Indians, Derby, Bulls/Celtics Open Thread
May 2, 2009Exec of Year: Ferry Loses out to Denver’s Warkentien
May 3, 2009While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
Terry Pluto believes the Browns legitimately knew what they were doing on draft day: “I have a feeling the Browns’ draft board looked much different than that of most teams. It was aimed toward adding picks, adding depth with a couple of veterans via trade, and adding character. If it meant they took players higher than what the ‘experts’ believed they should be selected, the Browns didn’t care. They really did the draft their way, with General Manager George Kokinis and coach Eric Mangini unconcerned with the opinion of anyone else.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
For those fans interested in knowing the schedule for the second round against either Atlanta or Miami, George Thomas is up on the possibilities:
“Game 1 – Tue May 5 Atl/OR/Miami at Cleveland 8:00PM 8:00PM TNT
Game 2 – Thu May 7 Atl/OR/Miami at Cleveland 7:00PM 7:00PM ESPN” [Akron Beacon Journal]
Well the Indians lost again, and just in case you were interested in knowing what the stats people believe, check out this game recap with some fancy graphs: “But again the bullpen couldn’t get the game to the ninth inning. Vinnie Chulk did a commendable job getting the game from Laffey’s departure in the fourth through the sixth. For a bullpen of decent depth, two innings of scoreless setup wouldn’t be much of a problem. But the Indians have no consistent setup man now, so Eric Wedge tried to squeeze 1.2 innings out of the closest thing to one he had. Rafael Betancourt got the last two outs of the seventh, but gave up the lead with nobody out in the eighth by giving up a Curtis Granderson two-run shot.” [Ryan/Let’s Go Tribe]
Another national announcer for Cavaliers fans to pick on, as Cavalier Attitude rips Jalen Rose: “Picking the winners of the first round isn’t really that hard, especially considering the fact that the top three seeds in either conference very rarely lose. But this idiot had the Pistons — the dead, lifeless Pistons who limped to the finish line — pushing the Cavs to six. Not five. Six. And as electrifying as the Bulls-Celtics series has been, this circus clown was the only stooge to see a sweep. Even without Kevin Garnett playing.” [Amar Panchmatia]
David Dellucci was the key to victory Friday night, but on Saturday night we had his favorite fan blog detail what is going wrong with the Tribe right now: “2. The middle of the lineup is not getting it done. You saw today the kind of prescence that Miguel Cabrera has in the middle of the Tigers order. It is scary. You sense it in the stadium when he comes to the plate. The Tribe’s 4-6 hitters have to be better. Shin Soo-Choo did his part today, but it would be nice to see someone drive a ball over the fence, especially with runners on.” [King Diesel/Dump David Dellucci]
A great story about how LeBron is more focused now than ever, which certainly cannot be a bad thing for the Cavaliers with the second round coming up on Tuesday: “‘I have never seen LeBron more focused and more determined,’ said Maverick Carter, James’ business partner and lifelong friend. Motivated to win his first title and deliver one to a sports-obsessed region-his home-that has waited 45 years to sip championship champagne in any major sport, the 24-year-old superstar has the Cavaliers on the cusp of greatness. This could be his year. Their year. Cleveland’s year.” [AP News/Cleveland Plain Dealer]
Finally, just for fun, here is the lowdown on the movie adaptation on Moneyball: “‘We’ve got about 60 percent of them. We have [manager] Art Howe, we’ve got Rick Peterson, the pitching coach. We’ve got three-quarters of the scouts who were there. … The guys on the team we can’t get – we’re casting real people who can play and perform. We’ll have the real footage and then we’ll go to the close-up with our guy in it, and it should be seamless,’ the director explained.” [Rob Neyer/ESPN.com]
4 Comments
Ok, now that my finals week is over, I’m itching for more Cavs playoffs. Tuesday seems so far away! It’s like they haven’t played in weeks!
Given that Finals were going on for a lot of people, the Cavs break may have been one of the better-timed events in recent sports history.
Or you know mine are just starting on Friday … I guess the break has helped me study a bit … then again I am on the interweb at the moment so I’m thinking everything is basically a wash in the end
A common reflex of many Indians fans is to look away from the team’s current plight at any given time of the season to see if anything horrible isn’t happening to the Yankees. When the Tribe is going south, at least in the Yankees’ troubles can be found some measure of relief. And so Filip Bondy, writing in the Daily News, provided this comforting tidbit:
“The Yankees’ pitching staff, worth more than $71 million this season, including Sabathia’s money, now has the highest ERA in all of baseball at 5.93.”