While We’re Waiting…Gibson To Work Out With Browns, Tribe Rotation, LBJ FT Shooting

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com

Euclid native Thaddeus Gibson will be working out in Cleveland next month: “Thaddeus Gibson of Euclid High School and Ohio State will visit the Browns on April 1. Gibson, a linebacker/defensive end, had his pro day in Columbus last week and reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in the high-4.5 and low-4.6 range.  Gibson, 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, would be an outside linebacker in the Browns’ 3-4 defense. He is projected as a late second- or early third-round pick. In three seasons at Ohio State, he posted 82 tackles and 10 sacks. Gibson decided to skip his senior season.” [Jeff Schudel/The News Herald]

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Night games will remain the exception in Columbus: “Beyond the season-opener with Marshall on Thursday, Sept. 2, no other Ohio State football home games will be played at night this season. That means no night game when Miami (Fla.) comes to town the next weekend…Smith said night games double the cost of putting on a game for Ohio State, while the Buckeyes pull in no extra revenue. He said he expects he’ll approve another night game for 2011, but he was wary of doing anything to harm what could be a national title run in 2010…With the news Thursday that Michigan would host its first night game against Notre Dame in 2011, Smith said he has only been asked once about moving the Ohio State-Michigan game to a night game, he said no and he doesn’t think TV wants that.” [Doug Lesmerises/Plain Dealer]

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The last couple spots in the Tribe rotation are closer to being filled: “The race for the 4th and 5th spot in the rotation is beginning to look like a race for the 5th spot.  It is still early obviously, but Mitch Talbot, he of the zero remaining options, has so far performed the way you would hope.  If he continues his early success for the remainder of camp, the decision to give him a roster spot will be a no-brainer.  Here is what Shapiro and Acta said of Talbot following his last start..’I’ve been impressed with Talbot,’ Shapiro said. ‘He has a looseness to his delivery. I’ve seen him go out without his best pitch, his changeup, and still compete in Glendale the other day. His slider has been surprisingly good. We had that as his third pitch. In talking to him, he hasn’t thrown his best changeup yet, so that’s a good thing.’” [Adam/Let’s Go Tribe]

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Taking a look at the effects of LBJ’s FT shooting: “If LeBron was a better free-throw shooter, it would help in two major areas. First of all, it would give LeBron more confidence to drive to the basket, which is a good thing. LeBron may be the best player ever at driving to the basket, and he’ll only go there more if he’s absolutely confident in his free-throw stroke. I don’t think he shies away from contact at all now, but being better at the free throw line couldn’t hurt in that regard…Second, LeBron could help the Cavs out in late-game situations if he was an absolute free-throw cooler. The Cavs have had trouble getting the ball to Mo Williams in late-game situations, and LeBron is big and fast enough to almost always be able to get the ball on inbounds plays.” [John Krolik/Cavs:the blog]

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Pros and Cons of a Browns-Tebow union: ” ‘From the Senior Bowl to now, the improvement is ridiculous,’ NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock told the Sporting News. ‘I was blown away’…Holmgren was not overbearing in his praise of Tebow and rightfully so. Teams are simply not going to spill the beans on their draft plans.  That being said, below are five reasons the Browns should draft Tebow followed by five reasons why they should have reservations.” [Don Delco/NoLogoNeeded]

(Photo: Marvin Fong/Plain Dealer)