because Boston gave them the game but still it seemed like it was the type of win that could change things. Something went in our favor. On Monday Cliff Lee pitched like an ace and the Indians found a way to lose. I still have no idea why Wood was in the game. I would not have pitched him on Tuesday either. But what do I know.

Wednesday started with the news of Hafner to the DL. Strangely I did not see this as a bad omen. I was still confident and Carmona went out and pitched like an ace. The Indians were up 5-0 and everything seemed right. The bullpen with an assist from DeRosa then preceded to give the game away. I had been worried when the eighth started that we had no closer after pitching him in two straight non-save situations but the lead was lost before ninth even started.

Now the optimist can say Lee and Carmona seem to be on track. You can point to Sipp pitching well. You can add Perez is looking better. But the truth is this team doesn't have it. What is"it", I am not sure but this team doesn't have it. Sizemore seems like he should be a superstar but he isn't. The bullpen seems like it should be good but it isn't. The offense seems like it should be good enough but it isn't. This team is lacking something. And I don't know what it is. Sure there is more than enough of the season for them to find it but I don't believe in this team. And I am not sure why. It could be the lack of leaders that Wedge mentioned. It seems like Victor and Grady should be leaders. DeRosa was a leader in Chicago but you can't lead when you aren't hitting or fielding well. I can't believe what I am going to write next but this team misses Casey Blake. Who knew?

I don't want to write or even read that it is too early to panic. But this team seems to be lacking confidence. And I lack confidence in them. This team doesn't inspire me. I want to be wrong. I want them to catch fire. But I just don't think they will.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Quick thoughts

Cavs
Stay classy Pistons. What remains of the Pistons core of all-stars quit and I hope that shame follows them the rest of their careers. Those bullies sulked away. However Antonio McDyess proved his mettle. The vet played hard until the end. He will be a free agent and I would love him to become a Cav. At any rate, step one of the process is over. The Cavs get at least a week to rest and prepare for the next round.

Browns
I am so glad the draft is over. It is like election day. I get so tired of the hype and constant blowing of smoke. Things can just quiet down for a while. ESPN has been unwatchable the last few weeks. No one has any idea what any of these kids will do. I am just sick of hearing worthless talk. Wake me when the hitting starts.

Indians
Tony Sipp = Hope. I know that is too simplistic. But the Indians have not inspired much of the emotion this season. I saw the Indians go ahead 4-0 and then watched mostly basketball. I flipped over to see the score was 4-2 with the bases loaded. I was a little shocked to see Sipp thrown into the fire. But he responded big time with his strikeouts of Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel. The season has been a nightmare so far. Maybe Cabrera moving to the two hole and the arrival of Sipp can reverse the Indians fortunes.

It is about trust

In any relationship, trust is key. But when you have been burned so many times -- trust can be very hard. The past encroaches onto your present and you can't help having doubts whether they are justified or not.

For most sports fans in this town, the Cleveland Browns were our first true love. And there are many varied reasons for that. But all of that was changed when they left town. It was abrupt, it was violent and it was heart-breaking. Sure the Indians were there to pick up the pieces but they never quite got over the hump and won the World Series. So when NFL granted us another team three years later, there was still hope and an outpouring of support.

Now for the sake of this article, the front office is the part of the relationship we as fans have to trust. And it has been a series of turkeys over the last decade. First the flashy mob lawyer and his expensive suits. He showed off his Super Bowl rings, he had little to do with and installed his hand picked lackey to make our picks. It was all sizzle and no steak. And we stayed an expansion team.

Next was the supposed miracle worker. He had rebuilt a college power and had success in just in second year. But he built a house of cards. His draft picks were even worse. He walked like Napoleon but it was all an act. He quit in tears and whimpered back to college.

The next guy wasn't handsome but he was all about huge public gestures. He was bold and aggressive and after all we went through he seemed like a nice stable guy. But it turned out he had low self-esteem. He didn't feel like be belonged. He was petty and small. We heard the rumors but we as fans saved him from getting fired. We wanted to believe that he was finally the right guy for us. We were wrong. He destroyed us from within. And we are a bigger mess than we have ever been.

And now we have the estranged son of the man who was in charge when the Browns left town. The man who after the break-up went on to the toast of the leauge. He wasn't the reason the Browns left town but we hate him for being there and for ignoring our proud history while he was there. He grew from his mistakes here and became a champion without us. We can't help but see his estranged son as leftovers. Sure we want some of the magic we lost out on but we have our doubts he can do it.

And today many of us are going crazy on the Browns actions this off season and especially yesterday. Trading down and down and down and getting unflashy center. Not taking a big name defender that had not one but two teammates taken before him. This defender many of us said we had to have at 17 went to the one of the few teams people think have worse leadership then we do at 38 . Not taking a hometown running back with injury issues. Picking up receivers when we have none.

You have to trust. What choice do you have? Take away the history and on the surface the choices seem like solid football moves. Trust isn't easy. But if you want to profess anger. If you want to hate and moan and bitch and scream. Well it is time to end the relationship. Move on. You won't be missed. If you can't trust and who can blame you --- get out of the relationship. If you stay you are only hurting yourself and you are annoying the rest of us. I don't get hate for the sake of hate. Yes, the odds seem stacked against us but you have to give the new guy a chance.