So now word breaks that Cavs guard Delonte West is mulling a two-year offer to play in Moscow. West is a restricted free agent, and according to Yahoo.com he is pondering a $10 million deal. Gee, I wonder who (the agent) leaked that information (negotiating ploy), and for what reason (to get the Cavs to blink). Here’s a thought: If this report is true and if West wants to go to Moscow, well he should just go. Just leave. Now. West was not starting or playing a lot in Seattle when Cleveland traded for him. He became a starting point guard. He played on the same team as LeBron James. He’s on a very good team, and James now trusts him (which showed when James gave him the ball in that game-winning situation in Washington). He played for fans that embraced him. He’s playing in the NBA, with the best players in the world. He’s not going to find a situation that’s a whole lot better. Cleveland isn’t Paris, no, but it sure as hell isn’t Moscow either. Wouldn’t you love to see how beautiful Moscow is in mid-January? There’s a reason they wear those ridiculous hats and drink all that vodka, right? If West thinks Moscow with a bunch of new guys is a better place to play basketball than on a team that likes him and respects him and helps him and has LeBron, if money is all that matters to him, well then he should just go. Otherwise, just work out a deal and leave this other laughable stuff out of things.

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com says the Indians are about to trade Casey Blake to the Dodgers for a hard-hitting catcher and hard-throwing pitcher. It would be a shame to see a good guy like Blake go, especially because he’s hitting and having a decent year. This is a trade I scratch my head about a little bit. Winning teams have guys like Blake on the roster, and if the Indians plan to win next year it might be a good idea to have him on the roster.

The optimism at Browns camp really is bubbling over. Part of me says that’s great, that the fans deserve optimism and the Browns are coming off a 10-win season. But another part of me says that I’ve seen a lot of “optimistic” openings to training camp since 1999, and that optimism went south in a hurry. So let’s be optimistic, but let’s also give it some time – like until a game is played – before putting the bubbly on ice.

Hear that the Packers made it clear to Brett Favre soon after the season that they did not welcome him back. So Favre has been operating under the impression since February that Green Bay wanted to “move on” (as if he has rabies or something). This notion baffles a lot of inside-football folks, who think it’s poppycock to think that the Packers will be as good with Aaron Rodgers as they were with Favre. As was mentioned, Mike McCarthy brought in a brand new offense and new terminology when he was hired three years ago. Favre struggled the first year, got better the second and showed he understood things last year. He should be able to pick right up this year, yet the Packers tell Favre they do not want him back? Makes no sense. Zero. Zip. Nada. There’s one concept in professional sports: Win. Teams try to win, fans cheer to win. I don’t know anyone who buys a ticket to see a team try. They buy to see the team win. Period. Somehow in five months Aaron Rodgers became a better quarterback than Brett Favre. I repeat: Makes no sense.

Anyone see what Washington’s Gilbert Arenas had to say about losing to the Cavs two of the past three years in the playoffs? Here is is, according to the Washington Post sports blog: "It's kind of when you think about it. Everybody says we can't get past Cleveland. Cleveland beat us one year, that was three years ago. The other years they've just been beating up on some hurt dogs. We just want to get our fair shot when we're healthy at the right time, because two years we showed what kind of team we are….We were rolling, we were top five in the league, and that's what kind of team we are when we're healthy. When we're healthy that's the kind of team we are, we're a top five team in the league." Arenas was asked what he told his teammates after the playoffs: “You guys played the whole season without me and you guys made it to the playoffs. Tell Cleveland to play without LeBron. I don't think they won a game last year."

It’s kind of confusing what’s happening in Green Bay with Brett Favre. Not his teenage I won’t-I will stances toward football, mind you. But the Packers attitude toward Favre. A few months ago Favre had led the Packers to the NFC Championship Game and he was the greatest thing to happen to upper Wisconsin since the invention of the heater. Now he decides to unretire and the Packers tell him he’ll be a backup if he plays. Huh? How does that work? A guy is a Hall of Famer and has his best year in a long, long time and because he didn’t take part in offseason workouts he’s a backup? Apparently Favre made the Packers mad by changing his mind, so they’re going to show him and make him take second-string snaps in training camp behind Aaron Rodgers. Because he missed offseason workouts. You just can’t make this stuff up. I swear, the more you hear about the NFL way of thinking, the more it seems that sometimes their minds are affected by the fact they are so insulated from thinking about nothing but their sport 74 hours a day. Think about this: Brett Favre decides to unretire and he’s a backup to a guy who’s never played. Rocky and Bullwinkle made more sense.

The other day a story broke about the dwindling population in cities of Northern Ohio. Cleveland has taken a real hit; more people have left the city than any other city in the country except New Orleans – and that exodus was caused by a rather large natural disaster called Katrina. What did our governor, Ted Strickland, have to say? This: “Perhaps in the not too distant future, people are going to be leaving arid areas of this country, the New Mexicos and the Arizonas. They'll come running back to Ohio, because we have water, and they're going to be thirsty." Thirsty. There’s a slogan: “Want a drink? Come to Ohio.” And we wonder why our economy is in trouble?

Complaining about the Indians financial situation is kind of like complaining about gas prices. What good is it going to do? The Indians will never be a team that spends $150 million on salaries. It’s just not going to happen. Best to accept that reality and enjoy our lovely water. It’s not going to change. I took a look at the team’s finances in our Sunday paper; you can read that here if you like. But one thing that struck me was that during the halcyon glory days of the 1990s, the Indians were in fact among the highest in payroll. But they were at or about $60 million while the highest spending teams were at or about $70-$75 million. Now the highest spending team, the Yankees, is at $209 million, while they Indians are projected to be at $85 million. If that disparity does not illustrate what a big-market team can do and a mid-to-small market team cannot, then nothing will. Everybody wishes the Indians could just write blank checks to players. They can’t. Someday the folks in the dry, arid southwest will realize this.

Sheldon Ocker, our outstanding baseball writer, got in touch with his feminine side in this story about the CC Sabathia trade. And don’t tell him I said feminine side and Ocker in the same sentence, either.

I’m not so sure I’d trade Casey Blake. Yes, he’s in his 30s, but he’s hitting .282 with nine home runs and 52 RBI and has played third and first base. The guy has a lot of value for a non-superstar player with oodles of drinking water flowing from his spigot.

ESPN.com says the Cavs are out of the James Posey hunt. No word on the accuracy of that statement, or when or where Posey will sign. Or where he will find water if he’s not with the Cavs.

This is what new Browns receiver Donte Stallworth said in the Boston Globe: “I've been kind of joking with Randy [Moss] and some of the guys that the road to the Super Bowl goes through Cleveland."

Finally … back to Yellowstone …

Anyone out there know what kind of birds these are. They nested in the crook of a .. well … a bathroom in the Lamar Valley, one of the vast valleys where animals love to roam in this great national park. These birds flitted in and out like crazy, and seemed to enjoy peeking out to pose for the camera. Any wise birders out there know what kind they are?