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It’s the wonderful world of Cleveland sports on a Tuesday after the Super Bowl. Let the lull period begin. While you are bored, here are ten things to think about:
-Last January, he was a potential first-day NFL draft pick. Today, not so much. Ohio State’s Alex Boone was arrested for drunken buffoonery, jumping up and down on the hood of several different cars, trying to smash the windshield of a tow truck, and avoiding police in Los Angeles. Things got so bad; the former Buckeye Offensive lineman had to be tasered. Dude is 6-8, 312. Imagine trying to be a friend of his trying to calm him down. His draft stock is plummeting faster than the Dow.
-Rumor has it Delonte West would like to come back before the All-Star break, a few weeks earlier than expected. I say what’s the rush. Sasha Pavlovic is in his best rhythm since he was a starter on the 2006-07 NBA Finals team. Boobie Gibson’s fourth quarter performance in Detroit might be the start of something special for him. While home court advantage and the #1 seed in the East is of the utmost importance, having Delonte at full strength may be on par.
-Don’t look now, but with the Lakers losing stud Center Andrew Bynum for 8-12 weeks with a torn MCL, the race for home court for the NBA Finals will most likely come down to a two horse race between the Cavs and the Celtics. Boston is on another long winning streak, 11 in a row, heading to Philadelphia tonight. The Cavs meanwhile have managed to stay even with them, despite a run of 13 games without both Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and a brutal West Coast road trip. This is not to discount Orlando and Superman Dwight Howard, but if Jameer Nelson has to miss a significant amount of time with the shoulder he separated last night, they could fall off the pace. EDIT: ESPN.com says Nelson has a torn labrum and could be lost of the year.
-We received an email from reader Joe Navratil asking how we can not have made the obvious Michael Phelps/Braylon Edwards connection in reference to the photo of the gold medal swimmer taking a hit from a bong. It is true, the two are fast friends, but does that really mean they have smoked pot together? I think it would be naïve of all of us to think that at one time or another, Braylon hasn’t experimented (not that we would know if this was true or not). So what? Braylon has made his share of bone-head mistakes both on and off the field, but he wasn’t the one dumb enough to get caught on film with a supposed squeaky clean image and $100 million in future earnings on the line.
-I heard Paul Hoynes on More Sports and Les Levine last night say that Indians second baseman Josh Barfield will be getting looks at third base and all three outfield positions this spring in attempts to turn him into a super-utility man. Uh, hello? Who suggested this last winter? With both Mark Shapiro and Paul Dolan stating the team is already over budget, the final roster spot looks like it is Barfield’s to lose.
-Poor Jawad Williams, the guy has done everything the Cavaliers have asked him short of doing the laundry, and by the time his two 10-day contracts are about to expire, Tarance Kinsey goes down with an ankle injury, leaving the team thin at the Guard spot. Williams had to be let go in favor or D-League call-up 6-6 swingman Trey Johnson from Jackson State. Here’s hoping they bring the St. Edward’s product back before the end of the season.
-With 40 man roster spots so important, you wonder why the Indians continue to waste one on fallen-prospect Andy Marte. The only logical thought process is for protection in case new Mark DeRosa tears his knee up in spring training. Even then, wouldn’t the Indians just move Jhonny Peralta to third, Asdrubal Cabrera to short, and use Jamey Carroll and Josh Barfield at second? The real question is who is the biggest waste of a roster spot, Marte or David Dellucci? As much as I dislike DD, Marte may have this honor sewn up.
-With the lack of quality free agent QB’s on the market and a bidding war expected for Matt Cassel between the likes of Minnesota, Kansas City, and Detroit among others, one wonders if the Browns will be able to be the backup plan for the runners-up with Derek Anderson. Cassel may be franchised by the Patriots and held on to for insurance in case Tom Brady isn’t fully recovered, but conventional wisdom says Cassel’s stock will never be higher, and this is the time Bill Belichick says sell. The killer for the Browns is Anderson’s injured knee. Nobody knows how he will respond. Typical Cleveland luck. The good news is it only takes one team to fall in love with DA’s big arm. Speaking of Cassel, his brother Jack will go to Spring Training with the Indians as a non-roster free agent relief pitcher.
-To quote the great Harry Doyle from Major League “in case you hadn’t noticed, and judging by the attendance, you haven’t,” the Horizon League is as deep as it has ever been in their 2008-09 college basketball season. 11th ranked Butler (19-2, 10-1) is again on top, but suffered their first conference loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay (18-6, 10-2) last night 75-66. UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, Cleveland State, UIC, and Wright State can all beat anyone on any given night. The league boasts road wins at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, and UMass. With Butler a lock for an at-large bid barring a major collapse, the league could be looking at multiple bids yet again. The Horizon League tournament will be the most entertaining mid-major tournament of Championship week.
-The Steelers three most important players during their sixth Super Bowl Championship were Santonio Holmes (Ohio State), James Harrison (Kent State), and Ben Roethlisberger (Miami of Ohio). That, my friends, is called irony.