All I can say is wow.

In case you didn’t know , Cleveland traded Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later. I don’t mind the trade so much since our season is pretty much a wash and DeRosa wasn’t a long term answer for this team. So with that being said, let’s recap tonight’s game for our new stud pitcher:

2/3 innings

2 hit batters

1 wild pitch

1 walk

4 runs (all earned)

White Sox win 6-3

At least he got two people out, which is more than I could say for Rafael Perez, but come on man, even John Rocker was good for at least a couple games when we traded for him. So now we have two guys named Perez and if you added them both together, you’d still have a crappy reliever. Until further notice Chris Perez shall be known as Fausto Carmona 2.0.

I guess this means the Indians have officially thrown their hat into the Bryce Harper sweepstakes for next year’s draft.

But somehow I don’t envision that working out well for us.

-Jason F. Cocca

PS- Cleveland Browns: 2010 Super Bowl Champions. Yeah, I said it.

I was rooting for Phil Mickelson to win the US Open this past weekend partly based on his past trials and tribulations at this event and his wife’s present and future fight with breast cancer. If anyone you know or love has been afflicted with such a malady, you know the stuggle she is about to face. As I understand, she’s a wonderful, tireless woman who has always been there for the less fortunate. Now she needs our prayers because they work tremendously.

Yes it rained throughout the US Open and yes it is a very tough course but through it all, a few golfers made it a memorable. My buddy Ed Kagel was rooting for David Duval because he is what the common man is about. How many of us have been to the top only to topple down and then pick ourselves back up again? David Duval is one of those. I commend his effort and Ed sums it up magnifcantly. Below is Ed’s post which I believe is too good to have it not highlighted. Enjoy it ..I did!       Nick

“All of us who play golf in any sort of competition realize that in any round you always leave a few shots, that might have made a difference, out on the course. Never was this more true than in the case of David Duval in the recently completed USA Open. I watched every shot (thanks TIVO)and DD missed at least 7 -8 putts by 1/4″ or less. Every competitor missed putts but what makes DD’s different is that he did not shoot the bogies, etc. (except once in round 4; which was not as disasterous as it seemed at the time), that compounded the missed putts. If just 2 or 3 of these had dropped he would have won going away. Any one who knows anything about golf must respect the games of Tiger and Phil but DD is one of us because we all hope and pray that he is back to challenge these guys where others have wilted, and is one among us who have faltered and hope to be resurrected. Is there anyone out there who was not pulling for him?”     Ed K.

So I just got back from the movies after seeing “The Hangover,” which was great. But I couldn’t enjoy the first half of the movie because the jerk sitting next to me was obnoxiously chewing with his mouth open (my biggest pet peeve) on the world’s largest bag of popcorn. I was considering re-arranging this guy’s face because it was so incredibly annoying. However, cooler heads prevailed and I just waited for him to finish. But seriously, what are the odds that this guy chooses to sit down right next to me when he has the choice of any seat in this gigantic movie theater?

Needless to say I’m pretty worked up about it, which means that I’m sufficiently pissed off enough to talk some Cleveland sports.

Indians: How about that Rafael Perez? Wow, just when I thought this guy was completely washed up he goes and totally………………proves me right. Giving up that go-ahead grand slam to Prince Fielder pretty much poured the concrete over his major league grave. If you’re a left-handed set-up man who can’t get lefties out, then you’re pretty much out of a job.  Buts besides not being able to pitch or hit in the clutch, I think the tribe’s prospects look pretty good.

Hey, if we keep playing like this then maybe we’ll be in the running to draft Bryce Harper. Keep your fingers crossed though. We haven’t drafted a meaningful player in the first round since CC Sabathia’s first name was spelled “C.C.”

Cavs: It seriously boggles my mind that we are in such bad shape with the salary cap. Is there any meaningful talent on this team outside of LeBron? Williams and West were solid most nights and showed some flashes of brilliance. Varejao is still young and very promising. Hickson has been MIA since he got embarassed by Lamar Odom the last time we played the Lakers. Everyone else is just an over the hill role player. Zydrunas, Wally, Boobie, and Wallace are all expendable in my opinion. The Shaq deal is intriguing, but he’s definitely a temporary fix. At least he’s a little bit quicker (even if it’s only marginally) than our 7′2” Yugoslavian oaf center. The free agent pool looks decent, but the players on the trade block look even better. Antawn Jamison would be nice. I can’t believe I’m about to say this… but Carlos Boozer would be even better.

This is what it’s come to. I’m willing to welcome that dirtbag Boozer back to Cleveland if it means we can stuff it down Dwight Howard’s throat come next year. I just want a championship. Is that too much to ask from a Cleveland team?

…which brings me to my final topic.

Browns: I’m reluctant to drink the Mangini Kool-Aid, which is convenient because he isn’t serving any. He hasn’t made any win-loss predictions or talked about playoff aspirations, which is nice. I’m actually warming up to the idea of having a cold, calculating dictator as our coach. Hell, it couldn’t be any worse than Romeo. If this guy remembers how to properly use the 2-minute warning in the fourth quarter, then he’s already lightyears ahead of Crennel. That being said, I’m only mildly pessimistic about the upcoming season, which is an improvement from total dismay and apathy I felt three months ago. But optimism?

Let’s just score a touchdown first.

Oh yeah, Stallworth got one month in jail for killing a pedestrian while he was driving drunk.

Now that’s justice…geez

-Jason F. Cocca

PS- Who want’s to see Turkoglu in a Cavs uniform?

Breaking rumors today say Shaquille O`Neil could be coming to the Cavs for Sasha Pavolic and Ben Wallace. I think if Wallace decides to retire this year, this deal will  happen. It works like  this: Wallace agrees to go to the Suns and retires 24 hours later. The Suns save 15 million in salary. It’s a no brainer for both teams. Lebron and Shaq on the same team would be the hottest ticket in basketball. 17 points  and 8 rebounds a night won’t hurt either. Let’s hope it happens. If it does happen, the Cavs still aren’t done shopping though. We need one more big guy and a point.

Rubber game between St Louis  and the Indians tonight on  national TV. The first two games were very good and I’m expecting more of the same between former Cy Young award winners, Carpenter and Lee. Keep the ball away from Pujols.

Mini camp for the Browns ended Saturday and it looks like the team is buying  into Mangini’s scheme. They better. I still don’t like all the secrecy surrounding injuries and player updates. They act like they’re protecting Fort Knox. Otherwise, team discipline and added toughness is welcomed after the Romeo Crennell experiment/fiasco, though.

I was saddened to see that Woody Held died last week. He was one of my favorite Indians growing up. A class act and good player. Took me back to the days of Max Alvis, Rocky Colavito, Tito Francona,  Fred Winfield and Gary Bell. Rest in peace, Woody!                Nick

Ok Im watching the Indians and Kansas City Royals battle for last place. Man, we stink! But I must say the Royals have some good pitching. Bannister, Meche and Greinke. We counterd with Lee, Pavano and Sowers. I try to look at our daily lineup and I think it’s not too bad but then i remember we had Lofton, Baerga, Serrento, Belle, Thome, and Ramirez in the 90’s. No contest!.

According to ESPN Sports, Mike Brown’s job may be on the line. I have mixed emotions about this rumor. Brown did get smoked by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2006 finals, lost a tough Game 7 to the Celtics in 2007 and got out-coached by Stan Van Gundy (Ron Jeremy look-alike) in the  Eastern Conference Finals this year. Maybe the rumors are valid but I don’t think so. I’d like to get a big guy or two and give it a shot next year. Remember, Mark Cuban fired Avery Johnson after Dallas lost in the Western Conference Finals two years ago and the Mavericks haven’t been the same since. What do you think? Should the Cavs fire Mike Brown?   

In the meantime, will someone please tell me why Phil Dawson is holding out for more money even though he’s still under contract? Cribbs buckled and I think Dawson will too. Whatever happened to signing a contract and living up to your word? Another spoiled, self absorbed ass. Way to go, Phil.

Are we ready for a new contest for a Lebron MVP  t-shirt? I think I am. Details Monday.     Nick

The Indians used four rookies to beat up the White Sox yesterday. David Huff pitched 5 solid innings for the win. He should have closed out the 6th and possibly the 7th inning but ran out of gas. Vizcaino came in and added fuel to the flames and you could see manager Eric Wedge pulling his hair out in the dugout as Vizcaino walked two and gave up a single ..retiring no one. The good news is the three other rookies, ss LuisValbuena and 1b Chris Gimeniz hit back to back homers and Trevor Crowe made a sensational diving catch in short centerfield,with the bases loaded, to preserve the lead and the win. Anyone wonder what’s going on with Ryan Garko. Also, Kelley Shopach has struck out almost 50% of his at bats. C’mon Shop, get it together. By the way, what happened to Bartolo Colon. He throws about 83 mph with no movement.  How the mighty have fallen in baseball from old age to steroids!

The Tribe hit four homers and held on to win, 9-6. The good news is, we’re only 7 games out of 1st place. If this team can put together a 5-6 game winning streak, we can end up in 2nd place soon.  We’ll see!

The Belmont sucked. Horse racing has to up the ante because it’s getting boring. Most people go the the big name races like the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness only to get drunk and act like fools…the Belmont is fading fast, especially if there is no Triple Crown threat in the race. I can’t even tell you who won the race last Saturday. The big horse racing association in the sky better revisit their rules to make the sport more interesting somehow. Dig up friggen Secretariat and pull him around the track a few times..lol

Tiger Woods came charging back from a three shot deficit at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio yesterday. What an incredible ending. I was watching for awhile as I was running around yesterday, and I didn’t think Woods had a chance. I was astonished to see he came roaring back to win.  You have to wonder if Jack Nicklaus likes Tiger winning his tournament or is concerned his ‘majors’  record is going down the tubes.

Watching the Lakers-Magic game last night just infuriates me. It should be the Cavs out there. The only good thing is the stupid ass smirks on Hedo and Howard are gone and that brings me great pleasure. But  I do see Stan Van Gundy doing a great job of coaching. His game 2 plan was excellent. He devised a steller defense to guard Kobe Bryant and not let him drive to the basket. The last play of regulation was brilliant as they had a back door alley-op with .6 seconds left. Too bad the rookie , Coutney Lee, choked on the layup. Tough shot but should have made it. Would have been a shocker! Lakers have a commanding 2-0 lead now and I doubt the Magic psyche can overcome that.

Wouldn’t Lamar Odem or Trevor Ariza  look good in a Cavs uniform next year? How about both? Odem and Ariza are free agents after this season and I think the Cavs should offer both a contract and see what the Lakers do. They can only afford one of them. My guess is they’ll let Odem go. We need a big guy more anyway. Our motto should be  ‘Raid the Lakers’.  I hope we pass on Rasheed Wallace. Can you even imagine rooting for that ass?   I’d take Boozer before Wallace and that’s saying something         Nick

If you’re anything like me, then you’re probably wondering what to do now that the Cavs lost. I have some suggestions:

-Watch Adam Rosales: The Reds are having a decent season, and the Indians………well, what can I say? They’re from Cleveland. But if you haven’t noticed Adam Rosales, you should definitely check him out the next time you’re watching the Reds. He might be the goofiest bastard I’ve ever seen. Nothing about him says “Professional Athlete,” But I’ll be damned if he isn’t entertaining to watch. Try it sometime. It beats the crap out of watching the Indians.

-Get a staph infection: We haven’t had one of those in a while…

-Wait for training camp to open: There’s nothing like the eternal hope spring of NFL training camp in Ohio. Between the Cleveland “There’s always next year” Browns and the Cincinnati “I wish half my team wasn’t incarcerated” Bengals, there’s bound to be an inkling of playoff hopes, right? I can’t wait til July!

-Get hurt: Along the same lines of the staph infection, except this time you’re healthy to begin with. Preferably you should be a high-priced free agent or high draft pick of the Browns. It’s never too early to give up hope for this upcoming season.

-Take a sportsmanship class: I have to disagree with Nick on LeBron’s “Handshake-gate.” I, like many of you, was frustrated to see the Cavs lose but in the end it was obvious that the Magic were the better team. Would I have shook Dwight Howard’s hand? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t have claimed that “It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that,” (LeBron’s exact quote). I’m sorry LeBron, walking off the court without shaking anyone’s hand is the definition of being a poor sport. Although, I can’t blame him for not shaking Turkoglu’s hand………that dirty foreign bastard.

I know it seems like I’m jumping on the bandwagon for criticizing LeBron, but he deserves it. I’m not going to come to his defense like every single sports writer at the Plain Dealer in an attempt to boost his ego and make him feel better about resigning with Cleveland. Besides, if we don’t win it all next season…he’s gone. Same old Cleveland story.

Man, what a rough patch for Ohio sports. Is anyone going to win anything in the next 5 years?

Go Crew!

-Jason F. Cocca

PS- I can’t believe I just said that, I hate soccer.

I can’t believe the local and national media are making a big deal about Lebron walking off the court withouth shaking hands after Game 6’s elimination loss. If you’ve ever competed, especially in a big game, you know that emotions run high and you need time to cool down.

In my opinion, what we  saw was 25 years of losing Cleveland sports teams coming to the ultimate frustration. Lebron KNOWS Cleveland sports. He knows how important it is to bring a championship to this town and he wants to be the one to bring it. I think he was really hurt and upset. Plus, he saw how the Magic were playing the whole series, elbows flying and all, and was in no mood to be hugging and smiling.

I just don’ think this is what he envisioned happening. He REALLY saw himself liftintg the championship trophy over his head come mid-June. Give him time and I’m sure he’ll handle it properly with Dwight Howard and the rest of the Magic team. He wanted it bad and failed. How would you feel?   Nick

When the game finished, I wasn’t even that depressed. Being down 22 midway through the 3rd quarter removed all doubt for me. After a good 1st quarter, it looked as if  the Cavs were 1/2 step behind the Magic until I realized the Magic were a 1/2 step  ahead of the Cavs. They smelled blood and went for the  kill. They were energetic, focused and damn, they were on fire. They started slow but finished strong. Isn’t that what good teams do? The Magic did the same to the Celtics in game 7 in Boston. All I can say is  congratulations to the Magic you were the  better team this  year, but really, Dwight Howard scoring 40 is inexcuseable.

All this series did was show Danny Ferry and the rest of the brass what we are lacking: a  top notch center.  Orlando,  Boston, and Cleveland will be the  top  teams and the bar has been set. Garnet and  Howard are amazing talents, not to metion back to back Defensive Players of the Year. Ferry has to get help at center to offset those guys. If he doesn’t we’ll be stuffed in these bridemaids dresses again for years to come. My vote is Yao Ming or some young backup center like Gortat from Orlando or Bynum of the  Lakers.

Finally (and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring this up) is the matter of Lebron James last night. Even though he scored 25, I don’t think he went  after the  Magic. He drove, and just when he got close to the basket, he’d kick out to West or Gibson. He looked unsure of himself and not aggressive at all. We lost by 13, 103-90, and the difference was 3 extra 3 pointers by the Magic and 6 extra free throws. I can’t help but think Lebron could have made up those 9 points somewhere if he’d played up to his usual capabilities. Afterall, James had been averaging about 35 points per game. Free throws. I just can’t explain why we were 11-22. Baffles me.

So we move onto the Indians and  Browns. Even though the Tribe  is  playing awful and  half the team is on the disabled list, we’re only 7.5 out of first. I’m not  giving up yet although I’m in no hurry to watch them on TV (unless I need a nap).

The Browns seem to be on the right track so far. It seems I look for any mini-camp news in the PD. I can’t believe I care what music is blaring through the loud  speaker system at camp, but I do. And why do I believe Mangini when he says he’s preparing the team for loud noises during the season? Yes, yes, we’re hanging on any football news and information we can get here in C-Town but I’m not completely buying into the coaching staff..yet. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.  Nick

The numbers keep piling up. 37 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists. Amazing! Lebron scored 17 points in the 4th quarter as the Cavs won 112-102 heading into game 6 at Orlando.

I must admit I thought the Cavs were out of gas and would have a slim chance of winning last night but they came out gunning, with Mo Williams leading the way..finally! We were all gathered at my buddy John’s house out on the deck and as we ran up a 22 point lead someone said ‘they got us right where they want us.’ I HATE THOSE BIG LEADS. I’d rather have a close game than to run up a lead only to watch it vanish. It’s just demoralizing to the hometown faithful.

Things I’m tired of:

Are we tired of Z’s game yet or is it just me? Too slow, too lumbering and he thinks he’s Mark Price out by the 3-point line.

Tired of Mike Brown not protecting his players like Wally yesterday. Howard throws an elbow and Wally pushes him and he gets the technical. Another instance was when we get a fast break going and Williams hits a big 3 only to have it called off becasue Van Gundy was crying to the ref about a non-call. Why wasnt Van Gundy ejected for coming on the court?? We lost 3 points on that possesssion and Mike Brown remains quiet. Yes, he’s a gentleman and a good coach but he MUST protect his players at some point.

Im tired of Lebron covering Alston when he should be covering Rashard Lewis. The thinking is he wont have to cover Alson too closely and roam to where he’s needed but Lewis is 4-5 inches taller than Mo or Delonte.

Im tired of the smirking Turkoglu and Howard. I’d just hate to see an inadvertant elbow to their chops, wouldnt you?

I’m tired of inconsistent refereeing. Does it seem like we’re getting hosed or am I just watching the game with jaded glasses on? They did go the foul line 10 times more than us last night.

The best thing for all concerned, including the NBA, would be a game 7 at home. I’m not going out on a limb to predict that because I’m usually wrong on such matters. I’d like to see a good game Saturday night with a chance to win at the end. For now, that’s all I will say. What do you think?

Anyone notice the Indians have won 4 in a row and only 8 games out?

Go Cavs and good job this time……Nick