While We’re Waiting… Scouting the Big Ten title game

Cleveland sports fans are waiting. Thus, while we’re all waiting, the WFNY editors thought you might enjoy reading. Because you never know how long we might be waiting. So here are assorted reading goodies for you to enjoy. Send more good links for tomorrow’s edition to tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

“To stop that offense, you better be, No. 1, big enough, and No. 2, athletic enough, to make tackles at the d-line position. The d-line needs to be gap-sound and to get off blocks, or those guys will get through there. And I think Michigan State has four linemen who can do that.

Playing Ohio State is like playing Navy: You have to stop the dive. With Ohio State, stop the inside run. If you can stop the inside runs on the A and B gaps, and if you then can stop the screen game, now you are cooking with gas and you have a chance to make some hay on the play-action passing game and quarterback runs. MSU is physical enough that when they hit the quarterback, it’s gonna hurt.” [Dienhart/Big Ten Network]

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“As an Indians fan, this trade delights me, because it weakens the Tribe’s biggest rival. Yes, Fister will be replaced in the rotation by Drew Smyly, who’s a solid enough pitcher, better than most team’s #5 starter, but he’s still a big step down for Fister. Meanwhile, Detroit’s bullpen is probably a touch better than it was before.

So why did they do it? My initial thought was money. That was arguably the biggest reason they dealt Prince Fielder away for Ian Kinsler, it saved them $76 million. I figured this was more of the same, a way to save some coin (that might soon be funneled back into the team). The thing is, Fister isn’t expensive. He’ll likely cost ~$7 million in 2014, his second year of arbitration eligibility, and then something like $10 million in 2015. 2 years, $17 million… That’s less than Scott Kazmir just got, less than Tim Hudson signed for… at current prices, it’s a massive bargain, while in the Tigers’ budget, it’s little more than a drop in the bucket.” [Lukehart/Let’s Go Tribe]

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“Saturday night changed everything. It was the night that Bynum showed that he could still be dominant, that he could be the focus of all attention on the court. That he could pound home strong dunks, play tough inside, maintain it through an NBA game, then close out and win. Saturday night opened our imaginations, and rightly so.

Andrew Bynum played 30 minutes in a basketball game Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls in a 97-93 Cavalier win. That, in and of itself, was something. This giant man, 7 foot tall, 285 pounds of muscle, tendons, organs, bones and possibly a serious degenerative condition in both knees said within weeks ago that he lacked “explosiveness”, that he had considered retirement and that he was still searching for joy in basketball, for meaning behind his the sensation of his aching knees.” [Jackson/Stepien Rules]

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Not Cleveland centric at all, but interesting. I was in college in the guys dorms when Carter dunked over the seven footer. The place went nuts. “In the summer of 2000, Carter was 23, and in Australia representing the Unites States at the Sydney Olympics. NBA basketball was a changed and open and decidedly international thing, which was exciting; the longstanding dominance that the United States enjoyed over the game was slipping, which was exciting in a different way. This was not quite clear yet, but it was palpable.

Carter was the youngest member of the team and the closest thing it had to a true superstar. Among his teammates were Tim Hardaway, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Allan Houston and Steve Smith – great players all, but on the back ends of their careers. In the preliminaries, the US beat Lithuania by nine points; it was the first time a US roster made up of NBA players had failed to win by double digits. The teams met again in the semi finals and the US survived by two points after Lithuania missed a potential game winning three-pointer at the buzzer. In the finals Team USA faced France and NBC chose to broadcast the game live rather than on tape-delay, sacrificing ratings to beam the game into American homes on a Saturday night, just in case. So it was then that Vince Carter’s magnum opus was performed, late in the night, and on the other side of the world.” [Riches/The Classical]

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Interesting question. Can NFL refs keep up with the fast pace of the new NFL? “But how do we hit the ref refresh button? Go ageism and knock off any official who can’t get through a “Sweatin’ to the Oldies Workout” with Richard Simmons? The reservoir of experience is too critical, as everyone saw when the replacement refs devalued the game in 2012 with each 11-yard holding penalty. This year’s mistakes are not last year’s disgrace. Even so, the angst over the bad calls is written in Triplette as the debates about official ineptitude have been overshadowing the finish of some great games. The refs need help. A lot of solutions have been flying around cyberspace, from adding an extra official to asking for the NFL to post zebra grades, which would basically allow fans to see who sucks best among refs. That doesn’t help a ref cope with the blurred state of the game.” [Roberts/Sports on Earth]