Analyzing the Browns 29-28 win over the Titans – WFNY Podcast – 2014-10-06
October 6, 2014Is the Kenneth Faried extension a model for Cavs and Tristan Thompson?
October 7, 2014
Happy Tuesday WFNY and welcome to today’s edition of While We’re Waiting!
I hope you all are enjoying this young week so far. I sure am. For a guy like me, life doesn’t get much better than when both Ohio State and the Browns win in the same weekend. Oh, and throw in a Cavs preseason win for good measure, and life is good.
Speaking of the Cavaliers, did you watch the Wine and Gold Scrimmage last week? How about the preseason matchup against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Sunday? I have a confession to make: I did not watch either game.
I have no intention of watching any of the Cavaliers’ preseason games. I don’t care to see one minute of it. I know, this is a counterintuitive approach from a guy who is constantly reminded you guys how much I love basketball and the Cavaliers. But here’s the thing, I don’t want to waste my first, personal reactions to seeing LeBron playing basketball for the Cavaliers on a meaningless preseason game. I’m saving that flood of emotion for Thursday, October 30 when the Cavaliers host the Knicks to open their season.
That doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention. I read David Zavac’s recap of the Maccabi game, I’ve signed up for Brian Spaeth’s emails and have loved both editions sent so far1. In other words, I’m not sticking my head in the mud. I have a responsibility to you readers to pay attention and to know what’s going on. But this whole LeBron thing is super personal to me. It transcends sports and it reaches far beyond WFNY. I just want the moment when I see LeBron play in a Cavs uniform for the first time in four years to be a meaningful game.
I’ll tell you one thing, though…the preseason matchup with Miami is really going to test my resolve on this. We’ll see what happens.
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A lot of people are about to get paid
We all knew the NBA’s BRI (Basketball Related Income) was about to go up. We just didn’t know it would be quite this high. Here’s how Deadspin’s Kevin Draper puts it:
First, some context: ESPN and Turner will combine to pay the NBA around $2.6 billion annually under the terms of the new deal, which won’t take effect until the 2016–17 season. Under the current deal, which was signed in 2007, ESPN and Turner paid the $930 million annually, so the new deal represents a 180 percent increase in the amount of money flowing into the league’s coffers. By comparison, when the $930 million deal was signed in 2007, it represented only a 21 percent increase from the previous one. No matter how you slice it, the NBA will be making a hell of a lot of money through the 2024–25 season.
So what does this all mean? Well, it means a lot of things to a lot of different people. In every way this feels like a landmark agreement that will have some significant ramifications.
As Draper points out in his article, this is setting the stage for another lockout in a few years as owners and players will fight over who deserves the lion’s share of this extra revenue. And it will be us fans providing much of that revenue, as cable companies will pass the growing expenses on to us, the consumers.
This deal is going to create a free agency boom in a couple years as well. Players will fight, claw, and scratch to become free agents in the year the new TV money pours in. Player maximums are bound to skyrocket, and the cap space should open up as well.
Because we are a Cleveland sports site, though, I suppose we should focus on what this means for the Cavaliers. It means a couple things. One, it means LeBron really is one savvy NBA businessman. Again, while many wanted to freak out over LeBron signing a short-term deal, this was always about money. A lot of it. LeBron will be seen as a trendsetter as plenty of players will follow his example, fighting for flexibility to be free agents when the money rolls in.
One of those players will probably be Kevin Love. I don’t expect Love to sign a long term deal after this season. I bet he signs a one year deal with a player option for year two. Love is going to also want to maximize his deal with the new TV money. It only makes sense.
The increased cap space will help the Cavaliers a bit, but the reality of it is still that LeBron, Kyrie, and Love will consume an enormous chunk of the pie. Which means, as I alluded to in the Cavs preview last week, that the most important part of the Cavaliers’ sustainability as Championship contenders will be the development of Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson. The new salary cap will not be a crutch that allows the Cavaliers to add more players, per se2, but it will allow them to pay their players more money.
Anyway, there were so many great articles written about the new TV deal and what it means. Some posts you should probably read:
- SB Nation’s Drew Garrison looks at LeBron’s comments on the deal
- CBS’s Ken Berger warns of looming labor strife in the wake of this deal
- Vox’s Matthew Yglesias looks at the impact beyond the sport itself
- Richard Sandomir of the NY Times talks about what the streaming aspect of the deal means for cable cord cutters.
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What do we really know about Joe Harris?
I’m sure some people see the name Joe Harris, and they think to themselves “Who?” A couple months ago, I said the same thing when the Cavaliers used their second round pick (33rd overall) on him. I don’t watch a whole lot of NCAA basketball outside Ohio State games and the tournament. So I didn’t know much about Virginia’s team or Joe Harris.
I’ve learned a fair bit about him, though, in Summer League and in reading about him post-draft. By all accounts, the Cavs’ staff loves the kid and there’s a chance he could see some time this season as a floor spacing shooter. TNT’s David Aldridge did a list of ten players you might not know right now, but who will probably make a name for themselves in some way this season. One of those guys is Joe Harris:
Joe Harris, Cleveland: The second-round pick from Virginia was good in the Las Vegas Summer League, and he’s continued to work during camp, fighting for a role behind starter Dion Waiters. On a team full of stars, Harris has stayed in his lane, showing his high basketball IQ and toughness. “Everybody on the staff really likes him,” a member of the Cavs’ braintrust said. “I think he’s got a really bright future, not only on this team, but as an NBA player.”
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NBA Salary Cap isn’t the only thing changing
Lost in all of the excitement of the new TV deal for the NBA was word that the NBA may soon be implementing some changes to the draft lottery system. Many have been clamoring for changes for years, and now it sounds like the NBA owners are likely to vote to approve the proposed changes:
The vote could happen as soon as the NBA Board of Governors meeting in late Oct. and is expected to pass “easily,” according to Lowe.
Under the terms of the new proposal, the league’s four worst teams will have an equal 12 percent chance of earning the top pick, with the next two teams following with only slightly worse odds. The league would draw ping pong balls for the top six spots instead of the top three, so the worst team is guaranteed to pick no worse than seventh.
As a Cavs fan, of course I have mixed feelings. There’s no denying the Cavaliers reaped the benefits of the current system over the last four years. But in a league that has always lacked parity, I’m not sure making the odds of the worst team getting the top pick lower is really a great thing. Sure, tanking sucks and it hurts the overall credibility of the league, but this move will make life even harder on small market and cold weather teams.
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A new podcast series worth listening to
As I’ve mentioned before in previous editions of While We’re Waiting, I’m a big fan of NPR podcasts. In particular, This American Life and Radiolab are two of my absolute favorite things to listen to. In This American Life, each week there is a certain topic and several different stories that relate to the main topic are told. Now, the podcast has a spinoff series called Serial.
Where Serial differs from This American Life is that Serial is telling one story across multiple episodes (twelve, in total, I believe). Season One of Serial tells the story of the murder of a high school female and the subsequent arrest and conviction of her ex-boyfriend. Where the story gets interesting, though, is in the details of the conviction.
Whereas American pop culture like Law and Order makes most criminal cases appear neat and tidy, the reality is that these kind of cases are messy. It’s not cut and dry in many cases, and in this one, the convicted strongly professes his innocence, and there are many who believe him.
Two episodes have been released so far, and I am dying to find out what happened in this case and what the host figured out about the truth. I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough. It is so good.
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Weezer is back! (Sort of)
Sometimes I think how one feels about Weezer says a lot about what kind of music fan one is. Well, I used to, anyway. For such a long time, though, Weezer has united music fans in a wall of anger, frustration, and embarrassment over the multitude of mis-steps and lowlights Rivers Cuomo has led his band through.
Those first two Weezer albums remain a living testament to one of the most impressive starts to any band’s career. But ever since then, Weezer has been battling against the very thing they are best at and the thing most fans want to listen to them for, and that is their wall of guitar riffs laying a foundation for unforgettable vocal hooks and harmonies.
All along the way, there have been moments here and there that reminded us what the band was still capable of3, but for the most part, being a Weezer fan has been an exercise in cringing.
Today they released their new album, “Everything Will Be Alright in the End“. I fully expected to hate this album. Why shouldn’t I? I’ve had my hopes raised by pre-release hype time and time again, only to have my hopes crushed when I actually listened to the album.
This one is different, though. I……..love this album. There are a couple tracks I’m not crazy about, but in general, this is unquestionably the most consistent and thoroughly enjoyable Weezer album since the Green Album. Heck, I’m pretty sure I like this album more than the Green Album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9qWvvN3zE
I’ve heard so many people say over the years things like, “I just wish Weezer would make an album like the Blue Album or Pinkerton again.” If that’s your bar for this band, you’re forever going to be disappointed. No, this new album does not live up to those first two Weezer albums. Nothing ever will. But I think this new one is about as good as it gets as a modern era Weezer fan.
The album is a more back-to-basics approach that finally finds Rivers making peace with the thing that he does best. The album closes with a three part song split over three tracks that showcases some of the best musicianship we’ve ever heard on a Weezer album. Some of it almost falls into progressive rock territory, perhaps in the vein of a band like Fang Island.
If you’re cynical about Weezer, you probably won’t like this album. If you’ve never cared about Weezer, you probably won’t like this album. But if you’re someone who holds a special place in your musical soul for what this band once was, I think you’re really going to like this and view it as nothing more than a really nice surprise. Enjoy, Weezer fans! And have a great week to all of you on WFNY, whether you’re a Weezer fan or not.
20 Comments
” I fully expected to hate this album.”
Me too! But each time I hear something off it I am pleasantly surprised. They played one on the radio the other day, and I looked over to my girlfriend and said, “For new Weezer, this doesn’t suck at all.” Which about sums up low the bar has been set.
So psyched for a good Weezer album after a million years.
So Kyrie’s max is about to become very team friendly? Do you think he regrets his long term deal at this point?
Perfectly said. For new Weezer, this album doesn’t suck at all.
Yes and no. I’m pretty sure he was aware that to some degree the cap would be increasing, but with his injury history, taking year to year deals would be a big risk.
it’s good to see the NBA follow the MLB lead with the streaming content. I know it’s technically different, but I hope that it’s an actual way to view these games online/mobile rather than the clunky service they have previously provided. I am not looking forward to what appears will be a skyrocketing pricetag with it though.
http://www.fantasybasketballmoneyleagues.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ray-Allen.jpg
http://www.latinpost.com/articles/23174/20141006/nba-free-agent-rumors-ray-allen-not-option-for-los-angeles-clippers-san-antonio-spurs-cleveland-cavaliers-best-fit.htm
He’s still getting paid very well will make the playoffs and have a legitimate shot at a championship. Regrets, what regrets? If there’s anything to regret please sign me up!
There are no regrets, period!
You don’t think someone wouldn’t have thrown max money at an injured Irving? As one of his biggest skeptics, I still think the you have to take a chance on that potential. Especially on a short deal.
Even so, with the new cap, Irving will probably still make around 20% of the new cap instead of 25% (and he can still get 30% of the old cap). He’s going to be underpaid, but I wouldn’t call it a steal at his current level of play.
And that doesn’t touch on how the union responds to the increased revenue. With a potential work stoppage the very next offseason, I’d bet a beer that players in Irving’s situation get a bit extra.
I hear you on the Weezer cringe. That aside, I always liked this Weezer collaboration:
http://youtu.be/okthJIVbi6g
Yep, pretty much a good news/bad news situation. At this point, though, I’m so ready to cut the cord. Sports is my last real hurdle, and I feel like this is a step in the right direction.
the one advantage I have is being out of market (notice, that the streaming will be out of market here too).
as an out-of-market consumer, I can watch all Indians games on MLB.tv (except Ranger/Astro games).
NBA will now allow me to live-stream NBA games for the Cavs (other than Dallas, Houston, and SA).
the NFL restricts ALL games if ANY game is playing on ANY network. It’s a pain (I cannot watch the Browns replay Sunday night because of SNF), but the NFL wants to force people to the television and the power of their TV money there. however, if you qualify for the DirecTv stream (I do not), then you can also stream all out-of-market NFL games (much higher pricepoint too though).
on the streaming article linked above, it notes that this means every single major professional and college sport is contracted through the next decade except the Big10 conference.
being the ONLY free agent on the sports landscape with a large population base to reach could wind up being extremely lucrative.
It also could be a problem. Well, as much of a problem as selling football to Midwesterns can really be, which is not actually a problem. This is a huge bubble right now, and while the Big Ten still got in at a good spot, they’re not getting in at point like the NBA is. Maybe this bubble just doesn’t pop though.
I just don’t see how you’re going to be able to stream in-market games without paying for cable, or an equivalently costly service. Watching TV, especially sports, is expensive because a lot of people are willing to pay a lot of money for it. Basic supply and demand principles all but require that watching your local team isn’t cheap.
I agree that it is a bubble, but seeing as there is only 1 big entity and FoxSports, ESPN, and others fighting to stay ahead of each other, it would seem that the bubble should be solid for 2 years, which is when the Big10 can be a free agent and go get a new contract.
of course, ESPN may fret over that happening and start working on an extension now.
Work has begun at Progressive Field meanwhile the excuses have already started on what not to expect this winter. Indians still don’t get it which is sad.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzXT6nMCUAENDpS.jpg
Thanks for the heads-up on that. I haven’t paid any attention at all since Make Believe, with the brief exception of being horribly disappointed by the rest of Raditude after really digging the first single. I’ll check it out.
What about the Cavs games on national TV (specifically TNT)? That was my only concern for this season since they have so many.
MLB.tv allows nationally broadcast games to be seen w/o blackout restrictions as long as they are out-of-market.
The article did not mention how the NBA will treat those games, but that is a legitimate concern for a team like the Cavs and a great point.