The vibes aren't vibing

At Waiting for Next Year, we are Cleveland fans to the soul, but by name, even in the good times, we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the best of times, we are wary of the worst of times around the corner. In the worst of times, we avoid the topic of how it could get worse, because we’ve all seen it get worse. But right now, through all three Cleveland sports and even Ohio State football, something feels off. Nothing is too bad, nothing is too good. The vibes are just…not vibing.The Browns are an easy case study here. They are 7-5, in the thick of the playoff race, and have a relatively easy schedule remaining. But we all felt the other shoe drop as soon as Nick Chubb went down for the year with a busted knee in Week 2. So we turned to Deshaun Watson to the team on his back the rest of the way. Well, he got hurt, and then in his moment of triumph beating the Ravens got hurt again, out for the season as well. Jim Schwartz has the defense playing we’ve never seen in my lifetime, but Denzel Ward has been out Myles Garrett is hurt and was limited against the Rams, so how long can that last? We as Browns fans came into this year with Super Bowl hopes, but now we look to former Raven Joe Flacco and a patchwork offense to supplement a defense that has been great and at times dominant. Kevin Stefanski has done probably his best coaching job ever this year, but it’s hard to feel good about where the Browns are at considering where we had hoped they would be.Ryan Day is one of the best college coaches in America…when he doesn’t have to face Michigan. It’s not even a Harbaugh issue, he wasn’t on the opposite sideline this year. Marvin Harrison Jr. is a finalist for the Heisman, the team only lost one game to the top seed in the playoff, and with expanded playoffs next year, this might be the last season without a meaningless postseason for Ohio State for the foreseeable future. But, as John Cooper learned the hard way, no one is happy in Columbus when they don’t beat That Team Up North. With a record of 56-7, Day might not make it much longer as a Buckeye. Then starting QB Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal, the end to a rocky year in Columbus for him and an offense that never made things look as easy as their talent. Nothing feels right at OSU at the moment.The Cavs are maybe most guilty of killing the vibes right now. Gone is the hot start of yesteryear, here is the injury-riddled messy play of Darius Garland, the disappointing offense of Evan Mobley, and the increased chatter of Donovan Mitchell’s contract and the temperature of JB Bickerstaff’s seat. The low point came a week ago when the team dropped a killer game to the rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers and flirted with dropping another disappointing game against the Detroit Pistons, who are on an 18-game losing streak. After the Portland game, JB was late to meet with the media and Jarrett Allen left before talking to anyone. The vibes, they ain’t good. On the other hand, the team is 12-9 and has a pair of wins against the hated Golden State Warriors and just took down one of the top East teams on December 6th in the upstart Orlando Magic. The team isn’t bad, and Max Strus has been a perfect addition, but nothing has come easy, the Cavalanches have been nonexistent, and no one is tweeting about the Cavs being fun right now. The Guardians haven’t even played a game in more than two months, yet they keep finding ways to make the good feel bad and the bad get worse. They spent some money on a trade for a relief pitcher in Scott Barlow; finally, a setup man with experience, and a backup closer to boot! But wait, they also had to cut Cal Quantrill’s arbitration salary to make it work? Eh, alright. But also, Emmanuel Clase is rumored to be on the trade market. And some reports say he could be dealt for PROSPECTS instead of win-now talent? Nothing like shoring up a weakness at setup man from last year just to potentially make a weakness at closer for this year. Now I’m grumpy. Admittedly, this is the worst time of year to be a Guardians fan. For most of the last decade, the roster has felt like a player of two away from true title contention, but every offseason (minus 2016 with the Edwin Encarnacion signing and maybe last year depending on how you viewed Josh Bell and Mike Zunino at the time) it seems the front office and/or ownership refuse to go all-in on good rosters to make them great, choosing instead to try the high-wire balance act of trading players with a year or two left of control and filling the gaps in the roster with wishes and prayers, hoping for breakouts from young players year after year. It’s not fun to be a small-market fan of baseball these days, but it’s especially hard when the team you love reminds you of it every year. We knew the Bieber rumors would happen, and we learned about the lack of solid TV money with Bally’s going under, but even winning the draft lottery hasn’t been enough to put out good vibes for the Guards so far this offseason.Nothing is that bad in Cleveland sports at the moment. The Guardians have time to make a meaningful major league addition or two without giving up any of their best players; they don’t play a real game for another 4 months. The Cavs might have reached a turning point (finally) against the Magic. Joe Flacco showed there’s still some game left in the tank against the Rams on Sunday, and Garrett and Ward should play this week against the Jaguars, who might not have their top two QBs. Marvin Harrison Jr. might win the Heisman and the next Buckeye starting quarterback could make us all remember how good that team should be every year. Anything is possible year over year with the transfer portable in college football. Whatever will be will be, and vibes may not even exist, depending on your outlook, but nothing has me feeling comfy cozy as a sports fan today.