Here's a plea to the powers that be over at the new SiriusXM company, that newly minted company created by the merger of two struggling satellite radio providers. Do. NOT. I REPEAT. DO.NOT. MAKE. SPORTS.FANS.HAVE.TO.SWITCH.SERVICES.

Like approximately 18.5 million folks out there joined with moi over the years and chucked terrestrial radio for the commercial-free comfort of satellite radio. Trust me, many people I know asked if I was crazy to be paying for radio.

But with the evil Clear Channel empire laying its insidious plot to stamp out originality in local radio broadcasting for the past decade, it was a no brainer for me. Commercial free music, most cable news networks (although I'm still pissed that XM ditched MSNBC from its lineup), and sports, sports and more sports. I was in my version of Nirvana. I could listen to any baseball game I wanted or most any major college football game that I wanted. All I needed was the NFL. Unfortunately, I backed the wrong horse in that race. I had XM and Sirius lured the nation's No. 1 sport to its satellite waves.

But I never wavered, primarily because I'm normally working Sundays during football season anway, but now, I'm hoping that this new behemoth will see the light. How so?

The deal is too complex for my brain at this hour of the night, but here's the gist of their new packages. You can find XM's here.

The plan that most sports fans will likely be interested? the XM and Select Sirius and Sirius and Select XM plans for one simple reason - SPORTS.

With XM having the MLB package and Sirius the NFL and NBA, this is a marriage made in sports heaven. And personally I have little doubt that those packages are among the most popular for each service.

So here's a tip should muckety mucks for either company should be reading (yeah, right), do the right thing and make sure sports fans are taken care of in this deal.

Yes, the silence is gone and I'm back ranting and maybe raving.  We shall see.

What's there to talk about? Well despite the fact that the only real sport playing right now is baseball plenty.  But let's start with America's Pastime and the hometown team.

After several years of being labeled cheap and not wanting to be competitive, the Cleveland Indians have to be given some serious props for inking DH Travis Hafner - a.k.a. Pronk - to a four-year contract extension.  Although the DH struggled the first half of the the season, his bat will eventually awaken and he is a core member of what will hopefully be a championship season.  With him and Westbrook signed, the Tribe can concentrate on C.C. Sabathia.  Although I suspect that will be much more difficult because the hurler hasn't been shy about saying that he'd would love to pitch near his home in the Bay Area.  But as they say: "money talks and …."

Speaking of a little bull.  Apparently Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to buythe Chicago Cubs - or at least is applying to check out the team's books.  Good for him.  Baseball needs a little showmanship, but more importantly it needs owners such as Cuban who possess a competitive spirit and are willing to actually spend some cash to win.  It would also be enormously entertaining to see how he tweaks the noses of the powers-that-be in baseball.

My colleague, Brian Windhorst, who I soon learned was one of the best NBA beat writers in the country after spending some time with him covering the Cavaliers during the playoff run, reportedthat the Cavs still itching to get the Sacramento Kings' Mike Bibby in the wine and gold.  If nothing else it's going to prove to be an interesting off-season.  The Kings reportedly want Drew Gooden in the deal.  Eh.  Gooden has his flashes, but where he might be missed most is the locker room.  He's one of the Cavs' genuine good guys.  As for Bibby?  He can score.  The assists this past season were a bit scant, but what I'm afraid of is a contract that he can opt out of after next year.  If I were the Cavs I'd want nothing to do with that.

Brady and Thomas where are you?

Cleveland Browns' training camp is two weeks away and still there is little mumbling out of Berea.   Word is that both Brady Quinn and left tackle Joe Thomas might go through lengthy holdouts.  That's not music to the ears of Browns fans, but it's reality.  With respect to Thomas, it has a lot to do with his slotting.  Players selected in the No. 3 position in the draft the past three years - Larry Fitzgerald (WR), Braylon Edwards (WR) and Vince Young (QB) - all received ginormous signing bonuses.  But keep in mind that they play skill positions, which means those huge piles of cash weren't out of line.

The Browns will likely argue that kind of cash is out of line for a left tackle.  Given the state of the left side of the team's offensive line since its return in 1999, allow me to disagree.  The team drafted him there.  He fills a cavernous hole.  Now pay him.

As for Quinn that's a different story.  General Manager Phil Savage said all along that Quinn was listed in their top five on the draft board.  Don't think that Quinn's agent, Tom Condon, didn't take note of that and will use it as leverage.  Additionally, the Browns worked feverishly to get back into the first round so they would get Quinn, Condon will use that as well.  The reality of the situation, however, is that Quinn fell fast and hard during the draft and it will cost him a huge hunk of cheddar.  He should be paid like the 22nd choice in the first round and get his tookes into camp on time.

My apologies to those looking for new posts here, poor desperate souls that you may be.  I fully intended to post my thoroughly meaningful thoughts about all things Cavaliers basketball during the team's surprising run through the playoffs, but sometimes life gets in the way.  Let me restate that.  Sometimes reality gets in the way.  In my case reality is the impending death of my grandmother - Gertie Thomas.  She was diagnosed with cancer back in December before the holidays but didn't want to tell any of her grandchildren to well after the holidays because she didn't want to be a downer.  At age 86, however, she elected to not be treated for it because at her age it would have required an invasive procedure that she wasn't willing to endure.

She said she's had a full life.  That I shouldn't cry for her for that very reason. That, however, has been difficult, primarily because of what she's meant in my life.  Some people have grandmothers, but I had two mothers.  My grandmother raised my brother and I, her first grandchildren, until we were 6 and 5 respectively.   She didn't have a lot of formal education and worked much of her life in menial jobs, yet when I entered kindergarten at Mayfair Elementary School in East Cleveland, I could read and write.

When I met the woman who would become my wife, it wasn't my mother's opinion that mattered most to me.  It was my grandparents' - moreso my grandmother's that proved most important.

And the best parts of me that I try to put forth, sometimes with much difficulty, I can trace back to this remarkable woman who raised six children of her own, a generation of grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren.  She's kind, compassionate, empathetic and is the embodiment of love with no strings attached.  She could literally forgive anyone any transgression, including a former in-law who once hit her while she was legally considered a senior citizen.

She would welcome anyone in the family be their surnames Black, Williams, Nichols, Perkins, Riley, Rose, Adams, Campbell, Butara, Magas, Seidel, Ambrose, Pantalone, Jones, Card, Caldwell, Smith, Lara, Heindell or whatever.  It didn't matter.  To them she became mama or grandma.

How do you say goodbye to someone so loving, so special.  You just do and enjoy each and every day you have left.  That is why this space has been empty.  I needed to write for the paper and while I enjoy adding my commentary to cyberspace, seeing my grandmother as much as possible for whatever number of days she has left is more of a priority for me.

She's asked me not to cry for her.  My problem is that I haven't been able to stop crying for me - for knowing what I will lose soon.

However, you can expect more words in this space on a regular basis given the situation the Cavs are now in, the Tribe looking to be the real deal and Cleveland Browns training camp a little over a month away.

No, there isn't going to be a lot of game analysis here, primarily because I don't think there's much of a point to dissecting something that's likely already been sliced and diced to death today.

A lot of people have asked me what it's like to cover the Eastern Conference Finals, so what the heck.  I figured I'd offer some insight (as if the rest of you really care).

-  I've heard some people complain about the pyrotechnics the Cavs use before games.  Here's a piece of advice:  do not go to The Palace of Auburn Hills to watch one.  During their pre-game festivities they use the fireworks and spewing flames.  By the time it was done I felt as if I should have had an apple in my mouth, been garnished with pineapple and pineapple juice and roasted over an open pit.  Fun. Fun. Fun.

- I've been to a few arenas in my lifetime, but I've yet to meet ushers the caliber of the ones in Motown.  Ushers?  Who the hell am I kidding?  Some of them acted as if they worked with Tony Soprano.  Some of the badges don't even give them the title of "usher".  They actually read "crowd control."  How welcoming.  But on at least two occasions the crowd control folks crossed the line.  One grabbed me without permission and by the time he was done I wanted to ask him if it was good for him and whether he wanted a smoke.  Such fun.  And the biggest crime of all, he didn't even ask for my number.  I feel so cheap and used.

- Then there's always the irrationality that follows losses such as the one Thursday night.  I get home from Detroit and this gem waits in my mailbox.  Please note that as sloppy as I can be on this blog occasionally, the spelling and grammatical errors are not mine:

"i am sending in this preemptive email, before everybody starts bashing lebron.  why is it that everybody except maybe dan gilbert, see that mike brown is the problem.  he could get away with ineptitude against terrible teams, but the pistons bring out what many die hard cavs fans have been seeing all year."

Now everyone out there raise your hand if you think that the Cavaliers have a championship caliber team.  Go stand over there and the folks from your local mental health institution will be by shortly.

- Then there was this gem of an email that came in response to a column of mine that ran today:

After reading your article about the guy who doesn't have cable, I thought you might offer up better solutions. There are plenty of places to go and enjoy a game that are fan friendly. How about going to watch the game at a Damon's Grill??? They are family friendly

with four 12 FOOT Big Screen televisions. Personally I am sick of people whining about cable tv. This isn't 1979, its 2007! This person wasn't complaining the Cavs weren't on television when they were they were only winning 17 games a short time ago?!?!
Tell the guy to quit whining and do something about it!  He is probably the same guy who called Mark "Munch" Bishops show the other day complaining the game wasn't on TV.  It was on TV, its called CABLE TV and no one wants to hear his whining.

Ahhh such intelligence.  Such compassion.  Such questionable taste in dining choices.  Damon's?  As Rodney Dangerfield said so eloquently about the country club cuisine in Caddyshack - "Tell the chef this was low grade dog food."

As for getting cable because it's 2007, please.  He's a parent who doesn't want to put temptation in his house in the form of unwanted channels.  Being a parent, I get that.  Secondly, any league that wants to please its fans will want to make sure its post-season games are easily accessible.  Selling the rights to cable networks who do not intend to sell the feed to over-the-air stations doesn't exactly fall into that category.  This is why the NFL continues to dominate and the NBA and MLB continue to eat football's turf.

As I sat watching the Cleveland Cavaliers look like a CYO basketball team last night, something else struck me - the fans - or more appropriately, their expectations and behavior.

I sometimes wonder what state of reality Cavaliers fans live.  Judging by comments from other posts on this blog, it's a state of denial.  Let me start off by saying that right now the Cavs are a good - not great - young team.   But from the reactions of some fans you'd expect them to be contending for the NBA Championship series this year.   Ummm…hold on…it's reality check time.

Former Cavs guard gave a sobering assessment of this year's team when someone asked him how the 1992-93 Cavs that went to the Eastern Conference Finals would do against this one.  He said that other than LeBron James, his team would hold an advantage over this incarnation of the Cavaliers.  Sounds about right to me.

To anyone who thought LeBron James and his teammates would steamroll the Nets think again.  This is a team that features three front line players in Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter all of whom could be all-stars.  From the start this was going to be a tough one, but from the grumblings of Cavs fans you'd think the opposite were true. 

 You could feel and hear it last night at Quicken Loans Arena in the boos directed the team's way, most of which were deserved because the team played dismally.  Considering the "quality" of the basketball they played, refunds could have been in order.

But one aspect of fan behavior last night that proved troubling to me was the reaction to a hard foul that Sasha Pavlovic laid on Mikki Moore in the early going of the game.  There is this misconception that basketball isn't a physical sport.  This black-and-blue series that the Cavs and Nets are currently playing should debunk that myth.  However, when Pavlovic laid Moore out, it was completely unnecessary for the the crowd to behave like beer-drenched cretins.

No, Northeast Ohio, right now you don't have a championship caliber basketball team, but, to be quite honest, I'm not sure you deserve one.

Cavs lead 48-45 courtesy of some serious rebounding.

They've won the battle of the boards in the first half 26-18 and have 11 second chance points to the Nets 2.  Just like the first game you can expect this to be a ground it out kind of affair.

Second half starts and it's clear that the Nets want to get Vince Carter actually involved with this one as he hits his first shot.

Carter's cold and Jason Kidd begins to heat up, dropping a couple of treys inside 30 seconds. 

67-64 Nets and Vince Carter, who had four points at halftime suddenly found his game and he's up to 13.  And once again, the Cavs are willing to settle for outside shots.

Forgive the delay…I'm alternating between this and game notes.  Deadlines will kill some of the writers tonight.  Nationally televised gaems have a way of doing that.  They tip-off a full hour later than regular home contests and heaven forbid we get overtime.  And with the game staying close at 71-70 that isn't out of the realm of possibility here.

74-73 looks as if LeBron James is returning to what he did against the Nets in the last regular season meeting when he dropped 35 points on the Nets by attacking the basket.  He's agressively taking it in here and it's paying off.

Again the Cavs are winning this game because of what they're doing on the boards.  They have 37 rebounds to the Nets 25.  Fourteen offensive rebounds to the Nets 2 and 13 second chance points to the Nets 2.  What they don't lead is in shooting a stat that the Nets own 54 percent to 44.

The Nets are in the double digits in turnovers, right now it seems as if they're trying to give the game to the Cavaliers and they won't take it. 

For the Cavaliers opening series against the Washington Wizards you could walk around Quicken Loans Arena and it was if it were the regular season.  That could have been because the Wizards were outmanned.  It could have been because expecations are higher this season for the Cavs.

However, the atmosphere has changed.   There's a discernible buzz in the air for this series.  It could be the Jason Kidd factor.  The guy only averaged a triple double in the New Jersey Nets series against.  But there  are other worries like…ohhh…I don't know…Vince Carter.  Then there's Richard Jefferson who appears to have his explosiveness back.

This is going to be a tough series - no cakewalk.  The Cavs will need their new-found balance for this one.

I was sitting in the press area at Quicken Loans Arena Sunday, I looked up and suddenly realized that Larry Hughes had dropped 27 points on the Washington Wizards.  Normally that would be LeBron James, but this afternoon, Hughes was on display.  Maybe that $2 million bonus he got for the team's 49th win put a little pep in his step.  Or, perhaps, there's something else.

In his second season with the Cavs, Hughes suffered through an injury plagued first season and the tragic death of his brother.  There exists some validity to the argument that he never got into any kind of playoff groove last season because of that.  If his performance today is any indication of what the playoffs could be, then Cavs fans will be saying "Welcome, Larry." 

Since being moved to the point guard position, Hughes and LeBron James have played in harmony - certainly a little out of tune on occasion - but for the most part it seemed as if they are on the same page.

Dare we think that Hughes might be LBJ's Scottie Pippen?  No one is likely to go that far, but if Hughes can continue the consistent play, the Eastern Conference Finals are certainly attainable.

Everything's all right in Northeast Ohio because fans have a playoff team in the Cleveland Cavaliers to give their hearts to in the second season known as the NBA playoffs.

But I have to wonder if everyone would be giddy had the Chicago Bulls knocked off the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night to take the second seed in playoff bracketing.  You see, that seed is the key to the Eastern Conference Finals.  With the Cavs' win against Milwaukee last night, the team ensured that they won't have to face the bad boys in the East - the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat.

Instead they get the relative ease of the Washington Wizards and the winner of the Toronto-New Jersey series should they advance past the first round.  Owner Dan Gilbert is looking forward to the playoffs as you can hear in this little sit down he had with the media Wednesday night.  That was before all of the associated fanfare related to the night's events.  I wonder if he'd been as keen if he'd known that the Cavs would be taking on the defending champs.

That brings me to what worries me about this team.  Anyone who reads the sports section knows that we have a superb beat writer in Brian Windhorst, but I've had plent of chances to be around the Cavaliers during the course of the season and the one aspect of this team that I always questioned was its carefree attitude.  Perhaps it's a reflection of Coach Mike Brown and taking every game "one at a time."  No, that's not a bad mantra, but when does that turn to complacency?

It shouldn't have been necessary for the Cavaliers to rely on another team to complete their job last night.  There were at least six or seven games this season that they should have won, but bumbled.  Charlotte Bobcats anyone?  New York Knicks? Boston Celtics?

Fate shined upon them last night.  I just hope they realize just how fickle a lady Fate can be.

By now all sports fans have seen the Tim Duncan video that led to his being ejected from a game by referee Joey Crawford.  Duncan has a rep throughout the league of being a whiner, but that's irrelevant in this case.

Crawford stepped across an invisible line in this case making himself part of the game when, as a game official, he shouldn't have been and he will pay the price for that.  Suspended indefinitely, Crawford will watch the NBA playoffs (or not) from his recliner at home.  It's a suspension that's deserved primarily because he broke a cardinal rule of game officiating.  You have to trust me on this.  I only pretend to know this because my brother refs high school football.   But he refs by the belief that the best game officials are the ones who call fouls, penalties or whatever within the confines of the contests.  According to my dear brother Randy you should never know when an official is there.  I couldn't agree more.

Crawford's grandstanding likely cost Duncan's team, the San Antonio Spurs.  Locked in a fierce battle for the second playoff seed in the Western Conference, the team went on to lose that game against the Dallas Mavericks effectively eliminating any chance Duncan and crew had to grab it.

It's possible that the Spurs would have lost that game with Duncan's imposing presence still in the middle.  It's also possible they would have won.  The problem is we'll never know because Crawford saw fit to call a couple of petty technical fouls and eject Duncan possibly controlling the outcome of the game.   Was Duncan disrespectful at some point? Probably. 

But refs like Crawford need to learn that it's the game that matters, not their egos and certainly not the players' egos.