Browns Win, Still Have A Pulse

The Cleveland Browns live for another week.

A loss on Sunday to Tampa Bay would have pretty much put the final nail into the coffin representing the 2022 NFL season, but because David Njoku made a tremendous catch to send the game into overtime and the defense kept Tom Brady off the scoreboard in overtime, the Browns won it in the last minute to go to 4-7.

Now, nothing is for certain because it’s the NFL and you know, “Any Given Sunday”, but with the woeful Texans coming up on the schedule Cleveland should be able to get to 5-7, and then it’s a matter of winning division games if Kevin Stefanski’s squad have any chance at a playoff spot.

Again, the odds are heavily stacked against them, but there still is a chance.

Cleveland was able to win because the Buccaneers decided not to run the ball, probably because they have Tom Brady. In the first half, they had success (most teams do) on the ground, not ended the game with only 96 yards, albeit on just 20 attempts. So, they averaged almost five yards per carry. It was a situation similar to the first 20 minutes of the Buffalo game until the Bills remembered the Browns can’t stop the ground game.

They were able to dial up pressure on Brady in the fourth quarter. Myles Garrett, who some feel (we do not) doesn’t get “important” sacks, came up with one and a half late in the game and also drew a penalty for an offensive lineman having his hands in Garrett’s face.

He came up big in this one for sure.

Oh, and by the way, he now has 68.5 sacks in 78 career games. Since we go by the ProFootballreference.com statistics, that puts him 4th on the team’s all-time list behind Bill Glass (94 games), Clay Matthews (232 games), and Jerry Sherk (147 games).

They won because Martin Emerson played a tremendous game, holding Mike Evans to just two catches for 31 yards.

Last week, Denzel Ward took Stefon Diggs out of the game against Buffalo. Could the defense be beginning to realize their best option is to play man-to-man on outside receivers?

And they won because Nick Chubb was, well, Nick Chubb, gaining 116 yards on 26 carries, including a big run on the game tying drive.

It pushed Chubb over 1000 yards for the four straight year. The last Cleveland runner to do that? Try the GOAT: Jim Brown. He’s now 4th on the Browns’ all-time list behind Brown, Leroy Kelly, and Mike Pruitt. It’s not a stretch to think he could be #2 by the end of next season if he stays healthy.

Cleveland has six games left and likely needs to win all six, or at least five, but then the tiebreakers become an issue, and the Browns don’t have a lot, if any, advantages there.

The three non-divisional games are at Houston (1-9-1), home vs. New Orleans (4-8) and at Washington (7-5). And remember, Deshaun Watson is back for next week. The Browns have the talent to win those games, but the question remains as to whether or not they can.

And of course, there are the three divisional games, with Cleveland already at 2-1 against the AFC North. We know from the past, all of those games will be a dogfight.

It has been a disappointing season to say the least, but now they have their franchise QB back, a guy they committed a boatload of money to, and a player we believe is a top five quarterback in the NFL.

Could the Browns run the table? Probably not, but they have a chance, something they wouldn’t have without Njoku’s catch, Chubb’s running, and a defense that stepped up.

Easing Concerns About Cavs, Mobley.

The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t taking anyone by surprise this season. Last year, coming off a 22 win campaign in the 2020-21 season, they got off to a fast start because perhaps opponents did not take them seriously.

They got into the “play in” tournament with 44 victories but lost both games to Brooklyn and Atlanta, thus not making it to a best of seven series.

This year, other teams are very aware of J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad making a 12-7 record to start the year more impressive. They’ve beaten Boston twice in hard fought overtime games, and that is half of the Celtics’ loss total.

We also have to remember the Cavs have also already been on one of their west coast trips this season, going 2-3 on the five-game trek. And they’ve also played Milwaukee twice, losing both times, and therefore have played four games, a little over 20% of their schedule against the two teams who reached the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference the last two seasons, and are the favorites to get there again this season.

Of course, when the wine and gold do lose a game, the “football mentality” of the city comes alive and there is panic and dismay in the air.

Friday night, the Cavs had a terrible third quarter against the Bucks and there were questions from social media about the team and the coach. Keep in mind, Cleveland was without three key players in their nine-man rotation–Kevin Love, Caris LeVert, and Lamar Stevens, and then Jarrett Allen hurt his hip in the second quarter and played just three minutes after.

Right now, the Cavaliers’ roster isn’t deep enough to sustain that many players being out, particularly one of their big men, as after Allen and Evan Mobley, there isn’t much depth.

Speaking of Mobley, we have seen some criticism of his progress in his second season. We feel that is ludicrous.

His minutes are up slightly, his shooting percentage has increased to 54.1% from 50.8%, his free throw accuracy is better (up to just under 71%) and his rebounding is also up slightly from 8.3 to 8.5. His scoring has decreased by a half a point per contest, down to 14.5, and that is a product of getting one less shot per game.

Let’s face it, the Cavs have more offensive weapons than they had last season, so there are less opportunities for Mobley offensively right now. We think as the season goes on, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell will get better finding the second-year pro where he prefers to get the ball, and his offensive numbers will go up.

That said, Mobley is still third on the team in shot attempts per game behind the two starters at guard.

He will also get stronger as he gets older, and that will help him on both ends of the floor. No reason for concern.

When Love and LeVert get back, the Cavaliers will have a better bench and adding two players who can contribute will greatly help production on both ends of the floor.

If anyone is worried about the Cavaliers, take a deep breath. They are handling things just fine.

A Brief Guide To Guardians Off-Season

Every baseball fan loves the off-season, at least the Hot Stove portion of it. It used to be the winter meetings would signal a bevy of trades and signings, but sadly, that has lessened over recent seasons because teams wait until the big free agents are signed before making deals.

When it comes to the Cleveland Guardians, a few things need to be remembered. First, the organization seems to have a new philosophy when it comes to hitting. They like guys who make contact, and preferably they want hitters who have decent strikeout to walk ratios.

Second, there is the payroll restriction. We know president Chris Antonetti has said the payroll will likely increase from 2022, but we would be stunned if the organization went out and signed someone like Aaron Judge. They made a long-term commitment to Jose Ramirez, so if a free agent would be inked, it will likely be no more than a three-year deal.

There are also some other organizational ideals that people need to remember when they look at possible moves. The Guardians value defense and handling the pitching staff at the catching position. If the guy can hit, that’s a bonus, but they better be able to block pitches and work well with the pitchers.

Since Yan Gomes was traded and Roberto Perez had his big year in 2019, offense has been absent at the position for Cleveland, and they don’t seem to care much. So, if they do go after a catcher via free agency or trade, it will be for someone who is solid defensively.

And yes, Oakland’s Sean Murphy, the guy wanted most by Guards’ fans, does check all of the boxes.

We’ve seen people talking about newly non-tendered Cody Bellinger, formerly of the Dodgers. Yes, Bellinger was the NL MVP in 2019, which coincidentally was his last good year in the big leagues. His batting averages since then? Try .239 in ’20, .165 in ’21, and .210 last year.

OPS? 789 in ’20, 542 in ’21, and 654 in 2022. And last season, he fanned 150 times with just 38 walks. He has a tremendously long swing, and again, it has been three years since he was a productive big leaguer.

Our guess is the Guardians have no interest in him. Plus, he’s a left-handed hitter and that doesn’t seem to be an area of need for Cleveland.

We think the Guards will be trading a starting pitcher this winter, but it will be curious to see if they will obtain an established starter from another team. According to our research, the last time Cleveland traded for or signed a starting pitcher who went straight into the rotation was when they traded for Derek Lowe in 2012, a year after they made a trade for Ubaldo Jimenez.

That’s a long time. Now, they have traded for other teams’ prospects and had them spend time in the minors or the bullpen before putting them in the rotation, but it’s been 10 years since they put someone from outside of the organization and made them a starter right away.

We think the Guards need to get a right-handed bat, and ideally that guy can play first base and the outfield. Again, we said ideally. The right-handed part is the bigger need, as really, the only power threat Cleveland has from that side of the plate is Oscar Gonzalez.

Our belief is Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will do something in December besides signing a defensive catcher like Luke Maile.

By the way, thank you to all of you who read Cleveland Sports Perspective. We are grateful to our readers, not just of the blog but our followers on social media. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day!

Another Frustration Rant About The Browns

The nightmarish season for the Cleveland Browns just keeps getting worse and worse.

Sunday, it appeared the Buffalo Bills wanted to throw and throw and throw some more early on, until they remembered the Browns’ defense can’t stop the run, and they proceeded to go with the ground game, rushing for 171 yards in a 31-23 defeat of Cleveland.

It’s the fifth time in the last seven games the Browns defense has allowed 160 or more yards on the ground. By the way, the average NFL team runs for a little over 120 yards, so Joe Woods’ defense is simply getting gashed in the running game.

We are saying this for the umpteenth time. If you cannot stop the run in the NFL, you are not going to win. It’s really that simple.

It feels like the entire organization has decided to exercise the Deshaun Watson trade and suspension as a built-in excuse for this season. The talk all year feels like “if we can just be competitive until Deshaun comes back”, as if their record would be erased when Watson steps on the field in Houston on December 4th.

Other teams around the league have put together decent records despite quarterback play worse than Cleveland has received from Jacoby Brissett this season.

We have seen some bloggers suggest that it is really about the 2023 season, which is pretty cavalier of the ownership and front office since they’ve never been to a Super Bowl and haven’t won an NFL Championship since 1964.

So, nothing has changed from the days where the Browns were like the sign in the bar: “Free beer tomorrow”.

It struck me after the game about Buffalo QB Josh Allen’s comment about being the Buffalo Bills, and that’s why they had to toughen up. There is no identity here, and right now, it feels like just one excuse after another.

In typical Cleveland tradition, fans and media alike want Kevin Stefanski replaced as head coach and another house cleaning to ensue. As we have stated, we think this would be the wrong move, but we understand the sentiment.

It would be great if Stefanski took some sort of action. We can’t see how letting Joe Woods and/or Mike Priefer remain at their coordinator jobs is a good idea. You can’t fire people after one bad game, and we get there are people out there who think that way.

However, it would signal to everyone that mediocrity or being unwilling to change will not be tolerated. And as someone pointed out to us, changing defensive coordinators would at least show if the problem were the scheme or the talent.

We have suggested that he give up play calling and join Woods in setting up the defense. That would show he is using leadership and taking accountability for the losing.

Right now, Stefanski appears stubborn, unwilling to admit there is a problem. Players see this as well, and that’s where the coach loses credibility with them. And once that happens, you have a problem in the locker room.

Remember, there are still seven games remaining. If things continue to go over the next seven like they have over the previous seven (1-6), no one will blame the ownership if they reviewed everything going on in Berea.

And despite what some think, another housecleaning would not be a good thing for the Cleveland Browns.

Wine And Gold Bench Not Getting It Done

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a red-hot start to the season. After losing their opener to Toronto, they reeled off eight straight wins, several of them without All-Star guard Darius Garland, who was poked in the eye in the first game of the season.

Everything was clicking for J.B. Bickerstaff’s crew, Cedi Osman got off to a great start shooting the three ball, Dean Wade scored a career high 22 points in a comeback win over New York. And they beat Boston on the road in overtime with Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert both scoring 41 points.

But on the west coast trip, the Cavs were going for win #9 and led the Clippers in the fourth quarter, but lost, starting a five-game losing streak that ended Friday night in a double overtime win over Charlotte.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get a victory after a long losing streak, and hopefully now that the wine and gold got back in the win column, they can right the ship. But some holes did spring up during the losing skein.

Jarrett Allen missed a couple of games with an ankle problem, and that exposed a size problem. Allen and Evan Mobley are a big reason Cleveland succeeds defensively (they are still 4th in defensive efficiency), but they are the only rim protectors on the roster.

With Allen in there, Mobley can get out an defend on the perimeter where his length bothers smaller players, as it did at the end of the first overtime Friday night against Terry Rozier.

The only other experienced interior big man is Robin Lopez, signed in the off-season as a free agent. Lopez is a seven footer, but is slow, and not really a shot blocker. And quite frankly, we don’t think he can be out there for 25 minutes a game if something happened to Allen or Mobley and they couldn’t play for a stretch of games.

Since the winning streak ended, the bench hasn’t provided much, meaning Bickerstaff has a very top-heavy roster.

They have four all-star caliber players in Mitchell, Garland, Allen, and Mobley, and two solid veterans in Kevin Love, who could be out for a while with a hairline fracture of his thumb, and LeVert, meaning the depth folks thought the Cavaliers had is no longer there.

As noted earlier, Osman and Wade had great starts to the season, but the former hasn’t been good lately and Wade has been hurt but followed up the 22 point game with a scoreless one. No doubt, Bickerstaff needs both to step up and provide production each and every night.

After not getting much time early in the season, Lamar Stevens has taken advantage of the injuries and has started to get minutes again, getting at least 29 in last three contests, averaging 9.3 points in those games. He’s solid and deserves to keep getting minutes, probably at the expense of Isaac Okoro who is really struggling, especially on the offensive end.

Raul Neto got playing time while Garland was out, but since the Cavs went west, he’s been AWOL.

That leaves Bickerstaff with six solid players, guys he can depend on every night. That’s not enough, particularly for a time with playoff aspirations.

The first thing that needs to happen is someone, notably Osman and Wade, need to step up, but it doesn’t have to be one of those two, they are just the most likely candidates. It could be Okoro too, but he seems to have lost confidence in his offensive game right now.

Maybe it’s a slump for the bench crew, or perhaps we were all just fooled by the eight-game winning streak. But if this team wants to avoid the play in tournament, they need depth that Bickerstaff can rely on.

Time for some players to step up

Cavs Could Use Another Big

Cleveland Cavaliers’ president of basketball operations Koby Altman has done a remarkable job of building the roster from ashes after LeBron James departed as a free agent.

After three dismal seasons, the Cavs returned to league relevance last season, and even after a four-game losing streak, the wine and gold are off to a solid start this year.

He drafted Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley and smartly got involved with the James Harden trade to Brooklyn, picking up Jarrett Allen in that transaction.

During the summer, he swung perhaps the league’s biggest trade, getting Donovan Mitchell from Utah in a package that included Sexton, giving the Cavaliers perhaps the NBA’s best starting backcourt.

One thing we would like to see an improvement on is the back end of the roster. After a fast start, the Cavs’ bench hasn’t contributed the past few games, getting only consistent minutes from veteran Kevin Love.

We understand Ricky Rubio and Love will eventually be the backbone of the reserves, and Rubio is likely out until January recovering from knee surgery. He will be a big boost to the second unit if he plays like he did last season before he was injured.

And hopefully, between Cedi Osman (continues to be wildly inconsistent), Isaac Okoro (great defender, but offensively is a mystery), and Lamar Stevens (doesn’t get enough playing time), J.B. Bickerstaff can find someone who can contribute on a nightly basis.

The depth at guard seems to be fine. Rubio will be back soon, and Caris LeVert, who is starting at small forward, can play there as well. But right now, the depth in the front court could be a problem as the season moves on.

Altman signed Robin Lopez as a free agent and he has played limited minutes, getting into just eight games, playing 75 minutes. And he’s really the only reverse behind Allen and Mobley who is a true inside player. When Allen is out of the lineup, like he has been the last two nights, the Cavs are severely limited.

Love rebounds very well, but isn’t a great interior defender any more.

Mobley struggled guarding Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns last Sunday and having to use him as a rim protector takes away his ability to guard on the perimeter.

We would also say Lopez is an upgrade over Ed Davis, but remember, last year’s squad also had Lauri Markannen, who could slide over to the power forward spot whenever Allen or Mobley were on the bench or out of action.

So, what we are really trying to say is the Cavs are operating one big man short.

Just being curious, but perhaps Cleveland could have packaged the three second round picks they had in the last draft to get another big guy, either in a deal with another team or trading back up in the first round, maybe Walker Kessler, who was taken at #22?

They did take 7’1″ Khalifa Diop from Senegal at #39, and he is averaging 5.7 and 3.8 rebounds in the EuroCup League. They also chose Isaiah Mobley (brother of Evan) at #49. He’s played in one game for the Cavs this season and will get most of his minutes in the G League this year.

And they took Australian Luke Travers at #56, and he’s scoring 7.8 points a game in the land down under.

Little to show for those three picks.

We know, we know, there is still plenty of time to revamp the roster before the trade deadline in February. Until then, there is no question the wine and gold are short on some size.

Hopefully, Allen and Mobley stay healthy.

Browns Seem To Lack Accountability, Toughness.

Let’s say this right off the top. We don’t want Kevin Stefanski fired.

We get that’s the knee-jerk reaction from fans every time the Cleveland Browns lose a football game, particularly when it is a blowout loss, like Sunday’s 39-17 beatdown by the Miami Dolphins, but many times it just the easy way out.

If the Browns are indeed run primarily by Paul DePodesta, GM Andrew Berry, and Stefanski, and we are sure they meet all the time, they should be “self-auditing” as to how they lead this organization going forward.

This isn’t to say the defense isn’t the biggest problem on this football team. You simply cannot win at any level if you can’t stop the run and the Browns can’t do it.

However, Stefanski isn’t a Dan Campbell or Mike Vrabel type of coach or leader. He’s not out of the Hollywood prototype of what a head football coach should be. However, everyone needs to remember he did play at the college level.

Stefanski’s style might be fine if he had players who were vocal leaders, but it doesn’t seem he does. His best offensive player, Nick Chubb, leads by example. The player who talks the most is a guard, Joel Bitonio. On defense, Myles Garrett is accessible, but most talks in cliches.

Now, we don’t know what happens in the locker room (and by the way, neither do many of the folks commenting on the Browns in the media).

Some people have said the Browns have no identity, and we think it could be because they seem to be very reactive.

The Browns should be a running team, particularly with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. But if the other team put eight or nine in the box, Cleveland throws it, and throws it some more.

We would love it if Stefanski called plays with the confidence of you know what, we are going to run it anyway. For Nick Chubb to get just 11 carries (as he did Sunday) in a game where he is healthy for all four quarters is unacceptable.

At times we think if Stefanski were coaching the Kansas City Chiefs, he would think to himself, the other team knows Patrick Mahomes is going to throw, so we have to run it a lot.

Andy Reid doesn’t think that way. No head coach should.

Same on defense. Our thought during the Dolphins game was if you know the opponent has great talent and you are just going to line up and rush four and play zone coverage, you are going to get beat. You need to do something that gets the Miami offense out of rhythm.

We can’t remember many plays, if there were any, where the Browns sent more than four rushers at Tua Tagovailoa. We also can’t recall Myles Garrett being moved around as to where he lined up. It doesn’t seem give the defense the best chance to succeed.

We wrote after the Bengals game that we learned the Browns were capable of playing that way defensively, so the expectations were increased. But maybe the defensive coordinator felt increased job security, so he reverted to what had been done in the past. It didn’t work then, and it didn’t work Sunday.

It seems like the organization lives in fear at times. Can’t admit mistakes on draft picks (they’ve cut just one in the Berry regime), can’t attack defensively because they might give up a big play, can’t stick with the strength of the team’s offense.

There can be a thing as being too smart for your own good. Maybe the Browns are stuck in that, and they need to remember this is football, a tough physical sport.

In the end, it’s another loss year for the fans, still waiting for a Super Bowl berth.

Cavs’ Bench Needs To Shake The Doldrums

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a promising start to their trip to the west, winning in Detroit (yes, it’s west) without Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell and beating the Lakers.

They had fourth quarter leads in every other game, but lost the last three, and come home tonight to face Minnesota.

The Cavs have played eight of their first twelve games away from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, and now five of the next six are in town, which helps immensely as the wine and gold have won all four games held there.

An old NBA adage tells us bench players play better at home and that was certainly true for J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad on the trek, as really only Kevin Love gave him quality minutes consistently.

Of course, Love’s a veteran, a guy who has started most of his career, so it’s not surprising he plays well no matter where the game is, he’s averaging 12 points and 7.7 rebounds a game.

Cedi Osman averaged 15.5 points per game on red hot shooting (52% from the floor, 9 of 19 from three) in the first four games. Since then, he’s made just 14 of 39 (36%) and just 8 of 26 three-point shots, scoring in double figures just once, the blowout win in the Motor City.

Dean Wade started while Garland was out with his eye injury and scored 22 points, a career high, in the win against the Knicks at home. He missed the last game of the trip, but in the four games he played, he scored 11 points, including a zero against Detroit.

And then there is Isaac Okoro, who’s confidence looks shattered right now, missing two-point blank layups against Golden State Friday night. He’s made just 9 of 32 shots from the floor, missing all 12 three point shots. He even put up a six trillion (playing six minutes without any other entry in the box score) vs. the Kings.

In the last four games of the roadie (he did have 9 points vs. the Pistons), he scored seven points on 1 of 8 shooting in 47 minutes, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists.

When three of your four primary substitutes are playing like that, it’s difficult to win.

At what point does a concern become a problem though.

As we said earlier, five of Cleveland’s next six contests are at home, so the second unit has an opportunity to straighten out the issue. But if they don’t start playing well, what are the options?

One would seem to be putting Wade back in the starting lineup and bringing LeVert off the bench. Not that the latter has done anything wrong, it would simply be putting another scorer with that group. Doing this would also give the starters a bit more size.

As for Okoro, we don’t know what the solution is. Defensively, he is still excellent, contributing greatly to the win against New York with his effort on that end of the floor.

On offense, he appears lost right now. As mentioned earlier, he’s lost whatever confidence he ever had offensively. At times when he is passed the ball, it looks like he can’t get rid of it fast enough. Defenses are ignoring him, and it puts a burden on the offense when you are basically playing 4 on 5.

We’d also like to see more of a 10 man rotation to limit minutes on the starters, particularly Mitchell, who currently leads the NBA in that category. Raul Neto has done a solid job when used, so why not use him?

We understand it’s still early, but we are sure Bickerstaff hasn’t liked the last three games. Home cooking will help, but so will better effort by bench.

How The Guards Handle Their Prospects Will Be Interesting

The Cleveland Guardians have one of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball, and that’s after they graduated players like Steven Kwan, who is a finalist for American League Rookie of the Year, and Oscar Gonzalez.

While this bodes very well for the future, how the front office handles the glut of young players who should be ready to be in the big leagues over the next couple of years should be very interesting.

Some teams with great farm systems trade a number of their prospects for an All-Star type player. Think about the Cardinals trading for Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado. However, the Guardians don’t seem to operate that way, being averse to long-term, high-priced contracts.

Let’s look at the shortstop position for the Guards. Amed Rosario is the incumbent, and certainly was a big contributor to the 2022 Central Division title team, batting .283 (715 OPS). He is arbitration eligible and can be a free agent in 2024.

The organization also has Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, both of whom spent most of the season at AAA, but did play in the bigs, and the player we believe is the future for the organization in Brayan Rocchio, who hit 18 HR and knocked in 64 runs with a 755 OPS at Columbus and Akron.

Now Rocchio probably won’t be ready for the bigs until 2024, but what will Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff do with Rosario, Arias, and Freeman? One of them could change position or be a utility infielder, we did see Arias play 1B in the playoffs, but does the other go back to AAA? And if that happens, doesn’t that block Rocchio?

The same situation exists in the outfield where Will Brennan is knocking on the door. Terry Francona could use the outfield spots and DH in a rotation, but that would preclude the front office from getting a power bat that could play a corner outfield spot, and perhaps first base as well.

And we haven’t mentioned George Valera, who is likely on the same timetable as Rocchio. The soon to be 22-year-old hit .250 with 24 homers and 82 ribbies (816 OPS) between AA and AAA this past season and could be ready sometime during the ’23 campaign.

We haven’t mentioned the pitching staff because the top prospects, Daniel Espino, Gavin Williams, and Tanner Bibee aren’t considered candidates to make the big-league roster to open the season, but we could definitely see one or more of them making a start in the second half of the ’23 season.

And we didn’t mention the hurlers who came up last year to help: Hunter Gaddis, Xzavion Curry, and Konnor Pilkington, nor did we say Peyton Battenfield, who went 8-6 with a 3.92 ERA at Columbus.

It’s easy to give these young players a shot on a non-contending club, but the Guardians made the post-season and were baseball’s youngest team in 2022.

This isn’t to say, there still isn’t room for improvement. We have said before it before, standing pat would be the wrong thing to do. But it will be interesting to see how Antonetti and Chernoff handle this situation.

Most organization would trade three or four of the prospects for a big-time talent, but we don’t see that as an option for Cleveland. That isn’t to say the payroll won’t increase, but the philosophy of the front office isn’t to have many long-term, big money deals on the books.

Looking At The Way Sports Are Covered Today

You hear this on sports talk shows and on social media after games. Fans wondering why reporters, both print and broadcast media, don’t ask the manager or coach tough questions about the contest. The answer is quite simple. Covering sports in today’s age has changed greatly.

First, the man in charge generally isn’t going to call out a player in the media, so asking about a player making a key mistake or not putting out the best effort is fruitless. The question will be asked, so the reporter doesn’t lose his credibility, but he knows the inquiry will not be answered. The only time the manager or coach will do it is if the player is on his way out of town.

And we have seen cantankerous relationships between teams and reporters who persist in asking questions the organizations do not want to address. Quite frankly, those reporters are trying to do their job, but on the other hand, they can’t without the cooperation of the team they cover.

It’s a chicken or the egg problem.

From a national standpoint, each of the major professional sports leagues have their own network, so listen closely to hear anything negative about any team or any sport.

NBA TV is mostly a pure lovefest. They focus on the individual great plays and not really on teams until the playoffs. We feel this is a reaction to the younger fans of basketball, who are fans of individual players more than teams.

The MLB Network has followed this formula as well. They will show a player belting a 450-foot home run, ignoring that his team lost, and he struck out in his other three at bats.

Both networks cater to the bigger markets. We tuned in to NBA TV after the Cavaliers knocked off Boston on the road, only to listen to the panel discuss the winless Lakers for 15 minutes. As for baseball, their network barely mentioned the Guardians all year until they made the post-season.

Locally, both the Guardians and Cavaliers have their own broadcasts of most games, and the announcers and pregame hosts are partners with the teams. This isn’t necessarily totally a bad thing, because you do get a lot of insight fans would not have received in the old days.

Both Andre Knott for the Guardians and Serena Winters for the Cavs seem to have developed great relationships with the players and therefore, viewers have seen the personality of the players, which helps fans of the team relate.

Just don’t expect them to ask “hard hitting” questions. That’s not their jobs.

There are also “influencers” on social media to talk up the teams and present favorable points of view on both the players and entire organization. Just another way for them to get their message out there. For example, we saw a number of comments from the Cavs’ group during training camp talking about how good Isaac Okoro is, and getting excited about Mamadi Diakite.

There is nothing wrong with this, however, folks listening, or reading should be aware of where the content is coming from.

It’s really nothing new. In the old days when newspapers were in their heyday, it has been said several star players had reporters as “mouthpieces”. Ford Frick, who eventually became the Commissioner of Baseball, was said to have served that function for Babe Ruth in the 1920’s.

Of course, Frick was the man who put the asterisk on Roger Maris’ 61 homers in 1961 because the season had expanded to 162 games. But we are sure there wasn’t a conflict of interest there.

It’s just a different day and age these days. Each sport and each team try to control the message. That’s nothing new. However, credibility should be questioned by the person consuming the message.

That’s a whole different problem in society. Thinking for yourself.