NFL News: Browns provide updates on injured players
August 16, 2013Video: Watch Kyrie Irving turn a crossover into a left-handed dunk
August 17, 2013While We’re Waiting is the daily morning link roundup that WFNY has been serving up for breakfast for the last several years. We hope you enjoy the following recent collection of yummy and nutritious Cleveland sports-related articles. Anything else to add? Email us at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Tribe dropped the series opener vs the A’s. “That razor-thin line between a victory and a disheartening defeat was on full display tonight. Coming into tonight’s game against Oakland, the Indians knew that the Tigers had lost both games of a doubleheader to the Royals, and that both the Orioles and Rangers lost; giving the Indians every bit of extra incentive to gain ground in both the AL Central and Wild Card chases.
Unfortunately for the Tribe’s offense, their late-summer malaise continued. The Indians went an inexcusable 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position (including leaving the bases loaded twice), which hung a tough-luck loss on Justin Masterson (7.2 INN/7 H/3 R/4 SO/ 1 BB). Masterson’s lone major mistake was a flat slider in the first inning that Yoenis Cespedes deposited over the left field wall.
The Indians had A’s starter AJ Griffin (5 INN/4 H/1 UER/3 SO/5 BB) on the hook for the virtually the entire time he was out there, and if they were going good, probably would have blown the doors off early on. But as it goes lately, on a night in which Mark Reynolds made his Yankees debut by hitting his first homer since the Dark Ages, Asdrubal Cabrera continues to swing mightily at anything that isn’t a strike, depreciating his trade value more and more with every dumbfounding strikeout or harmless pop-ups.” [Chris Burnham/It’s Pronounced “Lajaway”]
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Weeden is totally not the Browns’ starter or anything. “Weeden has been one of the top quarterbacks this preseason and has taken every snap with the Browns’ first-team offense this summer. In two preseason games, Weeden has completed 18-of-25 passes (72 percent) for 229 yards and three touchdowns. He’s led the Browns on five scoring drives (three touchdowns and two field goals) in six possessions.
“I’m still going to wait to name a starter,” coach Rob Chudzinski told reporters on a conference call Friday afternoon.
At this point, the Browns can’t ask for anything more from Weeden. He’s improved his accuracy. He’s improved in the red zone. The only reason why the Browns are waiting is to avoid any complacency. But, based on two preseason games, Weeden has earned the job.” [Jamison Hensley/ESPN.com]
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Video: Kyrie Irving is good at basketball. [BallIsLife.com]
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We might finally get instant replay in baseball. “The truth about replay is this: The extreme likelihood is that it will get bigger and better, and that’s just this iteration. Before the passage of the replay plan proposed to owners this week – one that allows managers to challenge one call in the first through sixth innings, plus two more over the final three innings – it must be ratified by players and umpires, too. And one source at the World Umpires Association said they plan to ask for – and expect to be granted – what amounts to a doomsday trigger: If a manager is out of challenges and an imperative call is close, they can request a replay themselves.
Hopefully, this calms some of the complaining from the baseball cognoscenti that scoffed Thursday when commissioner Bud Selig announced the outline of the league’s replay plan for 2014. That was expected. Of course hardcore fans want full replay on every play. The languid pace of a baseball game suits their sporting tastes and pleasures.
Because baseball has ballooned into a nearly $9 billion business, its game must satisfy a far greater number of people than those with so much invested in it already. Staunch fans will not ditch the sport en masse because of a replay plan that doesn’t fully placate their idea of a replay plan but goes so much farther than the pathetic version in place currently. Casual fans, on the other hand, already plotz at the down time during a game – at relief pitchers taking three minutes to warm up instead of the scheduled 2 minutes, 25 seconds, or batters stepping out of the box after every pitch, or starters taking half a minute in between pitches.” [Jeff Passan/Yahoo!].
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With the Indians still in the hunt for the Wild Card, here’s a guide to Wild Card scoreboard watching. “Rooting for the Wild Card, as you can see, is an onerous ordeal. But I am nothing if not a man of the people. It is my job to distill this mess down to its essence and make your lives a little bit brighter, a little bit more manageable.
And so I encourage you to use this painless, handy guide to navigate your way through the home stretch of the season. Please, please, thank me not with flowers or money but rather with your ever-abiding affection. It’s all I ask.
All right, let’s begin in the here and now, Aug. 16-18. This is easy: You’re rooting for the Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mariners.
I know, I know… the Tigers? Woe be the postseason scenario that encourages you to cheer on the very team you’re trying to catch in your division. But to be entirely realistic is to embrace the fact that disposing of the Royals in this AL Central troika is in the Indians’ best interests, and the Tigers, who took the first game of a four-game weekend set, are the best bet to do the dirty work.” [Anthony Castrovince/MLB.com].
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