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Last week, the a new NFL Security Policy, dubbed All Clear, was announced with the hope of improving security inside stadiums. Fans will no longer be allowed to bring backpacks, coolers, or any other type of bag that is not clear, or larger than 12” x 6” x 12”. The only non-clear bags women will be allowed to bring are clutch type bags. Beginning this season, there will also be an additional perimeter around stadiums that will prevent those who have prohibited items from getting close to the stadiums.

These changes are good if you plan to blow up 70,000 people or want to bring a flask of Crown Royal; but if you need tampons, or are coming in with a family, the NFL has given you the middle finger. Sure, you could have each member of your family bring a clear plastic bag with their diapers, Depends, or whatever incontinence wearables they may need, but how embarrassing is that?

The funniest part of this entire change is the $40 tote bags the league sells on its online store and at stadiums cannot be used to bring items into those same venues.

Thank you for buying this, but don’t even think about bringing this into the stadium!

From SportsGrid’s Rick Chandler:

A lot of women I know won’t go anywhere without a proper purse, and asking them to leave them behind, or transfer the contents to a clear plastic tote, is pretty much out of the question. They don’t want you seeing what’s in there, and frankly I don’t want to see it either. But rest assured everything in there is pretty much essential for human survival. If the NFL is trying to make the league more accessible to women, this is the PR goof of the decade so far.

I’m all about the safety of fans at stadiums, but at some point the constant checking of every single thing brought anywhere has to stop. I’m guessing this approach is better — read cheaper — than allowing teams to setup one or two entrances with metal detectors for larger bags, but do these changes encourage you to visit NFL stadiums with your family?

The NFL does make some exceptions for those who have particular needs. This is from NFL Chief Security Officer Jeff Miller:

Absolutely, we will always look out for people who have special needs.  The exception that we have made is for medically necessary items after proper inspection at a gate that is designated for that person.  An individual like that [a Carolina Panthers season ticket holder who has an autistic child with Asperger’s Syndrome] with a special need would contact the Panthers and go to the gate that has been designated.  They may be subject to a secondary screening prior to getting into the buffer zone area and then when they get to that gate they will be screened in and be able to attend the game just like they always did.

This is nice, by why is this dude picking on some poor kid with a disease that is a Panthers fan. Isn’t being a Panthers fan traumatic enough?

Miller goes on to explain that setting up additional security so fans can bring in larger bags and other items simply don’t work because of the number of people. What Mr. Miller forgets is that venues such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Daytona International, and even smaller places such as Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course allow these items, and in some cases have a capacity of nearly 400,000 people.

The better solution would be to require fans with bags to arrive earlier to have their bags inspected and allow those fans who are arrive with nothing to go through existing security. Allow fans to continue to bring in those items, but make it extremely difficult to do so. Eventually they’ll get the point.

The NFL also thinks you’re stupid, so they had expensive drawings made of what a clutch purse looks like and a clear plastic bag. I included them to make you feel stupid.

 

 Yes, of course the NFL will sell you a branded version of their clear 12x6x12 tote. Who knows how much it will be, but it won’t be cheap.

If that wasn’t enough, the NFL also said no more seat cushions. So apparently, they now hate your grandparents who hate sitting on hard plastic.

What do you think of the NFL’s new security policy? Will you leave your babies in car so you watch the games without diapers? How soon until the full-body scanners appear at stadiums?

The post NFL Security Policy Change Now Attacking Flask Carriers, Tampon-Carrying Women, and Babies In Diapers appeared first on More Than A Fan.

This is what happens.

This is what happens when you respond to a colleague’s article with a 212-word response. He challenges you to add to it for a complementary post.   So here I sit task at hand.

To gain the proper perspective of my ensuing rant I suggest you check out Damien Bowman’s (@damienbowman) original pipe dream article.  Succinctly, to any casual baseball fan or the diehard purist he hit the damn nail on the head.  I am simply here to add a few more layers to the dream.  That last line reads eerily similar to anything regurgitated by Leonardo DiCaprio in “Inception” but nonetheless I digress.

The basic premise to my argument is this:  Major League Baseball has one huge fundamental issue and his name is Allan Huber Selig. But please, you can call him Bud.

The most recent issues with Major League Baseball reside in the renegotiation of their collective bargaining agreement.  Without making any assumptions, many are aware of the strike-shortened season in 1994, the resulting attendance decline, and soon-to-be blind eye against PEDs at the height of the 1998 homerun chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.   For Godsake “the chase” has its own Wikipedia page.  I suppose I should not be surprised by that because Here Comes Honey Boo Boo has one as well.  Roger Maris deserved better.

Most fans, myself included, probably missed the quiet announcement that MLB and the player’s union had reached a deal.  It occurred during the turmoil of the NFL labor negotiations.  I would imagine that MLB saw the type of public relations hit which the NFL was taking and decided to not rock the boat when their time would have come up.  They missed a golden opportunity to clean up the sport and do the right thing.

In my guest post from last December a commenter agreed with my suggestion that MLB would have to destroy their current system and endure a prolonged strike before they could approve and enact changes to their obvious structural flaws.  Baseball does not have the popularity and (more importantly) fan forgiveness which football receives so in my opinion they panicked.

I absolutely love Damien’s pipe dream scenario. L O V E  I T!  There would need to be a few alterations to the paradigm in order for the redesign to be successful.  First, in order to get the MLBPA to sign off on the proposed ban length I suggest expanded rosters to 27 from 25, a salary cap AND floor, as well as a significant raise in the minimum salary currently at $480,000.  Maybe 40%?

Expanding the rosters would employ more players, a +60 gain to the MLBPA.  Afraid that the extra roster spots will dilute the average salary?  Not if they increase the minimum salary.  My aggressive 40% gain is based on boring analytics.  Tell any union that they could add 8% more workers with an average salary that is 40% higher than their current wages and watch their response.  Do I admit that the salary cap and floor will probably never be addressed in my lifetime?  Yes.  But I am creating a redesign from scratch so I can impose any improbability that I see fit, like a draft that allows trading of draft picks.  Take a look at the cluster that is Biogenesis director Tony Bosch.  Major League Baseball coerced him into cooperating and he rolled on his alleged clients.  MLB took it one step further and levied significant bans over the heads of the minor league players if they did not corroborate Bosch’s statement.  Why could they do this?  Because minor league players are not part of the MLBPA.  Yeah, that needs to change too.

Damien’s most salient point is that we are all culpable in the decline of baseball ethics.  We all benefited from it and now the fans are the ones shouting from the expensive nosebleeds for honesty and integrity in a game that is riddled with false didactisms.  I guess that did not apply in 1998.  Bud Selig has such a case of OCD that he forced the Houston Astros into the AL West so he could have 6 equal divisions of 5 teams.  Houston in the West?  That is absurd.  I am not trying to proselytize anyone into a more recalcitrant perspective on Bud Selig and major league baseball.  I am a purist, a realist, and oftentimes a pessimist.  In short, I am a Clevelander.  Merely am I saying that objectively, if you stress the numbers enough then the data will confess.

These are my ramblings but this much I am certain of:  Bud Selig must go.

Follow Marcus on Twitter!

The post Pipe Dream Part II: Expanding Damien’s PED Ban appeared first on More Than A Fan.

I’ve had an idea brewing about how much weight perception puts on reality when it comes to how folks are judged on social media platforms by their social media peers. I really thought this subject was going to end up on my personal website and be filled with pop culture references to homophobia and racism, but a week’s worth of More Than a Fan LeBron James columns and comments smacked me in the face with an undeniable truth; perception matters to consumers of sports media more than any other outlet.

Perception doesn’t matter more in sports because sports are more important than equality issues - because sports ARE NOT more important than equality issues – but because the consumers of sports information are so much more likely to hear a statement from a sports media member and immediately assign it a shallow meaning.

Last week, Dan Zaleski wrote a Week in Review Column on MTAF that included this paragraph from Tuesday’s entry:

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that other thing. That freakin’ rocked too. What a good day Cleveland fans had today! This was one of those days that you wish you could bottle-up and save for later, because you just know things are going to suck again at some point soon, and we’re gonna need the positive energy then to bust us out of whatever that is.

The other thing he was talking about was, of course, the San Antonio Spurs beating the Miami Heat in Game Three of the NBA Finals.

In the comments section, fellow MTAFer Ryan Isley left this note:

You missed 2 stories:

Sunday:

Heat 103, Spurs 84

Thursday:

Heat 109, Spurs 93

That sparked an exchange between a handful of commenters that largely revolved around LeBron and that quickly devolved into a “NO, YOU’RE WRONG” debate with almost zero potential to find a middle-ground understanding.

Here’s the thing; Ryan and Dan are both right about a lot of stuff. They’re both smart, informed sports fans who have both a solid understanding of the sporting world and the ability to keep readers informed and entertained. But the reality is that many of those fancy compliments lose their meaning because Dan and Ryan are now perceived as being a certain type of person based on their opinions about LeBron James.

Ryan is a dirty LeBron apologist, no matter that he is from Akron and sees all the charitable work that LeBron does behind the scenes to help Akron schools and communities. Communities that directly affect Ryan’s every day life and schools that may someday be educating his children.

Dan is an irrational LeBron hater, no matter that he’s often cited LeBron as one of the best players of all time and has stated that his issue with LeBron is based on how he left Cleveland, not that he left Cleveland. A reason that almost every media person in the country agrees with to some degree.

Neither one of those guys is either of those things, but LeBron is such a polarizing figure that, to much of the general sports consuming public, all that nuance is burned on a pyre of immediate over-reaction and the desire to have the snarkiest and most biting last word.

It’s not just Ryan and Dan, either. So many sports media members get pigeon-holed into a stereotype or perception that doesn’t quite fit the meaning of what they’ve said. But their meaning is meaningless. In sports, a landscape with infinite competition and consumer base, being a hater, apologist, troll, or even a copy-paster, is almost inevitable.

I’m not blaming sports fans in general, or Cleveland fans specifically, any more than I can blame major media outlets for conditioning sports fans to consume information in myopic, around the clock analysis of banal minutiae. This is simply the sports world in which we live.

Having public opinions about things means being judged by those opinions. I’m not giving up my forum for these opinions, but I know that if enough people think I’m something – whether it be homer, hater, or apologist – then that’s what I am. And that’s weird.

But when we’re talking about talking, my value is decided by readers. If my readers decide that they don’t like me, my forum for these opinions becomes irrelevant. That part of it isn’t weird. I just don’t think many people realize it yet.

Follow Ryan and Dan on Twitter. And me, too!

The post Perception Versus Reality in Sports Media appeared first on More Than A Fan.

With only two games left in the NBA Finals, and with the Heat on the brink of elimination, I thought I would share with you my rankings of each player in the series.

Without further ado, here are my NBA Finals Player Power Rankings.

24.       Rashard Lewis –When the Heat signed the former Magic star, many people thought that he would be the icing on the championship cake. That is not the case. Lewis has disappointed the front office as well as the fans, averaging less than 2 points per game in less than 5 minutes per game in the 2013 playoffs. I can see why people would have misjudged Lewis’ potential impact, as he was a pretty solid player at one point in his career, averaging 22 points per game in the 2006-2007 season. Now, he can’t even sniff the court. That drop off is really bad; it has to be the worst for any player in these Finals…

23.       Tracy McGrady – Whoops! I spoke too soon. Technically, I have him ranked at 23, but that’s just so I don’t slight any of the other players who are, in fact, better than Mr. McGrady. Rumor has it that T-Mac has been “Lebron” during Spurs practice, and that alone tells you that the guy has still got “it”.

22.       Matt Bonner – Like T-Mac, “The Red Mamba”, is way more famous than he is good at basketball. The three point specialist is averaging less than one three pointer per contest , and is absolutely horrific on defense. He also has an ugly release on his jump shot that, coupled with his fame in the Caucasian community, could sabotage young white ballers for years. However, he does have red hair and Kobe likes him, so that counts for something.

21.       Joel Anthony – Joel Anthony is the best Canadian player on this list. Cory Joseph is from Canada? Nevermind that. Joel Anthony is the best undersized, scrappy, hustle-oriented center who is in the game for rebounding, defense, and that’s it. DeJaun Blair is on the Spurs?

Joel Anthony is the best player in the NBA who can’t make layups. Whatever. Who am I to talk? The guy hustles and tries his best, what more can you ask for? (Any amount of basketball IQ, the ability to catch passes under the basket, whatever trait you need to stop getting dunked on.)

20.       DeJuan Blair – DeJuan Blair is one of the more likeable players in the NBA. He doesn’t have an NBA body (shorter and fatter than most) and he doesn’t have an NBA anatomy (missing his ACL on both legs). What he does have is heart and determination, and he is just a little better than Joel Anthony, so that’s why he finds himself at this point on the list.

19.       Cory Joseph – I don’t really know all that much about Cory Joseph. I know that every once in a while he will steal major minutes away from Tony Parker, and will look a lot like Tony Parker, which is saying a LOT. I also know he doesn’t play a lot and hasn’t done enough to be higher on this list.

18.       Shane Battier – I’m pretty sure Shane Battier is the only human being on the planet who could handle what’s been happening to him with so much class, grace, and professionalism. For those who live under a rock, Shane Battier went from averaging 25 minutes a game and being an important piece for the Heat, to being benched and averaging less than 10 minutes a game in the NBA Finals. Battier hasn’t complained and has acted like a real pro through it all. As a hooper, he just isn’t what he used to be. The historically great lockdown defender isn’t quick enough to stay in front of guys and isn’t big enough to bang with the big boys. He can shoot three-pointers, but not at the level of Ray Allen and Mike Miller. Battier has been great, but is on the wrong side of 30 and isn’t going to get any better from here.

17.       Udonis Haslem – UD is a fan favorite in Miami and for good reason. He grew up there, went to the University of Florida, and returned to his city. He is scrappy, plays with a chip on his shoulder, and is absolutely automatic with his short to mid-range jumper. He’s tough, smart, and and brings a nice pick-and-pop game to Miami.

16.       Boris Diaw – I was struggling with how to rank Diaw/Haslem, but gave Diaw the slight edge. Diaw’s Player Efficiency Rating (PER) was about 2 points better than Haslem’s and his True Shot Percentage was a whopping 7% better. He is a quality shooter who knows his role and does it well.

15.       Norris Cole – I absolutely love Norris Cole. How many guys could shoot as much as he does while on the same court as LeBron James and Dwayne Wade? Seriously, that level of confidence and self-righteousness is uncanny. But, guess what? Cole isn’t really wrong in taking the shots. He deserves them, as they often go in. (Side note: Norris Cole is the only good young player on the Heat. That’s kind of scary,)

14.       Chris Anderson – The number one player on the “Players Who Your Mom Has the Most Questions About” list is also the single greatest offseason move the Heat have ever made, outside of getting the Big Three together. Birdman has been a game changer for the Heat, shoots at a very nice percentage, plays defense, and can run at essentially any pace. He is a really valuable asset to this squad.

13.       Ray Allen – Ray Allen’s release is remarkably quick and his shooting is on point. I cringe every single time he steps inside the three-point line, but he often proves me wrong and makes a little runner or leaning pull up jumper. All in all, Jesus Shuttlesworth is still a quality baller and an ideal sixth man for Miami.

12.       Mario Chalmers – Mario Chalmers could be the most underrated player in the series. He can quietly go off for 20+ points in one game and silently help the Heat win in the next. He is insanely clutch, (see his last college basketball game), and is a great defender. When Mario Chalmers goes to play for another team, don’t be surprised to see him breaking out as a quality NBA player.

11.       Mike Miller – Mike Miller’s new role has been a game changer. He is a high-energy player with the purest jump shot in Miami (Ray Allen is quicker with his release but isn’t as pure as Miller). He’s been contributing at a level that is pretty remarkable for a guy with a broken back.

10.       Gary Neal – Who is Gary Neal and why is he the best shooter in the NBA?

9.         Danny Green – Who is Danny Green and why is he the best player in the NBA? I don’t understand where Danny Green or Gary Neal came from, but they are making it rain. Danny Green is shooting 54% from the floor and 66% from beyond-the-arch in the last 5 games. Neal is shooting 46% from the field and 52% from deep in the same stretch. When you have role players producing the way these two guys have been, the Spurs are going to be tough to beat.

8.         Kawhi Leonard – Leonard has done a spectacular job when faced with the single hardest task in the NBA: guarding LeBron James. No one can stop LeBron, except for LeBron himself, but Leonard has certainly slowed him down. Leonard’s freakish wingspan, hand size, athleticism, and upside make him the best young player in this series. The Green/Leonard/Neal threesome could be pretty formidable in the future.

7.         Tiago Splitter – Yeah, he got blocked really badly by Lebron. Yeah, Steven A Smith would laugh and call me names if he saw me putting Splitter this high on the list. Splitter is actually really good. He has a great PER and is a quality low-post center. He catches the ball and finishes well at the rim. I know that putting Splitter above Leonard may be controversial, but I gave him the nod due to the fact that he is a center and quality center’s are more rare, and therefore more valuable, in the NBA. Defense and three wings like Leonard are a dime a dozen, (granted Leonard is a good one).

6.         Manu Ginobli – Here’s a secret about Manu that most people don’t notice. He is a great ball-handler and passer, as the backup point guard for the Spurs. That’s why he can’t start. He is still killing it at his old age. Also, if you have some free time, watch a YouTube video of Manu’s best passes. They are phenomenal and fun to watch.

5.         Chris Bosh – I’m going to hold off on the dinosaur jokes and go straight to the “Chris Bosh isn’t the type of player I would want on my team” jokes. He is a power forward who doesn’t bang and, as a result, kills the Heat with his lack of rebounding. He is really good, even though I don’t see why, so we can call it a push.

4.         Tim Duncan – Timmy Duncan is incredible and doesn’t get near the praise he deserves. He won an NBA Finals MVP 14 years ago. Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joeseph probably didn’t see it because they were 7 and had to go to bed. His game is the ultimate “old-man game” and I’m pretty sure that he could play for another 20 years. A real basketball fan has to love Timmy.

3.         Dwayne Wade – I was one of those people who said Dwayne Wade had lost his edge. Too many years of banging and recklessly throwing his body around finally caught up to him. A player who had, for so long, relied on his athleticism to get to the basket and score had lost that athletic edge. Due to age and injury, he was no longer the elite basketball player he once was. I was very wrong.

2.         Tony Parker – Parker is the best point guard in the NBA and there is a lot you can say about him. I will focus on the fact that he got hit by a bottle thrown by Drake at Chris Brown. Imagine if Parker’s injury had been worse. That could have been a top 10 craziest sports story of all time.

1.         LeBron James – Its Lebron. He’s the best player in NBA history. He scores at will. He is unstoppable. He will win the NBA Finals. And be Finals MVP.

Tell me your thoughts on my list!

Do I have someone ranked too low? Too high? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @Tiboofy!

The post NBA Finals Player Power Rankings appeared first on More Than A Fan.

Today, Cleveland received the heartbreaking news that Jon Bon Jovi’s Kickoff Concert at Browns Stadium has been cancelled.

As the Haslam regime has repeatedly reminded us, there is no specific reason why anything bad happens, and that continued with the cancellation of this concert.

So, as I was racking my brain for ideas for today’s post, I thought I would continue the string of comedic posts and lay off the hard-hitting sports stuff for now.

I am going to try give you, the diehard Jon Bon Jovi fans who are whole-heartedly upset about this concert cancellation, a reason to smile as you cope with this very difficult news.

Jon Bon Jovi actually cancelled the concert for quite a few reasons, and the first: Michael Stanley “don’t open for nobody”.

That’s right, if anyone was going to headline this concert, it was the Cleveland icon, not some Philadelphia punk.

Stanley, upon hearing the news that he would be the opening act, rather than the headliner, found Bon Jovi, kidnapped him, and held him hostage until Haslam agreed to cancel the show.

Even before Michael Stanley found out the news, Bon Jovi himself had an issue with the concert.

Jon Bon called Jimmy and told him he didn’t want to share the stage with a woman beater. “It’s Jim Brown or Bon Jovi.”, he said.

After months of pleading (see, Haslam pleads away from court as well) with JBJ, the two couldn’t strike a deal.

After shutting down the shoreway for two weeks, Captain America, even as it left town, continued to put Clevelanders through a hassle.

The shooting of Captain America was one of Bon Jovi’s biggest reasons for cancellation.

“Captain America is like my least favorite comic book character. All he does is shield himself. He doesn’t really even have any superpowers. I mean, how lame. I couldn’t play in a city that hosted Captain America. That would make me look bad.”, explained the aging rock star.

There is another rumor swirling that Bon Jovi was upset because Joe Banner had ultimate control of the playlist. When it came down to it, Bon Jovi wanted to play “Livin’ On A Prayer” four times, but Joe wasn’t having it. “This is my concert,” screamed Joe, “This is my team, my stadium, and my city. Who do you think you are, coming in here and telling me what songs you’re going to play?” Clearly, the strained relationship that originated in Philadelphia, made it’s way to Cleveland.

Finally,  a source, who I trust wholeheartedly, gave me a bit of news that could potentially be earth-shattering.

Apparently, Jon Bon Jovi sent Chris Perez the pound of weed through the mail and supplied Josh Gordon with his never-ending supply of purple drank. These are unconfirmed reports, of course, but when they come to fruition, remember that you heard them here first.

All kidding aside, the Jon Bon Jovi concert was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales, which may be the funniest reason on this list. Bon Jovi played in Cleveland just a couple of months ago, and fans were not excited to see him again so quickly.

Seriously, how horrible must you feel if you’re Jon Bon Jovi?

“Am I really that washed up that they cancelled my concert because they couldn’t sell the tickets?” I guess the answer is yes, yes you are Jon Bon Jovi.

Any Clevelander would have shown up to see Michael Stanley, and he’s worth the price of admission alone, but there was just too much Bon Jovi for them to pull the trigger. Maybe, had Stanley been the headliner, the concert would have been sold out already. But, who knows.

I know you’re sad now, but maybe, just maybe, Nickelback will come to Browns Stadium and play to a sold out crowd. Only if we’re lucky.

The post Here’s Why Jon Bon Jovi was Cancelled (Parody) appeared first on More Than A Fan.

The question that should be asked is what is is wrong with Jon Lester, but I figured that it was John Farrell in particular and Juan Nieves to a lesser extent that received praise for how they helped turn Lester around in the early part of the year, they should be the ones to face the music now that things have begun to come apart just a little bit for Lester.

Over his first nine starts of the season, Lester gave up more than 3 runs only once.  In those nine starts, he gave up 0 runs on two separate occasions, including a complete game shutout over the Toronto Blue Jays on May 10th.  In short, he looked like the pre-2012 Jon Lester.  Coupled with Clay Buchholz’s performance, and John Lackey pitching like the guy the Red Sox had allegedly signed prior to the 2010 season, and things were looking pretty good for the the Sox rotation.

Over his last six starts (including yesterday’s debacle in Baltimore), however, Lester has been a different pitcher.  It’s not just the 0-4 record in those six starts, or the fact that his ERA has skyrocketed from 2.72 to 4.37 (the result of only once allowing as few as 3 runs in a start) that is most problematic.  It’s the way he has been losing that has been so difficult to watch.  Though to his credit, he has battled each time he has taken the mound, but that gets back to the question- why is he struggling, and what is wrong with him (and why haven’t Farrell and Nieves figured out an answer for him?)

In yesterday’s game against the Orioles, it was more of the same for Lester.  Outside of the 4th inning, which he managed to retire the side in order on only 8 pitches, every other inning was a battle to get through for him.  In his other 4 innings of work, he threw a combined 98 pitches for an average of 24.5/inning.  The sheer number of pitches is not necessarily a concern for Lester, as he has only twice this season thrown less than 100 pitches.  Once in his first start of the season (96 pitches in 5 IP) and then last Tuesday (98 pitches in 4 2/3 IP.)  The bigger concern is that in his last two starts, he has barely pitched enough innings to complete a single game.

For the Red Sox, this dip in production could not come at a worse time.  With Buchholz missing time (and due to head to the DL), two extra inning games in the past week, and daily roster moves to make sure that there’s a guy in the bullpen with a fresh arm, the Sox more than anything need Lester to be the ace he is capable of being.  Farrell and Nieves need to figure out a way to get Lester back to his early season form, because the Red Sox are not good enough to keep skating on by while getting zero production from their top two guys.  Buchholz is battling injuries, and in his absence other guys not named Lester have stepped up.

It’s time for the man who began the season as the Sox #1 guy to start pitching like he’s at least the #2 guy that he is on this staff.  Getting great performances from the likes of John Lackey, Ryan Dempster, and even Alfredo Aceves should be gravy for the staff, not something that is necessary to keep the Sox competitive.

Whatever magic that Farrell and Nieves were employing over the first six weeks of the season, they need to get back at that.  They need to help Lester figure out what ails him now, while things are still relatively okay.  If he is not able to turn things around fairly quickly, this surprising Red Sox season may begin to fall apart.

Do you have any thoughts on how to fix Jon Lester?  Kindly forward them on to Red Sox management or let me know (the Red Sox have a long history of ignoring my advice):

Matt@morethanafan.net or @tbone44444444

Also like More Than A Fan on facebook, and follow More Than a Fan on Twitter@MTAFSports

The post What’s Wrong With John Farrell & Juan Nieves appeared first on More Than A Fan.

Hello.

So here we are, Cleveland Sports Week in Review, Edition #3! Included this week, fan freak outs, Twitter GM’s, a job offer, and LIES. Let’s get rolling, thanks for joining me this week. I hope you enjoy the Week in Review.

The Indians lost their seventh in a row here, and to say that the fans were getting a little restless, watching the losses mount and flashbacks to collapses in 2011 and 2012 continue to come to mind, is perhaps understating things a bit…

@B_B_B_Bruno @Mo_Hanlon @SportsCenter the Indians suck

— Bobby Chapman (@bobbo_19) June 10, 2013

Wow Indians suck.

— David Moline (@Dirty_Dave094) June 10, 2013

The Indians suck again

— Jeff Susalla (@JeffS2708) June 9, 2013

Indians continue to suck

— Jake Capezzuto (@jake_cap25) June 9, 2013

Indians suck

— Jordan Lorenz (@jordanL14) June 9, 2013

As I said, understated. We all know the Indians don’t “suck”…well, maybe we don’t “know” that for certain…but whe-….aw, screw it. I got nothing. The Indians suck…you guys win. Season’s over, pack-up the truck. Losing eight of one-hundred and sixty-two pretty much mathematically eliminates the Tribe, right?

Or, it doesn’t, and people just like to freak-out. Either way.

Eight in a row.

I’m not going to go crazy taking the temperature of the fans here, just go read the Sunday entry again if you want to know what people thought of this game. As we now know, this was the end of the losing streak, and things got a little better from here for the Wahoos this week, so let’s just skip-ahead to that, and leave the losing streak behind in the dust…

Alright. Just one.

@gaamcire yeah its brutal right now. Were 18-4 just last month and now the Indians are 4-18 dropping eight in a row.

— Matt Schickler (@mschickler07) June 11, 2013

 

5-2 WIN! HALLELUJAH!!

Among the losing streaks this win popped a bullet into, were an overall eight-game losing streak and a twelve-game road losing streak. Also, there was what seemed like a 500-game losing streak to the Rangers, because it just feels to me like they always kick our ass, no matter if we’re good and they suck, or if they’re good and we suck. Doesn’t matter, we get our brains beat-in by the Rangers on the regular.

For that reason, this win was freaking huge for the Indians. Like, mega-huge. Double-gulp-huge. Huger than the hugest-huger.

The #Indians finally snap their losing streak and the #Heat get blown out in game three of the Finals. Good day in sports.

— Tom Hersh (@TheBigSqueezy) June 12, 2013

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that other thing. That freakin’ rocked too. What a good day Cleveland fans had today! This was one of those days that you wish you could bottle-up and save for later, because you just know things are going to suck again at some point soon, and we’re gonna need the positive energy then to bust us out of whatever that is.

The Indians won another game against Texas, 5-2!

Unbelievable. They get their heads smashed-in for over a week, and then somehow pull themselves together and start kicking Texas’s ass like it’s nothing. How do you even verbalize how weird this is? We never beat Texas as it stands, much less twice in a row, coming-off an eight game losing streak, in Texas, after twelve road losses in a row, with the fans shooting laser-death-rays at the players through Twitter…

BOOM. Two in-a-row.

By the way, if there’s ever been a doubt as to who the most popular bench boss is in Indians history, let the question be answered for all eternity. It’s not even close.

Indians won yesterday, they won again today, that's two in a row, we win one tomorrow that's called a winning streak. It has happend before.

— Matt Fee (@MattFee4) June 13, 2013

“@MLBastian: Indians won yesterday. The win today makes it two in a row. If they win Friday, that's called a winning streak. #LouBrown”

— Ethan Wenger (@ethanwenger8) June 13, 2013

Indians won yesterday. The win today makes it two in a row. If they win Friday, that's called a winning streak. #LouBrown

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) June 13, 2013

"We won a game yesterday. We win won today, that's two in a row. We win on Friday, that's called a winning streak." #Indians

— Adam Wells (@adamwells1985) June 13, 2013

Alright @Indians lets win two in a row thats called a winning streak #loubrown #Indians

— Brett Hoy (@hitmanhoy84) June 13, 2013

We won yesterday, if we win today thats two in a row. If we win tomorrow thats called a winning streak. It has happened before. @Indians

— Don Hessey (@jrhessey) June 12, 2013

The #Indians won a game tonight. We win one tomorrow…that's two in a row. We win the next one and that's called a winning streak.

— Matt (@mattsivillo) June 12, 2013

#RIPLOUBROWN

Not much in the way of sports on Thursday, but it’s probably a good thing because WE WERE ALL GOING TO DIE ANYWAY!!

Of course, the Weatherheads on the tweeter-machine were predicting the end times, as usual.

FYI – the Severe Storm Watch for our area tonight is a Particularly Dangerous Situation watch…widespread damage possible #clewx

— Betsy Kling – WKYC (@BetsyKling) June 13, 2013

@AllanFee watching Jeff tanchak freak out and flail on live television can be quite exhausting.

— Emmy Spallz (@emmyspallz) June 13, 2013

I hid under my bed for a while, but soon realized the fact that nothing was happening outside – at all, so I got-up and went to sleep pissed-off. IT BARELY RAINED WHERE I LIVE, WTF IS THAT?? I WAS PROMISED STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND STUFF! HAIL! I WAS TOLD THE WORLD WAS ENDING, YOU SAID I WAS GOING TO DIE BETSY KLING, WHY DIDN’T THAT HAPPEN??

The Indians keep “rolling”, beating Washington 2-1 at Progressive Field.

This game was all about the Indians and their

SEC SPEED

I didn’t make that up, although I wish I had…haha

The #Indians have some SEC speed.

— Ryan (@Isley23) June 15, 2013

Win some, lose some…and the Indians lost this one to Washington 7-6.

Oh you Indians fans…how quickly the tide turns on a favorite son. Et tu, Brute? Then fall Swisher.

Wish the Tribe could've pulled of the win but Nick Swisher screwed it up

— Nick Zimmerman (@Nick_Zimmerman4) June 16, 2013

Nick Swisher really let everyone down tonight

— Travis Zochowski (@T_Zochowski15) June 16, 2013

I want to separate these two from the tool up next.

Everyone who loved the Nick Swisher signing, you guys are idiots……I tried to tell you

— Dan Becks (@dan_becks) June 16, 2013

People like this jackass on Twitter can seriously go blow themselves. “I told you BLAH BLAH BLAH!”…Just shut-up. If you were so damn smart, you’d be picking players for the Yankees. Instead, you’re not.

YOU GUYS REMEMBER RIGHT I TOLD YOU XXXX WAS GONNA SUK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME I RULE@@@@+!!!

Just stop it d00d, nobody is impressed with you Twitter-GM skills. Nick Swisher will be fine. It’s called a slump, and it happens to everybody, including you at the Waffle House or wherever you’re employed to clean toilets at. I’m sure you’ve missed poop-splatter before. It happens. Same thing here.

All this hate for Swish leads into a larger discussion. Why is it that players can never slump without being a bust, washed-up, and accused of stealing the money in their contract? Everybody’s great, until they go 3-for-30 or whatever. Then, they’re worthless and should have never been signed/drafted/promoted. Grow-up, it’s baseball. You’re a Hall-of-Famer if you only fail three out of every ten times you bat. Stuff happens, get a helmet.

Oh, and I should mention, the Cleveland Fusion kicked the snot out of the Michigan Mayhem. Check it!

It's a WIN for the first week of the playoffs!!!! Final score 35-6. Way to go ladies!!!! Next stop: Chicago #fusion2013 #laceup #playoffs

— Cleveland Fusion (@clevelandfusion) June 16, 2013

I’m really glad they won, because I feel like I had a personal stake in the game, haha. Way to go Fusion!

OK, let’s dive right into it. Big doins’ this week

Marco

#&$$^$ you this is the worst blog i ever read. Thankyou for wasting 20 minutes of my life I’ll never get back loser. Learn to write and not just post tweets.

Let me help you. I’m sure you meant that THIS is the worst blog you’ve ever read. I can handle being second-worst-ever, but that dude’s blog is definitely the worst. Email me back next week and let me know if I’m right.

REDACTED

Hello, my name is REDACTED, a REDACTED-based writer and broadcaster and I am contacting you in regards to a writing opportunity for a series of soon-to-launch REDACTED websites known as REDACTED. There will be one main site running the top REDACTED stories of the day to go along with REDACTED individual ones for each team. I am looking to staff anywhere between 2-5 writers in the Cleveland market (can be living outside the city). While we have all probably written thousands and thousands of unpaid words, this is a chance to make a few extra bucks to write daily about the REDACTED and the REDACTED.

I have attached an info sheet with the basics about this chance to cover the REDACTED league in REDACTED. We are planning a soft-launch on REDACTED with a full-blown launch for REDACTED. In addition, we just got the screen shots for the mock-ups of the sites and they look real sharp.

Give me a shout back if you would like to be involved or know any other writers/bloggers with a passion for the REDACTED. In addition, I will be looking for people that can sell local ad space in this market, so if you have experience yourself or know someone with that background, please let me know. Also, if you are interested in potentially covering a different team/market, email REDACTED for REDACTED teams, REDACTED for REDACTED teams or REDACTED for those in the REDACTED.

See what four moderately successful articles on a moderately successful sports blog can get you? OPPORTUNITY, BITCHES! I sent an email back saying, essentially, “lol wat?”, and have yet to hear back. Stay tuned.

PS: No Overlord, I’m not leaving. I can multitask. I like it here. The rooms are cheap.

Hey, speaking of the Overlord…

@CommonManDZ Apple displeases me. I don't like their products. I'm a big boy who does fancy things and have made an informed decision.

— Josh Flagner (@RailbirdJ) June 14, 2013

Sent from “Twitter for iPhone”. I swear to God.

If you would like to email me to have your question printed in the MTAF MAILBAG (because as you can see, I’ll print just about anything I get), fire-off a high, hard-one to dz@morethanafan.net, and we’ll get you published!

Follow me on TWITTER, and watch me NOT be a total a-hole like most bloggers at @CommonManDZ. I follow back all non-spambot followers. Seriously.

See you guys next week!

The post Cleveland Sports Week in Review: Week Ending 6/15/13 appeared first on More Than A Fan.

As a Cleveland sports fan who only really remembers the “new” version of the Cleveland Browns, I have become accustomed to 4-12 and 5-11 finishes every year.  There shouldn’t be an excuse for this team to repeat recent history. The garbage that we continue to see, on and off the field, has to stop. I couldn’t care less that it is this regime’s first year. It is time to put up or shut up for the Browns.

The 2013 offseason has been full of drama, per usual, for the Browns, even more so than in the Randy Lerner Era. The recent Pilot Flying J Drama and the Josh Gordon “sizurrpgate”, are certainly a handful, even as the Browns are concerned.

People also seem to think that Trent Richardson is injury prone. Well guess what? I don’t care about any of that; the time to win is now. I don’t expect the Browns to win the Super Bowl like twitter celebrity, Hiram Boyd, nor do I expect them to be a legitimate playoff contender. Eight or nine wins seems fair to me.

The Browns spent a majority of their offseason efforts on trying to improve the defense. Obviously there are still a few weaknesses, but by all accounts, the defense is much better than the unit that allowed 23 ppg last season and was the 5th most penalized.

With Paul Kruger, Desmond Bryant, and Quentin Groves coming in as free agents and Barkevious Mingo as the first round draft pick, the Browns defense will certainly look better than the 2012 bunch. It will be an added bonus to hopefully have Joe Haden for all 16 games, as well as a healthy Phil Taylor and TJ Ward. Ray Horton will bring a style that is a complete 180 from Dick Jauron with blitzes coming from every angle and (GASP) an emphasis on pressuring the opposing quarterbacks! Overall the Browns defense has the makings of a possible top 10 defense, should all things go well. Inevitably, injuries will happen, but with new found depth this should no longer be the problem it was in the past.

Offensively, I expect an even bigger improvement than what we will see from the defense. Brandon Weeden, who I believe was unfairly criticized to an extreme last season, should be much more comfortable in new coach Rob Chudzinki’s downfield and  attacking style offense.  He will also have a few more weapons to work with. Aside from Josh Gordon’s game hiccup for sipping the sizzurp, this offense has a very solid wide receiving corps. David Nelson and Davone Bess add to what I expect to be a much improved duo of Josh Gordon and Greg little. I also expect to see Travis Benjamin and his speed utilized in Chud’s offense. The offensive line continues to be a strength of this team and, if T-Rich can stay on the field, I am not at all worried about the running game.

Despite the loss of all world, all everything, elite superstar, stud kick returner (heavy sarcasm, if you couldn’t tell) Josh Cribbs, I actually expect the return game to be an improved aspect of this team. I am probably a little hard on Cribbs at times, but his skills have greatly diminished and it was time for a change. I don’t know if the Browns plan on using Travis  Benjamin as a full time punt and kick returner or not, but his breakaway speed will always be a threat. The big question on Special Teams will be both the punting game (which we seem to have to do a lot) and the kicking game with the loss of Mr. Cleveland Brown,(and my favorite Browns player since ‘99), Phil Dawson.

The simple fact my favorite Brown is a kicker is a huge indictment on this franchise’s success since the big return. Here is to hoping the majority of the FG kicking we are doing is of the 19 yard, extra point variety.

Are there still weaknesses and questions about this team?

Yes, plenty, but the excuses are no longer acceptable.

I don’t know how long I can continue to put up with 4 and 5 win teams. Browns fans deserve better. Browns fans, aside from a few of the crazies, are some of the most loyal in the league. I know how rough it’s been for me in the years since ’99, but I can only imagine how older diehard Browns fans feel. The time is now to turn the franchise’s fortunes around.

I may be one of the few who believe, but I am very excited about the Banner/Lombardi regime. I feel they’ll finally turn the pile of crap we have seen since the return, into a solid and winning group.

Finally, just to have some fun, I’ll play the schedule game. Try not to hold me to this, as many things can and will change by the time September 8th rolls around!

Aaron's 2013 Browns season prediction OpponentW/L Final 2013 Record9-7 vs MiamiW @ BaltimoreL @ MinnesotaW vs CincinnatiL vs BuffaloW vs DetroitW @ Green BayL @ Kansas CityL vs BaltimoreW BYE WEEKInsert Browns won't lose joke here. @ CincinnatiW vs PittsburghW vs JacksonvilleW @ New EnglandL vs ChicagoL @ New York JetsW @ PittsburghL

Yea, that’s right @sportsguytony, or whatever your Twitter handle is now. I gave the Browns a W against the Minnesota Vikings.

Final prediction: 9-7

I even added in the unexpected win (at Cincinnati) and the unexpected loss (at Kansas City). 9-7 would be a tremendous start for Banner and Lombardi. Realistically, this team is probably closer to 7 wins than 9, but I say this is the year that we actually catch a few breaks that turn in to wins rather than being on the other end. Is this a playoff team? Probably not, and like I previously stated, I don’t expect it to be. It shouldn’t be too much to ask to still be in playoff contention when Poopsburgh comes to town in week 11.

Maybe we won’t have to see the urine and black-clad, false teeth wearingSsteelers fans invade First Energy Stadium. I say it’s time to start expecting more and, for once, I think the Browns will deliver!

What do you think Browns fans? Do you think I expect too much? What is a realistic finish to the season and what do you expect?

The post Making a Case for the Browns in 2013 appeared first on More Than A Fan.

We’ll just go ahead and file this column in the “pipe dream” folder.

What I’m about to suggest doesn’t apply to just baseball, but to all sports. Why people only want baseball pure, not football and basketball, baffles me daily; but that’s another column.

Anyway, the quickest and easiest solution to baseball’s PED problem is simple: 1st offense nets a season suspension, including playoffs, All-Star, and any award considerations. The 2nd offense nets a lifetime ban. This can’t really be that difficult, can it?

Sure, many current players wouldn’t be active under my suggested punishment schedule, but the fact of the matter is, we are all complicit in allowing PEDs in sports. Yeah, all of us. Players, fans, media, ownership…we’re all responsible.

The players, through what is most likely the most powerful union in the world, gave the impression they care about keeping the sport clean. In fact, they suggested the current punishment schedule to the owners in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Did you know that, because most people didn’t? And, of course, the owners took them up because they figured if the players suggested it, it must be good for the sport. The owners were probably right, but the players left enough loopholes to where we sit with poor policies.

The owners clearly didn’t care about drugs in the past, because if they had, we wouldn’t have seen this problem go unchecked for years, maybe even a generation or two. The owners made massive profits from players like Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Jose Canseco. To suggest the owners and the media weren’t aware of what was happening in locker rooms is a slap in the face to anyone who can add 2 + 2.

But, hey, us fans had a hand in this also. We loved the home runs, the battle for the home run king, and all the offensive excitement it provided. In fact, I’ll admit at some point I didn’t care if athletes used steroids. Sometimes I think it’s easier to regulate those drugs once they’re legal rather than making them illegal. For the record, I’m only talking about PEDs, not marijuana.

All that said, if the owners and the players care about the reputation and the public perception of this sport, they will at some point, or in the next CBA, agree on a punishment schedule similar to the one I’ve suggested.

Have I mentioned this is a pipe dream? The players’ union will never agree to a one-step banishment from the sport.

To expand on this idea for a moment – when I suggested the players are banned for life, I mean Pete Rose banned. These players are to never play, coach, or work in the front office at any professional baseball level.

Teams of first time offenders will be able to void the contracts of offended (?) players, which obviously would only have a serious effect on players who have large, long-term contracts, but I would hope that alone would deter anyone from using PEDs.

Voiding the contract not only allows the teams to relieve themselves of base salary obligations, but also relieves them of fulfilling any incentive and escalator clauses that may exist. It also gives the player a second chance with another team, should a team be willing to take that chance.

The only way I can suggest this testing process is fair to not only the league, but more importantly, the player, is to take it out of the hands of Major League Baseball. I say this not because I don’t think MLB can properly manage this, but because if we’re suggesting we ban someone from their primary form of income for life, they should be afforded the most transparent process available.

My only suggested group would be the World Anti-Doping Agency. I’m not suggesting they’re awesome, but I have more faith in that group than in the one that MLB employs right now. By the way, MLB employs themselves for drug testing through a third party that they select.

That doesn’t seem transparent at all.

All that was a great pipe dream, wasn’t it? So, what would you do if you had the opportunity to change how Major League Baseball handled its PED violators? What do you think of my suggested penalty schedule?

The post Pipe Dream: Season and Lifetime Bans now Appropriate for PED users appeared first on More Than A Fan.

DISCLAIMER: Most of the things I say here, I am kidding about. Kind of. And thanks to DZ, Dan Zaleski, for the idea!

I am ugly.

I have no friends.

Everyone hates me.

These are all the things that are running through my mind as I ask countless people to attend the Tribe game tonight. No one will go with me.  All I’ve been thinking about since the hellish nine game road-trip started is returning to the Jake and rooting the Tribe back into the plus column.

I would fly solo, but I don’t know if I’m trying to get pity stares from the young couple next to me, the old couple behind me, the group of friends to the left of me, and the family to the right of me. And I definitely don’t want to be that one guy who is alone with his headphones on, wearing long white socks, white shoes, jorts, and a 20-year old Tribe hat. Eventually, I’ll be that guy, but not today. I still have hope.

People often say I need a girlfriend, but I’m not willing to entertain the idea of a girlfriend who isn’t wife material. I’m stuck-up, arrogant, and insane for this theory, I know, but that’s for a different time.

If I had a girlfriend, however, maybe I could go to a Tribe game. Maybe I should lower my incredibly high standards. That way, I’ll have someone to schlep around to Tribe games to make me look as if I’m not pathetic, even though I am.

On the other hand, having a girlfriend would take away from the time I spend doing statistical analysis on Brandon Weeden, studying Urban Meyer’s offense from it’s roots (get ready for that piece… it’s going to be a good one), or going through each possibility the Cavs could entertain going into the draft. (Can I please just be the gosh-darn GM of one of these teams already? I’ll do it for free!)

Whatever. I don’t see Mrs. Right coming through that door any time soon, so that’s pointless.

What do I do?

Wait a minute…

Maybe it’s not my ugliness, lack of friends, or my perpetual magnet of hatred that is causing the constant rejection of Tribe-going.

Maybe it’s the Tribe itself. That would turn the blame from me, to the people rejecting me.

Me thinks that if the Tribe hadn’t been 2-8 in their last ten games, maybe I’d have someone to go with tonight. Maybe if this was 1998, I could easily find a Tribe-partner. Maybe, this is the article I just wrote, coming to life.

That would disappoint me greatly.

I know that my Tribe-rejection is not due to the promotional schedule.

No, no, no.

Tonight is Dollar Dog AND Fireworks. That means that you can stuff your face with frankfurters as long as your little heart desires, without taking out a mortgage, while watching things blow up in the sky. It’s an American dream come true.

So, that’s what it’s come down to: it’s either me or the team itself.

If it’s me, I get it. I’m not the guy you want to go to the Tribe game with. I’m ugly, friendless, and stinky. Whatever. But, if it’s the Tribe itself that’s keeping you away from the stadium… SHAME ON YOU! This team is in the thick of things and they would truly appreciate your support.

This is not, I repeat, THIS IS NOT, last year’s team. This is not a cheap-trick that Shapiro and Antonetti tried to pull over our eyes that eventually exposed itself instead.

The Indians have legitimate talent, have spent legitimate money, and will be a legitimate contender come August. I can almost assure you.

I am sick of repeating this over and over, and you’re sick of listening over an over.

So, for this time, I’m just going to blame it on myself. You really do want to go to the Tribe game, but you don’t want to go because you’d have to go with me.

I get it.

My feelings aren’t even hurt.

As long as it’s not because of the recent losing skid, I’m fine with it.

I’m legitimately still thinking of flying solo. That’s how bad it’s getting. I may just take on those stares. Maybe I’ll dress up in disguise. Who knows?

At least I’m with this team through thick and thin. Regardless of how ugly, friendless, and hateable I am.

Enjoy your social lives. I’ll be watching the Tribe.

The post A Lonely Tribe Fan: Ugly Me or Fickle You? appeared first on More Than A Fan.

by Ryan Isley

For the past couple of months, the “My Two Cents” column on Fridays has been a forum for me to look at three different stories in the world of sports and give my opinions on them. Today was going to be no different. And ironically, it was going to be an all-NASCAR edition. There were several things going on in the world of NASCAR that I wanted to touch on, from Brad Keselowski to TNT’s coverage to this week’s Father’s Day race at Michigan International Speedway.

After the events of Wednesday night, those things all became trivial.

So this week’s “My Two Cents” will be an abbreviated version and will deal with just one topic.

On the Passing of Jason Leffler:

I was feeling especially tired on Wednesday night, so I laid down on the couch to watch the Indians game and ended up falling asleep at about 9:15. When I woke up about an hour later, I checked Facebook and saw a status from one of my friends referencing that Jason Leffler had passed away earlier in the evening. Not wanting to believe that it was indeed the Jason Leffler I thought she meant, I immediately searched for Leffler on Google, where the reality hit me quickly.

Leffler, 37, had been killed in a wreck at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey, a dirt track outside of the Philadelphia area.

While fans were all giving their thoughts on social media, so were other drivers. And that wasn’t just NASCAR drivers, as Leffler had driven in many different series. There were drivers from every aspect of racing who were giving their memories of Leffler and expressing their disbelief in what had happened. Some even mentioned that while they know every time they strap into the car that they may not make it through the race, it is still a shock when something like this happens.

It was just another example of how close the racing community is, especially when tragedy strikes. It reminded me of the pouring out of support and emotions when Dan Wheldon was killed in the 2011 IndyCar race at Las Vegas.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of this story is that Leffler leaves behind a five-year-old son, Charlie Dean. Jeff Gluck of USA Today sent out a tweet from Leffler’s Instagram account of a picture of Jason and Charlie Dean standing outside a racetrack and then tweeted out the link to Jason’s Instagram account.

Taking a few moments to go through the photos – with numerous pictures of Jason and Charlie Dean – it was impossible not to begin to tear up. There was a picture of the two of them together from the day of Charlie Dean’s kindergarten graduation that painted a fantastic picture of father and son. It unfortunately also brought home the stark reality that there was a five-year-old that had spent the final days with his father.

So when you watch the races this weekend, don’t forget – this may look like just a bunch of left turns, but these guys are putting their lives on the line each and every time they fire up a car and they have families like the rest of us.

And at some point, please remember Jason Leffler and say a prayer for Charlie Dean Leffler - the kid needs it right now. After all, this weekend is Father’s Day.

Comments? Questions? You can leave them here or email Ryan at ryan@morethanafan.net

The post My Two Cents on the Passing of Jason Leffler appeared first on More Than A Fan.

Hello.

I’ve spent a great-deal of time considering just how to open this column. Trying to sell women’s football to the sports-loving masses is difficult, even in the best of circumstances, for reasons that are wholly unrelated to the actual product on the field.

To understand the general difficulty of trying to promote women’s athletics, you have to take a step-back and look at the landscape of sports on a whole, and in particular, the view of professional and amateur women’s sports in comparison to the equivalent men’s sports. Basketball, hockey, track and field, etc. If you do so, it becomes obvious that there is a fairly large schism that exists between mainstream adoption of games played by men, and those played by women.

Now, this isn’t the article where I take-on all the reasons and/or cultural biases for the differing views of men’s and woman’s sports, there’s plenty of time for that down the road. No, what I want to talk about today is a particular women’s team that has, from my experience around them, completely changed the way I look at the entirety of female sports – in particularly football. AMERICAN football. It’s time to let the secret of the Cleveland Fusion women’s football team out of the bag, and into the stream of Cleveland’s conscious thoughts.

So, when I say “women’s football” to you, as a reader of the fairly popular sports blog that we have going here, what is the very first image that pops into your head?

Be honest with yourself. I already know the answer. It’s this, isn’t it.

 

 

I don’t blame you for your thoughts immediately turning to the LFL (Lingerie Football League – now the Legends Football League…the name even felt dirty to them!), because it’s the only women’s football league that has gotten any real “national” run in the last few years. For all the wrong reasons, mind you, but national run all the same. Chances are, you’ve heard of them. There’s even a local team here, in Cleveland.

But that’s not the only game in town when it comes to women’s football. In fact, it’s not even a blip on the radar by comparison. There’s another team, much different than the Cleveland Crush, where the girls wear real helmets, real shoulder pads, and actual pants. And the game they play looks something like this.

 

 

Being honest with yourself for a second, if you didn’t already know that I was talking about a women’s football team, and you watched the video above, would you have been able to tell? Would you have known that those were women throwing, catching, running, and hitting, just like the players do in every football game you’ve ever watched?

Right. Me either. And that, friends, is the premise behind the Cleveland Fusion.

“Real Women. Real Football.” is their slogan. And they should add “they’re really, really good” to it, ’cause they are. You just didn’t know it, until now.

The Fusion are 8-0 this season, and begin the 2013 playoffs this Saturday, June 15th at 7:00pm. More on that in a bit.

Fusion game-action from 2012

8-0 is certainly impressive, whether you’re playing tiddlywinks or doubles badminton. So the question becomes:

“Just how good are the Fusion this year?”

They’re scary good, at least according to second-year head coach Erik Keister, an expert on such things.

“You know, we gave-up our first defensive touchdown in the seventh game this year.” Coach Keister told me in a chat I was able to have with him (over the phone) last week, two days before the Fusion’s 48-0 annihilation of Maryland, in Maryland. “We’ve only allowed 18 points all year, and 12 of those were on offensive turnovers.” Keister continued, sounding like a proud poppa talking about one of his children’s successes in school or a science fair. “Our defense has been unbelievable this year,”.

Coach Keister’s enthusiasm aside, the Fusion’s vaunted 3-4 defense isn’t the only reason they’re winning football games. In football…real football like the Fusion play…you have to be good on both sides of the ball to go 8-0, and win road games 400 miles from home 48-0. Offense is an important cog in the machine of success as well.

“Our quarterback, Beth Andrasik. She’s phenomenal. She’s completed something like 60% of her passes this season. And we’re not talking about two-yard swing passes here.” You can tell Coach Keister loves talking about these women. You can hear the sense of pride he has in their success this season bubbling-up in him over the phone as our chat continued. He called-out veteran RB Martina Latessa as a leader on offense, and rookie RB Chawnte Johnson, a 19 year-old, who plays behind Latessa, and who’s football resume includes a stop at Lutheran East.

You know, the men’s team.

The Cleveland Fusion were founded in 2002. Not last year. Not the year before. 2002. That’s eleven years ago, and the Fusion have been a flagship franchise in the various women’s professional leagues and alliances that the team has been a part of over the years, through no fault of their own. The Fusion are a model franchise in women’s football. A trend setter. A success story. And you’ve still never heard of them. Well, until now that is.

The Fusion play in the Women’s Football Alliance now, a conglomerate of 62 women’s football teams around the country. The WFA is the largest collection of such in the world, and also the largest in the history of women’s football.

As one can imagine, the business of running a football league for the fairer sex is difficult. Social and gender-based stereotypes take away potential fans “right off the top” out of (some potential fans) own sheer ignorance, even before they’re ever exposed to the product. A product they would probably like, all things being equal. But things are not equal, and the Cleveland Fusion have a lot of battles to fight – some of them in their own backyard – if they want to really grow the product they’ve been selling since ’02.

“The Lingerie League casts negative shadows.” said Keister, when asked if the LFL has helped or hurt the perception of women’s football, in general. “It’s more like wrestling, or an Arena League team. People watch that sport for different reasons.”

Keister than compared the experience of watching the LFL to watching his Cleveland Fusion team. “Our games are exciting and fun. People that come (to the games) get addicted. They’re surprised how entertaining it is.”

I’ve had the chance to watch the Fusion in person on a number of occasions. Last year, while I was still running CSF Radio, we did a live remote broadcast from Cleveland Fusion Media Day. CSF Radio also broadcast a handful of Fusion games, with live play-by-play. I can tell you from experience, it was a lot of fun.

I can also tell you, from experience, that the football…the actual real football on the field…was tremendous. The highest compliment I can pay the Cleveland Fusion, and maybe the best way to relate the team to the football fans of Northeast Ohio, is to say that if you didn’t know going in that these were women playing the game, you would never figure it out, until someone removed their helmet I guess. They sure don’t play like women, or at least, what our perceptions of what women playing football usually look like.

 

 

It should also be noted, that the Fusion are a 100% volunteer organization on-field. All the players are playing football because they want to, not because they’re trying to collect a paycheck. It’s all about the love of the game for them. A love of football…the mechanics of it. The teamwork. The camaraderie. You know, all the reasons that people used to play sports. All the reasons we bitch and moan about today’s professional athletes. “Those greedy SOB’s” is not an uncommon thing to hear in a loaded sports bar when things go awry with your favorite pro team. These women, the opposite of “Greedy SOB’s” play for the thing that is missing in many of the professional teams we give of ourselves to support and cheer for.

Heart.

Heart is the essence of sport. The essence of football. Keister continued with his laudations for his players, “We’ve got one girl about to start Med School (Kayleen Bowden), and another in law school (Katie Green). These girls juggle a lot to be able to play. Finding practice time can, at times, be difficult. But we make it work.”

 

 

Coach Erik Keister is not a johnny-come-lately to coaching football. He has been an assistant in the high school ranks, (two years at Beechwood, four years at Bedford) and at Case Western Reserve in his career. But right now, he is focused exclusively on the Fusion. The passion he has for his team, and his players, is real.

He mentions Leann McKey, who leads the WFA in sacks this season, and FS Angela Mason, who is the league leader in interceptions. He wishes he could call out all the women who play for him specifically, because they’re all important to the Fusion’s success this season.

I asked Coach Keister what people could do to support the Fusion, should this article inspire anybody to do so. “Just show-up Saturday” was his response. The team does hold sporadic fundraisers and media events throughout the year, information about which can be found on the Fusion’s very well designed and informative web page: ClevelandFusion.com

As I mentioned earlier, the Fusion play in the first round of the WFA playoffs this Saturday night, June 15th, at 7:00pm. Their home field is Case Western Reserve Stadium, a map of which can be found below.

View Larger Map

About the game itself, the Fusion are taking-on the West Michigan Mayhem. I don’t have a scouting report on the Mayhem, but I do know that the Fusion have outscored their opponents this season 359-12, so I have to say, I like their chances in this one – blind pick or no.

Come-out, support the team, and give this brand of women’s football a chance. Saturday is the perfect opportunity. How many Cleveland teams have made the playoffs in the last few years? None? This is a great opportunity to watch playoff football, in case most of us Cleveland fans have forgotten what that looks like.

These girls are really, really good. “Real Women. Real Football.” indeed.

See you at the game!

The post The Cleveland Fusion: Women’s Football has Grown-Up and Cleveland Football Fans Should Grow-Up With It appeared first on More Than A Fan.

Hey baseball fans!

Matt Nadel here, of Baseball with Matt, with another ML“what would”B. In this post, it’s time to explore a world in which a long NL rivalry stayed in its original city: the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.

After the 1957 season, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the New York Giants soon followed, moving to San Francisco. My question is, what if the Dodgers never moved to LA?

To start to answer this question, if the Dodgers never moved, the Giants would have never moved to San Fran. The whole reason that the Giants moved was because they wanted to keep their rivalry with the Dodgers strong. Anyway, because they are, hypothetically, still in raucous New York, each team becomes much more bitter, and eventually the fans of each team start fighting with each other. The Giants are forced to pay for seating renovations because of a fight in the Polo Grounds between Dodger and Giant fans during a game right before the All Star Break of ‘58. Therefore, the Giants can’t sign Willie McCovey for the 1959 season. With him still up for grabs by the time the season rolls into May, the Baltimore Orioles grab him and immediately start him in center field. With the Dodgers losing most of their players due to injury because of their extensive fighting with New York, it allows the Braves to sneak away with the NL pennant. They eventually beat the White Sox in the Fall Classic on the back of Hank Aaron to win the third World Series for the franchise. Also, Willie McCovey wins AL Rookie of the Year while batting .280 with 22 homers and 80 RBIs.

As Bill Mazeroski takes care of the Yanks in 1960, the 1961 season prompts a lot of grumbling by star Giant players Willie Mays and Juan Marichal. They are both sick of the bickering between the two NL New York teams. Because of this, Mays and Marichal want a trade out of New York. The Orioles, who grabbed McCovey before, trade Brooks Robinson for Mays, while the Yankees trade Whitey Ford for Marichal. With Marichal finally out of the AL, he proceeds to win 25 games for the other New York team. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris still take all of the attention from Marichal by chasing Babe Ruth’s single season homer record of 60. Maris still wins it and the Yanks still win the AL pennant, but Robinson leads the Giants to the NL pennant instead of the Reds. However, just like in real life, the Yanks win the Series and capture championship number 19.

Let’s skip to 1966, when the Reds try to ship out Frank Robinson because of his “old age”. Instead of him going to Baltimore, which was still ruled by Mays and McCovey, he is shipped off to Pittsburgh, where he, Willie Stargell, and Roberto Clemente show the rest of the league who is boss. By the end of the season, Frank wins the Triple Crown and leads the Pirates to the World Series, while Mays and McCovey lead Baltimore to its first Fall Classic appearance. Just like the O’s do to LA in the 1966 World Series in real life, the Mays and McCovey-ruled Orioles destroy the Pittsburgh Hall of Fame outfield and the rest of the Pirates, sweeping them in the Big Series.

Now, I’m guessing that you are all wondering what happened to the Mets, considering the baseball world would not allow four teams in a single city. Well, to answer that question, the Mets move to LA and become the Los Angeles Star.  They never become the “Miracle Stars” because they get swept in the 1969 Series by Baltimore, just like the 1966 Pirates. Anyway, with Sandy Koufax finally retired, the Dodgers never recover. Actually, they never did recover after the 1959 season with all of the San Fran fights. So, the Dodgers sink to the bottom of the NL for all of eternity. Sorry Dodger fans, but not all Californians can sit happily in the sun, here in the ML“what would”B.

The post ML-“What Would”-B: What if the Dodgers Never Moved? appeared first on More Than A Fan.

Last week, I had a conversation with MTAF’s Mike Pellegrino (@mvpellegrino1) regarding the potential barriers to the AL and NL playing under the same set of rules.  There’s quite a few rule variations, but of course the biggest one to overcome is the DH.  The MLBPA is not going to allow the the DH to be sent away, not when a guy like David Ortiz can earn $13 million a year while only stepping to the plate four times a game.  This isn’t to take anything away from what Ortiz has done with the bat (or any other DH, for that matter), it’s just a fact that they wouldn’t have a job if there wasn’t a DH spot in the lineup.

The players aren’t going to give that up, either, because even guys that can still play the field right now will be looking at being a DH in the coming years.  Guys like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Prince Fielder, and Miguel Cabrera amongst many others will one day be nothing more than a DH.  That’s important to consider as the leagues come together under the interleague schedule.

On the other hand, the National League isn’t predicated on the DH, and I’m not so sure the fans would be accepting of it, at least not in the immediate future.  I do imagine that part of the reason for the Houston Astros being asked strong-armed in to the AL West was to allow for expanded inter-league play.  I imagine that the line of thinking up in Herr Selig’s office is that NL fans will eventually become acclimated to the DH, and at some point in the future, the NL will accept the DH.

As for me, I hope the NL doesn’t accept the DH.  I hope the fans, the players, managers, and GMs reject the notion that a pitcher shouldn’t step to the plate.

Why?

For moments like the one above, chiefly, it was erroneously reported that Grienke was struck in the helmet, which is not a true statement.  If you stop the video at the 3:53-3:54 mark, you’ll see that he clearly takes the pitch off of his left shoulder area.  Sure, it was up and in, but the argument is easily made that he had it coming.

Whether or not Ian Kennedy had intended to hit Yasiel Puig or not is debatable.  When Grienke hit Montero, it was with obvious intent.  He missed twice to start the at-bat before picking up strike one on his third pitch and then he drilled Montero on the fourth pitch.  Grienke was defending his teammate, which is understandable, but he should understand that there may be consequences.  Especially when he was due up second in the next half inning.

Whether or not pitchers should be throwing at each other, and especially up and in is a debate I’m willing to entertain.  However, I think it pitchers stepping in to the box is one of the better parts of NL ball, because it should hold a pitcher accountable.  It’s alright to plunk a guy, but you need to be prepared for the possible repercussions.  If the NL moves to the DH, that takes something away from the strategy of a game in certain situations.

Should pitchers be more careful when they’re plunking guys?  Of course.  A 90+ mph pitch to the head, even with a helmet on can cause serious damage.  Pitches to the back pocket or even in the back seem to be acceptable, and that is where pitchers should throw.  When they get up and in, they should expect retribution.

That’s something that Ian Kennedy might want to keep in mind when he next faces the Dodgers.  Whatever his intent was, the Dodgers believe that they owe him one.  Thank goodness that under the current rules, they’ll have a chance to pay him back directly.

Should the NL and AL play by the same rules?  Should the DH stay or should it go?

Let me know what you think:

Matt@morethanafan.net or @tbone44444444

Also like More Than A Fan on facebook, and follow More Than a Fan on Twitter@MTAFSports

 

The post Ian Kennedy and Zack Grienke Show Why NL Ball is Better appeared first on More Than A Fan.

As Buckeye fans we have been spoiled, we have experienced great success over the past decade while others in our geographic region have not.  Traditional powers such as Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan have experienced a small amount of success nationally.   While the Buckeyes have experienced their fair share of national exposure defeats, they have also won at that level, going all the way back to Miami a decade ago, as well as BCS wins over Notre Dame, Kansas State, Oregon and Arkansas.  So naturally, we have come to expect to be the best in our region of the country year in and year out.  In fact the Buckeyes have made nine BCS appearance winning an absurd six of those matchups.

When John Cooper took over the program, he made the Buckeyes a perennial power within the Big Ten, who once in a while had an impact nationally.  Jim Tressel built on that and made winning the Big Ten a normal occurrence, while competing nationally became much more common.  We have now moved on to Urban Meyer and with that the expectations have grown.  Winning Big Ten titles and competing in BCS bowl games every year is now expected.  The expectations now are to be competing for the National Championship each and every year.

It’s possible that we may be putting impossible expectations on the Buckeyes, while every team would love to compete at that level, very few have been able to sustain that level of success.  We would like to believe that our Buckeyes can do it.  With that being said, within two years of taking on a program under serious sanctions form the NCAA, Urban Meyer has them lined up for a title run.

This isn’t coming from some homer who loves the Buckeyes; this is coming from the guys who handicap these sorts of things for a living.  Last week odds were released on every college football game this season.  Now these things will change all summer as players will leave programs, get hurt, or suspended.  The odds have the Bucks as double digit favorites in all but two games.  And in those two games (-8 @ Northwestern and -6 @ Michigan), the Bucks are still at least Touchdown favorites. 

So while Buckeye nation is ready to burst back on to the title scene, they aren’t the only ones expecting a great season.  We should be careful though on the expectations we place on a new coaching staff so early.  When Meyer took over I expected it to be in his third season where the Buckeyes were competing for a National Title.  While he kicked ass in recruiting right away, that first class is just entering its second year.  Impact players will come from the group, but a large amount of starters are still there from the previous regime.

It’s great to have title aspirations, but I am more concerned on being patient while building a title winning dynasty over making a quick run to the top for a short period of time.  Don’t get me wrong, I am pulling for another perfect season, but I’m not going to lose my mind over a 10-2 one.  The most important thing is that the team improves every game and every season under Meyer.  This is going to be a very exciting year for the Buckeyes and in no way is it a championship or bust season.  The expectations on this group are absolutely warranted, but looking at the current make-up of this team coupled with an excellent coaching staff, BCS Titles will be the goal every year.  Big Ten titles and BCS appearances will be expected. 

With all this being said about expectations and not setting them too high.  I still love my Buckeyes and stand by my prediction made at the end of last season.  Ohio State over Texas A&M in the title game.  With the Heisman Winning Braxton Miller defeating last year’s Heisman Johnny Manziel. 

The post Placing Expectations on the Buckeyes appeared first on More Than A Fan.

One of the easiest ways to engage a basketball fan in a spirited argument that may or may not eventually end in fisticuffs is to participate against him/her in a historical NBA draft.

I’ve had many “discussions” with “friends” trying to decide on the best 5 players of all time. As I read through Matt Kline‘s Face of the Franchise series, it seemed like such a good old-fashioned bar argument of a column that I wanted to write one of my own. With that in mind, I recruited an old friend of mine who has very recently become a first time father. I get someone to fight with, he gets to not think about feces and milk for a while, you get to see just how dumb 2 guys can be and tell us all about it in the comments section. Please give a cold, shivering welcome to a founding member of the masslive.com Fantasy 413, Dan Reynolds.

The rules for the NBA Historical Draft are as follows:

1.       It starts in 1985.  Because I think it’s garbage to draft players based solely on what others have written about them, and because historical NBA footage is mostly available to real NBA writers only, we’re going with what we’ve seen.  If you draft Bill Walton, you’re not getting 1978 Walton.  You’re getting the guy who played 6th man for the greatest team in history (1986 Celtics). I was born in ’77, Dan was born a few years earlier, so we can base decisions on guys we saw play the game.

2.       All other players you get at their peak.  You don’t have to choose which Jordan you get – if you take him, you get his best version night in and out.

3.       Attitudes don’t matter.  If you want to draft Allen Iverson, you don’t have to be afraid that he’s going to sulk coming off the bench.

4.       Styles of play matter.  If you want to assemble guys that will beat the hell out of small guards, go nuts.  If you want to assemble Loyola Marymount’s run/gun offense, have fun.  But make sure your players compliment that style.

Your team has to win the game against my team. That’s the question voters will be asked when deciding who wins.

5.       Dan won the first pick, I have back to back picks at #s 2 and 3, then again at 9 and 10, and Dan has back to backs at 11 and 12. I don’t know – some internet site told us that was the most fair way to do a 2 man draft.

We’ll do this over a few parts this summer. I’ll try and keep each column around 1000 words. We’ll go through the first 8 picks today.

Dan won the coin toss and the right to pick first:

1. SG – Michael Jordan - No single player did as much for what we now call the modern NBA game as Jordan. He remains the standard for which every player is measured. The greatest player of his or any other generation.

Easy enough first pick, I think. By the way, Dan’s words will be in purple (he’s a freaking Lakers fan). You probably would’ve picked that up eventually, but I figured I’d speed that process up.

I’ve got back to back picks:

2. SF – Larry Bird – The best part of back to backs here is that I can pretend Larry would have been the #2 overall pick. On any team with this much talent, you’re going to need guys who live to share the ball. Bird is the greatest passing forward of all time. There is only one person more perfect for a team like this:

3. PG – Magic Johnson - The reason the Dream Team was so successful was Magic’s attitude and style of play. The reason the Showtime Lakers were so successful was Magic’s attitude and style of play. The ultimate point guard and the ultimate team leader.

4. C – Shaquille O’Neal - The Big Aristotle, Shaq-Fu, Diesel. Nuff said. A giant among men, the unstoppable force. Shaq inside and MJ on the perimeter; this could be over before we even get to the next round.

5. SF – LeBron James - Just for the fun of it, let’s keep drafting.

While I realize that Shaq’s going to be tough to defend inside, I think there’s a guy or two left out there that just might take on that challenge.

So yeah, LeBron’s my pick.  He’s the 2nd most talented player in our pool of players, and I got him with the 5th pick. And not to get too stat-geeky, but PER is a very good judge of a player’s offensive prowess. I think there will be many, many better stats coming in the next few years, especially ones that incorporate off-ball work and defense, but for now it’s PER.

The top 10 PER seasons of all time have been had by 3 players – Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James.  Jordan has #s 3, 5, 8, and 9.  James has #s 4, 7, and 10 (he also has #11). Now that there’s no question that he can step up to the stage and win the biggest of games, we’re looking at someone on track to be the 2nd best player in history (took me 20 minutes to write that sentence when you factor in the breaks for dry-heaving).

I’ve got James leading the 2nd unit right now, but I could always slot him at SF and move Bird to PF depending on how the draft shakes out.  Back to you for #6.

6. C – Hakeem Olajuwon - I think this is turning into a game of chess and you may have brought your drama-queen out a tad too early. I was truly torn between this pick and another, but I’ve decided to hand you a nightmare of Nigerian proportions. Enter Hakeem.

 Rebounding, defense and the ability to score at will. I see your PER and stomp all over it with my pair of 7 footers.

7. PF – Tim Duncan - Wow, passing up a chance to draft the greatest Power Forward of all time, just to draft a Center you already have?  Colossal failure.

Give me Timmy Duncan.  Not only will I be able to match your twin towers by playing my Center next to Duncan, but I’m Greatest Of All Time at 3 of the 5 starting positions.

8. SG – Kobe Bryant -  Yes, I know I still have no PG  but there’s still A LOT of talent available. 

So now I’ll throw Jordan and Jordan Lite at you for 48 minutes. Plus he’s the closest thing, comparatively speaking, to #23. And yes I’m referring to Bryant as a thing because he’s a cold, calculating snake – but no one will ever question his unquenchable desire to win. And win he will vs. the zero defense in the middle you’re throwing at me. Best grab The Admiral with one of your back-to-backs.

Eight picks in, and we both think we’ve wrapped up the title. Here’s a snapshot of how our lineups look thus far. Please feel free to weigh in, and be as mean as possible. Especially to Dan – he’s still basking in that first child glow.

Team Reynolds  Team Pellegrino  PG
PGMagic Johnson SGMichael JordanSG SFSFLarry Bird PFPFTim Duncan CShaquille O'NealC BNHakeem OlajuwonBNLeBron James BNKobe BryantBN BNBN BNBN BNBN

The post NBA Historical Draft – 1985-2013 appeared first on More Than A Fan.

by Ryan Isley

It was the night of May 25, 2007.

At first glance, that date may not mean anything to most people. Now add the names LeBron James and Donyell Marshall to that date and immediately it should hit you as to why that date is significant in the career of LeBron James and the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With the Detroit Pistons leading the Cavaliers 78-76 with 12 seconds to play in the game one of the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron drove and kicked the ball out to Marshall, who missed a three-pointer in the final five seconds that ended up wrapping up a victory for the Pistons.

And that is when it started – the argument on whether LeBron James had the “clutch gene” or not.

But what is lost in the discussion is this – the play was the right basketball play. And it is a play that LeBron has repeated over the years. For LeBron, being clutch isn’t just about making baskets and scoring points – it is also about trying to make the right basketball play in every situation. And if that means finding an open teammate who has a better shot at scoring then he does, so be it.

And here is the thing: if Marshall hits that shot – as he had six times in the team’s previous game – nobody talks about the pass not being the right play or LeBron not being clutch. Don’t believe me? Ask Michael Jordan if he took criticism for passing to John Paxson or Steve Kerr. He didn’t because those guys hit the shots.

Even look at LeBron in the 2012 NBA Finals. He had a total of 25 assists in the final two games as the Miami Heat finished off the Oklahoma City Thunder to win LeBron’s first NBA title. He knew what guys had the hot hand and continued to find them at all points throughout the games.

LeBron’s unselfishness has always been something that makes him one of the best players in the NBA and has led to him winning four NBA MVPs in the last five seasons. But it is also what has cost him in the discussion of who is clutch.

When people look at the word “clutch” and try to define it, they always see who is scoring the points in the last minutes of the game. They look at guys like Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, etc. and see these guys putting points in the scoring column so they think LeBron is less clutch than guys like that, which is a fallacy.

Sometimes, it is the guys who make the plays and set up the scores that should be considered clutch. I would rather have someone who is willing to give the ball up for an open shot to a teammate than take a bad low-percentage shot just because they are the best player. After all, basketball is a team game. Why have four other guys out on the floor if you can’t trust them to hit shots?

Of course, LeBron has also shown the ability to throw the team on his back and carry them to a win when that seemed to be the only option for success. Flash back to that series against the Pistons mentioned earlier in this column. In the same building in which LeBron had passed off on the game-winning shot just 10 days earlier, LeBron orchestrated one of the best performances in Cavaliers history in game six.

With his team tied at two games apiece with the heavily-favored Pistons and with the Cavaliers leading by just one, LeBron took over and scored 29 of their final 30 points in the fourth quarter and two overtimes, including the last 25 points and all of their points in the overtime periods of the 109-107 Cavaliers win. He hit 11 of his final 13 shots in the game, including the game-winning layup with 2.2 seconds remaining in double overtime.

You can also look at game six of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals (ironic) against the Boston Celtics. With the Heat trailing in the series three games to two, LeBron scored 45 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out five assists to tie the series and eventually led the Heat to a win in game seven to finish the series.

You want LeBron to score? He can do that as well. In last season’s postseason, he scored 30 or more points in 11 of the Heat’s 23 games and scored 26 or more points 21 times. He averaged 30.3 points per game throughout the playoffs but also added 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in one of the greatest postseasons in the history of the league.

And who could forget his streak to begin this season, where he scored 20 or more points in 32 straight games to start the season, only bested in the last 30 years by George Gervin in the 1981-82 season. That’s right – no Kobe, no Carmelo, no Durant (yet) and no, not even Jordan.

But at the end of the day, LeBron cares more about winning than he does scoring points. If the smart basketball play is to get someone else a shot, that is what he is going to do. If taking the game over and scoring points is what is needed, LeBron will do that too.

Another aspect of LeBron’s game that shows off his willingness to be more of a team player than a “me-first” player is his defense. At various points this season, LeBron has guarded all five positions on the basketball court which was one of the reasons that some people thought he deserved to be the league’s Defensive Player of the Year – an award in which he came in second to Marc Gasol.

The one play that typifies LeBron’s mindset on defense is the highlight block on Tiago Splitter in game two of the NBA Finals this past Sunday. Splitter went up to dunk as LeBron had rotated over and LeBron met him at the top with one of the cleanest blocks you will ever see.

After the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told the media that there a lot of players who would not have gone for the block for fear of getting dunked on and said it showed courage for a guy to challenge that play.  While I don’t know that courage is the correct word in that situation, Spoelstra was right. It takes something for a player – especially one of LeBron’s stature in the league – to take that chance he would get dunked on and be on the wrong side of the highlight reel. But again, LeBron showed his team-first attitude and took the challenge anyway.

So don’t dismiss LeBron’s unselfishness as being “unclutch” – it might just be the exact opposite.

Comments? Questions? You can leave them here or email Ryan at ryan@morethanafan.net

The post One of LeBron’s Greatest Strengths May Also be His Biggest Perceived Weakness appeared first on More Than A Fan.

Tim Tebow is reportedly signing a contract with the New England Patriots. Once news was out that this was going down, it spread like hot fudge on a sundae across all social media. Apparently, some people don’t like Tebow.

I think this is a great opportunity for Tebow. After coming into the league and just being tossed around by every coach and team, it’s nice to see him get a solid chance and behind a renowned QB like Tom Brady.

If Tebow had stayed in Denver, he would have been under Peyton Manning and gotten a real shot to learn under one of the best QBs in the league. Instead, the Broncos decided to ship him off to the New York Jets.

Was that Tebow’s fault? Absolutely not. He tried everything could but he never was really given that chance. He did not have a full year to get comfortable in his position at the next level. He was always the backup, but on the occasions when he did start, he played well. He even won a playoff game!

He may not be the best quarterback, but that’s because he hasn’t had time to really play and establish himself in the league. Combine that to the fact that getting sent to the Jets was probably one of the worst things that could have happened for his career.

I knew when he went to the Jets that it was a bad move. Rex Ryan loves and worships Mark Sanchez, and is never going to replace him. I think Ryan just wanted him so that it would influence Sanchez to work harder and give him competition.

I don’t think Ryan was really looking to use Tebow while he was there with the Jets. It was unfortunate because had Ryan capitalized on Tebow’s strengths, he could have been a solid quarterback for them.

I honestly believe that Tebow deserves this opportunity with the Patriots. No matter where Tebow goes, he’s going to a backup, so he might as well be a backup for someone like Brady. Brady is a no-doubt, future Hall of Fame player who should be able to help Tebow progress.

Lastly, if you don’t like Tebow because of his religious beliefs, you don’t have a leg to stand on*. He is entitled to have his views and beliefs. There are plenty of other athletes who use religion as their motivation. Religion has provided Tebow with his morals and values. He is responsible and doesn’t get into any type of off-season trouble. His religion has no effect on whether he is capable of throwing a football.

Follow me on Twitter at @Sportypants38!

Editor’s Note: *Or a knee to kneel on. 

The post Tim Tebow Deserves This Chance with the New England Patriots appeared first on More Than A Fan.

I don’t know if you noticed, but I haven’t been around Twitter for a while. I actually quit for the month of June and, outside of manning my scheduled shifts on the MTAF account, I haven’t peeked.

Last week though, I did see a few tweets showcasing Cleveland fanhood that piqued my interest, so I thought, maybe since I don’t really have an opinion on anything else, I’d write about what I saw and let you know where I stand.

For the record, and if you’ve known or followed me long enough, I’m not a 100% Cleveland fan. This probably bothers some of you, but it is reality. That takes me to the first part of my story.

I was born in Cleveland and have spent different amounts of time in various places for various reasons. To say I’ve been in more states than most of you is an understatement, so my loyalty is certainly different than yours.

I have loyalty to the Indians, because they were bad when I was little, very good when I was in high school, and have had ups and downs since. As much as I don’t like the NBA, if I had to pick a team, I’d probably pick the Cavs for similar reasons. They’ve had periods of time when they’ve been both good and downright terrible.

That leaves us with one last team, the Crunch.

I’m kidding, that leaves the Browns. This is going to be the deal breaker for a lot of you, but I’m just not a Browns fan. Can you really blame me? The team was gone while I was in high school and have been the worst team on this side of the Mississippi since 1999. They were decent while I was growing up, but I have no real connection to them.

So you might ask, “well, what’s your favorite NFL team?” The honest answer is that I don’t know. I say that because I don’t care. I’m a firm believer that people are more loyal to their college football teams than they are to their professional football teams.

People from Cleveland “hate” Bengals fans on Sunday, but “love” them as fellow Buckeyes on Saturday? Makes no sense to me.

So, I am asking an honest question. If you had to pick between your college football team and your NFL team, which would it be?

If you lived in SEC country, the answer is obvious. Up north, where we’ve had both NFL and college football forever, the answer isn’t so simple.

I think if you live in a state like Ohio, the Buckeyes take the cake over the Browns or Bengals, but it would be up for debate.

If you live in Indiana, however, the choice may be more clear. The Hoosiers aren’t a football power, the Colts have had past success, and, thanks to Andrew Luck, are looking a bright future in the face. Michigan folks have a clear choice as well, as Wolverine fandom overpowers Lions fandom.

Hmm, maybe the answer is obvious?

For some, that assessment isn’t the same, but here’s the thing: you’re allowed to like whichever team you want.

I just turned 31, I’m not married, and I have no kids (thank God), but one thing I’ve learned over my three decades about people in Cleveland is that they’re really passionate about their teams. Maybe to a fault.

I remember seeing a tweet from someone that said, “If I saw the hottest woman in the world and she was perfect for me, but found out she was a Steelers fan, I’d NEVER marry her.”

Let that sink in for a moment. You mean to tell me that you’re willing to pass on Mrs. Right because she happens to be a fan of the team that’s beaten the crap out of your team for 20-plus years? If you were talking about Mrs. Right Now, I could maybe see it.

I said all this to simply say, live a little.

Sports is supposed to be a place to get away from the everyday stresses. They are a place to hide from reality and enjoy yourself.

If your weekend is “ruined” because the Buckeyes, Browns, or Cavs lost a game, you might want to take a step back and reevaluate where you are in life.

If Chris Perez blows a save and your first instinct is to tweet him, call him a horrible name, and wish death upon him, you need to get to the 480 bridge and jump. At that very moment, you’ll realize how unimportant sports is compared to the game of life.

The older you get, the more your temperament should change about sports. If you’re 22 and you want to have 50 beers and argue and spit at Browns Stadium, or whatever it’s called, have at it. Just know, I’m 31 and if I do that, get arrested, and make a trip to the slammer, I won’t have a job Tuesday.

So, guess what I’m going to do?

I’m going to let you call me every name in the book and watch the police escort you out of the stadium.

There’s a time and place to get upset about sports, but here’s something to think about: why do you get more upset about the outcome of the game than the players? It makes no sense to me. They’re living, breathing, and doing it, and yet, you’re more upset about the outcome than they are.

You should think about that when you’re wishing death upon Perez or turning down Mrs. Right who just happens to be a Steelers fan.

The post Cleveland Fanhood Questions appeared first on More Than A Fan.

More Than A Fan has lost it’s second Tweeter in June.

Damien Bowman is giving up Twitter for the month of June, and I’m joining him… sort of.

I am quitting Twitter until the Indians get back to .500.

It’s not just a slump-buster, although if it served as a slump-buster I certainly wouldn’t mind. I am done with Twitter because I am upset with the Cleveland fan-base, at this very moment.

Cleveland is supposed to have a tough-nosed, weathered, and loyal fan-base. We’ve experienced the lowest of lows, yet we survived and continued to love our teams anyways. Our passion is supposed to surpass that of any other city, even to a fault.

Lately, however, the Cleveland fan base has upset me greatly.

When did we become so whiny? When did we become so soft? When did we begin to give up so easily?

Cleveland fans on Twitter have seemingly given up, already, on two things that I can’t seem to understand.

First of all, the Indians. Two games under .500, 5 games out in the division, and the season is over. Never-mind that there are 100 games left. Never-mind that there are three months left. Never-mind that we have a two-time World Series winning manager.

The Indians are done, so they say.

Let me ask you a question, all of you Tribe “fans” that are “done”. Are you kidding me?

This team was built to compete now and in the near future.The Dolan’s didn’t spend the money just to spend it. He spent the money, brought in the players, and brought in the manager, to compete. You think that just because this team is struggling that he won’t continue to improve it? Even if the Indians continue to struggle, (and they won’t), this front office and ownership group is going to continue to add pieces to make this franchise a contender again.

So why would you be done? With so much time, so many possibilities, and so much fun left to be had? It baffles me. Of all the times to be fickle, and you seemingly never have, why now? Why on the cusp of a great summer?

I understand the frustration, but I can’t understand the quitting.

I know you’ve all heard this before, but keep this in mind. The Indians have a very easy schedule in July, August, and September. That’s when they’re going to compete. Not now. Not in the midst of a nine-game road trip to three of the toughest places to play in baseball. I wouldn’t expect them to win many games. The schedule-makers, while screwing us now, set us up for success near the end of the season. That’s when I expect us to pull within a couple of games of the AL Central and Wild Card. Ultimately, that’s the goal: to compete.

I don’t think anyone expected the Tribe to be World Series contenders this season. I, like many, thought that they could contend for the division and wild card, but they would ultimately fall short and miss the playoffs.

Next year, I fully expect them to compete for the World Series.

The expectations are what baffles me. Many of you expected the Tribe to be a .500 ballclub, and yet, at two games under, the season is over. You’re done. You’re in Milwaukee or Detroit for the rest of the season.

I don’t understand.

You can leave the bandwagon now, but their may not be room come August and September. I would advise, and hope, that you stay on.

The other thing that upsets me greatly about Cleveland fans lately, is the thoughts on the return of LeBron James.

There are those that want him back and those that don’t. I happen to be in the former category, but I can certainly understand the feelings of those in the latter.

What I don’t understand is the sentiment that LeBron James WON’T come back.

Again, I ask, are you kidding me?

Are you really tangled that deeply your cynical and pessimistic web that you are now blind to the facts?

LeBron James has been playing with a team that resembles his old Cavaliers in 2007. Dwyane Wade is a shell of his old self. Chris Bosh has become more like Zydrunas Ilgauskus than anyone would ever like to see. (Love you Big Z, no offense man.) Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, and Birdman are all about ready to hit the retirement home.

LeBron didn’t go to Miami to live the Miami lifestyle. LeBron went to Miami because that’s where Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh wanted to play. LeBron wanted to play with them, and that’s what brought him to Miami. You think that LeBron didn’t want to bring Wade and Bosh to Cleveland? You’re crazy.

Now that LeBron is seeing that Wade and Bosh weren’t as he expected, (not one, not two, not three…) he’s already planning his escape from South Beach.

The Cavaliers are, by far, his number one option, and why wouldn’t they be?

They have the number one pick in this year’s draft, some intriguing cap-space, and a gaping hole at the small forward position that LeBron could over-flow. The Cavaliers hold a special place in his heart, regardless of his “hatred” for Cleveland.

Yet, Cavs fans can’t see it. They are so blinded by their love-for-misery that they fail to see the facts. They remember their heart-break and will never trust again. What kind of life do you live if one heartbreak will deplete your trust in another human being? Not a very happy one, that’s for sure.

Of course, I shouldn’t compare your sporting interests to your reality, but more often than not, they mirror each other.

Yesterday, Nick Camino tweeted this:

Source close to LeBron James told me there is an “80% chance” that he returns to Cleveland. Take that for what it is.

— Nick Camino (@CaminoTribe) June 9, 2013

 

 

And it put Clevelanders in an uproar. Cleveland fans began attacking Camino. Saying that he did this just for ratings, (which don’t count on Sunday, might I add), mentions, and publicity.

 

@caminotribe that’s bad reporting out of you sir #whatvaluedidthatbring

— Jeremy sussel (@jsuss12) June 9, 2013

@caminotribe you’re pathetic

— Dominic (@Dmorales11) June 9, 2013

@caminotribe lmfaoo at u tryna get your dry ass mentions lived up on a Sunday. Live it up chile.

— KeishaKnightPullaman (@Shorty2222) June 9, 2013

 

 

They want to be miserable, so they don’t believe a word he says.

I listened to his show on WTAM 1100 after the Tribe game, and this is what he had to say:

“This individual is close to LeBron James. The person is in the know in LeBron’s camp. If I didn’t trust this person, I wouldn’t have tweeted about it, I wouldn’t risk my job, I wouldn’t risk my credibility. I’m not trying to get listeners, this is simply what I heard from someone with knowledge of LeBron’s future. Being the nice guy that I am, I figured I would share this with you.”

“When I got this news, I was surprised. I trust this person with my life.”

I trust Camino, and I don’t believe he would do this for personal gain. He’s been right about these things before, so I doubt that he would deliberately put this out there to throw fans in a frenzy.

I understand that LeBron is the most polarizing player of all-time, but I don’t understand how his return to Cleveland can cause such a negative uproar. Sure he betrayed us, but he was ignorant. He didn’t understand the heartache and humiliation he would cause. He didn’t understand that we wouldn’t understand. He made a mistake, but we all do.

Why not forgive? Why not try again? What’s the worst that happens?

He stays in Miami and doesn’t sign here. That’s the worst that happens.

Then, LeBron becomes the biggest villain in the history of sports. If he tempts us again and leaves us empty, the, THEN, all of your hatred towards him will be FULLY understood.

If he lures us in with all of this talk and then, at the last minute, leaves us at the alter, your hatred towards LeBron can bubble, boil, and flow through your veins. You can even spur that hatred towards me, the one who told you to give LeBron another chance.

That won’t happen. Either he’ll come back, or he’ll stay far, far away and let  us know that he’s staying far, far away.

I’m not going to debate on why you should want LeBron back, because you absolutely should, but I will implore you to believe that LeBron wants to come back.

Anything else is just ignorant.

As I ponder these two topics, I wonder. What happened? What happened to the greatest fan-base in sports?

The passion is still there, but when did we become like the people in Miami?

When did we star to arrive to the game late, and leave when there is still LOTS of hope at hand?

My Twitter profile says: Believeland: Believe in God. Believe in Christ. Belive in Family. Believe in Friends. Believe in Dreams. Believe in Cleveland.

That last part is what is missing. People say that Cleveland is “Believeland”, but who honestly believes anymore? When the going gets tough, Cleveland fans get going.

I know I believe. I will believe until the season is over, the game is over, or the play is over.

People need to start believing again, no matter how hard things get.

This is Believeland, not believe-until-it-gets-bad-land or believe-only-when-things-are-going-well-land.
Believe, no matter the circumstances, that Cleveland will prevail. Maybe a change in attitude could change the fortunes of this city.

Just believe fans.

What reason is there to not?

With your help, maybe this city can truly become Believeland.

The post What Happened to Believeland? appeared first on More Than A Fan.