In the News

Livy's got a new gimmick and it's called "Four things I think about" (Oh you mean other than food?).

Apparently the Bengals weren't in a rush to re-sign an undrafted backup who had a penchant for abiding by our country's laws. Bengals pass on nose tackle

Umm...has anyone been watching these "sports rants," by some staffer at the ABJ? High comedy.

You're obligatory "Boozer returns" article. Fans likely to have boos for Boozer

Hope you're getting the most out of your Gus Johnson fix, he's done after this weekend. Gus forced to bow out to Brown Continue Entry»

An Update..Finally

I know I know, it's one of the most exciting times of the sports year, and CursedCleveland.com has been updated about as much as Richard Jeni's personal Myspace page. Incidentally, CursedCleveland.com is about to make a gigantic announcement regarding the future of our failed website. For the 25 or so of you that view us on a semi-regular basis, you'll probably vow never to make a return. Stay tuned nonetheless...

Big day for Mark Shapiro and the Cleveland Indian apologists. How about this line coming from a Cleveland Indians message board (which I definitely considered stealing for a few minutes, even as of right now), "I was hoping we would sign a journeyman GM that is coming off either an injury or a poor year and hoping to resurrect his career." This could be a really interesting season and off-season for Mark and the Tribe. If they miss the playoffs and only re-sign one of the "Big 3," the 10,000 Indians fans left in this town will be outraged.

The Cleveland Browns made all sorts of moves and we covered absolutely none of them. Robaire Smith will hopefully bolster our anemic defensive line. The Browns also released Terrelle Smith, apparently they weren't confident with his ability to make key fourth down throws in crucial situations like Lawrence Vickers.

The Browns are also going with a new and improved strategy for improving their offensive line. As opposed to bringing in the healthy player who inevitably injures himself after signing the contract, they astutely go after guys who have already missed entire seasons with a serious injury....case in point: Seth Mckinney.

By the way, 8 games, no upsets. That makes me feel really good about the Buckeyes tonight. At least "Mr. Cinderella" Gus Johnson's not doing their game. Wait....he is. Should I start burning my couch now, or wait until afterwards?

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In the News

Did you guys know that Mike Bibby was almost a Cav? Branson Wright's on top of this one. OK, even without another King

See, even Greg Oden knows he's not dominating. Ohio State's Oden ignores hoopla

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ron Lewis will be getting NBA looks when all is said and done. Flash back in Lewis' dash

The Browns hired a marketing guy, I guess 4-12 isn't as marketable as it used to be. Ex-IMG CEO Kain named vice chairman

"That's why I feel like I'm not necessarily a platoon guy," - Casey Blake. Well he's accurate, he's not just a platoon guy, he's a shitty platoon guy. Blake's a full-time pro with part-time respect

The only place in Ohio where Thad Matta is hated. Matta's gone, not forgotten in Cincinnati Continue Entry»

Free Agency: Patriots Clear Winners.....Browns Lose Big

I myself sometimes get annoyed with the nonstop grab-assing that the Patriots franchise gets from the media year to year but it is often justified. The way this offseason went for the Patriots, I wouldn't doubt it if Tom gets to hold up a couple more of those. I don't think anyone came even close to them in terms of hitting the mark this year in free agency. As I have mentioned in previous articles, the Patriots were a good receiver or two away from the Super Bowl this past year. That is no longer the case. The patriots went out and completely overhauled their receiving corp this year by signing Donte Stallworth, Kelley Washington and Wes Welker. Donte Stallworth provides the playmaker that they lost in Deion Branch last year (whom they should have just kept). Wes Welker is the perfect caucasian slot-receiver that everyone is looking for these days. Last but not least, they picked up Kelley Washington who had the injury-bug last year and struggled to get balls amongst Cincinatti's talented group of receivers. To cap it off, they picked up arguably the best defensive player in free agency when they signed LB Adalius Thomas. Adalius Thomas is not on the downside of his career, he is playing as good as he ever has been and his age is just a number at this point. Besides, we all know that if you play on the Patriots and you are starting to lose a step then you get let go (and subsequently sign with the Browns......Check Willie McGinest and Joe Andruzzi).

I can't say the Browns whole offseason was for naught, we did pick up the top guard in free agency when we signed Eric Steinbach. Rumor had it that we also offered Kris Dielman big money to come here but he opted to stay in San Diego for less. I don't want to fault Phil Savage entirely for this year's crop of mediocre free agents, because I believe it is a pretty tough sell when someone is offering a similar contract to come to Cleveland. However, before free agency Phil Savage made it sound as if we were going to go strong after a few big names as opposed to spreading the money so thin like we did this year. Like I said I have no qualms about the Steinbach signing and Jamal Lewis is a slight upgrade over Reuben Droughns. Other than those two, this free agent class is laughable. The offseason is generally the most optimistic time of the year for most Browns fans including myself because we don't have to actually watch them play, we can just imagine how great things could be. Today I laid back and was visualizing a cornerback trio of Leigh Bodden, Daven Holly and newly signed Kenny Wright. What came to me in this dream sequence was startling (my dream also did allow for all three players to be healthy, but remember this was just a dream). And let me tell you something about our defensive line, it is awful (probably the worst in the league). Alvin McKinley is one step below mediocre, Ted Washington was once fat and good at football but now he is just fat, and everyone's favorite Orpheus Roye played nine games last year. Lets talk about the depth though. Simon Fraser did come up with 4.5 sacks this year but he only earned .5 of them. His only accolade is that he has the palest skin complexion in all of sports. Not one of these guys would start on any team with playoff aspirations. So what did we do, we signed Shaun Smith to an offersheet and he brings with him 47 tackles over three years (that means he averages a little under 1 tackle a game for his career).

I hope for the sake of the Browns guys like Antwan Peek pan out, but I just can't quite see this team making it over the hump anytime soon.

Photo courtesy of shotsdaily.com

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Cleveland Indians 2007 Preview

The Indians are a team picked by many pundits to be a first place caliber ball club. Quite frankly, (no pun intended to Steven A. Smith’s terrible show) this team has too many holes to finish atop the AL Central this year. With the unbalanced schedule, the Tribe will play the Tigers, White Sox, and Twins 19 times each. Each of these teams finished with at least 90 wins last year. Only the Twins seem be heading backwards while the White Sox and Tigers look even stronger this year. Some would be quick to say that that the Tribe also plays the Royals 19 times. Good point until you realize that they only went 10-8 against the hapless Royals and had a 4 game sweep in mid September when their postseason chances were done two months before.

The rotation is solid although Cliff Lee is this year’s award winner for starting pitcher to begin the season on the DL with an abdominal strain (CC, the previous 2 time award winner, has slimmed down to 320 lbs. The bullpen is old and injured, just the way Larry Dolan likes it. Roberto Hernandez is 42….literally 42, and will be our set up man for the 8th inning. Joe Borowoski has had a history of arm trouble in the past but have no worries Tribe fans, Keith Foulke should be able to come in if Borowoski falters. Nevermind, Keith’s elbow kinda hurt, and decided to call it a career. How he passed a physical, I have no idea (keep in mind, Borowski failed a physical in Philadelphia, that should make you feel better).

The outfield is dreadful outside of Sizemore and the infield is young and untested with the new additions of Josh Barfield, Andy Marte, and hopefully Ryan Garko at first base. Eric Wedge will need to get the Tribe off to a good start this year to have any chance of contending for the division. If not, Westbrook will be traded at the midseason deadline. Maybe Wedge can shave his now famous mustache during losing streaks to prevent further damage much like Larry Hughes takes off his headband when he’s 4-17 from the field (which is usually every other night). The team definitely has potential, but the lack of outfield production from Dellucci and Michaels is going to hurt this team….as well as Victor only throwing out 2% of runners trying to steal. My prediction: 84-78 Third place finish behind the White Sox and Tigers.

submitted by guest columnist Dave Catalano, who had grown frustrated with our lack of Indians coverage.
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Player of the Week

Cleveland's own Lebron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday for the 10th time in his short career, after averaging 32.8 points per game during the Cavs 4-0 week. Every die-hard in Cleveland seems to be raving the the Cavs are "The hottest team in the league" and most of this is due to the rejuvenated play of the King (And just for the record, they are NOT the hottest team in the league, but yes they are playing their best ball of the year...let's not be so quick to put them up there with Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio). I'm fairly certain that the reason for the improved level of play is the fact that I bet someone at the beginning of the year that the Cavs wouldn't win over 50 games, and now they're doing everything in their power to make me lose that bet.

The Cavs have a pretty good shot at catching the Pistons over the next week or so, as their schedule is favorable and Detroit is on a road trip out West. The Wine & Gold will host the Kings this evening, and according to my sources (I don't have any sources), security will be bulked up to accomodate the hosting of the NBA's favorite criminal Ron Artest (Anyone else glad we didn't trade for Bibby after seeing the way these guys are playing with Hughes at the point?). Again, congratulations are certainly in order for winning not only this award from the NBA, but also the Guy Who Finally Located His Sack Award from CursedCleveland.com.

photo courtesy of interbasket.net

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CursedCleveland.com's Role Model of the Week

Richie Anderson, a former NFL fullback for 13 seasons, was fired Monday after being arrested in a prostitution sting operation. Coach Ken Whisenhunt had recently hired Anderson to join his staff as the wide receivers coach, however after assessing the situation he concluded that it would be in the team's best interest to let go of this meaner looking version of Sam Cassell. The baffling part of this hysterical situation is that this guy actually solicited an undercover Phoenix police officer who was posing as a prostitute for sex...I've gotta wonder if this guy was drunk and unable to notice the stereotypical large adams apple, thunder thighs and butchy look that just about every female police officer on the planet posesses. Either way, we're proud of you Richie, and certainly your family, friends, and Fred Smoot are as well!

AP Photo

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24 Hours Later...

SYRACUSE, NY - The CursedCleveland.com board of directors and editorial staff made a pledge yesterday shortly after the seedings were announced to avoid any knee-jerk postings about the selections. We fully recognize the complexities involved, such as whether or not chairman Gary Walters had to purchase an additional airline seat for his ego en route to Indy.

Now, I have to fully admit my bias here, I did attend Syracuse and yes, I went on a double date or two with Eric Devendorf. But how does a team not on the bubble find themselves left out of the tournament all together? That makes about as much sense as the Norton Furniture ad campaign. Jim Boeheim was understandably incensed. He appeared on "Mike and Mike," "Dan Patrick Show," and the "Jim Rome" show. The guy had more radio air time in the past 24 hours than Justin Timberlake. So in case you missed it, he wasn't camping happily.

You have to imagine the collective Orange nation was on suicide watch last night (You think I'm joking? One former comedian and Cuse enthusiast had the Orange on the 8-line). Syracuse had made itself a pretty good home in the tournament during the Boeheim era. Unfortunately for the Orange, the Cuse is definitely NOT in the house this time around. Oh My God. Continue Entry»

Road to the Final Four

So let me get this straight: The Buckeyes win their conference outright in the regular season, they win the conference tournament, they are No. 1 in both polls, No. 1 in the sacred RPI rankings, they're the 3rd hottest team in the nation with 17 wins in a row, undefeated at home (with arguably the worst homecourt advantage in the country), best major conference record in the country, a win over the No 1 team in the country, went toe to toe with Carolina w/o their dominant center; and they get the No. 3 overall one-seed in the country? Even George O'Leary couldn't have conjured up a better resume.

Despite the lack of respect, early returns are that the South sets up pretty well for a Buckeye run into the final four. Tennessee is all that stands in the way between OSU and an elite-8 appearance. Here are some random thoughts:

Hey Florida, guess you can't use the whole "nobody respects us" mantra anymore. You're No. 1, everyone respects you. (well, expect for whoever was responsible for the BCS championship gameplan).

Looks like George Mason's run last year didn't have the effect on this year's selections as was expected. Six at-large teams? Teams like 18-12 Standford are getting in?

Syracuse gets left out, despite not showing up on anyone's bubble all week long. Looks like Eric Devendorf will be handing out his cheap shots in the NIT instead. Hey Jimmy B, maybe it's time to schedule some out of conference games outside of the state of New York.

104 teams had 20 wins this year, 30 more than last season. How is that even possible?

Louisville gets "protected" as a six-seed and gets to play in Lexington? Texas A&M could get to the final four playing in San Antonio?

Poor UNC. They get what could be a brutal second round match-up with either Michigan St or Marquette (two well coached teams with go-to-guys). Advance and get to play USC or Texas?? Win and you get Georgetown (this year's winner of the annual "nobody wants to play them" award?). Continue Entry»