Taking a Twin from the Twins

Did you hear that sound? That was Minnesota's 2009 playoff aspirations disappearing thanks to the Indians taking two of three from them at Progressive Field this weekend.

Game 1
The first of several well-pitched games by Tribe starters came courtesy of Jeremy Sowers, who has put together a pretty good season (4.78 ERA), especially since the All-Star break. Sowers went six, giving up just two runs, and our suddenly-bulletproof bullpen (Veras, Sipp, Wood) pitched three perfect innings to seal a 5-2 victory. The Tribe finally broke through for three in the third off of Twin starter Carl Pavano (yes, the Carl Pavano), aided by one offour Twin errors. They tacked on single runs in the 6th and 7th for the final margin, though only three of their five tallies were earned.

Game 2
Thanks to Fox's stupid blackout rules, this one was radio-only, and boy was it dull. Minnesota took this one 4-1 behind Scott Baker, who absolutely dominated Cleveland in this game and for the season, posting a 0.93 ERA against the Wahoos in four starts. Andy Marte's solo shot was Cleveland's only tally. Justin Masterson had a solid start, allowing just two runs (one was unearned), though the bullpen leaked a couple more through.

Rafael Perez is completely untrustable at the moment. We really cannot use him in high-leverage or, in fact, any-leverage situations. He came on in this game with two on and two outs, committed a balk, walked a guy, and gave up a drive to the warning track that would have been 20 rows back in Yankee Stadium. Then he yielded a double to the leadoff guy in the next frame. Ugh.

Game 3
I raised my in-person record to a sparkling 4-9 by watching this one from the Mezzanine, a 3-1 come-from-behind win for the Tribe. David Huff pitched a weirdly effective game, giving up just one run on two hits (back-to-back singles, of course) over seven frames. He had a lot of trouble with the strike zone (57 strikes, 50 balls), but must have been keeping the Twins off-balance because he got a lot of them out.

Neither team collected a hit until the 4th, and the Twinkies notched their run in the 5th. Cleveland tied it on a Jhonny Peralta RBI single in the 6th, and took a 2-1 lead in the 7th on a play that ESPN describes as:

M Brantley singled to right, L Valbuena scored, M Brantley to second advancing on throw.

What actually happened was Brantley hit an RBI single, got caught in a rundown (because, unlike Brantley earlier, Minnesota's outfielder actually hit his cutoff man), and somehow extricated himself from it and landed on second base. It's been a while since I saw a guy beat a rundown in the Majors! Asdrubal Cabrera rewarded his effort, foolhardy as it was, with an RBI double for the game's final margin, as Sipp and Wood slammed the door on the Twins.

Four things marred an otherwise nice day at the ballyard:
1) The street maniac on E 9th yelling at people on my way to the park to repent or face hell. Get out of my face, crazy.
2) The aggressive fireman outside Local Heroes collecting for muscular dystrophy. He started calling out this one guy who was with a girl, saying to her "you can see what kind of boyfriend material you have here, if he's a good guy and gives to charity" and "I know you can hear me," and not in a funny sort of way. Fuck you, Fireman Fred. You have no idea what that guy does with his money. Maybe he already gave to MD or some other charity. Maybe he filled the boot yesterday. Regardless, you have no business harassing fans and trying to guilt them into donating. I would never, ever give that man money.
3) The "Wonder Girls", this random girl singing group featured between a few innings. What does this have to do with anything?
4) People applauding super-loud flyovers from the Cleveland Noise Show being held at Burke Lakefront Airport this weekend. Why are we cheering loud planes again?


The Tribe now sits at a robust 60-76, just one game back of Toronto for 7th in the Wild-Card chase. This upcoming series against Texas is interesting because Texas is three back of Boston for the Wild Card, and like any decent human, I want the Red Socks to watch this year's postseason from their couches. So, I'll enjoy Tribe victories as they come, but if they lose, it was for a good cause.

Monday, 6:05 RHP Hunter (7-3, π) vs RHP Carrasco (0-1, 18.00)
Tuesday, 7:05 RHP McCarthy (6-2, 4.61) vs LHP Laffey (7-4, 3.36)
Wednesday, 12:05 Feldman (15-4, 3.62) vs RHP Carmona (3-9, 6.08)

Go Tribe!

The Downtown report

To celebrate the opening of football season (the amateur part of it, anyway) I'm going to use my 7th straight FCF post for a little downtown report action.

The Weather
This time of the year is just splendid here in Northeast Ohio for those who enjoy spending time outdoors. Last year was particularly pleasant - I'm hoping for a repeat in 2009. I've had the chance to do some bike commuting the past few days, and I'm looking forward to some nice weekend morning runs as the leaves start to turn colors. I wish we had three months like these instead of the stupid long winter.


The Tribe
I don't really have an angle here for the Indians. Obviously we're playing for 2010 and 2011 at this point, so your perspective all depends on how much you enjoy watching prospects break in at the major league level, playing games that aren't terribly meaningful. Baseball will pretty quickly become a mid-week sports diversion for me between weekend football games.

I was out for a run yesterday near Progressive Field, when a scalper demanded of me: "You buying, or selling?" Note the comma - he asked it as if these were my only two options. "Running," I responded.

I like the new kids on the Tribe - I'm excited for the newest Indian, Michael Brantley, to get some playing time. He's good good speed, defense, and plate discipline; if he can start getting on-base at a .370 clip or so, we can lead him off, drop Grady Sizemore a spot or two, and be even stronger on offense. Speaking of Grady - it's about time they shut him down. Can we shut down Tomo Ohka too?

One thing I joke about that the Tribe broadcasters say is, whenever a hitter falls into an 0-2 count, they always say "the count quickly 0-2 on so-and-so." Underwood does this every time; I heard Pawlowski say it last night as well. Why "quickly"? It always takes exactly two pitches to reach an 0-2 count. Just once, I want to hear them say that the count "slowly" hit 0-2, or did so "at a normal pace."

One more baseball-related note; I saw that Boston's Jonathan Papelbon was fined $5000 for pitching too slowly. Maybe he can slowly get a count to 0-2? Apparently it's the 5th time he's been warned/fined, leading him to say this:

"If I have to get my agent involved and see if there are other guys doing the same thing I'm doing and not getting fined, then I have a case. If I don't, then I don't."

How about pitching faster, you dummy?


The Cavs
ESPN's Bill Simmons had a good idea about sports reporting, wherein once a story is initially broken, no one should report further on it unless something new develops. Like the yearly Brett Favre story; once it's established that he's mulling a comeback, we don't need any news until he decides one way or the other. Or the Browns QB situation: once we know it's undecided, no reporting is needed until a decision is announced.

Where am I going with this? Let's apply this rule to LeBron's contract situation. Yes, he's a free agent at the end of the year. Until he signs a new deal, nothing need be written on the matter. Thanks for your time.


The Buckeyes
As I write this, I'm sitting comfortably in my living room watching them finish up a fairly weird 31-27 win over the US Naval Academy.

This just in: Terrelle Pryor is good. Fun fact: he was named the Big Ten's preseason player of the year by sportswriters, yet was somehow not named the Big Ten's preseason offensive player of the year. Huh? Granted, preseason best-of teams are inherently worthless and stupid, but this is just absurd.

Kurt Coleman: also good. His forced fumble helped the Bucks build the late lead that they mostly coughed up, and he followed it up with a nice diving interception on the following Midshipmen possession.

Could have done without that 99-yard Navy drive. And the 85-yard TD pass. Don't get beat deep when you're up 15, dummy. Anderson Russell needs to run some laps. Also: the TD drive after that was not cool.

Brandon Saine almost got his head ripped off and no face mask was called. I've rarely seen such an obvious and dangerous penalty call missed.

Aaron Petrey missed an extra point minutes after nailing a 52-yard field goal. Sounds about right. In other extra-point shenanigans, OSU returned a Navy 2-point conversion attempt for a TD, earning themselves 2 points in one of college football's most bizarre and arbitrary rules. It sounds so made-up.

I went downstairs at halftime to get some pretzels, sporting an OSU t-shirt. There were two guys in the elevator - one of them, sporting some local baseball league t-shirt, was apparently a Michigan fan. He sort of scoffed at my shirt, hummed Michigan's dumb fight song, and blurted "go blue" as we parted. I pretended like he wasn't there. Michigan, as you'll recall, went 3-9 last year and has dropped 5 straight to the Bucks, including last year's 42-7 shelling. Sorry, elevator michigan douchebag - you're not worth my attention.


The Browns
I'm ready, ready, ready for the season to start. Who wants to spend Sundays sober?

Dog Sled Racing is AWESOME!

A while back, I wrote a post about a fairly ridiculous list published by ESPN's Rick Reilly of what he considered to be The 10 Best Sporting Events to See Live. Basically, I went through each of his choices and pointed out how odd they were and how weird his supporting arguments were. One of his selections was the Iditarod, Alaska's famous dog sled race. Here's what my original article says (Reilly's text is in bold, my response is in normal font):

[Begin quote]
9. Iditarod -- Whenever somebody tells me the Iditarod is cruel to dogs, I answer, "I agree, the dogs left at home." You should hear them howl when they're not picked for the team. This is the hardest event to watch. I once had to bribe an ex-Vietnam pilot to fly me to a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, where we landed in a half-plowed field and were picked up by an Inuit on a snowmobile pulling a sled. Try to be in Nome at the end. One bar almost always has a ladies' arm wrestling contest. Trust me, you'd lose.
This doesn't make any sense the second time through, either.
[End quote]

Reilly is saying this is a somehow a good event to attend, and I'm saying that his paragraph is nearly incoherent. Seems straightforward, no?

So I was surprised today to find a long rambling anti-dog-sled comment posted to my column. Click the link to see it - it's at the bottom of the list.

Did you read it? That's OK if you didn't - Margery Glickman, Director of the Sled Dog Action Coalition, didn't read my article before spamming me with her stupid comment either. I never said anything even vaguely pro-dog-sledding - I don't even like dogs and I still think racing animals is really awful - yet Glickman thought it appropriate to leave her unnecessarily gross manifesto as a comment. Maybe she didn't catch the part where the bolded text wasn't my writing? More likely is that she was just trolling around looking for anything people had written about dog sledding just to be able to tactlessly push her viewpoint on people. It's hard work being that overly strident; sometimes you just don't have the time to actually read or think about what you're doing.

If you click on the link of the user who left the comment ("Sled Dog Action Coalition"), it takes you to a "blog" authored by the group that contains only a single two-line post linking to their homepage. Look, Margie, that's not a blog. It's not anything. It's clutter.

So, Margery Glickman, illustrious high commander of the SDCA, if you're still perusing the blogosphere for any mention of dog-sledding and come across this article and actually read it this time: keep your propaganda to yourself. Otherwise, you will be hearing from my lawyer. I'm kidding, I don't have a lawyer. Why would I have a lawyer?

As a note to other FCF readers, I titled this article as I did in part to bait the SDAC into reading my criticism of them, and also as a test to see if they actually read anything. If I get the same form letter as a comment again, I think we can conclude that they don't actually read anything. And now we wait.

Swept by the Tigers

Can't say that I had a real good feeling as the Indians headed into a three-game set at Comerica, and it seems I was right. Cleveland has been playing over their heads for a while, but Detroit has something to play for and their home mark (45-22, .672) is vastly better than their road mark (27-39, .409). The Indians got swept, losing a couple of close ones to a good team. Life goes on.

Game 1
An 8-5 Tribe loss was notable mostly for the inauspicious debut of Carlos Carrasco, who yielded 6 runs in just 3 innings of work. Blah. We did collect 5 doubles and yet another Andy Marte home run, but it was not enough after the Tigers' early scoring binge. I'm still interested to see how Carrasco performs in his remaining few starts this year.

Game 2
This 4-2 loss was notable mostly because the Indians made 5 errors, including 3 by Johnny Peralta, 2 of which came on one comical play. Hey, we scored as many earned runs (2) as Detroit!

Game 3
Prior to this game, indians.com displayed the following teaser:

The Indians will be looking to improve their offense and defense for the finale against the Tigers

Isn't every team looking to improve their offense and defense every game? Anyway, the Tribe trailed 3-0 before notching 3 runs in the 8th to tie it. Rafael Perez came in to "pitch" the 10th and got no one out except for the game-winning sac fly, as the Tribe fell 4-3. What a season for that guy.

Next up is a three-game home set against the Twins, who now trail Detroit by 5 full games in a terribly uninteresting divisional race.

Go Tribe!

Ten Points: Titans/Browns

With Nick sidelined by laziness and basking in the glow of his triathlon success, I'm taking over his popular "10 Points" series to recap the Browns' 23-17 win over the Titans, which I attended along with Nick and his Dad. Needless to say, my style is a bit different.

1) Living in the past
At Cleveland Browns Stadium, Nick was sporting a Kosar jersey and his Dad a Garcia. Neither Kosar nor Garcia currently plays for the Cleveland Browns. Yet these gentlemen had the nerve to mock a fellow wearing a jersey of current Brown and PRO BOWL QUARTERBACK Derek Anderson.

2) Speaking of quarterbacks currently on the roster
The notion that Quinn "moved ahead" of Anderson because he threw a TD pass in this game is ridiculous. Mangini and the coaching staff have two years of Anderson at the helm, Quinn's college career and brief pro output, financial and roster considerations, and hundreds of practice reps on which to base a decision, and you think this competition is decided by one slant pass just because you happened to see it? Come on. Quinn's been the guy for months and this QB competition thing is a sham. But if you want to think that one pass was the clincher, be my guest.

3) Vince Young's interception returned for a TD by Alex Hall
Ghastly.

4) Block that kick!
I'll never stop wondering how much teasing he gets for being named "Robaire," but considering his size I suppose it wasn't too much. Nice extension on the block there.

5) Your receivers
Suddenly, this situation doesn't look as dire as it once did. If Braylon can actually catch a few passes that hit him on his hands, Cribbs continues to develop, and Furrey is the 3rd-down possession guy he appears to be, you've got at least a semblance of a receiving corps. Have you noticed how Cribbs uses his hands to catch the football and doesn't jump for chest-level balls? Plus, you've got Massaquoi and Robiskie to step in as well.

6) Your defense
Still not good. We didn't get pushed around like against the Packers, even without Shaun Rogers, but don't forget that these guys are going to give up a lot of points this season. They just are.

7) The Stadium
It was surprisingly fun to attend a pre-season game, even though it was super-windy and the clouds looked like they did during Morpheus' "scorched the sky" speech in The Matrix. Sitting there in some unusually chilly August wind, I wondered: has anyone thought to turn a home field with adverse winter conditions into an advantage by employing a strong defense and a mistake-free offense with a strong rushing attack? Oh, right, everyone in the Northeast has already done that except for the clubs in Ohio.

8) James Davis
Where do I sign up?

9) Rod Hood.
Say goodbye to the newest Chicago Bear. Too bad he couldn't take Abram Elam with him.

10) You play to win the game!
I know, I know, preseason results don't matter, the Lions went 4-0 last year, blah blah blah.

But it does matter, as I wrote last year, at least a bit. You have to win at least one preseason game, otherwise history suggests your odds of making the playoffs are very slim. The Browns took a donut in last year's preseason and ended up 4-12; they went 3-1 in exhibition in 2007 and posted a 10-6. This isn't a strong correlation league-wide, but it is a correlation nonetheless. The Browns, for their part, have typically won a couple of preseason games and sucked in the regular season the past few seasons, but what I'm saying is that a degree of preseason success is necessary, not sufficient.

Most important in the preseason is avoiding injuries; second-most important is looking professional. I think in the past two games we can say the Browns have made strides in that latter department. I can live with it if Cleveland has another crummy season simply because our talent level is low, as long as beer and TV's continue to exist. But if we go 4-12 again because of cheap penalties, inept clock management, needless turnovers, and other foolishness, my patience as a fan will be stretched to the limit once again.

These past two games have given me some hope that our only real problem will be the low level of talent currently on the Cleveland roster, and bad teams that play smart have been known to win a couple of games here and there.

FCF at the races: Erie

The FCF racing team's 2009 triathlon season came to a close on a rainy day at Presque Isle this past Saturday. I think both athletes are reasonably pleased with the way 2009 turned out; Nick medaled in 3 of the 4 events and was a consistent top-20 finisher, while I battled back from a May knee surgery to best my 2008 performances and notch my first International distance race.

The weather was poor at last year's race, and very nearly as bad this year. The rain came down steadily in the morning and picked up as we neared the start of the race. This meant some significant, though not serious, waveage in the bay. The swim was longer and more difficult than last year, but the chief problem was that Nick and I got tossed in with about eleventy-thousand other yellow-capped athletes at the start. The organizers could certainly add another wave to thin out the swimming herd we dealt with in this race. Frustrated with all the contact and fog, I ditched my goggles about 2/3 in for better visibility. Consider that it took me more than half the time to do this "600 m" that it took me to do 1500 m the week before, and I couldn't see anything there either. Nick was out in 11:29 and I emerged near the middle of the pack at 15:59.

Anyway, the rain was still at it when we got on the bicycles for 20.8 km, but the course remained flat and fast. I was passed only by the overall winner and managed to fish a bunch of people who apparently didn't have the same issues as me in the water. I cruised in at 34:57 for a career-high 24 mph; Nick also posted a 32:26 for a PR velocity of 25.8 mph. The winner's average was near 30 mph!

The run wasn't as fun as last year because they moved it from the multipurpose train to the road and a paved trail. Eh. Not a real inspiring run course, but oh well. Nick knocked out the run in 23:59 (7:03 miles), while I posted a hugely disappointing 28:06. I ran 8:23 miles in a 10K after more swimming and bicycling on a tougher course six days ago and here I come out with 8:16 miles? Lame. There was at least some excitement; near the finish line, Nick informed me that the end was just 100 m away, and I had enough left to sprint past the two people in front of me.

So, I ended up in 91st (81st, not including teams) with a total time of 1:21:12, while Nick claimed 19th (15th minus teams) at 1:10:10 to earn 3rd place in his division. I did by far the best in the bike, claiming 153rd, 59th, and 91st among individuals in the three events. Nick again posted consistent quality, at 24th, 21st, and 20th. We were both off our 2008 times in the run and swim, but I chalk that up to course differences.

I'd like to do this course on a half-decent day some time. Of course, now it's blue skies in Cleveland.

The tris are done for the season, but there are still some races to be run. I'm looking at the Great Race in Zeptember, the Towpath half-marathon in Rocktober, and perhaps the Kickoff Classic before OSU destroys Michigan once again in November.

Good baseball against bad teams

At the start of this past week, the Tribe found themselves with a better record than just two of their American League competitors, Kansas City and Baltimore. Naturally, they thought, hell, let's take a road trip and play both of them! And so it was, as Cleveland continued their strong post-All-Star-break run of baseball by taking 2 of 3 from the Royals and splitting a 4-game set from the Orioles.

I have no intention of writing a recap for seven games, so I think a brief note on each series and game will suffice.

Kansas City Royals
Only San Diego's -148 run differential is worse than KC's -142, but at least Royal fans can take solace in the fact that the Royals sport neither hideous camouflage nor preposterous all-gold ("sand") uniforms. There's something to be said for dignity, even during your 83rd straight losing season.

Game 1
I was just about ready to pass out at the wheel of my car headed north to Cleveland when Luis Valbuena's three-run blast off of KC closer Joakim Soria in the 8th gave the Tribe a 7-5 lead that they would parlay into a 10-6 opening-game win. Did YOU think Valbuena was going to be this solid this soon? Me neither.

Game 2
Zack Greinke absolutely buzzsawed his way through the Tribe lineup, to the tune of 15 K's in 8 innings, powering the Royals to a 4-2 victory. Andy Marte's gigantic 6th-inning home run was more comic relief than anything. I mean, our whole lineup can't touch this guy and suddenly Marte jacks one 400 feet? Good times.

Game 3
I dunno, we scored 4 runs and they only got 2, so we won the game and the series. Not much exciting here, just a well-played victory. Good thing we waited so long to call up Matt LaPorta.


Baltimore Orioles
My friend Mister X put it best when this game came on: "Hey look, two teams who used to be in Major League Baseball."

Game 1
My second game-winning Tom Hamilton home run call of the week came courtesy of none other than...wait for it...Andy Marte, who seems to have developed some comfortability at the plate as he gets consistent playing time. Trailing 4-3 with two down and nobody on in the top of the 9th, LaPorta singled up the middle and Marte followed him with a home run to left on a 3-2 count. I thought FOR SURE it was going to be one of Hammy's fake warning-track excitement calls, but it was the real deal. A cheap infield hit and a bad call helped Baltimore mount a threat in the 9th, but Kerry Wood got a big K to preserve the 5-4 Tribe win.

Game 2
Bad Fausto and Bad Bullpen both decided to make appearances in Saturday's game, a 13-4 whipping at the hands of the Orioles. Hey, sometimes even mediocre teams playing improbably good baseball get routed.

Game 3
Well, OF COURSE we won another game thanks to a home run by Marte. This time it was a three-run job that put the Tribe up 4-2 after a long, soggy rain delay. Cleveland hung on for a 5-3 win, as Chris Perez collected his first Major League save. I really, really enjoy watching Perez pitch - I've almost totally repressed my memories of Jose Veras.

Game 4
I slept through a lot of this, and, apparently, so did the Indians in a 5-2 loss. Justin Masterson yielded one bad 4-run inning and that was basically the ballgame. Marte and LaPorta each had their 10-game hit streaks snapped.

After the dust settled, the Indians now stand at 58-72. They were, at one point, 36-57, meaning they're enjoying a respectable 22-15 stretch. Importantly, they're doing it with young, exciting players who figure into their plans for the next few years like Valbuena, Perez, Cabrera, Masterson, and LaPorta.

The road trip concludes with a sturdier test, as the Tribe head to Detroit for 3 against the Tigers. I, for one, am intrigued for the MLB debut of Carlos Carrasco on Tuesday. Well, more than I am for Carmona's start, anyway.

Tuesday: RHP Carrasco vs RHP Edwin Jackson (10-6, 2.96)
Wednesday: LHP Aaron Laffey (7-3, 3.40) vs RHP Rick Porcello (11-8, 4.27)
Thursday: RHP Carmona (3-9, 6.20) vs LHP Nate Robertson (1-1, 6.84)

Go Tribe!

FCF at the races: Lorain

The third installment of the FCF racing team's 2009 season took place this past Sunday at Lakeview Park in Lorain, for the 7th running of the Lorain Triathlon. As usual, Nick took home some hardware while I took home some vaguely injured body parts. Good times!

The weather all morning was ominous, with clouds big and dark enough that it you saw them in a movie you'd balk at their obvious symbolism and heavy-handedness. It seemed unlikely that we'd get through the race without some precipitation, (even though it's sparkling Downtown as I write this) and we indeed did not. The cloud omen proved true in another way, as upon opening Nick's trunk we discovered that his bike tire had developed an incurable (for us) flat, marking the third time in six triathlons his bike has experienced a pre-race deflation. We've nicknamed his cycle "The Red Devil" in honor both of former Tribe manager Charlie Manuel (given that moniker during his playing days in Japan) and reflecting its evil influence.

Fortunately, this quick-thinking blogger realized that, since the International race (in which I was participating) started 18 minutes after the first Sprint wave (which included Nick), and since I am not a particularly fast swimmer, that Nick could do his swim and bike and return my fully armed and operational battle-cycle to the transition area before I emerged from the water. Hence the photo above of my bike with a league-leading two race numbers affixed to it. Plan set. Ready, break.

It was sprinkling at 8 am as we prepared to delve into Lake Erie for the swim portion of the race. Well, as Nick prepared to, anyway. Like I said, he did the Sprint course while I elected to tackle my first International distance race. In kilometers using the swim/bike/run race order, the course breaks down as such:

Sprint: 0.6/23/5
International: 1.5/35/10

Needless to say, I am far more of a badass than Nick. Our resident Browns expert once again cruised to an impressive finish in the kiddies race, earning 7th-place overall (out of 128) despite some unfamiliarity with handling my awesome bike. Nick scored 2nd in his division, as his 1:09:10 finish (7:20/39:36/20:21) was just 10 seconds slower than Jason "The Zangmeister" Zangmeister. Nick maintains that he would have taken home the age group trophy on his bike. However, Nick's 21.6 MPH is a career best; I maintain that his bike is totally lame.

My race was a bit more interesting, I think. There were only 25 competitiors in the International group, and the full distance tends to draw tougher fields. I'm accustomed to easily finishing top third in races, but here I got only 18th out of 25. Yikes. Among those who toppled me were The Zangmeister's father, John "The Zangmeister" Zangmeister. I also lost to Indians media relations director Bart Swain. I remember him passing me about 1/3 into the 10K, though I didn't know who he was at the time. Still, it's not like I ran a bad race, it's just easier to notch a higher percentile in the Sprint class. Zangmeister.

Anyway, my small band and I hopped in the lake (which was warmer than the air) later than anticipated thanks to an unusually pokey female Sprinter, but eventually got rolling. I'm not going to sugarcoat this: I had a tough time with the swim. First of all, I've never done 1500 m in open water. After today I can proudly say that I've done about 2500 m in open water, considering how far I ended up off course. The waves made it hard to stay straight, and the microscopic nature of the buoys made it hard to chart a course. My goggles were foggy from the get-go, and several times I simply had to tread water, pop off the lenses, and try to find where the hell the little orange and yellow balloons had run off to. This, apparently, is not recommended swimming technique. One guy told me post-race that a lifeguard had blown a whistle at me for ending up too close to the breakers. I totally believe this, and will add it to my bulging file about how much I despise lifeguards.

At 30:50, I was one of the last out of the Black Lagoon, but that, coupled with our late start, meant that my bike was ready for me upon reaching the transition zone, free of flat tires. Score! I took down the bike course in 1:05:12, which is pretty good for me. That works out to a 20 MPH pace; I only posted a 19.1 MPH in the Sprint a year ago. A train crossing delayed a few guys in my group; I wasn't stopped, but they got 15 seconds knocked off of their times, which seems fair. My cycling highlight was one enthusiastic volunteer telling me: "You're almost there! Time to put the hammer down!" I appreciate the support, but:

a) This is my first lap and I still have about 16 miles left
b) It's "throw" the hammer down

Hopped off the bike feeling pretty solid as I faced down a 10K, which I cleared in 51:59. This pleases me; the 8:23 pace crushed either of the 5K paces I put up in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. I'm back, baby. It drizzled most of the time, but I missed the heavy stuff. The highlight, by far, was a comical move I made about 2.5 miles in. Heading in from my first of two 5K laps, I spotted an 8-foot portable basketball hoop by the side of the road and decided to throw down a monster two-handed jam on it. It was awesome. For my trouble, I got two of the most bewildered looks one could imagine from fellow racers, and a pulled left hamstring. The leg was OK - I finished fine and it's not bothering me now, but at the time it was simultaneously spectacular and annoying.

So, I ended up with a 2:30:24, which I will absolutely take since it felt like I was in the water for about four hours. Like I said, I only scored 18th, including 3rd of 3 in my age group, but I felt good about my effort, and even better about the excellent maple donut I got post-race.

The FCF Triathlon Series wraps up next week in the Erie area, at the scenic Presque Isle triathlon. Ideally, we can avoid the ridiculous cold and mud pits that tarnished last year's race, and hopefully Nick can acquire a functional tire.

Buckeye Preview Part II

A Look At the Schedule...
For a complete look at Ohio St's '09 opponents, check this out. The Buckeyes open on September 5 (10 days!!) at The Shoe against Navy. Don't expect OSU to totally dominate this one, despite what most media members and the point spread will tell you. Ohio St generally struggles each year against one non-conference opponent that they should beat easily (Ohio in '08, Akron in '07, Marshall in '04). Expect that to happen here, especially as Navy actually went 6-6 and made a Bowl game last year. That being said, at no point during this game will I be nervous about the Middies pulling the upset.

The following week is the big one, when USC comes to Columbus. We all remember last year's beatdown, but there are several reasons why this year's outcome could be far different. While both teams lost a ton of talent to the NFL, SC will be starting a new Quarterback (Carroll has yet to decide whether it will be Matt Barkley or Aaron Corp) whereas Terrelle Pryor will be back under center for OSU. Of course the biggest difference is where the game will be played. Away from the polo shirts, surfer dudes, and frosted tips that populated SoCal last year, this time the Trojans make their way into one of the toughest places to play in the country. A couple of months ago I didn't think Ohio St stood a chance in this one, but the closer we get to this game the more confidence I'm building. A new QB playing in a very hostile environment at night could be very reminiscent of Pryor's struggles in the Coliseum last year. This game could make or break the season for both teams.

After USC, Ohio St could be close to double-digit favorites in every game for the next two months. They take on Toledo on Sept. 19, a game that will be played at Cleveland Browns Stadium, which I think is a really cool idea for these two Ohio teams. We see MAC teams upset big-name programs every year, but don't expect that to happen in this one. Big Ten play comes early this year as Illinois makes the trip to Columbus to close out September. QB Juice Williams has people in Champaign thinking Heisman, and WR Arrelious Benn is one of the biggest playmakers in the country. This will probably be the toughest conference test other than Penn St, but it's in The Shoe and the Illinois defense is very weak with the departure of CB Vontae Davis, so I'm not too worried about this one.

Ohio St travels out of Ohio for the first time to visit Indiana on October 3 before coming back home to face Wisconsin on the 10th. Indiana is never any good and this is supposed to be a very down year for the Badgers. There shouldn't be too much trouble winning the rest of October's games against Purdue (away), Minnesota, and a rare late non-conference game vs. New Mexico St.

November 7 is the biggie, when OSU heads to Happy Valley. Penn St came out of The Horseshoe with a W in last year's thriller, so the Bucks will have revenge on their mind as they try to do the same this year. If OSU can get by USC (a really big if), there is a good chance that both of these teams will come into this game undefeated and be not only playing for a Big Ten title, but also a spot in the National Championship.

Iowa is back on the schedule after a two-year hiatus and visits Columbus on the 14th. As they do every year, Ohio St closes its season with "that school up north," this year in michigan. You look at this schedule and see 10 very winnable games with showdowns against USC and Penn St that will likely decide the Buckeyes' fate.


A Look At the Defense...
Malcolm Jenkins is now a New Orleans Saint. James Laurinaitis is now a St. Louis Ram. Two of the most decorated and talented defensive players in the long history of this storied program have moved on to the NFL. LB Marcus Freeman and CB Donald Washington have also departed. With those guys gone, this unit is looking for a new leader to step up. Look no further than SS Kurt Coleman. Coleman (pictured above) is a three-year starter and was third on the team in tackles last year and is expected to be the star on this year's defense. His defensive backfield mate Anderson Russell is also back to man the free safety position for the third straight year as well. This is the best safety duo in the Big Ten, and will be expected to do it all to cover up for the lack of experience at linebacker.

Corner Chimdi Chekwa had an excellent 2008 season, but was usually overshadowed by the incredible things that Jenkins did. Chekwa will replace Jenks as "boundary corner," and has some large shoes to fill. Andre Amos takes the place Washington left at "field corner." Amos has showed lots of promise in his career and has played sporadically over the past three seasons, but has always been bothered with nagging injuries. Juniors Devon Torrence and Jermale Hines are the top reserves.

To add insult to injury (or in this case injury to insult), the most experienced returning linebacker, Tyler Moeller, was injured in camp and is out for the season. Put that on top of Laurinaitis, Freeman, and Curtis Terry graduating, and the linebacking corps is in some trouble. Coaches have loved Ross Homan's skills for the past two years, and he will finally get his opportunity on the weak side. Austin Spitler has impressed coaches and teammates with his outstanding effort in practice. Now it's time to translate that to game day as he takes over for Laurinaitis in the middle. The strong side was supposed to be Moeller's spot. Now sophomores Etienne Sabino and Andrew Sweat are competing, with the edge looking to go to Sabino. His name might sound familiar, as he was the one who scooped up Jenkins' blocked punt to score the lone touchdown in last year's win over Purdue.

The strength of the defense is in the front four. Thaddeus Gibson, Doug Worthington, Dexter Larimore, and Cameron Heyward make up the best defensive line in the conference. Gibson and Heyward wreaked havoc on the ends last year and should be even better this year. Lawrence Wilson, Nathan Williams, and Solomon Thomas can all get to the QB and provide great depth at DE. Wilson was slated to start in both the '07 and '08 seasons, but suffered season ending injuries each year. Worthington is back to start at one DT position, while Larimore and Todd Dennlinger will alternate at the other.

K Ryan Pretorious and P A.J. Trapasso are both gone, but don't expect much of a dropoff. K Aaron Pettrey was the kickoff and long field goal man last year, and will take over all kicking duties this year. He has incredible range (up to 60 yards) but needs to be more accurate from up close. Fifth-year senior Jon Thoma will punt. Receivers Flash Thomas and Ray Small both have lots of experience returning and should provide several big plays with their incredible speed.

This is a relatively inexperienced defense, but the safeties and line should provide some consistency. This should be the first time in several years where the offense is the better unit. It's going to be a sad sight seeing these guys take the field without #33 and #2 out there.


The Outlook...
Let's make no mistake about it, last year's graduating class was one of the best ever. Include junior draft entrees Beanie Wells and Donald Washington, and this team lost a ton of talent. There is, however, several young faces looking to make a name for themselves. The Cleveland fan in me wants to be pessimistic (the Browns are going 5-11 by the way), but I can't help myself when it comes to this team. If they can upset USC on Sept. 13, there is certainly a chance that we'll see OSU back in the National Championship. Tressel has done an incredible job of beating the teams that he should beat over his career (Illinois in 2007 comes to mind as a rare time where he hasn't). If I had to make a prediction right now, I'd say 11-1 with a loss to SC and a fifth straight Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth.


First game: September 5 vs. Navy, 12:00, ESPN
I already talked about this game at the beginning of this post, so I'll just make a prediction.
Ohio St 22 Navy 14

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Buckeye Preview Part I

Football season's almost here! It's that time of the year again, and I'm full of excitement. Let's get right to it.

A Look Back...
With a loaded defense full of playmakers, plenty of offensive weapons, and the arrival of the nation's top recruit Terrelle Pryor, expectations were high as ever in Columbus going into the '08 season. Unfortunately, Ohio St fans were forced to face reality in September after a 35-3 thumping at the hands of USC. That reality was that, while this is a very talented team, they're not quite on the level of the nation's top teams. After the embarrassment in SoCal, coach Jim Tressel really didn't have much of a choice but to bench All-Big Ten QB Todd Boeckman in favor of the fan favorite Pryor. TP certainly had some growing pains (the 16-3 win vs. Purdue), but he also showed the flashes of brilliance that made coaches all over the nation pop wood when he was in high school (the 20-13 win vs. Wisconsin).

Once OSU got into conference play, things got back to normal with victories over Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan St. Then Penn St came into The Shoe for Homecoming. In a game dominated by defense, Aaron Maybin came up with the biggest play of the year for the Lions when he sacked Pryor and forced a fumble near midfield in Ohio St's attempted game-tying drive, sealing a 13-6 victory for PSU.
The Bucks rounded out regular season play with routs of Northwestern, Illinois and michigan. Iowa's upset over Penn St gave Ohio St a piece of an unprecedented fourth straight Big Ten title. The Buckeyes headed to another BCS bowl, also their fourth in a row, to take on a Texas team upset about not landing a spot in the title game. Ohio St hung in there in a game not many people expected to be close, but fell just short as Danny McCoy hit Quan Crosby with a last minute TD pass to give the Longhorns a 24-21 victory. Although Ohio St's season fell short of expectations, another Big Ten Championship and BCS appearance is a great achievement.


A Look at the Offense...
Gone are Beanie Wells, Brian Robiskie, and Brian Hartline, one of the most talented set of skill position players in school history. Returning, however, is QB Terrelle Pryor. As I mentioned earlier, Pryor was very hit-and-miss last year, but that is to be expected from a true freshman. He obviously has the talent, but if he can improve his consistency and maturity, which should come with more experience, he has Heisman written all over him.

The new starting running back is Daniel "Boom" Herron. Replacing an All-American is not an easy task, but Herron has the skills to be a star as well. Last year's backup Maurice Wells is also gone, but RB depth has never been a problem in Columbus. Brandon Saine (who ironically was nicknamed "Zoom" in high school because of his speed, giving OSU a "Boom & Zoom" backfield) provides a ton of explosiveness and true Freshman Jaamal Berry was last year's "Mr. Ohio." (Let's hope he turns out more like Ted Ginn and Chris Wells, and not so much like Justin Zwick, all of whom had won the award previously.)

The receiving corps lost talent, but will feature very similar-type players to last year's group, even though both starters from the '08 squad are gone. Dane Sanzenbacher will be the Brian Hartline over-the-middle-possession receiver, and DeVier Posey will be the Robo deep-threat big-play guy. A la Hartline, Sanzenbacher will catch anything within reach. Both of these guys saw significant playing time last year and played pretty well. Lamaar "Flash" Thomas, Ray Small, and Taurian Washington all have a lot of talent and provide solid depth at the position. Thomas is wearing the coveted #7 jersey, so he'd better be a big playmaker. The Buckeyes also added freshman Duran Carter. Carter comes into Columbus with quite the pedigree, being the son of former OSU star and future NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter. If he can be 1/4 as talented as his father, we are in for a treat in the next four years.

The offensive line should be great, as long as they can figure out the left tackle position. RT Jim Cordle, RG Ryan Browning, and C Mike Brewster are all returning starters, and michigan transfer Justin Boren will take over at LG. Cordle started last year at center, but Brewster showed a lot of talent as a freshman and bumped Cordle to tackle. Boren did the unthinkable and went from the wolverines to the Buckeyes. He started all 12 games for "that school up north" in '07. Browning, who allowed the Aaron Maybin sack/forced fumble that cost us the Penn St game and possibly another National Championship appearance, moves from tackle to guard because he wasn't quick enough to handle guys like Maybin and Texas DE Brian Orakpo. The biggest question mark is the void at LT left by two-time All-Big Ten lineman Alex Boone. Sophomore Mike Adams looks like he's going to hold off Junior Andrew Miller for the starting gig. Jake Ballard returns at TE as a great blocker and solid end zone threat with sure hands.

If Herron can be as good as I think he'll be and Pryor can mature quickly, this offense will be very explosive and put up a lot of points, opposed to years past when OSU relied mostly on their defense.


Up next we'll take a look at the defense, the schedule, and the team's overall outlook.

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