Cleveland's OG Derek Anderson

images: cleveland.about.com, hoopsvibe.com
With the NBA Playoffs rapidly approaching and NBA players everywhere preparing to actually play hard for 48 straight minutes, I too went scrambling for interesting Cavaliers playoff facts.

Well I found one. Derek Anderson of the Browns, it would appear, is actually "Unoriginal" Derek Anderson in Cleveland. It seems the "Original" was able to help the Cavs do something QB #3 couldn't do for the Browns - get them to the post-season.

The last time the Cavaliers made the playoffs without that guy named LeBron was the 1997-98 season, and Derek Lamont Anderson, a rookie from Kentucky, averaged 25.8 minutes and 10.8 points-per-game. He began the season as a starter but came off the bench in the playoffs in favor of Cedric Henderson. Shawn Kemp was the LeBron of that playoff squad, averaging 26 points and 10 boards. Big Z put up an average of 17 and 7 in his first Cavs playoff appearance.

A few years later, Original Derek Anderson got a championship ring as a member of the Miami Heat in the 05-06 season. He currently is a veteran on the Charlotte Bobcats squad.

Now, let's take care of the Pistons tonight and get Boobie Gibson's 3-point shot working.

Gate C: Browns Go PRIMETIME!

images: imageshack.us - ABC, Inc - extrememortman.com
The Cleveland Browns won the first ever Monday Night Football game against the Jets 31-21, and now their tough schedule and 2007 success has put the team back in the primetime spotlight once again. The Browns have 5 nationally televised games this year - 3 Monday Night Games (not including the preseason game), 1 Thursday Night game, and 1 Sunday Night Game home against the hated Steelers. Here's a look at the primetime slate:

September 14 - Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
October 13th - NY Giants at Cleveland Browns
November 6 - Denver Broncos at Cleveland Browns
November 17 - Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills
December 15 - Cleveland Browns at Philadelphia Eagles

Keep in mind, late season flex games could come in to play, for instance the Browns games at Pittsburgh or home vs. the Colts. These games could move to Sunday night if huge playoff or division implications are involved.

For some great articles about Browns history in Primetime, check out these great ClevelandBrowns.com articles:
Browns History on Thursdays
Browns History on Mondays
Browns History on Sunday Night
or click here for their 2008 Season Breakdown

All Gates - Double Wins in Cleveland 2007-2008

Last week after a Indians-Cavs same-day loss, I painfully found out each time 2007 such a nightmare occurred.

Now, a week later, the opposite has happened and Cleveland can celebrate once again. Yesterday the Indians and Cavs had same-day WINS, and have a chance to do it again tonight. There is a lot at stake as well. The Indians have their first chance at revenge against the horrible Red Sox, and the Cavs can lock up home court in the first round of the playoffs if they beat the 76ers.

Between the Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers, Cleveland fans have had 12 days of rare "Double Wins" to celebrate since the start of 2007. This includes an extra-rare double win by the Browns and Indians. Here's at look at all of them:

4/12/07: Indians beat the Angels 4-2, Cavs beat the Nets 94-76
4/14/07: Indians beat the White Sox 4-0, Cavs beat the Hawks 110-76
4/22/07: Indians beat the Devil Rays 6-4, Cavs beat the Wizards (1st Round Playoff) 97-82
4/25/07: Indians beat the Rangers 8-7, Cavs beat the Wizards (1st Round Playoff) 109-102
5/6/07: Indians beat the Orioles 9-6, Cavs beat the Nets (2nd Round Playoff) 81-77
5/8/07: Indians beat the Angels 5-1, Cavs beat the Nets (2nd Round Playoff) 102-92
5/18/07: Indians beat the Reds 9-4, Cavs beat the Nets (2nd Round Playoff) 88-72
5/27/07: Indians beat the Tigers 5-3, Cavs beat the Pistons (East. Conf. Final) 88-82
5/31/07: Indians beat the Tigers 11-5, Cavs beat the Pistons (East. Conf. Final) 109-107
9/30/07: Indians beat the Royals 4-2, Browns beat the Ravens 27-13
11/25/07: Cavs beat the Pacers 111-106, Browns beat the Texans 27-17
4/2/08: Indians beat the White Sox 7-2, Cavs beat the Bobcats 118-114
4/13/08: Indians beat the A's 7-1, Cavs beat the Heat 84-76

Gate D: Examining Cliff Lee in April

image: indiansconfidential.com
If you're a fan of both the Indians and statistics, then you're probably aware that Cliff Lee has looked amazing in 2 starts so far this season: 14.2 innings, 12 K, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, all good for a .61 ERA and the most important stat of all - 2 WINS.

You may not know that Lee, in his 5 full seasons with the Tribe (2004-present), has started his year 2-0 every season except in 2006. Also impressive is his 9-2 record in April including last night's win against the A's. Basically it's the fast start the Tribe needs to weather this offensive lull and sub-par pitching from supposed Ace C.C. Sabathia.

Here's to hoping that Cliff Lee has a season that emulates 2005, where he never lost more than 1 game a month, including a perfect August, on his way to an 18-5 record.

Here's a look at Cliff Lee's performance in April the last 5 seasons:

2004: 3-0 Record in 5 Starts, 3.21 ERA
2005: 2-1 Record in 5 Starts, 4.50 ERA
2006: 2-1 Record in 5 Starts, 3.10 ERA
2007: 0-0 No Starts
2008: 2-0 Record in 2 Starts, 0.61 ERA

Overall 9-2 Record in 17 Starts, 2.86 ERA avg.

statistics from baseball-almanac.com

Gate D: Carmona Signs, Sabathia looks for first W

images from nytimes.com
It seems that the Indians liked what they saw last season out of Fausto Carmona, becuase they just locked him up with a 4 year contract, with options for 3 additional years. If all the options are picked up, Carmona's performance could pocket him up to $48 million by 2014.

Read the article here.

On the other hand, this could be a move to make Fausto the Ace if C.C. decides he wants out of Cleveland after this season. So far this season, he hasn't shown he's the Cy Young winner from last year. He stands at 0-1 with a 7.59 ERA after 2 starts.

Only one other time in his career has C.C. started the season at 0-1. That came in 2003, when he made it all the way through April with an 0-2 record over 6 starts. He managed to finish the season with a 13-9 record and a 3.60 ERA. C.C. has never had a losing season.

The Indians start a series against the A's at Progressive field starting Friday, with C.C. the scheduled starter. Last time out against Oakland, he threw a complete game in a 5-2 win.

OSU Football Dominance

photo from alumni-osu.org
It has now been 1600 loooong long days since Michigan last beat Ohio State in football.

thanks to BuckeyeXtra for keeping count

All Gates: 4 Sport Round-Up

Here's some great news for the Cavs

Browns fans can watch the draft with QB Brady Quinn!

Pronk was the hero for the Indians last night after I called for a Westbrook CG

Justin Boren is leaving the Wolverines to become a Buckeye?! (thanks Mike)

Gate D: Are Westbrook and Lee Back?

photo from daylife.com
If Jake Westbrook and Cliff Lee can put together solid years like they have in the past (forget last season), the Tribe is going to have a scary-good rotation. Lee won his first game of the year, while Westbrook pitched well enough to win... run support continues to haunt him.

We lost a heart-breaker last night to the Angels in Anaheim, losing 6-4 on a walk-off grand slam by Torii Hunter... this after we scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to make it 4-2.

It's Westbrook's job now to get that sinkerball working, and a night after Betancourt and Borowski gave up crippling home runs, it wouldn't be a bad thing to see one of Jake's complete games. In fact, his last complete game came against these Angels, a 4-0 shutout on August 9th, 2006.

Coincidentally, Cliff Lee's last complete game (and they're rare, he's only had 3 in his career) came last season against the Angels as well, a 5-1 win in Anaheim on May 8, 2007. Victor Martinez went yard in that game against tonight's probable starter Ervin Santana.

Gate E: Examining Double Cleveland Losses in 2007

The Cavs have lost 2 straight, and LeBron has looked more like his dancing alter-ego at times. I know back problems can affect performance, but what about the pain Cleveland fans feel when both the Cavaliers and the Indians lose ON THE SAME DAY?

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008, the Cavs lost to the Bulls while the Indians just couldn't sweep the White Sox. Then, on Saturday, April 5th, 2008, the Cavs and Indians both lost again to the Magic and the A's respectively.

In fact, the Saturday losses happened exactly 1 year to the day since the last time it happened in the regular season, when the Wine & Gold lost to the Heat in OT, while the Tribe dropped a decision to the White Sox. They also shared same-day losses during the Cavs' post-season.

Now, at the risk of really hurting, let's look at each occasion where 2 Cleveland teams lost on the same day in 2007:

April 5: Cavs lost to the Heat 94-90 in OT, Indians lost to the White Sox 4-3
June 10: Cavs lost to the Spurs (NBA Finals) 103-92, Indians lost to the Reds 1-0
June 12: Cavs lost to the Spurs (NBA Finals) 75-72, Indians lost to the Marlins 3-0
December 2: Cavs lost to the Celtics 80-70, Browns lost to the Cardinals 27-21
December 23: Cavs lost to the Warriors 105-96, Browns lost to the Bengals 19-14

Gate C: Turkey Day in Cleveland?!

photos from xoospace.com and plusmo.com
I've been posting this week about the possibility of the Browns getting back into the PRIMETIME spotlight. Then came the news about a PRESEASON Monday Night Football match-up with the NY Giants.

NOW, the Plain Dealer is reporting that the Browns are in the mix to play the NFL Network's Thanksgiving Day Game IN CLEVELAND. Wow, I can't imagine anything better than rooting on the orange and brown with a mouth full of stuffing and gravy. A dream come true. Wait - could I possibly take my stuffing to the Muni Lot and then into the stadium with me?

Just for good measure, he's some Browns Fact: The last time the Browns played on Thanksgiving was also the last time the Browns won the AFC North. The year? 1989. Hopefully, we'll get this game and history can repeat itself.

Buckeyes are NIT Champions

photo from timesleader.com

Ohio State gave the best Eff-You they could to the NCAA tournament selections committee by cruising through the NIT field and beating UMASS for the title last night 92-85.

Jamar Butler showed the young guys how it's done, and Evan Turner looked like a real baller for the future. Kosta Koufos played a great game, scoring 22 on his way to winning the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Congrats Buckeyes! OH-IO!

Gate C: Preseason MNF for Browns

The Browns will play the defending Super Bowl Champion NY Giants on a preseason edition of Monday Night Football on August 18th. I'd really love to see this team back on MNF for a regular season game, especially with the tough schedule we have this year.

Here's a look at all the preseason games:
8/7-11: NY Jets
8/18: @ NY Giants
8/21-25: @ Detroit Lions
8/28-29: Chicago Bears

Gate D: Strong Start But No Brooms for Tribe

photo from southernledger.com
For the 3rd year in a row, the Indians finished their first series of the season at 2-1, all against the White Sox, who last got the best of the Tribe during the opening week in 2005, when they took the series 2-1.

2005 @ Chicago - Indians record: 1-2
2006 @ Chicago - Indians record: 2-1
2007 @ Chicago - Indians record: 2-1
2008 vs. Chicago - Indians record: 2-1

It was disappointing for the Tribe to lose their last home game going far away to the West Coast for a series against both the A's and Angels, but I liked what I saw to start the year: great hitting, power hitting, and solid pitching - Carmona's double-play ball was on, and Jake pitched well enough to win today.

TRIBE FACT: 60 years ago in 1948, when the Indians last won a World Series, Bob Feller opened the season with a 4-0 victory in 1 games series against the Browns - The St. Louis Browns.
Speaking of the Browns, OUR Cleveland Browns didn't get beat once in 1948, finishing 14-0 after crushing the Buffalo Bills 49-7 to win the AAFC League Championship.

I guess that makes 1948 one of the best years ever in the city of Cleveland, right?

stats from: www.baseball-reference.com and www.databasefootball.com

Gate C: Browns Back to Primetime Form?

photo from clevelandbrowns.com
The NFL has just released the initial primetime MNF football games for the 2008 season, and the question everyone in Cleveland is asking is: Will the Browns get another shot at Primetime? Sure, we've had a Sunday night here and there, but no Monday Night Football.

Few people realize that the Browns played in the first ever Monday Night Football game in 1970, where they beat Joe Namath and the Jets 31-21 in front of a record crowd in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. The game was sealed after Billy Andrews (above) picked off a Namath pass and returned it for 6 points.

Can you imagine Braylon, Donte, and Kellen flying around the field under the lights at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Or how about seeing defenders' bruises in EPSN HD courtesy of Jamal Lewis? Cleveland is ready once again for the spotlight and the limelight. Will the NFL agree?

for a great article on the 1970 game, click here.

Gate D - Tribe Opens With a Thrilling Victory

The Tribe opened 2008 yesterday afternoon at the new Progressive Field, and we immediately saw some good signs.

1) Offense - that 7-run burst, and big innings in general, could be this team's trademark.

2) Grady - He looks primed for a ginormous year.

3) Clutch - Blake's double in the 8th cleared the bases and put the Sox away.

Buuuut, C.C. and the bullpen didn't look all that sharp. C.C. needs to get that confidence back after the post-season struggle, and our bullpen let Chicago get back into the game. These 2 things won a ton of games for us last season, and we need it again this year.

Victor went out with a hammy injury, hopefully it's not serious. All in all, a good start to the year, putting up 10 runs, and hard-hit balls from 1 through 9. Tribe starts 2008 where they finished 2007, on top of the AL Central.