Comments pulled from the site's home page 10/17/09 - 10/27/09.
The comments below were posted on the ColumbusSports.com home page from October 17 through October 27, 2009.
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Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Cleveland Indians - "Manny" happy returns? Ok, so they hired a new manager (Manny Acta) that happens to be only 40 years old and has a big losing record as a manager so far. He's supposedly a very upbeat guy, always a good quality for any line of work, and can relate to the players, especially the Hispanic ones. One NL scout even called him a "working-class guy", so that should be a good fit for Cleveland too. Given how bad the Indians were this past season, about the only way they can go is up, so for now at least it appears that Manny made a good choice in choosing the Tribe over the Astros.
But what about us fans? I find it hard to get excited about this hire, it's obviously just one of those "time will tell" things. So we sit back and wait for reports to come out of spring training with all the normal and sometimes over the top optimism, and then the season begins and we'll really see what Manny brings to the table. Wake me when dinner's ready. (BTW, like most Indians fans, I'll be unable to avoid flinching once or twice at the start of the first game of the World Series - C.C. Sabathia vs. Cliff Lee. What a shame.)
Cleveland Cavaliers - The season begins tonight with a huge early season statement game at home against the Celtics. Ever since they signed Shaq, I've never felt that he'd be the true difference maker that many believe, including obviously the guy signing the checks in Cleveland. I hope I'm wrong and that LeBron and his boys can truly get over the championship hump (actually, more like a mountain in Cleveland), but with the Magic, Celtics and Lakers all still at least as strong as the Cavs, if not stronger, I don't envision any parades being scheduled in Cleveland next summer. However, I also don't believe that whether they win a championship or not this season will be the deciding factor for LeBron signing another contract to stay with the Cavs. My gut tells me he'll stay either way, and until LeBron publicly states otherwise, that's what I'm going to hang onto, no matter how the post season goes.
Cleveland Browns - So Mangini is sticking with Derek Anderson as "his" quarterback? The Browns offense is historically bad and Mangini still believes that "Anderson gives us the best chance right now to move the ball". How'd you like to be Brady Quinn and hear that statement? (how'd you like to be a FAN and here that statement?) I realize that Mangini isn't the one that drafted Quinn in the first round, and Brady did himself no favors by his play early in the season, but how bad must they consider Quinn to be that they still feel he's worse than D.A., who's QB rating is falling faster than Jim Zorn's stock in Washington? Or is this simply an ego issue, or perhaps tied to the Browns not wanting to pay Quinn a large bonus if he takes 70% of the snaps this year? Either way, the fact that Quinn isn't even being allowed to play after a game is out of hand in the 4th quarter is another indication that Mangini and his staff have no plans at all for him, and thus he may have already played his last game in Cleveland. How ironic that the very first article I published on this Web site back in August, 2007 was "Browns, fans, Cleveland need Quinn to succeed". I ended that article with this sentence: "Good luck, Brady. It won't be easy.". Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.
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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009
Ohio State Buckeyes - Call me a homer, but after enough time to basically get over and ruminate a bit on last week's debacle at Purdue, I think the Buckeyes will bounce back strong today. They're very fortunate they have a home game today against a relatively weak opponent rather than a tough road contest, but I fall into the "they really mean it this time" category and believe they'll play with a lot of focus and desire to prove that they're not as bad as people believe after last week. Look for the mistakes to be greatly limited, a return to some big plays on both sides of the ball, and amargin of victory by 20 points or more against a Gopher team playing its second straight very tough road contest.
New York Yankees - I don't like the Yankees, and I hope they lose tonight to the Angels so there can be a game 7 to enjoy, but I do admit to the fact I'd much rather watch a Yankees-Phillies World Series rather than an Angels-Phillies match up. The story lines will be a lot more interesting if the Yankees are involved, and if I can't have my Tribe in the Series, then I at least root for the teams I'd rather watch, despite how much it pains me to even think about "wishing" the Yankees win the series against the Angels. In the World Series, however, it's definitely the Phillies I'll take over the Yankees or the Angels.
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Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009
Cleveland Indians - Been keeping up with the Indians search for a new manager? Didn't think so. Despite being a life long fan of the Tribe, not only do I not care too much who they hire, I'm not paying the least bit of attention to the process. The only info I have so far is what I've picked up from scanning the headlines, and I know they want to have a manager named by the end of the World Series. There's simply too much going on in the sports world at this time of year, and baseball managers are probably the least important head coaching position in all of sports, and the Indians didn't exactly leave their fans with a lot of excitement at the end of this season, so the lack of interest is understandable.
Whether they hire someone with a lot of managerial experience like Bobby Valentine, or take a chance on a young, promising candidate that's never been above the minors, I can't work up much in the way of caring one way or the other. But I do admit that I hope their choice is at least a more interesting character than the overly boring Eric Wedge. Perhaps that's why I don't care, Wedge put us to sleep for years with his style and Tribe fans have forgotten what it can be like to have a manager with some personality that can bring some fun to the game.
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Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009
Ohio State Buckeyes - Like most Buckeye fans, but certainly not all, I don't agree with the sentiment that Jim Tressel deserves to be fired, not just for yesterday's ugly loss to Purdue, but for the all around incompetence on the offensive side of the ball, but without a doubt it's past time for Tressel to admit a few mistakes and make some changes, most notably getting rid of Jim Bollman and bring in a real QB coach. There's simply no way the Buckeyes should have played as bad as they did yesterday, and a lot of blame has to go to the coaching staff for not preparing the team properly, plus not making proper adjustments at half time. Pryor is regressing, and the mistakes that he's making are obviously getting inside his head and making him tighter, more tentative and hesitant, leading to more than a few very poor decisions. Now is the time for Tressel to accept full responsibility for this mess, not just by words in a press conference, but by making some tough but necessary decisions with the coaching staff, his own role in the game plan, and some players on the field as well.
Cleveland Browns - A long time ago, a very long time ago it seems, I actually used to look forward to these "rivalry" games against the Steelers. Now that the Browns are doing their best to challenge the Raiders and the Rams as the laughing stock of the league, despite last week's not-so-impressive 6-3 win over the hapless Bills, I've come to dread these games. Either the Steelers win 41-0, or the Browns almost pull off a big upset but still always find a way to lose at the end. It's more likely to be the former today, but regardless the end result will be the same. The Browns have about as much chance to beat Pittsburgh today as the Boilermakers had against the Buckeyes on Saturday. (sorry, that's just my way of trying to jinx the Steelers)
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Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009
Ohio State Buckeyes - almost kickoff time against Purdue. I picked Ohio State to win by more than 2 touchdowns in Pigskin Picks for today. Still can't believe the line was that low. Makes me kind of suspicious (does Vegas know something I don't know? Ok, don't answer that), but if Ohio State doesn't win this game by at least 20 it'll be considered a bad game and the Tressel haters will come out of the woodwork again.
(UPDATE: a few minutes into the game and Purdue leads 3-0 after another horrible play by Pryor, losing the ball on a sack, and one play after he made the wrong decision on an option run as well. This guy's got all the talent in the world, but he frequently doesn't look like a player that is progressing. Hopefully he'll play better the rest of the game.)
Cincinnati Bearcats - I'm definitely not a Cincinnati sports fan, but it's hard to not be impressed with the Bearcats right now. As Alex Callos, our newest Featured Writer pointed out in his first article earlier this week, they may be the best college football team in the state. It's not likely to happen, but a bowl matchup between Ohio State and Cincinnati would be huge for the state of Ohio, and the Cincinnati area too I'm sure.
Cincinnati Bengals - I don't know what they're putting in the water in the Cincy area, but whatever it is it must be good for football players. As if the Bearcats success this year isn't enough, the Bengals are 4-1 and sitting in first place in the AFC North. Bengals fans shouldn't get too confident just yet, however. While they rightly can claim they should have won the Denver game but for that fluke play at the end, they could just as easily be 1-4 or 2-3 instead of 4-1. We'll see if their knack for pulling victory out of the jaws of defeat can continue or not.
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