Next Best Records Blog

Apparently my main man Carsten Charles is a Yankee now.  Can't say I fault him for taking $160 million from the Steinbrenner's.  I know he wasn't even an Indian anymore, but I guess since he was around the same age as me and I got the chance to see him come up all the way from a teenage draft pick (sat it the stands in Akron for his first Double-A start) to Cy Young winner with the Indians, I rooted extra hard for Sabathia.

Congrats on getting the largest contract ever for a pitcher, C.C.  Here's hoping if the Tribe makes it back to the playoffs in the near future, they won't have to face you.

Posted by Renaldo at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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For those of you who haven't been paying attention, the two NCAA Division I men's basketball teams that matter in Ohio (we all know Cincinnati isn't part of the Buckeye State) will be meeting for an epic clash Wednesday at Value City Arena.  That's right, the University of Dayton Flyers will be making the trek across I-70 to take on the Buckeyes, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Ever since my days as a young pup sitting in a 5 Meyer dorm watching Mark Ashman, Edwin "The Blanket" Young, and Brooks "Shut Up" Hall knock off Kentucky, I've been saying, "Bring on Ohio State."  Now that I hold degrees from both UD and OSU, this is a dream matchup for me.  Will Kurt Huelsman be able to keep Kosta Koufus in check?  Can Jamar Butler and David Lighty slow down the force that is Brian Roberts?  And how many minutes can we expect from Chris Wright, who just might be the best player on the court Wednesday night?

A trip to the (NIT) Final Four in Madison Square Garden is on the line.  Only one team from Ohio will make it.  Who am I rooting for?  If you know me, you already know that this is probably the only time I'll root against the Buckeyes, and that I'm foaming at the mouth at the chance to see my Flyers expose the fraud that is Thad Matta.  Since I've retired my 6th Man and Finnatics t-shirts, I'll be in the house wearing my UD sweatshirt and screaming, "Please, Jet, don't turn the ball over."

For your Dayton Flyers coverage, I suggest Flyers Fieldhouse.  Sure, maybe they go a little over the top with the "Chris(t) Wright" stuff, but they do a generally exemplary job over there (and I admit that I kinda love that they're tagging Wright's comeback "wresurrection").

Dayton. Flyers. Go UD.

Posted by Renaldo at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I've been having a love-hate relationship with Bill Simmons's writing lately.  Today, though, I checked espn.com a couple of times in anticipation of his promised column on the Red Sox-Indians series.  Surprise of surprises, it never appeared.

What did come up, though, was a new set of links.  One of the links wasn't actually a link, but an "interesting note" from some guy in New York -- I think his name was John F. -- justifying LeBron's choice in supporting the Yankees, despite the fact that he's from Northeastern Ohio.  The "interesting note" is gone now, but it ran something like this:

• John F. from New York sends along an interesting note on LeBron wearing a Yankees hat which we surprisingly haven't heard before:  "Why is everyone making such a big deal out of LeBron wearing a Yankees hat?  He's from Columbus, which for decades was home to the Yankees' AAA team, so really, it's not that big of a shock that he ended up a New York fan."

Of course, this prompted me (and I'm sure 100 others) to send Simmons an e-mail explaining the fact that Akron and Columbus aren't the same thing, and that Akron is actually -- believe it or not -- 125 miles from Columbus.  Needless to say, when I just checked tonight, the "interesting note" had been removed without explanation.  It may as well have never existed.

I normally wouldn't fault a member of the national media for not knowing basic Ohio geography.  In this case, it's something that could have easily been verified.  A Google search would come up with a thousand pages noting LeBron was born and raised in Akron, not Columbus, and that Columbus, the state capital, is in the middle of the state, hours away from Akron, which for all intents and purposes is a part of Cleveland (usually all of Northeastern Ohio just gets lumped together).

In this case, though, Simmons himself should have known better.  People the world over know that LeBron went to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary high school, and that Cleveland-Akron isn't Columbus.

Of course, supreme authority Thurston Moore has made the same innocent mistake, so I'll give Simmons a pass.  This time.

Posted by Renaldo at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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[Cliche Threat Level Red] I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in years, but [Cliche Threat Level Yellow] I have a personal rule that anytime someone from Summit County hosts the show I have to watch.  So, I sat through the 90 minutes out of obligation.  And you know what, it wasn't too bad.

I, for one, enjoyed Kanye West's performances, though I admit I missed the first two-thirds of his second song because I turned to ESPN in fear that I might miss a moment of Lou Holtz on College Football Final, which, come to think of it, would actually be funnier than most of what I saw on SNL.  Anyways, if I make the basic assumption that SNL isn't any good anymore, LeBron did well.  Things started off really really slow, but I did like the Solid Gold sketch, and the guidance counselor thing at the very end was funny as well.  Those two, plus the Kanye West awards show sketch, go in my top three for the night, a top three that essentially serves as the list of amusing bits from the show.

So, three cheers for LeBron (and, if you're reading this King James, here's hoping you've figured out a way to score 48 in every game in the '08 playoffs and finals, 'cause I'm kinda scared that Devin Brown and Cedric Simmons aren't going to get us over the hump).

Posted by Renaldo at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Gotta give a shout to my Brownies -- few things remedy a Week 1 dismantling at the hands of the Steelers better than a shootout victory over the "dreaded" Bungles.  Sunday was definitely the best day in Brownsland since April.  While I'm still trying not to feel dirty rooting for Jamal Lewis, I'm happy to see guys like Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards live up to their high draft-pick status (keep in mind that Winslow's been doing it for a while, though -- his gutty 2006 season is one of the all-time underrated seasons by a tight end).

Since I was at my parents' house (and the Steelers take priority and get the broadcast nod in York, PA), my dad and I went up to Steelton to watch the game with the Central Pennsylvania Browns Backers.  While the website is wholly unspectacular and a bit outdated, the CPBB group is another example of why Browns fans are the best in the NFL.  We've had one winning season in the last eight years and we get blown out on opening day by our rivals, yet we still fill a room in a bar 330 miles from Cleveland.  With all due respect to the alleged "Who Dey Nation" no one deserved a victory today more than the displaced "people of Cleveland who've suffered for so many years" (to steal a line from D.C. Berman).

Posted by Renaldo at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Congratulations to Joey Chestnut who earlier today pulled off an epic victory in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition.  I honestly thought Kobayashi was my generation's Babe Ruth -- someone who defined the sport and would own it for as long as he chose to compete.  When Chestnut went jaw to jaw with Kobayashi last year, there was hope that the U.S. would reclaim the mustard belt.  Chestnut fulfilled that promise today.

First that annoying law professor finally got beat on Jeopardy last night, and now Chestnut wins the hot dog eating competition.  It's been a good two days.

Posted by Renaldo at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Yeah, it was disappointing to see the Cavs get swept in the NBA Finals.  Yeah, I drank a lot of the Cavs kool-aid and pretty stupidly picked them to beat the Spurs in seven.  Oh well.

Wasn't the season a success anyway, though?  After all, only a handful of "experts" picked the Cavs to win the East this year, and that's exactly what they did.  They're the first Cavs team to do that, and it happened just four years after they were the worst team in the league.

I often get into the argument with fans of Philadelphia and Buffalo sports fans about which city's fans are more suffering -- Philadelphia, Buffalo, or Cleveland (for the record, ESPN named Cleveland "the winner" a year or two ago).  Buffalo is hard to compare, since they don't have an NBA or MLB team (I don't count the NHL as a major sport), but Philadelphia, like Cleveland, has an NFL, NBA, and MLB team.  I once wrote a brilliantly detailed analysis of the history of Philadelphia and Cleveland sports since the last Cleveland championship (the Browns in '64).  Of course, I just posted it on the Lowes Cup fantasy football message board, and never saved it to my computer.  The gist of it, though, was that Philadelphia has a clear edge on Cleveland in the categories that matter -- namely, MVPs, championship appearances (Super Bowl/Finals/World Series), and championships.

The Philly (and Buffalo) fans' counterargument is that they've had so many more narrow defeats in championships.  "Philadelphia (or Buffalo) fans have suffered through so many crushing heartbreaking defeats in big games," they'll say.  "Even though we've been appeared in more championship games or series, it just makes it worse to have such a strong history of failure in those games or series.  Over the years, Philadelphia (or Buffalo) fans have been conditioned to expect the worst even when their teams are successful, and so really it's better to not play for championships than to continually come close and lose them."

This is all total b.s., though.  If you want to talk about any "number of crushing defeats," Cleveland fans can counter with a good share of "two word sentences": The Drive.  The Fumble.  The Shot.  Jose Mesa.  You can say Jose Mesa was the only one of those that happened in a championship, but they all have their significance.

They're even more significant, though, when you think about what the argument is about:  Cleveland hasn't won a professional sports championship since 1964!  In other words, the last time Cleveland won anything, the Beatles hadn't yet released "Yesterday," the world had never heard "California Girls," and LBJ had just been reelected president.  The U.S. still used silver in its coins and there had never been a space walk by an astronaut.  Basically, it was a long time ago.

But I digress.  If there's anything I've learned over these past six months, it's that seeing your team make it to the championship and lose is a hell of a lot better than your team sucking.  In January, I sat uncomfortably in the University of Phoenix Stadium and watched Florida destroy my Buckeyes.  In April, I sat in the Georgia Dome and watched the same thing happen to OSU's mens' hoops team.  And you know what?  Watching those teams make it to their championships and watching the Cavs make it to the finals were great rides.  Sure, none of them won, and it really sucks to not win a championship, but isn't following a winning team to the championship game what being a sports fan is about?

And don't say, "It would be a lot worse is those OSU-Florida games or the NBA Finals series had been closer -- it's infinitely more painful to watch a team lose on a missed field goal or stalled last-minute drive."  Watching Jose Mesa blow Game 7 of the World Series in 1997 was brutally painful.  But -- brutually painful as it was (and that was my Indians team -- I was a junior in high school, so I was young enough that I had nothing better to do and was able to watch every game, but old enough that I could appreciate the season) I'd take that heartbreak in a second over the Indians' 68 win season in 2003.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that Cleveland fans have been getting their collective ass kicked for so long that I still feel like the Cavs accomplished something truly significant this year, even though the Spurs completely dismantled them.  And that's why I'll wear my 2007 Eastern Conference Champions t-shirt with pride for years to come.

So where do the Cavs go from here?  Obviously, they have a lot of work to do if they want another shot at winning the NBA championship.  As much as I like Larry Hughes and recognize what he's done for the team in terms of playing through injuries, the Cavs need a better #2 option to help LeBron.  With that in mind, no player (other than LeBron) should be untouchable in Danny Ferry's quest to get LeBron a Scottie Pippen/Kobe Bryant (or, given the Cavs' propensity to imitate the Spurs, Parker-Ginobili combo).  As good as Boobie Gibson was in the Pistons series (and by all means, the Cavs should definitely keep him), we need a true starting point guard to initiate the offense and hit open jump shots.  And, speaking of initiating the offense, WE NEED A FREAKING OFFENSE!

Basically, Danny Ferry can't rest on his laurels like last season.  It won't be enough to sign players like Scotty Pollard or David Wesley, and he can't rest his hopes on making another great second round pick because . . . well . . . we don't have any draft picks this year (by the way, thanks goes out to fellow Flyer Jim Paxson for trading our first round pick this year for Jiri Welsch -- that trade really helped us for the month or so that Big Jiri was here!).  I'm tired of hearing "no one wants to come to Cleveland" when Detroit is able to pick up guys like Chris Webber for next to nothing (thanks to the Allan Houston rule).  We should be able to make a run at Robert Horry-type players to fill a role or two, and we should be able to use some of our contracts (and maybe Doc Gooden, as much as I love him) to lure a guy who can really help LeBron. 

I don't have anything specific in mind -- isn't that Ferry's job?  I just hope he does something, so the Cavs can make another championship run next year and build off this year's wave of positive momentum.

Posted by Renaldo at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

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So yeah, it looks like Bill Simmons came out pretty much the exact opposite way as me on the NBA Finals.  No matter.  Simmons doesn't know the number one reason the Cavs will win -- a reason that I didn't list yesterday.

About two and a half weeks ago, during the Cavs-Nets series, I told a friend about a vision I had.  "This will be a year where the Buckeyes make the championship in football and men's basketball, the Cavs make it to the NBA Finals, and the Tribe makes it to the World Series."

"Yeah," my friend said.  "And they'll all lose because you'll go to every game."

"Yeah," I said.  "Probably."

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I won't be able to make it to any of the NBA Finals games this year.  What does that mean?  You guessed it -- this series won't turn out like the BCS National Championship Game or the Final Four.  Since I won't be in the house for the games, the Cavs will win it all.

(And that, you see, is a glimpse inside the psyche of a Cleveland sports fan.) 

Posted by Renaldo at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Everyone I've seen has been picking the Spurs to win the NBA Championship over the Cavs (well, not everyone . . . on TrueHoop, Henry Abbott's mom and two other guys picked the Cavs, although one apparently just picked them so he would have a chance of winning the "Stat Geek Smackdown" -- by the way, today Abbott linked to Flyer Fieldhouse, a blog that apparently is written by fellow Dayton alumni/Cleveland sports fans that looks pretty tight).  At least Cleveland got some love from Michael Wilbon, who wrote this article for the Washington Post today.  Everyone's saying the Cavs have a chance to win a game or two.  Well, the time has come to set the record straight.

I'm not going to do any kind of statistical analysis -- best to leave that for the people who have more time on their hands.  Brian Windhorst did his usual super-duper job of detailing the various Cavs-Suprs matchups (obviously, the Cavs have the edge at small forward with LeBron over Bruce Bowen, and Z give the Cavs a debatable advantage at center, even if Roger Brown would never admit it).  This is just my from-the-gut projection of how the series will go.

Anyone who watched the post-game festivities after the Cavs beat Detroit in Game 6 Saturday night knows that the team (and the fans) are completely overjoyed just to be there.  Some people are even saying that the Cavs' sense of satisfaction with simply making it to the Finals indicates a lack of desire and the fortitude necessary for upsetting the Spurs and taking the Championship.  Early celebrations aren't great indicators all the time, though.  This past fall, I watched the Cardinals win their NLDS series.  During the postgame show,  they doused their locker room with champagne while Tony La Russa wandered around the scene with a towel on his head.  "There's no way the Cardinals are going to win the World Series," I told my roommate Nate Dogg.  "They're so amped just to win their Division Series, they still have the NLCS and the World Series to go.  They're finished."

Then, after the OSU men's basketball team beat Michigan at home to clinch the Big 10 regular season title, Tok, Tortoise, and I stayed to watch the 20+ minute post-game ceremony where the Big 10 trophy was awarded and the team and coaches cut down the nets.  In my infinite wisdom, I proclaimed this a harbinger of bad fortune.  "We're stupid to be this excited to win the conference title in a weak Big 10," I pointed out.  "We'll be lucky to make it out of the Sweet 16."  While I was partially right -- the Buckeyes were lucky to get out of that Xavier game alive -- avid readers of this blog will remember that OSU made it to the NCAA final, and maybe would've won if Thad Matta had made even a cursory attempt to get Greg Oden involved in the offense over the course of the season.

So yeah, it would be foolish to pick against the Cavs on a "they're already overjoyed to be here" theory.  I'm also getting sick of reading that the Cavs are lucky to be in the Finals because they took an "easy route" to get there.  First, they were the second seed in the East, so it wasn't like they could be expected to play the top two teams in the East.  They only had to beat one team better than them -- the Pistons -- and they did that.  Sure, Washington was horrible, but isn't a seventh seed supposed to be inferior, and didn't the Cavs sweep them?  I think a lot of people under-rate New Jersey.  After all, they did have Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson on their team (and a pesky Mikki Moore), and even if they didn't have all of their Big Three playing their best for majority of the series, they did beat the third-seeded Raptors (who people loved  before the playoffs started).  Besides, the Cavs would've beaten them in five if they hadn't laid an egg at home in Game 5 (which ultimately taught them a valuable lesson for the Detroit series -- always keep your foot on the gas).

Detroit struggled offensively and showed some major cracks that perhaps indicate that the Pistons need a makeover this offseason.  Doesn't anyone realize, though, that maybe the Cavs' underrated defense, the team's passion and intensity, and LeBron's unbelievable play were the major sources of the Pistons' offensive struggles and overall breakdowns?  I'm also sick of hearing people say the Cavs beat teams -- i.e., the Nets and the Pistons -- that are fatally flawed and need to be blown up.  People still say that about the Cavs (e.g., they still have no viable point guard, Larry Hughes isn't ever going to be healthy, Z is old, and LeBron still needs a scorer to serve as his Scottie Pippen).

Besides, can't you make the same general point -- that the Cavs took an easy route to the Finals -- about the Spurs?  Didn't both teams beat only one "power" team from their conference (Cleveland, as Charles Barkley said, was about two plays way from sweeping Detroit 6-0, and San Antonio beat the Suns in a closely contested series that was heavily influenced by the controversial Horry-Nash "collision")?  And can't you make the argument that they each also beat a team with multiple superstars that just couldn't play to the sum of its parts (New Jersey and Denver)?  Sure, Utah was a much better team than the injury-depleted Washington Wizards, but it's not like the Spurs had to play Dallas (the best regular-season team in the NBA) or Houston (who had a better record than the Jazz and a guy named McGrady).  The Spurs definitely had a tougher road than the Cavs, but it wasn't like they had to go through Jordan's Bulls, Magic's Lakers, and Walton's Trailblazers to get to the Finals.

A win is a win is a win, and a Conference Championship is a Conference Championship.  Sure, you can say that the Cavs are the worst (or second or third worst, whatever) team to ever play in an NBA Finals.  But if the Cavs win, does that then mean the Spurs are the new worst team to ever play in a Finals?

I guess the point of my rant is that the Cavs' path to the Finals means about as little as the fact that they are excited to be in the Finals.  They did what they needed to do to get here.  My final bone to pick with the prognosticators is that they say the Cavs' regular season sweep over the Spurs is meaningless.  The argument goes, "The regular season is just the regular season and has no bearing on the Finals, and, anyways, the Spurs grew a lot as a team and were a much better team in the second half of the season than the first (when they played the Cavs) and -- by the way -- one of the Cavs' wins came on the second night of a back-to-back for the Spurs, and they never win on night two of a back-to-back."

The Cavs have proven they can beat the Spurs.  Sure, San Antonio has better integrated this past offseason's additions since they last saw the Cavs, and, yes, they're a better team now than they were in January.  But the same can be said for the Cavs.  LeBron has grown by proverbial leaps and bounds.  Boobie Gibson is playing significant minutes and contributing on a more regular basis.  Big Z has stepped up his game in the playoffs.  The two wins over the Spurs don't mean that the Cavs will win the series, but they do mean that the Cavs have shown that they can win the series.

"So," you're asking (if you're still reading), "You're going to pick the Cavs, aren't you?"  Well . . . you're right.  Here's how I see the series going:

• Game 1: Spurs win (the Spurs lead the series 1-0).  LeBron is nervous, and the rest of the Cavs follow his lead.  In a sloppy, turnover-filled game, the Spurs take a comfortable 10-point lead into halftime.  The Cavs mount a series of mini-runs through the third and fourth quarters, but are never able to get it closer than 5.  Skip Bayless cries tears of joy on TV Friday, and the media starts talking sweep.
• Game 2: Cavs win (the series is tied 1-1).  Call this game "LeBron Strikes Back."  Number 23 isn't nervous this time, and the team plays a much better game overall.  It's back and forth throughout, and the Cavs prevail in a close one to even the series heading to back to Cleveland.

As a side note, it's critically important for the Cavs to steal one of the first two games of the series.  The Spurs aren't the Pistons.  They're not going to get overconfident if they win the first two games, and they won't let the insane atmosphere in Cleveland rattle them too much.  If the Cavs come home down 0-2, they have a huge (although not insurmountable) mountain (bet you didn't think I'd write "mountain") to climb.  Why?  The Spurs are going to win one of the three games in Cleveland -- you heard it here first.

• Game 3: Cavs win (the Cavs lead the series 2-1).  The Spurs actually take an early lead when the Cavs come out too fired up and play sloppy again.  The home crowd won't back down, though, and neither will the Cavs.  The game is close at halftime, but the Cavs take a small lead in the middle of the third quarter and somehow hold it until the final buzzer.  Skip Bayless still rips LeBron on Wednesday (he hasn't won anything yet), but the rest of the media starts talking Cavs championship.
• Game 4: Spurs win (the series is tied 2-2).  I told you they'd win one in Cleveland, didn't I?  The Cavs look bad in this game, but really Pop's figured 'em out.  Duncan has a big game.  The media doesn't know what to think anymore.
• Game 5: Spurs win (the Spurs lead the series 3-2).  More of the above.  Cleveland fans vow to never watch Desperate Housewives again after ABC shows Eva Longoria for the 14,295th time.  The media starts talking Spurs championship again.

Another side note:  Am I the only person who remembers Eva Longoria's "I hate Cleveland" interview from earlier in the season (maybe the All-Star game?)?  During the interview, she's asked question after question about Tony Parker (I'm thinking the interview -- which takes place in the stands -- was done by Mark Jones).   Anyway, she talks about how much she loves Tony Parker and blah blah blah, and the interviewer finally asks her, "You love the Spurs and you love Tony Parker.  But if he's traded to another team, would you root for the Spurs or his new team?"  Eva replied, "I would follow him anywhere, except I wouldn't move to Detroit or Cleveland."  I immediately called my mom and told her, "That's it, I officially really can't stand Isabella."  (Eva Longoria once played a character named Isabella on The Young and the Restless, which my mom watched.)  Back to the projection:

• Game 6: Cavs win (the series is tied 3-3). Against all odds, LeBron pulls off another classic game (not quite 48-points, but fairly close) to will the Cavs to victory.  All of a sudden, and somewhat out of nowhere considering the last two games, the Cavs seem to have the Spurs' number, much like they did after Game 5 of the Pistons series.  Still, these are the Spurs, so we can't get our hopes up too much, can we?
• Game 7: Cavs win.  In a Game 7 for the ages, something finally goes Cleveland's way.  The Cavs play great team ball.  Of course, LeBron has a great game, but everyone seems to contribute.  If this weren't really happening, it would be like someone made it up -- the team comes together and plays to its best capabilities at the most important time.  It's really like it's scripted by Disney.  During the final two minutes of the game, ABC keeps cutting back to a jam-packed Gund . . . I mean Quicken Loans Arena, where everyone seems to be covering their eyes during the close finale.  After the game, there is nary a dry eye in Cleveland.  Speaking of tears of joy, viewers watching the game in HD catch a few drops from David Stern's eyes as the commish hands the trophy to LeBron.

Posted by Renaldo at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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LeBron James is pretty good:

In other news, Roger Brown is still around, and he's decided to stop making veiled references to Bill Simmons (e.g., calling him something to the effect of "one of the ridiculous young video-game playing journalists who are obsessed with The Shawshank Redemption") and is calling him out by name now. The Plain Dealer took down all their classic Roger Brown columns, so I couldn't amuse myself (and you, dear reader) with a trip down memory lane, but I'm wondering what Roger's thinking of Big Z's play against Detroit (Roger's devoted plenty of column inches to bemoaning the fact that the Cavs continue to keep Z and -- to make a harrowing situation worse -- Cavs fans actually like Z). 

Posted by Renaldo at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Needless to say, Saturday night's Cavs-Pistons game was pretty amazing.  Daniel Gibson was money in the bank -- again, Danny Ferry gets a million thank you's for drafting Boobie with the 42nd overall pick

When Rasheed Wallace exploded and got his sixth personal foul (and first and second technical fouls) in the fourth quarter, the game was obviously over -- Detroit completely fell apart.  This Pistons were a good team, but LeBron was the best player in the series, and he proved that the Cavs can win in a variety of ways, like when he scores 48 in one game, and then gets 14 rebounds and 8 assists in the next game.

Interestingly, there were dueling "Kobe could learn a lot from LeBron" articles online today.  Mark Kriegel compares Kobe to Lindsay Lohan before writing, "Great players are supposed to endow the players around them with greatness. Kobe Bryant does not. While James is about winning, Kobe is about Kobe."  Sally Jenkins was even tougher on Kobe.  "Bryant is now 28 years old, and he should hope to be LeBron James when he grows up," she writes, eventually concluding, "[H]ere is the difference between the two men: People have to play with Bryant; they want to play with James."

A couple of weeks ago, some sports progam asked the question, "If you could start an NBA franchise today with any player, who would it be?"  Whoever it was answering said Kobe.  After Kobe's "trade me-don't trade me" radiothon last week, everybody and his brother was pointing out that Kobe was the best player in the league.  I think after Saturday, LeBron's got a good argument for himself.  Sure, Kobe has the edge on pure scoring ability, shooting, and one-on-one defense, but "intangibles" should count for something, not to mention LeBron's ability to pass and rebound.  The ability to win not just one, but four playoff series without Shaq as a teammate (that's right, Kobe's been winless in playoff series since Shaq went to Miami) should count for something.  The fact that LeBron's teammates like him should count for something.  And, perhaps most significantly for "building a franchise," the fact that LeBron has avoided the legal troubles and intra-squad controversies that have plagued Bryant should count for something.

But, really, who cares about Kobe right now?  It's Cavs-Spurs.  I'll post my series preview tomorrow or Wednesday.  Go Cavs! 

Posted by Renaldo at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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First off: If you are a fan of any kind of basketball (or even sports in general) and you didn't see last night's game between the Cavs and Pistons, you missed something special.  Don't worry, you can watch the two overtimes and a highlight reel of LeBron's performance on NBA.com.

With that said, the game was unbelievable.  I've watched hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of basketball games in my life, and I honestly believe that this was the best basketball game I've ever seen.  Sure, as a Cavs homer and a former season ticket holder (for the strike-shortened '98-99 season and LeBron's rookie '03-04 season), I'm biased.  Nevertheless, I think I'm not alone in calling it one of the all-time great performances.  Either way, this game meant a lot for the Cavs, their fans, the city of Cleveland, the state of Ohio, and all connected.

A little bit of personal history is in order here.  I fell in love with the Cavs at what was probably a bad time -- the last days of the Fratello regime.  The year was 1997.  This was post Daugherty/Price and just after the team had essentially abandoned Mike Fratello's trademarked "slow-down" style.  The Cavs had made a bold move in trading Terrell Brandon (along with former Eggsavier Mouseketeer "star" Tyrone Hill) in a three-way deal that netted them Shawn Kemp.  Kemp, along with a core of the newly acquired Wesley Person and four "rookies" -- Derek Anderson, Cedric Henderson, Brevin Knight, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who really wasn't a rookie since he had been drafted by the team in 1996 but had missed the season with injury) -- captured my interest when the Cavs went on a 10-game winning streak early in the '97-98 season.  That team was fun to watch.  Kemp averaged 18 points and 9 rebounds a game and was the first Cavalier ever voted to start in an All-Star Game.  Z established himself as a legitimate center in the NBA.  Knight was an exciting point guard (he had 20 assists in the first game I attended in person that year, against the Washington Wizards).  They even beat Michael Jordan in his last game in Cleveland with the Bulls (who obviously won the championship that year).  The team finished with 47 wins and a sixth seed in the playoffs.  Even though the Pacers knocked them off three games to one in the first round, the future was looking decent for the Cavs: with Jordan retiring, the East was wide-open, and the Cavs had the young nucleus and superstar to take control.

And so it was that at the start of the '98-99 season, which was shortened to 50 games because of a lockout, the Cavs were on their way "back" to glory.  My dad and I were there, ready to watch every game from our season ticket seats in the lower bowl.  Early in the season, Kemp and Ilguaskas outplayed Robinson and Duncan and scored a home victory for the Cavs against the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.  At that point, Kemp still played like the Man, and the "rookies" were showing improvement.  And the East really was wide open: in fact, the Knicks, who managed only 27 wins that season (equivalent to 44 in an 82 game season) and the last seed in the playoffs, were the Eastern Conference champions that year.

So what happened?  First, Ilguaskas got hurt (the first of a series of frustrating injuries that lead to him missing more than 200 games in the four seasons between 1998 and 2002).   Then . . . well, pretty much the rest of the team got hurt.  Fratello was fired and replaced with Randy "Slim" Whittman, who was famous for making Bill Belichick seem like the life of the party.  Whittman inspired all with a .371 career win percentage, coaching the likes of Trajan Langdon (the Cavs' 11th overall pick in 1999 who ended up hitting a whopping 86 threes in his NBA career), Bimbo Coles (the first in a seemingly continuing run of Cavs point guards who couldn't shoot -- his .286 field goal percentage in his last season with the Cavs was particularly impressive), and Donny "Don't Call Me Donyell" Marshall (about whose return we Cavs fans were actually excited, until we remembered he really wasn't Donyell Marshall).  The only bright spots of Whittman's tenure were Andre Miller (how my fellow UD alum Jim Paxson had the foresight to draft Miller at 8th overall in '99 but completely blew it by selecting Langdon three picks later is beyond me . . . have I mentioned that the weekend before the draft it was reported that the Cavs were working out Langdon as a "potential second round pick" or that Derek Anderson stormed out of the Cavs' draft party after Langdon was selected?) and Clarence Weatherspoon's '99-00 season (Spoon nearly averaged a double-double and promptly said "get me the hell out of here" after the end of the season).  For a prime example of the typical Cavalier fan's mindset at this time, check out this guy's 2000 Cavs draft analysis.

Randy Whittman was fired and gave way to John Lucas.  I think it was around the time that the geniuses running the in-game entertainment at Cavs games started using the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" during player introductions.  The "Meet the new boss /same as the old boss" refrain was particularly inspiring and fitting.  Lucas was famous for completely losing his voice two weeks into the regular season and having a son who ended up being pretty good for Oklahoma State.  His .298 win percentage in a season and a half made us all think, if only for a second, "Hey, maybe Whittman wasn't that bad," after which we promptly threw our Whammer doll across the room.  (By the way, can I nominate Whammer for worst mascot ever?  C'mon, a dunking polar bear?  It's not that cold in Cleveland.  And are the Cavs the only team whose website calls its former mascot a "poor floor leader"?  Can we just get rid of mascots in pro sports altogether?)  The Lucas era was largely forgettable, aside from the last days of Andre Miller (c'mon, he averages 16.5 points and 10.9 assists, and we hand him a one-way ticket to the Clippers?) and Ricky Davis shooting at the wrong basket in a blowout to try to get a triple-double (I remember being in my old Oldsmobile and listening to Joe Tait's call of this . . . it was classic . . . I wish I could get a tape of it).

For my money (which I continued to faithfully spend on Cavs tickets), the worst move of the Lucas era was my main man Paxson's Andre Miller for Darius Miles trade.  How a Dayton basketball legend could do such a thing is still beyond me.  I hated the trade, and hung my Andre Miller youth jersey (another brilliant Cavs giveaway!) on the wall of my room at UD in protest.  I also vowed not to go to any game in the '02-03 season, even though my friends told me you could get courtside tickets for less than $20 with a college ID.  Of course I still watched whatever games I could on tv (we only got the occasional Fox Sports Ohio game in Dayton, but I suffered through every game that was on whenever I was home in NE Ohio).  I told myself, "I'll give Paxson one more shot."

We all know what that one more shot was.  I've never been one to follow high school sports, but I remember first coming across LeBron James' name when he was listed in the Akron Beacon Journal as an All Summit County wide receiver as a sophomore.  After he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior, I started following Saint Vincent-Saint Mary's television appearances and reading the occasional article on the team.  There was talk that if it were possible for him to go into the NBA draft after his junior year, he would be the #1 overall selection.  We began thinking, "What if we could get LeBron?"

Everyone who follows sports knows about the tribulations and triumphs of LeBron's senior year of high school.  Meanwhile, John Lucas was fired halfway through the season.  Lucas gave way to interim coach Keith Smart, who was famous for hitting the game winning shot for Indiana in the 1987 NCAA Championship game.  Fittingly, Smart's .225 win percentage continued the Fratello-Whittman-Lucas decline.

As the Cavs lost game after game in 2003, our LeBron dreams became more and more palpable.  In Dayton, all eyes looked toward the long awaited matchup between local Kettering Alter and LeBron's SVSM squad.  Tickets were long gone, so I was left to catch the game recap via the local news.  At the time, I was copy editor of the campus newspaper, and I remember laughing my way through a column written by a staff member who was lucky enough to go the game.  In his piece, which carried the headline Defenseless James not so great, Stephen Dahl, who I suppose was a nice enough guy, pretty much ripped LeBron. LeBron was the real deal, he argued, "only if basketball were merely a dunk fest and dominating guys seven inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than you."  He went on to write that he couldn't believe that LeBron wouldn't even jog to the other side of the court to play defense, and mused that "Paul Pierce and Tracy McGrady are licking their chops to teach James a lesson."  Dahl's conlcusion?  Check it:

[B]ased on his four performances that I’ve attended or watched, with the first choice in this year’s draft, I would not draft James.

The general manager who inherits the first choice would be better off trading down a few spots and getting a solid player.

James is a very raw player that has great potential, but lacks fundamentals contrary to the many European stars that are available to draft.

Translation?  Try and trade down to get what eventually became Darko.  Maybe Dahl was trying to jump-start the anti-LeBron Bandwagon.  Regardless, even at this point I could see someone with an ax to grind for what they were.  Why a UD student had an ax to grind against LeBron is beyond me -- keep in mind, this is before half the country knew who Carmelo Anthony was.  In the interest of fairness, I should also note that i was sitting four rows behind the basket when UD upset Dwayne Wade's then Top 10 and eventual Final Four Marquette squad, and I never had any inkling of how good he would become or that he'd star in consecutively aired commercials during the 2007 East Finals. 

Anyway, it's a good thing Jim Paxson learned more about NBA talent evaluation at UD than Stephen Dahl.  (Interestingly, Big Steve has had a prolific career contributing to ESPN.com's Page 2.  Check this and this.  He also recanted his LeBron column six months later.  At least they didn't use him as my replacement for the Flyer News Sports Diary.)

Fast forward to May 22, 2003.  For once, the Cavs got lucky (even after they "blew it" in typical Cleveland fashion by winning their last game of the '02-03 season, which caused them to tie with the Nuggets for the worst record in the league and have only a 22.5%, rather than a 25%, chance of getting the #1 overall pick) and won the draft lottery.  After I did a celebration dance around my parents' house (unlike Bill Simmons, I never even though to do anything other than watch the lottery with my dad), I got on the phone with the Cavs' season ticket department.  In 2002, I had vowed to attend no Cavs games for the '02-03 season.  In 2003, I had vowed that I would buy season tickets if the Cavs won the lottery.  True to my word, by the end of the night on May 22, I was a grand lighter in my wallet, but I was once again a Cavs season ticket holder.  LeBron was our hometown guy, and I was going to see him play every night. 

Brian Windhorst did his typically great job in detailing what's happened since then.  I've been watching faithfully the past four years.  The highs and lows of LeBron's rookie year and the team transitioning from the LeBron-Ricky Davis-DMiles mess to the Carlos Loozer fiasco and the disappointment of the late season collapse in '04-'05 to the 50 wins and "one missed rebound" heartbreak of the '06 playoffs to the present.  I've stood by LeBron and the team through all the rough times.  I was there when they said he couldn't hit a shot to win a game, and rejoiced as he did just that in Round One against the Wizards last year.  I was there this year when Gilbert Arenas said LeBron couldn't hit a short to win a game, conveniently forgetting 2006.  I was there through LeBron's first half "swoon" this season, annoying my bowling team by continuously drifting toward the TV in the bowling alley when the Cavs played on Wednesday nights.  I was there when the Skip Baylesses of the world criticized the Cavs as being overrated and lamented the fact that neither Miami nor Chicago would play the Pistons in the East Finals, even though the Cavs had a right to be there as the #2 seed.

And I was there last night.  Forty-eight points (on 18 of 33 shooting, no less).  Nine rebounds.  Seven assists and two steals.  The Cavs' last 25 points, and 29 of their last 30 points.  Unbelievable.  By the middle of the second overtime I couldn't say anything -- I was just shaking my head. 

I found it fitting that Bill Simmons spoke not for Cavs fans, but for NBA fans when he wrote that his "life as a basketball fan was being irrevocably altered" during last night's game.  In another article, Windhorst boiled the evening down to its essentials.  I heard a guy on the radio this morning saying that Cavs fans shouldn't be too excited, that it was just one game and the Pistons haven't played to their potential all series, and that even if the Cavs make the finals they'll be lucky to take more than one game from the Spurs.  But people said that coming into the Pistons series.

There's always going to be haters out there.  However, like Simmons said in the article linked to above: 

If you care about basketball, you'll remember where you watched this game 20 years from now. If you care about basketball, it meant something when Marv Albert blessed the night by calling it "one of the greatest performances in NBA playoff history."

Anyone who's still knocking LeBron (or the Cavs) is out of his mind.  He's either got some whacked-out agenda or he just wants to be different.   Either way, he's missing out on something special.  The Pistons are a good, perhaps even great team.  This is roughly the same team (minus Ben Wallace, plus an over-the-hill Chris Webber) as their championship team from a couple of years ago.  They've made the Eastern Conference Finals five years in a row.  Try telling Chauncey Billups he wasn't playing well and he'll point out that last night he finally started hitting clutch shots (that's "shots" in the plural form).  There were two or three times that the Cavs should have been put away, but LeBron wouldn't let them lose.  Detroit played a great game, but LeBron countered with a classic game.

The series isn't over.  Everyone's pointing out that last year in the Eastern Conference semis the Pistons took games 1 and 2, and then the Cavs took 3, 4, and 5 before barely losing game 6 at home and getting blown out in game 7.  It's possible that the Pistons win the next two games.  However, given the lessons the Cavs learned last year -- when they were "a rebound away" from winning the series at home in game 6 -- you can't tell me that the Cavs aren't going to come out fired up and ready to close out the series tomorrow.  I know that the Pistons do have a tendency to put it in neutral, but they weren't in neutral last night.  I don't think they were in neutral in game 4, either (the Cavs defense, I think, has made the Pistons --especially Billups -- look bad throughout the series).  I also know that the Pistons play their best basketball with their backs to the wall, that during their recent run they've won ever series in which they were up 2-0, and blah blah blah.

All that doesn't matter to me.  A few weeks ago, Chris Spielman was going on and on on his radio show in Columbus about how "NBA insiders" were saying that LeBron needed a "signature" playoff game.  I said to myself, "I don't care what LeBron does, as long as the Cavs keep win whatever series they're playing" (full well knowing that the Cavs go as LeBron goes, but whatever).  Well, now they've got what they want and I've got what I want.  LeBron's proved he's the man, and the Cavs are winning.  The Pistons have a shot tomorrow and they have a shot on Monday if they do win tomorrow.  Hell, even I picked the series to go seven games (with the Cavs winning in seven, of course).  It's no matter, though.  All that matters is LeBron, and I think he's finally figured out what he needs to do to win, at least against Detroit.  Boobie Gibson will play better tomorrow.  Doc Gooden will play better tomorrow.  Sasha Pavlovic will play better tomorrow.  The Wild Thing will play better tomorrow.  We won't need LeBron to score 48.  He's going to get help, and he'll be able to take it from there.

Like Terry Pluto said, "James seems to be sending everyone a message: This was his moment; the Cavs are coming into their own; the best really is yet to come."  For the first time since . . . well, since ever, the Cavs have a presence in the NBA's power structure.  If the Cavs win tomorrow, they'll be in the NBA Finals for the first time ever.  It will also be the first time a Cleveland sports team has been in its sport's championship since the Indians in 1997.

I know one thing for sure: I feel a lot better having LeBron James --rather than Jose Mesa -- as my closer.

Posted by Renaldo at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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While everyone's fired up about the upcoming NBA Draft (as Roger Brown would say, word is that Greg Oden and Mike Conley, Jr. could each go in the top three picks), tonight's a good time to take a look back at what may have been the best move of last year's NBA Draft: Danny Ferry's drafting of Daniel "Boobie" Gibson in the second round.

With Larry Hughes on the bench for most of last night's Cavaliers-Pistons game with another injury, Gibson came through with 35 big minutes, netting 21 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. I suppose it doesn't mean that much to say that Boobie Gibson has been the best rookie in the conference finals (isn't he the only rookie getting significant minutes?). Nevertheless, Ferry scored major points in my book by getting Gibson -- a player who essentially won the game last night (along, of course, with LeBron) -- with the 42nd pick in last year's draft. Apparently there may have been something going on behind the scenes, given that Gibson had first round talent but only worked out for the Cavs (one assumes that Ferry told Gibson they'd pick him if he were available, and if he wanted to play with LeBron James it would be a good idea to stay at home after his Cavs workout).

Anyway, Ferry's gotten a lot of heat for not adding any pieces around LeBron (besides Hughes, I guess). Give him some credit though for finding Boobie. Here's hoping the Cavs can pull off the upset tomorrow in Detroit to take the 3-2 series lead . . . .

Posted by Renaldo at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I've been getting a lot of heat from all directions lately about not finishing the Final Four Diary.  I said I was busy.  People said they don't care.  So, I'm going to finish it, slowly but surely.  Since I think this post will bump the diary from the main page, here's a link to it.  I'll also put a link on the right side of the page as well.

I hope you're happy now.

Posted by Renaldo at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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It's not because the Polish Sausage didn't win the Sausage Race during the Cleveland Indians home game in Milwaukee tonight.  (By the way--how awesome is it that the Tribe was able to draw roughly 20,000 fans to a game between them and the Brewers in Milwaukee?  Keep in mind, that's 6,000 more people than were present at the Reds home game in Cincinnati Sunday.  Citizens of Milwaukee, you rule.)

Seriously, folks, it's because his Twentieth Century Apprenticeship and Guide To Dating CD's (pictured, with Lee, above) were released today, and you haven't bought a copy of either yet!  How do I know that, you ask?  Well, I run this record label.  It's my job to know these things.

They're really swell.  You should check them out.  They're available right now at the convenient online store.  Lee will also have an ample supply available at the Fourth Street Only show Thursday night (see below for more details).

Posted by Ian Wying at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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By popular demand, here's the second (official) installment in what will hopefully continue to be an ongoing series of Bill Simmons-esque sporting event running diaries.  This past year, I've had the opporunity to witness four NCAA #1 versus #2 games (Football:  OSU vs. Texas , OSU vs. Michigan, OSU vs. Florida; Basketball:  OSU v. Wisconsin).  In September, I posted the diary for the OSU-UT game (the first installment of which is available here).  I made atempts to put together running diaries for the Michigan game and the BCS National Championship game, but never published either of them (too pumped to finish the UM one, too bummed to finish the BCS one).  I'm determined to finish this one, though, win or lose.

First, a quick introduction of the cast of characters.  I made the trip to Atlanta with four buddies, all of whom are third year students at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (we were required to swear that we will always refer to our law school in print by its proper, full name).  We're season ticket holders to the OSU men's basketball games, so you can guess where our loyalties lie (even if, as a University of Dayton alum, I still can't stand Thad Matta because of his time spent as egg-Xavier's head coach).  Here's a brief synopsis of the major players (other than myself):

• Double-B:  A loveable, huggable guy who is the self-proclaimed Jewish Santa Claus.  Double-B (B for short) is proud of his low-sodium diet and his legal analysis skills.  He's a native of the Chicagoland area.
• Tortoise:  A Penn State alum and Ravens fan (I've forgiven him on both counts long ago).  Him and Guy also made the trip to Arizona with me.  He lived in Jamaica for a while, roots for Maryland basketball, and takes an unbelievably long time to gather his books up and leave the room after class (hence the name Tortoise).
• Guy:  (Prounounced GEE, not guy.)  A Cleveland native and a Browns fan (so he has a natural advantage over Tortoise).  He is the consistent peanut gallery, always standing to the side and throwing fuel on the various fires burning around him.  He enjoys long walks on the beach and eating pasta in his sleeping bag.
• Tok:  A loveable, but unhuggable guy who is the self-proclaimed toughest man in any bar he happens to be in.  Tok is a Steelers fan, so his presence completes the AFC North theme among the group (the Bengals don't count as a real NFL team).

Without further ado, here's the diary (I'll be updating it periodically until it's complete):

March 31, 2007

• 2:15 a.m.: My band, Fourth Street Only, finishes its set at the Ugly Tuna, across the street from the OSU campus.  During the set, I dedicated our version of "Hang On Sloopy" to Matt Terwilliger (#42 in your program, but #1 in your heart).
• 2:45 a.m.: After Tok helps me to load up my equipment into my car, I'm back at my house.  I unload the car, and start packing for the trip.
• 3:20 a.m.: Tok and I are on the road.  As we begin making our way south on 71, Tok comes through with the clutch move of the trip--hooking up his satellite radio.  Thank God for technology--otherwise, we'd be stuck listening to alien enounter shows and evangelical talk radio all night.
• 5:35 a.m.: We're making good time.  After getting on to 75 in Cincinnati, we're cruising through Kentucky.  After we pass the first sign for Lexington, I comment, "Just so you know, if we get into Lexington and see Ashley Judd standing on the side of the road with a 'Final Four or Bust' sign, I'm picking her up."

* * *

• 12:45 p.m.: We arrive in Atlanta, where we meet up with B, Tortoise, and Guy.  I have to admit, the trip wasn't too bad.  I got about three hours of sleep, and Tok slept for about two hours (we spent about 45 minutes at a rest stop--the rest of the time we drove in shifts).
• 1:30 p.m.: After quick showers and a few minutes to catch our collective breaths, we head toward the Georgia dome.  We get our passes for the MARTA (Mid-Atlanta Regional Transportation Authority, I'm guessing) train.  Just after we get to the bottom of the stairs, Guy goes to throw something in the trash and completely wipes out.  He gets up undaunted, but we're all laughing.  Physical comedy--men love it.
• 2:30 p.m.: We make it to the Georgia Dome and pick up our tickets.  There's four will-call lines, one for each school.  There's about 300 people in line for the OSU window, while there's about 30 for Florida.  There's no line for Georgetown and UCLA.  We think it might be an indication of the Buckeye presence in Atlanta.  Our tickets are sweet--Section 119 (the student section behind the basket), Row 3.  It turns out that there's about ten rows in a section in front of us, but we'll take seats within the 15th row.
• 3:15 p.m.: After leaving the Georgia Dome, we've begun a search for food.  We walk through Centennial Park and then through downtown, but we can't find anywhere that strikes our fancy.  Guy's been leading the way, and when he makes the executive decision to head into a downtown mall to eat at the foodcourt, it all starts to make sense:  Guy's been relentlessly talking up Chick-fil-a, and he's used his "Chick-fil-a-dar" to scope out the closest one.  It ends up being a good move, though--the chicken sandwhich I get hits the spot.
• 4:11 p.m.: After our late lunch, we head over to the Irish pub located in the mall for a few pre-game drinks.  It's packed.  I had heard there's an NCAA coaches' conference of some sort going on, which explains why there's all these guys wearing random schools' sweatsuits in the bar.  Our first order?  A round of Irish Carbombs.  The bartender hands us our Guinnesses, but they're kind of small.  "That's the weakest carbomb I've ever seen," Guy says.
• 4:13 p.m.: As usual, Guy wins the race to down the carbomb.  Tortoise, who traditionally has been one of Guy's bigger rivals, is distraught.  A fight ensues when Tok claims that Tortoise started early.  Tortoise counters that Tok improperly started the round.  "You threw off my rhythm," Tortoise says.  Guy doesn't care, dismissing us all by just saying, "Whatever, I'm sick."
• 4:39 p.m.: We see a husband and wife walking down the sidewalk outside the bar.  The husband's wearing one of those front-loaded baby harnesses.  We all rip on him a bit.  After all, if you're in town for the Final Four, it's bad enough to be accompanied by your wife, but your baby as well?  Says Guy, "You've got to peace that baby."  (This guy is only topped by the woman at the game itself who was carrying her baby, which was fitted with giant air traffic controller headphones.)
• 5:04 p.m.: The B tries to befriend the bar's employees, who have asked us if they could move the chairs we've been sitting on.  "Are you trying to clear the floor?" B asks.  The employees ignore him.
• 5:10 p.m.: We leave the bar to walk back to the Georgia Dome.  Game time is at 6, and we hope to make it to our seats a little early to soak in the atmosphere.  Tour Guide Guy takes the lead, but he leads us in the wrong way.  We relieve him of his duty, and Tok sets us in the right direction.
• 5:33 p.m.: We make it back to the stadium.  There's a huge line (numbering in the thousands of people) to get into Gate C, however.  The Georgia Dome people are on the loudspeakers telling everyone walking up to go to Gate B, where there's "No wait."  We walk to Gate B, only to find out that there's more people in line.  I'm beginning to worry we won't make it in in time.  To make matters worse, the Georgetown fans are getting rowdy.  They're chanting something that sounds like, "Hoya!  Sack up!"  It doesn't make sense to any non-Jesuits in the crowd, so someone finally asks a girl wearing a Georgetown shirt what they're saying.  "It's Hoya Saxa," she says.  "It's a Greek phrase.  There's a shirt that explains it if you want to know what it means."  I question what Jesuits are doing using Greek.  (Later, I look it all up on Wikipedia.  It turns out that Hoya is a bastardization of Hoia, which is Greek.  Saxa, however, is Latin.  Either way, the phrase means, "What rocks!"  The kicker is that Hoya actually means what.  So, basically, they're the Georgetown Whats.  If only I had known all this when the Georgetown fans were dismissively asking, "What the hell is a buckeye?")
• 5:55 p.m.: We're finally in our seats, thanks to some clutch maneuvering by Guy and Tortoise.  So far, the atmosphere hasn't been as fraught with anticipation as the Michigan or BCS games, but it's still pretty good to be here.
• 6:04 p.m.: It's game time!  Greg Oden easily wins the tip.
• 6:15 p.m.: Oden is called for his second foul.  We're only 2 minues and 41 seconds into the game.  This is ridiculous--so much for letting them play.  Georgetown's up 5-3.  We're gonna have to play really well while Oden's on the bench to stay in the game until halftime.
• 6:53 p.m.: Well, we have played really well, at least on the defensive end.  It's halftime, and the Buckeyes are up 27-23.  I'll take this, especially with Oden being on the bench for 17 minutes.
• 6:58 p.m.: We spot Bob Ryan chatting with some dudes in press row.  We're pretty excited about our first "celebrity" siting, but Guy isn't.  He uses the occasion for expressing his distaste for Dan Shaughnessy.  (Guy worked in Boston for a few years, so he got a good taste of the Boston media and didn't like it, I guess.)
• 7:02 p.m.: We spot John Thompson, Jr. (the II, maybe?  I dunno--JT III's dad) in press row.  A few moments later, we see Bill Raftery.  I like Bill Raftery (I suppose he's kind of the anti-Billy Packer).
• 7:08 p.m.: Tok and Tortoise make a good point--David Lighty is OSU's unsung hero tonight.
• 7:12 p.m.: The parade begins!  The sportswriters march back into the stands after the buffet.
• 7:18 p.m.: Oden gets his third fould with 11:50 to go.  OSU's up 42-38.  This next stretch (until Oden comes back in) will determine whether we're able to stay in this and win it.
• 7:29 p.m.: We have our first Tressel sighting.  The coach is in the OSU section on the sideline, sitting next to Anthony Gonzalez.  The students (who are behind the basket), shout "O-H" across to Tressel, who dutifully responds with an "I-O" (along with the proper arm signals).  They repeat the call-and-response with Gonzalez.
• 7:36 p.m.: With 8:50 to go, the score is tied at 44 and Oden is back in the game.  Roy Hibbert heads out at the same time after being called for his fouth foul.  He's got 14 points and has been a force.  This could be a turning point.
• 7:39 p.m.: 7:24 left in the game.  We're up 50-44.  After Oden came in, he hit a layup, followed by field goals from Lighty and Jamar Butler.  We've got some momentum now.
• 7:45 p.m.: We spot Jason Whitlock in press row.  Meanwhile, there's 6:37 left in the game, and Hibbert is coming back in.  Oden makes one of two free throws to put us up 51-44.  Hopefully Hibbert lost some steam while he was out with foul trouble.
• 7:50 p.m.: Oden gets his fourth foul with 2:36 remaining.  We're up by four, 56-52.  At this point, the team's played enough with out Oden that hopefully we're able to hold off the Whats.
• 7:56 p.m.: 1:14 left, and we're up 61-52.  This game seems like it's ours now....
• 7:58 p.m.: Jeff Green hits a layup (surprisingly, he's only got 9 points), and Georgetown calls a timeout with 44.8 seconds left.  We're still up by 7.  They're not coming back.
• 8:01 p.m.: A missed over the back call allows Jonathan Wallace to hit a three for the Whats and make it 63-57.  Georgetown calls a timeout.  They're still not gonna win it--there's only 21.8 seconds left.
• 8:06 p.m.: We win!  The final score is 67-61, but you'd never know it because the Georgia Dome people took the score down the second the game was over.  We have no idea why they did this.
• 8:11 p.m.: We go over to the tunnel to boo Florida as the team runs out.  Well, most of the team runs out.  Joakim Noah skips out.  I'm serious.  He skips.  The Florida fans are going crazy.  UCLA has no chance--the final is going to be us and Florida.
• 8:14 p.m.: Oden and Michael Conley, Jr. run back to the locker room after finishing their post-game interviews.  The OSU student section (which is still standing by the tunnel) is giving them a huge ovation.  Conley's loving it, and he runs over to greet the fans.  Oden simply walks into the locker room like a stoic giant.
• 8:17 p.m.: Guy: "This game blew away the BCS game."  That qualifies as the understatement of the century.
• 8:28 p.m.: Tok and I walk into the concourse in search of food.  It's a madhouse.  Tok decides to settle for some Dippin' Dots, which are still being marketed as "The Ice Cream of the Future."  They've been doing this for at least 15 years.  Seriously, how long can you be the ice cream of the future?  Is 15 years long enough?  Don't you become the ice cream of the present at some point?  Am I the only person in the world who cares about this?
• 8:30 p.m.: I break down and decide to grab one of the nasty looking mini-pizzas.  Who's in line behind me?  John Chaney.  As I've detailed before, I love John Chaney.  It's too bad my camera batteries are dead, or I'd get a picture with him.  Well, maybe I'd get a picture with him.  People keep coming up to him to say hi, and I feel bad adding to the avalanche.  The thing that strikes me most is that Chaney looks old.  He asks what toppings they have for the pizzas, and someone tells him just pepperoni.  Chaney is disappointed, and he walks away.
• 8:54 p.m.: The Florida-UCLA game has just tipped off.  Two minutes and 47 seconds in, the score is tied at 2.  Is this going to be a low scoring game?
• 8:57 p.m.: With 15:44 remaining in the first half, UCLA's up 4-2.  Maybe this is going to be low scoring.
• 8:59 p.m.: During a timeout, the UCLA cheerleaders run onto the floor to do a routine.  They are HOT.  Hot enough to distract most of the remaining OSU student section from realizing that a few of the Buckeyes (lead by Terwilliger) have taken their seats to watch a bit of the game.
• 9:05 p.m.: Florida hits their first field goal of the game.  They've only played seven and a half minutes.  The crowd goes wild.
• 9:06 p.m.: Things are picking up now. It's 6-5 UCLA with 11:52 left in the half.  Looks like this game will be the typically anticlimactic Final Four game.  At least our game was good.
• 9:10 p.m.: UCLA's dance team takes the floor during another time out.  Their dance team is hot too, but what gets our attention is the fact that they have a male juggler in their troupe.  A juggler???  I dunno....  In other news, it's still 6-5 with 11:26 to go.  Things are looking bleak for UCLA, though--Arron Afflalo has just gotten his third foul.  Meanwhile, we've spotted Thad Matta and Jim Tressel chatting it up in the stands.  This prompts me to imagine their conversation:  Matta: "So, Jim, do you have any advice if we're playing Florida?"  Tressel: "Keep Roy Hall away from Oden and Conley."
• 9:17 p.m.: Florida's taken the lead.  It's 11-10, with 8:51 remaining.  A veritable offensive explosion!
• 9:26 p.m.: Double-B and I discuss whether Gonzo brought the bubble to Atlanta.
• 9:28 p.m.: Florida hits its second straight three to go up by 8.  The building is as loud as it's been all night.  Man, it's going to be tough to play Florida here.  Guy agrees:  "It's like they're playing at home."
• 9:35 p.m.: Noah hits one of two free throws.  I realize that he has the ugliest free throw shooting stroke in the history of college basketball.  (Later, someone tells me that Billy Packer confirmed this on the CBS broadcast.  I don't know if that's good or bad.)
• 9:40 p.m.: Horford gets whistled for his second foul.  Florida is whining.  They're the whiniest team I've seen since--gasp--Thad Matta's 2002-03 Xavier squad.
• 9:42 p.m.: It's halftime!  Florida's up 29-23.  Let's see if UCLA can make a game out of it in the second half.
• 9:45 p.m.: There's a cool halftime ceremony honoring Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, and Dean Smith.  You gotta admit, it's pretty special to see those three guys on the floor at the same time.
• 10:05 p.m.: Florida comes out raining threes in the second half.  After two and a half minutes, they're up 37-28.
• 10:13 p.m.: Now it's 39-28 Florida.  I realize that the reason UCLA is losing is that Bill Walton isn't here (he was stuck doing the Cavs-Bulls game in Chicago earlier today).
• 10:20 p.m.: Florida goes up 49-32 with 12:25 left in the game.  The Gator fans are starting to get rowdy.  We're making plans to leave.
• 10:21 p.m.: The refs are debating a charging call on Chris Richard.  Billy Donovan is whining.  I realize that I can't stand his widow's peak.
• 10:27 p.m.: The Florida contingent continues to get louder.  Guy: "I hate them."
• 10:30 p.m.: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute fouls out for UCLA with 9:02 remaining.  I had to put his name in the diary somehow.  Anyway, things are really getting ridiculous now, and Guy and I are pleading with the rest of the guys to let us go ahead and head out.
• 10:33 p.m.: With 8:24 to go, it's now 54-40.  The B thinks there's something wrong with the floor.  "There's too many guys slipping and the ball keeps hitting dead spots," he says.  He does have a point.
• 10:35 p.m.: I think I see a dude across the arena wearing a vintage (i.e., 1999) University of Dayton "Sixth Man" t-shirt.  He's leaving.  In all likelihood, he can't stand the Florida fans, who are going wild during a timeout.
• 10:40 p.m.: Afflalo has no points and four fouls, which is pretty unbelievable.  Of course, now that I made a point of noting this he finally scores with 6:16 to go.  The Florida fans continue to get more rowdy.  This is really bad, considering that there are no alcohol sales in the Georgia Dome.
• 10:41 p.m.: Tressel and Gonzo are still here.  "I wonder if they're having flashbacks," I say.  No one laughs.  On this note, we decide to leave with 4:44 left in the game and the score at 65-50.
• 11:12 p.m.: After realizing we took the wrong Marta train, we get off to wait for the right one.  While we're waiting, a ... how should I put this ... fabulous guy wearing Buckeye gear starts chatting up Tortoise.  In the middle of a conversation with us about Buckeyes in Atlanta, he answers his cell phone with an enthusiastic, "Hey!"  Our train finally arrives.  As we're boarding, Tortoise's friend asks us where we're staying.
• 11:40 p.m.: We did get one good tip from Tortoise's friend--beer sales in Atlanta stop at midnight.  Luckily, we were able to book it over to a Kroger.  We grab our beers, then decide we're hungry.  The B waits near the checkout lines with our cases, while the rest of us check out the prepared food section.
• 11:52 p.m.: After waiting in line for five minutes, we're ready to check out.  The only problem is, our friendly cashier tells us beer sales stop at 11:45.  The B starts making overtures about a contract being formed the moment we picked up the cases (which was well before 11:45).  Our cashier isn't hearing any of it, and he takes the cases and sets them behind the register.  Oh well.

 April 1, 2007

• 12:10 a.m.: We decide to forgo heading back to the place where we're crashing and go straight for the bars.  On the advice of some friends, we head toward Buckhead and settle in for the evening at Locos.  The B and Tok go outside to grab us a patio.  I turn around to tell Tortoise and Guy, only to see that they're being chatted up by another dude, and Guy already has a beer in his hand.  I don't want to get involved, so I head outside.
• 12:17 a.m.: After ordering a few pitchers, we're talking with our waitress.  The B has been telling us that Buckhead is a big hangout for Emory students.  B asks the waitress, "So, you get a lot of Emory kids here?"  "No," she says, "Emory is about 20 miles away from here."
• 12:23 a.m.: Guy and Tortoise finally join us outside.  Guy tells us about the guy he was drinking with.  He was an OSU grad, who's been living in Atlanta.  Perhaps predictably, he was completely trashed.  His cell phone was broken, and since he was planning on getting arrested, he had three emergency phone numbers written on his left hand.  This way, when he arrived at the station, he would be able to tell the officers, "Uncuff me, I need to make a phone call."  Tortoise tells us that the dude took Guy over to the bar to buy him a shot.  The dude ordered a "Buckeye" shot.  "What's a Buckeye shot," Guy asked.  "The cheapest thing they have," the dude answered.  The bartender proceeded to pour a shot of the cheapest well whiskey they had.  Guy took the shot, and immediately spit it back out.  As Tortoise is telling the story, the dude comes outside and makes us all swear to propogate the practice of ordering Buckeye shots.  Consider it done, dude.
• 12:37 a.m.: Drunken Florida fans have been walking by and heckling us.  We begin to start firing back when a guy passes us and says, "Look at you Buckeye fans, sitting there like you're going to win."  "Oh yeah," Tok shouts back.  "You watch Nascar."  The guy runs back to our table:  "We beat you in basketball and we beat you in football!  You can't touch us!"  Without missing a beat, Tok fires back, "You want to talk about the past?  Who won the Civil War?"  This really gets them fired up.  Our heckler's buddy runs over and starts shouting:  "Welcome to the r