While We’re Waiting… Where the Grinch has Stolen OSU’s Christmas

While We’re Waiting is your first cup of Cleveland sports coffee for the day. Sip on these WFNYish pieces from around the net while your first our first post finishes cooking. Seen something you think we should feature here? Send it to our tips line- tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

I have a hard time believing that championships mean more to fans than the players that earn them. Once again, I was wrong- “While all of the charges sting, the fact that players sold Gold Pants is perhaps most damning and will probably go a long way to tipping those that have supported Pryor beyond all of the gaffes and breakdowns in play to the other side, where some were actually looking forward to the Braxton Miller era.” [Eleven Warriors]

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Well, here’s a theory as to why Pryor and Company aren’t missing the Sugar Bowl- “This implies one very obvious, ugly answer. The Sugar Bowl, having invested millions of dollars already on this matchup between Ohio State and Arkansas, put pressure on the NCAA to not punish the OSU players for this bowl game. That action preserves the Sugar Bowl’s investment in the game, and even goes above and beyond by giving the game lots of free publicity to draw more viewership.” [Buckeye Battle Cry]

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The second category is even more depressing.- “I would break the Cavs’ losses this season into two basic categories. The first category is the “there is no way a professional basketball team can possibly play that badly” losses — those are the ones where the Cavs give up open three-pointers and drives to the paint at will without even pretending to play help defense, don’t push the tempo offensively or keep the floor spread, and throw up some lazy mid-range jumpers or force some doomed drives to the basket before jogging back to watch the other team practice running their offensive sets. Those are not fun.” [Cavs the Blog]

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Speaking of Cavalier losses, Brendon asks what is it were Mike Brown at the helm this year with the same record- “But maybe that’s just why we don’t fully appreciate Byron yet because he doesn’t have the pieces to work with. Which is also why we give him a pass. It is tough to draw up a winning play when your guys can’t throw it in Lake Erie. And it is also tough when you do practice and draw up a play and then the guy with the ball in the fourth quarter decides that he doesn’t feel like….oh never mind.” [Stepien Rules]

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Someone else finally saying what I’ve been hammering at for three weeks- “Whatever the reason, Cleveland must find a way to improve their conversion rate to the league average again. Ultimately, one of the things that certainly has to be corrected is the receivers running two yard routes on 3rd-and-4 or longer. It worked very early on in the season, but it hasn’t worked since and I think all of us are tired of seeing it. If we know it’s coming, it should be no surprise that the defense is tackling our receivers immediately. If the route is going to be a quick hitter, at least make it a slant so the receiver can fall forward and continue running in stride.” [Dawgs by Nature]