Forward/backward
A look back at the weekend and what is ahead:
The Indians can't seem to get their hitting machine rolling. It is now the end of June and Travis Hafner still is not hitting. That is the bad news. The good news is the Tigers are only 2 games ahead and the Indians lead the wild-card race.
Juan Pablo Montoya won the Nextel Cup race in Sonoma, Calif. It was his first win, but more important for NASCAR, it was a minority driver who won the race. With Lewis Hamilton, a black man, winning twice in Formula One, NASCAR has been getting more questions about its minority program. Montoya's win shows NASCAR is making progress.
Does anybody really care to hear about Kobe Bryant every day? Enough already ESPN.
All indications are that Brady Quinn is going to need a lot of work to be of any good to the Browns this season. Now we see why most didn't think he was a high first-round prospect.
The Cavaliers have a lot of value with veteran contracts that are going to expire after next season. In today's NBA, those can be more valuable than gaining a real player.
Ohio State football is being talked about as being the fourth best team in the Big Ten this season behind Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State. I just don't see Penn State being better than the Buckeyes. The other two should be, but the Badgers will be like the Buckeyes, going with an inexperienced quarterback.
Greg Oden and Kevin Durant or should I say Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. I think Oden will go first, but the NBA, despite the players being on the West Coast, has to be happy that these two will be playing against each other in the same division for years to come.
As for the draft, I think the Cavs will pass on trading into the proceedings.
Paul Tracy, the Canadian driver, continues to race well in Cleveland. Kudos to Tracy.
Wimbledon gets started today …. wake me when it's over. Speaking of Wimbledon, when it was great in the 80s and 90s, we couldn't watch the early rounds because it was on HBO. Now that it is on ESPN, I see no reason to watch.
It doesn't register on most sports fans' radars, but it was good to see the United States win the Gold Cup this weekend, beating Mexico 2-1. It bodes well for Bob Bradley's plan for the National Team.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
So Travis Hafner turned down a 5-year, $75-million contract from the Tribe. Oh yeah, he's a down-to-earth team player from the midwest, certainly not concerned with money. No, not Travis. Take your sorry inconsistent bat and hit the road, idiot. That's more money than he or his ancestors could ever spend in two lifetimes. Shapiro has to be shaking his head as to what kind of doofus we're dealing with here.
Kobe? I don't care to ever hear his name mentioned once, let alone daily. The adulterer is nothing but a whiner desperate for attention. Ignore his sorry, cheating butt. A selfish loser is the best way to describe him.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Forgive the retroactive look, but can someone please tell me how the Indians spend $4-million on a draft pick (Jeremy Guthrie), then give him ONE, yes ONE, major-league start over four years, before losing him for nothing? Don't tell me he didn't show flashes of what could/should have been. Last year, the Tribe was out of the race in May. They couldn't give Guthrie a few starts? Was this kid's starting potential judged on one game? Why do other teams bring up pitchers with FAR LESS minor league credentials and stick them in their rotation successfully? Yet Cleveland thinks the pitcher has to be a world-beater statitistically at every conceivable level to ensure a major league career. This is flawed, idiotic thinking. Tribe gave up on lefty Brian Tallet (successful in Toronto pen), now Guthrie, and countless others. These questions need to be addressed!
Mark Shapiro wastes so much of the Dolans' cash on utterly worthless free agents and re-signings (Jason Michaels), then allows talented minor leaguers to lose their options and MLB potential by keeping them in the farm TOO LONG. Please, someone follow up on these concerns. It gets tiring seeing all-star teams of players who should be in Cleveland, but are playing elsewhere.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Read your last sentence, jeda. Then get out your wristwatch and wait for Sabathia to pitch somewhere in California. There's the crux of the problem. Shapiro has to be perfect with nearly every move and every decision.
Your criticism is over the top. He will never have the cash to sign his own best players. So he's left with having to take an educated guess as to which "prospects" to play. This to eventually replace the very players he shouldn't otherwise need to replace in the first place! You can't audition each and every prospect, and half a season of audition time means absolutely nothing. Sowers is Exhibit A.
Hindsight is great, but when it comes to what Shapiro has had to endure, it's also totally ridiculous. I don't know what Dolan is paying him, but whatever it is, he's been earning every penny.