Paul Pierce’s saga continues today. The guy who was so injured he couldn’t walk the other night in Game 1 in Boston might or might not play tonight. Pierce needed to be carried off the court and wheelchaired to the dressing room after he hurt his knee in Game 1. Bill Plaschke, a friend and columnist for the LA Times, said Pierce was weeping on the court at the severity of his knee injury. One minute and 45 seconds later Pierce was back on the court, sinking threes and leading the Celtics to the win.

All this led some to question the authenticity of the injury. Plaschke called it chicanery, which led to Boston fans writing Plaschke and telling they hoped he’d get cancer. Nice. Lakers coach Phil Jackson smirked about Pierce’s miracle comeback, then said this on Saturday: "I don't know if the angels visited him at halftime or in that timeout period he had or not," Jackson said. "But he didn't even limp when he came back out on the floor. I don't know what was going on there. Was Oral Roberts back there in their locker room?"

Call that a direct shot to Pierce, the Celtics and their credibility. And Jackson is the son of a minister.

Now, I’m not going to question Pierce’s injury. When the Finals are said and done, we may learn he played the rest of the series with an MCL tear or something. But the entire drama in Game 1 was a bit much. The guy was crying, he could not stand, could not put weight on his knee, then he trots back on the court? For crying out loud, he was in a wheelchair, and two minutes later he trotte back on the court. Celtics fans went nuts. There are the same fans, of course, who howled every time LeBron James reacted after getting hit in the face in their series. James was a baby, or so I was told. Pierce, because he plays for Boston, is a hero. Please. Even Pierce admitted being carried off was almost embarrassing.

To compare it to Willis Reed’s situation in 1970 is downright insulting to Reed, who played the first four games of the Finals against Wilt Chamberlain and scored 37, 29, 38 and 23 points. And averaged 15 rebounds. He tore a muscle in his hip the next game and missed Game 6. Prior to Game 7, he had to take three shots just to play – Jackson, a teammate, called them “horse shots.” And when he dragged his leg as he ran on the floor, he was coming back from an injury, a torn muscle. He was not trotting back on from something he thought was an injury.

In terms of drama and being dramatic, Reed’s actions were Shakespearean and Pierce’s were High School Musical. I wrote that here as well, and I stand by it.

All this also points out the sense of entitlement that Celtics fans have carried themselves with since the playoffs started. That by virtue of wearing Celtic green their team deserves the championship. They act so entitled they would make the Clintons blush. Let’s be honest, they were so bad last year Pierce thought he’d be traded. Then Danny Ainge made a nice move getting Ray Allen on draft day. Then Kevin McHale helped his old team and old friend out by shipping Kevin Garnett to Boston. The Celtics are good. Very good. They play defense with a vengeance. If they win the title they are deserving. But this team is hardly home-grown.

Come to think of it, getting Garnett is actually comparable to the Lakers getting Pau Gasol for a ballrack and dirty jerseys in midseason. Perhaps these guys deserve each other in these Finals. (Yes, it’s best to go now — before Cleveland sports bitterness totally engulfs this ridiculous blog.)

Jim McKay’s passing today touches us all. McKay was the ultimate professional, a quiet, understated man who was the voice of ABC Sports, especially Wide World of Sports. The tributes to him will be pouring in, and all will be deserved. ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer released a statement that read in part: “There are no superlatives that can adequately honor Jim McKay. … Jim was the ultimate colleague, having helped generations of people who have now taken his mantle. He was also a warm and devoted family man.” McKay did not scream, yell or gesture like modern day talking heads. He simply reported the facts, clearly and precisely and often in prose we all wish we could use. “Jim was in his own right a poet,” longtime sports producer Don Ohlmeyer said on ESPN. “He always could see the humanity in sports.” Ohlmeyer pointed out that McKay hated the traveling associated with his job – it meant he had to be away from his family. Quiet, dignified, detailed, direct – and a good father.

All of us who were around for the terrible day at the 1972 Munich Olympics will never forget McKay’s work that day. It was one of those touchstone moments that are impossible to forget. Terrorists had attacked the Olympic Village and invaded the Israeli section, taking Israeli athletes hostage. McKay was there the entire day, announcing what was happening. When the German police tried to rescue the hostages at the airport, the terrorists turned on the Israelis, killing them all – actually slaughtering them as they were bound and tied in helicopters. McKay looked in the camera and told us “They’re all gone.” He nearly cried, usually a no-no on the air but impossible to avoid on that day. Those watching did cry. McKay’s broadcast did not involve histrionics, he did not yell or scream, he merely told us the horrible news, starting by saying our worst fears are seldom realized but that night they were.

Perhaps present-day broadcasters (including the screaming sportswriters who go on TV) should watch that broadcast, take a lesson from it. McKay was emotional yet understated. He was in the middle of a tragedy, yet he was calm. He did not bring on 10 experts to tell us what we should feel or how we should think about what had happened. He did not examine the incident politically. There was no back and forth banter, one side trying to outdo the other.

There was just one man, one kind man, one family man, telling us of tragedy and cruelty that was beyond words.

Here is Ohlmeyer’s interview on ESPN.

Here is a tribute to McKay following his death.

And McKay's achievements in television.

In this interview McKay talks about Munich.

Finally, McKay talks about the “the agony of defeat” opening to Wide World of Sports.

The Indians scored 35 runs the last three games in Texas, which either means that park is the ultimate hitter’s park, or the Indians may be breaking out of their hitting slump. Or have broken out. If they are, it’s good. But the prognosis for Jake Westbrook does not sound good. Any time a guy goes to see an expert on Tommy John surgery, it does not sound good. Sounds possible, perhaps likely, the Indians will lose Westbrook for the season, if not longer. Which means that this season the Indians have lost their No. 2 and No. 3 starters for periods of time (Fausto Carmona and Westbrook) and gotten next to nothing from their No. 3 and 4 hitters (Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez). There’s still time in a season, and the Indians do have pitching depth – though minor leaguer Adam Miller is done for the year following surgery on his finger – but given these facts is it any wonder the Indians have struggled?

Excellent story in the Boston Globe about Paul Pierce, a guy I had questions about prior to this postseason. It details how Pierce grew up this year. Seems easy to grow up when you’ve got two All-Stars on your team, but that’s the take from Boston .In the story, it says the Celtics figured things out against Detroit after playing two “inferior teams.” Ahem. One of those teams would be the Cleveland Cavaliers. On the one hand, anyone can say that, because the Celtics beat the Cavs. But on the other, let’s be honest … the Celtics squeezed out a Game 7 win over the Cavs by four points in a game the Cavs easily could have won had they made a shot at the end. This is sort of like the guy I once knew who used to say he hit the perfect putt, it was just three feet to the right. Which of course means the putt was not perfect. So the Cavs missed their shots and lost. Which means the Celtics deserved to win. But it hardly seems like that series proved the Cavs were an “inferior team.” Boston just happened to win.

Always interesting what motivates players. Pierce apparently was made he was drafted 10th. The story relates: “In his early years, Pierce regularly engaged in a solo shooting drill in which he would rotate from the perimeter, left to right, swishing a 3-pointer and hollering the name of each man drafted ahead of him.”

Could the NBA possibly drag out the start of these Finals a little more? When did the last series end? A week ago Tuesday?

Finally found the best use of HDTV – Stanley Cup hockey. You can actually see the puck!

Got to thinking about the Browns schedule, which came out a while back. Every year when I covered the Browns I'd do a summer rundown on the upcoming slate. This year's rundown is in Thursday's Beacon Journal, and it's online here.

Here's an excerpt, which I suppose is just sooo exciting and interesting that it will spur everyone to immediately call up the story online. Sheesh, the things you got to do anymore in this business …

"There was a time when predicting an NFL team's success (or lack of) based on a schedule was not that difficult.

In a not-too-distant past, teams did not yo-yo from one season to the next, go from good to bad or bad to good overnight.

These days, it's a little tougher to predict what will happen in the fall during the summer. Evidence: The Browns schedule last year, when three of the first four games seemed brutal in June but in September turned out to be merely a minor annoyance.

That being said, there is one clear conclusion to draw from the Brown schedule for 2008: It's brutal."

Here's the actual schedule:

Preseason:

August 7 - New York Jets - 730pm
August 18 - New York Giants - 8pm
August 23 - Detroit Lions - 4pm
August 28 - Chicago Bears - 730pm

Regular Season:

September 7 - Dallas Cowboys - 415pm
September 14 - Pittsburgh Steelers - 815pm
September 21 - Baltimore Ravens - 415pm
September 28 - Cincinnati Bengals - 1pm
October 13 - New York Giants - 1830pm
October 19 - Washington Redskins - 415pm
October 26 - Jacksonville Jaquars - 405pm
November 2 - Baltimore Ravens - 1pm
November 6 - Denver Broncos - 815pm
November 17 - Buffalo Bills - 830pm
November 23 - Houston Texans - 1pm
November 30 - Indianapolis Colts - 1pm
December 7 - Tennessee Titans - 1pm
December 15 - Philadelphia Eagles - 830pm
December 21 - Cincinnati Bengals - 1pm
December 28 - Pittsburgh Steelers - 1pm

Tihs is pretty interesting. It has probably the greatest NBA coach ever, Red Auerbach, with legendary official Mendy Rudolph talking about flopping.

They're both right. Flopping should not be part of the game. It's not defense. It's acting. (Cripes, does this mean I actually am backing up Rasheed Wallace?) If a guy gets run over he gets run over and it's an offensive foul. But the flop is a fake, and the NBA is doing the right thing fining players for egregious flops staring next year. It's funny to hear Auerbach's outrage that some coaches are teaching their players to fall down when brushed. What would he say now?

Kind of quiet in the sports world these days – but for the fact the Indians lost two of three in Kansas City, which makes this season look more and more dismal. Let’s face it, a team that’s going to contend probably does not lose two-of-three to a team that started the series losing 11 in a row. The Indians? They’re in trouble. These days, they pretty much stink and if things don't change drastcially in a hurry, then the season will be lost. Then it will be time to start thinking about the future of C.C. Sabathia, and whether it’s best to trade him before the deadline.

Shared some thoughts in Sunday’s Beacon Journal about Kellen Winslow, a possible move that could help the Cavs and other random things. That story is here.

A fellow traveler named Jim posted his own photo of “The Bean” in Chicago. And it’s a good one, Jim. Thanks. Which gives me an idea of asking you all this summer to share your most interesting photos of your vacation. Now, this does not mean we pose with Grandma and Uncle Hugo in front of the Grand Canyon (ever see the Far Side with “The Holsteins visit the Grand Canyon”? Classic). That’s been done. These photos would be unique things, different things, interesting discoveries from your vacation. Perhaps the bottom of the Blue Hole, something like that. I’m not sure how to get this accomplished though, so let me do some checking. Until then, Bean photos are in the post after this one. And … here is some information on “The Bean.” (It’s actually called Cloud Gate, but folks in the know call it The Bean.) Click a few times on the page – the stinking Bean weighs 110 tons!!!

Found the new Scott McLellan book interesting. He’s the former press secretary for George Bush, and he came out and said he did not feel he did the right thing justifying the Iraq invasion with lies (that’s my paraphrase). I admire him, but this book also showed how the media went along with the stories it was told about WMD and the rest, and how it was complicit because it did not investigate things deeply enough. So I got to thinking about my profession, and about the accusations by some that media who question the decisions of the administration are unpatriotic or something like that. In fact, the exact opposite is true. It is the job and requirement of the media to question, to ask things, to investigate. The end result that is printed or broadcast has to be balanced and fair (like … umm … Fox News). But the questions have to be asked. It’s the media’s duty. Especially when the issues being discussed affect the lives and well-being of another nation and of our young women and men. They can try to sanitize a war by not allowing photos of flag-draped coffins, but that senseless cover-up doesn’t play in the long run. When lives are at stake, it’s the media’s job to probe. To my knowledge, there is one specific profession protected in the U.S. Constitution, and that’s freedom of the press. The most patriotic thing the press can do, quite frankly, is ask questions.

Now …for some sex.

Gotcha.

A friend of mine once posited (like that word?) that men do not hold women back, women hold women back. Why, I asked oh so intelligently. Because there are more women than men in the nation, he responded, if they don’t like something they can vote the men out. I thought of this during all the hubbub over the release of the Sex and the City movie, a real event if ever there was one. Now, let me say that I found this a pretty good show. It was clever and interesting, if only to give this Neanderthal a tiny peek into the female psyche. Not that I’d ever understand it. Not that any of us on this side of the ledger would ever understand it. But it tried. And I’ll probably see the movie. Well … I will see the movie.

All the stories about the movie detail how the theater is filled with women and the four or five men who are a) dragged their unwillingly or b) willing to go along because … well … arguing is really pretty futile isn’t it? But the thing that gets me about this show is that it’s about women, who for years have complained about the infidelities and quirkiness of men. And what do these women do? They sleep around. They do not commit to anyone. They hang out in bars (only they have Cosmos, not beer). They flit (especially in one case) from man to man. They cheat. They do all the things that men have done for decades. And they’re proud of it. Nothing wrong with sex, mind you, or with searching for fun in New York City. If you lived there and lived as wealthy a lifestyle as these four, it’d be interesting. But isn’t this the stuff men have thoughtlessly done for years?

Women in this and the next generation have a grand chance because many of the barriers that existed in the past have properly come down. They have the chance to erase some of the dumb things that men have done (we really have made a pretty big mess of the world, if you think about it). Just like men have a great opportunity to be more nurturing with their kids if they choose to stay at home with them more. Yet when women have a chance, they often/sometimes just go out and do it exactly like men have done for years.

Now, I have daughters, and I certainly try to teach them that they can do anything they want in life. I hope they understand that. One of my daughters was incensed that girls could not play football, so she thought long and hard about playing next year to prove girls could do it. I was concerned for her, but I’d be concerned if I had a son who wanted to play football. It’s a violent game. It’d be scary if she plays, but I think she’d be a pretty good running back. She’s blessed with determination and speed; she’s beat almost every boy in her class in races. So even with the considerable risks she might just have been able to pull football off – if she wanted to. She decided against it, but the point is there’s none of this “you can’t because you’re a girl” attitude in our home. No reason for it, really.

So women entering the workforce and the movie world and the sports world have a grand opportunity to set new standards, to erase the garbage men put forward for the years they were in charge. But I watch women coach basketball, and they act just like men do on the sidelines. I see Hillary Clinton campaign, and she’s just like her husband and every other man who’s ever campaigned. Same mannerisms, same expressions, same fake smile, same idiotic clapping. All that stuff. (Actually the last true campaign, where someone actually stood up for what he felt was right and not what he thought people wanted to hear, belonged to Robert Kennedy, but that’s a separate topic).

I see this movie, and it glorifies these women for doing all the ridiculous stuff men did. I, in my Neanderthal, not-so-smart male way, find this confusing. Because these career women could set a new standard for being single in New York. Yet it boils down to sleeping around, and either obsessing or making fun of the men they sleep around with – few of which are actually, like, good people.

How about this idea? This movie is about and largely for women. The main characters are women who are raking in gobs of money to make this movie. How about if all four of them said we’re donating two percent or three percent or something like that of our money from this movie and giving it to breast cancer research. They’d still go home with gobs of money, yet they’d be helping women. Maybe they’re doing it, but I haven’t heard if they are.

Women in sports could set a new standard for sportsmanship and behavior that men have lacked – a standard that Mia Hamm and the U.S. Soccer team displayed until Brandi Chastain decided to take off her shirt after she scored a goal to win the World Cup. Would we have celebrated seeing a man in a jockstrap after a winning goal?

Perhaps I should stick to the barbecue, but I just think that women could blaze new trails, set different and perhaps better standards. I just don’t’ get doing the same stupid things we men have been doing for so long.

For those of little faith, those who doubted the impact of The Bean (I wrote about it in the Blog a few days ago), here are a couple photos. Is this not worth a six-hour drive to Chicago?

Time for a sampling from the mailbox and online comments:

Richard Platt of Fairborn relates a rather obvious fact after reading what I wrote about the Indians in Friday’s Beacon Journal: The Indians have a maddening habit of being good one year, bad the next. Here’s the record:

2004 - 80-82
2005 - 93-69
2006 - 78-84
2007 - 96-66

“It would seem this trend has carried over to this year and another bad season has arrived. I believe it only confirms my opinion about the Indians' roster. They are simply a bunch of average to below average players. Good organizations with good players are usually consistent in winning from year to year. Their wins/losses will vary some from year to year, but they will at least have two consecutive winning seasons,” Mr. Platt wrote.

Interesting. Me, it harkens me back to spring training when I was talking to Mark Shapiro and posed the question who would save it Joe Borowski ever struggled. He said Rafael Betancourt, but it was a bit of an unknown. I asked if he was nervous about the bullpen, and he said he is always nervous about a bullpen because its nature is to be up and down from year to year. That fact held true in 2006, when the bullpen did the team in. And that fact has held true this year, as the bullpen has struggled, which when combined with the struggling offense has produced a 24-29 start.

I also must give credit where it’s due – it was Mr. Platt who suggested to me that the Indians need to win 60 percent of their remaining games to win 90 this year. It was a good point that led to Friday’s column.

The first online comment on that column stated: “The only number that is important is games back. It doesn't matter how many wins you get if you win the division. There is nothing special about 90 wins. Everyone starts the playoffs 0-0. It would be nice to see them play some good baseball though.” This came from Bubba in Akron. And he’s right. As much angst as there is about and within the Indians these days, Bubba is right. All that matters are games behind, and right now the deficit is manageable. As long as the Indians start to play real baseball, they can get back into things.There's just this matter of playing real baseball.

A very intelligent and insightful woman named Bernadette wrote about my thoughts on LeBron James and the team’s offense. She said: “Believe it or not, there is a community out there that understands that while Lebron James is an excellent ball player, he should use better judgment in utilizing his teammates. I've also noticed how his team mates defer to him and witnessed how he openly rebukes them if he's dissatisfied with their game performance. I, however, never see his teammates show any negative emotion toward Lebron when he makes a bad play, miss an easy layup or uses bad judgment during the course of a game. Office politics, no doubt. It should be stressed by the coaching staff and management, that there is no I in TEAM.”

Very true. But it does seem odd criticizing a guy who is such a great team player for not being a team player. LeBron does play team basketball; he just has to realize that there are times when the best thing for him and the team is continue to run the offense and get a good shot from the offense. That being said, I still want him to be on my team, and to stay with the Cavs his entire career.

Finally, Andy Harris of Akron wrote that I should stop calling LeBron James the best player in the league.

“Don't confuse ‘most physically talented’ with best. Unless and until LeBron improves his game to the point that he can consistently be a threat from 15 feet away from the basket and out, he is most definitely not the best player in the NBA. Players like Jordan and even a guy like Karl Malone, who was comparable to LeBron size-wise, were much better shooters than LeBron. Yes, he's young and definitely has a chance to be the best player in the NBA…..someday, just not now. Because of his erratic outside shooting, teams can still back off of him and pack the lane, thus making it difficult or even impossible to drive and score consistently. Players such as Kobe Bryant have a much more well-rounded game and are several steps ahead of LeBron at this point. To continually tout him as the game's best player reeks of blatant homer-ism.”

Well first of all, I don’t watch the Simpsons. Second, I stand by it. I don’t think another player in the league could have done with the Cavs what LeBron did this year. And he did it through a lot of team injuries and holdouts. LeBron needs championships to complete his career, but that will come with a better team. Right now, I stand by it.

The first time I saw the Indians this season they were getting beat badly by Detroit and making stupid plays, like Victor Martinez tagging the plate as a runner came home when there was no forceout because there were runners at second and third. Wednesday I watched them and again they did not do things well. Errors, poor at-bats at key times, poor pitching. This team does not have the same aura it had last season, and nobody is stepping forward to take charge and say the nonsense has to stop. Their manager is trying ,but the thing about having so many even-keeled personalities is that the same guys who are all so humble when things are going well are quiet when they are not. There is no dominant personality in the clubhouse to stand up and say enough. Manager Eric Wedge is trying, but the manager can’t always get that done.

Much of this, in my mind at least, is summed up by the situation with Rafael Betancourt. A year ago, he was unhittable, and he did it by throwing nothing but fastballs, most often on the outside corner. This year, he’s not as sharp, and not as good. So he’s being hit. Players are sitting on the outside fastball. The Indians want him to adjust and start pounding the strike zone inside to get hitters wary. Eric Wedge said Betancourt has the command to do this because he’s throwing outside to lefties and righties. Well Betancourt entered Wednesday’s game against Chicago with a two-run lead, got a free out when the White Sox bunted, then gave up three runs (two charged to Rafael Perez). It wasn’t pretty, and Wedge was plenty angry after the game.

He had a rare occasion when he actually criticized a player by name publicly. He pretty much blistered Betancourt. He said he and Carl Willis have repeatedly asked Betancourt to pitch inside, and he’s not doing it. “There are no excuses,” Wedge said, clearly exasperated. He added: "There's nothing he can say that can make any sense. What you're seeing and what's happening is real.” And he also said: “It's nothing I haven't said to him or Carl hasn't said to him 100 times.” This clearly was a manager exasperated with his pitcher and trying a new way to get his message through.

Betancourt tried to address the situation calmly, saying he would pitch inside and that the issue is being brought up because he’s not throwing good pitches. He has said he does not feel like he has good command, so he’s not making good pitches. Betancourt, though, did not seem to be on the same page as Wedge. Word is after he was done talking to the media he could be heard screaming in the shower. Whether he was mad at himself, his manager or the situation is left for speculation. But it clearly showed a team that is reeling a bit right now.

The situation is bigger than one guy, though. The Indians are not hitting and their bullpen is struggling. They are not playing smart baseball. In the ninth inning they had runners on second and third with one out and Ben Francisco and Martinez coming up. Francisco, clearly overeager, popped up meekly to first. But Martinez swung at a high pitch and popped to shortstop. Wedge griped that both players swung at pitches they could not do anything with. Not smart baseball. The Indians simply are not carrying themselves like the same team that won the division a year ago.

Though there is plenty of time left in the season, the way things went Wednesday did not provide a lot of reason for optimism. A long road trip awaits. If the Indians have any mental fortitude at all, they will pull themselves out of this funk. They still have the best starting pitching in baseball, and the fact that all their hitters have gone south at the same time is a bizarre occurrence. They need another reliable hitter, and they need Travis Hafner to find himself, but the guys they have can hit. It will take a couple or three wins in a row to generate some confidence.

That’s what the Indians need most. A win or three in a row, some good games where they play smart and play well. The problem is they need one of those games to get anything started, and they sure didn’t get it on Wednesday.

Back from Chicago where the kids had a blast. Sears Tower and the Loop and all that stuff. A visit to Chicago makes a person wonder what exactly the geniuses in this area were thinking when they allowed industry and salt mines and an airport only the very rich use to be built on Cleveland’s most valuable asset – the lakefront. I mean, let’s be serious. Even putting the Browns stadium there was pretty silly. Perhaps, maybe, it could have been a park that people can use every day. Which is what Burke ought to be as well. A park. Chicago takes advantage of the lakefront it has, even if it is named Michigan. Cleveland’s has industry, Whiskey Island and a dumpy airport Dumbo would probably fly by. No, Akron does not have a lakefront, but it also does not have the life a downtown like Chicago has. Then again it’s only short a few million people, which can affect things as well.

At any rate, there is a kind-of new park in the southern part of downtown Chicago, and it’s on the lake, and located In this park is the newest tourist rage: The Bean. That’s right. The Bean. We were introduced to The Bean by my brother the history professor and nautical archeologist from Loyola University of Chicago (he got the brains in the family). He said we had to go.

The Bean is this sculpture thing that actually is not edible. It’s just shaped like a bean. Figured that might have been confusing. It’s not like you can walk up to it with sauce and knife and fork and start munching away. At any rate, it’s sort of shaped like a kidney bean. With the indent in the middle. So imagine this giant kidney bean that people can walk up to and see and then imagine being able to walk into and under the bean where the indent is. Cool, eh? Good enough for the whole family?

Now … here come s the good part … imagine it’s made of this material – like, oh, glass or shiny chrome or something like that – that reflects everything perfectly — right down to the pimple on the tip of your nose. So people can walk up to The Bean and actually SEE THEMSELVES! And they can see the city reflecting out of one side, and the sun depending on time of day and to the south they can see the disgusting smoke and smokestacks and giant ore piles from the steel mills in Gary, Indiana (Dah-da-dah-dah, dah-da-dah!)

You can take a picture of yourself in “The Bean.” You can wave to the kids. You can make faces like a goof. You can wave to cousin Edna standing a good ways from you but who is able to see you in The Bean. All in this giant kidney bean made of reflective material. And … it’s FREE! No tickets, no going through metal detectors to see it, no taking off your shoes to walk up to it.

Then, where the surface curves, the human form reflected in it takes on weird shapes. Short, fat, squat, long, thin, all those kinds of things. “The Bean” is many things, but most of all it’s like taking all those old funhouse mirrors and placing them in a curved surface on one spot and letting people go at it. Put a reflective bean in a public place and there’s no telling how long people will be entertained.

This proves a few things. One is that Chicago is way ahead of the curve with “The Bean,” because it’s actually pretty cool. Second is that every city, every square, every gazebo needs a bean. And third is that the human capacity to be entertained must require little thought or mental challenge. Thousands and thousands of people go to see The Bean on a daily basis. And they go back the next day. Just to see themselves in The Bean.

It’s also the talk of Chicago. We asked Danny, the waiter at Ballo, a very, very nice and family-friendly and reasonably priced Italian restaurant on Dearborn, what the attraction of “The Bean” is and he said: “I don’t know.” Then he took somebody their water and came back and said: “But people go to it all the time. It’s really pretty cool.” Moral of the story: All of us need a bean in our backyard.

As for sports … it was good to see the Indians won a game last night. You go on the road with the Cavs and lose sight of the baseball team and next thing you know they can’t score a run and they’ve lost 82 in a row or something like that. The Indians are not the 1927 Yankees, the Bronx Bombers of the Lakeshore Filled With Industry They’re a bunch of nice hitters who need to all be working well together for the team to succeed. That wasn’t happening much until last night, when they scored eight in a win. Which may be a good sign, or it may be one of those every-once-in-a-while-the-team score-eight games. What the Indians do have is excellent starting pitching, and because of that it’s waaaaaaay too early to start to panic on the season. Things need to get better, yes, but the pitching will keep them competitive. And let’s face it, it’s not like someone has run away with the division already.

I’ll have more on the Indians from Wednesday’s game.