Beanie Update

Chris Wells participated in one-on-one drills in practice on Monday and Tuesday. It is planned for him to go to full contact in Wednesday's practice. As expected, Tressel announced that he will play this weekend. How much he will play and how effective he will be remains to be seen. There is talk that this could all be a smoke screen set up by Tressel to throw off USC. Either Wells' injury isn't serious at all, and he's going to run all over an unprepared Trojan defense (highly unlikely) or his injury is far more serious and he will rarely play making SC prepare for nothing (much more likely). But that is all just speculation. Now we must wait and see, and hope for the best.

Good thing we got those 3 points

Romeo Crennel's decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-3 with 10+ minutes remaining in Sunday's game against the Cowboys, with the Browns trailing 28-7, is arguably the worst coaching decision I have ever seen. I generally try not to criticize coaches and managers for on-field decisions too much, but here I must make an exception.

Kicking in that situation was the NFL equivalent of raising the white flag and surrendering. It sent a clear message to the team, the fans, the city of Cleveland, and the league: we don't care about winning. Scoring three points there made it 28-10, which still makes it a three-possession defecit for the Browns. Worthless. All the FG served to do was make the final score look a little better. Crennel offered that, "I wanted to put some points on the board ... there were 10 minutes left, and if you don't make it, then where do you go?"

You wanted to put some points on the board? What for? This isn't fucking college where people vote on who the best teams are and 28-10 looks better than 28-7, and we're not playing for goal differential here. This is professional football and if you're not going to try to win the game then you've failed. If the Browns don't get the 4th-and-3, Crennel asks: Where do you go? You lose, of course, just like you did anyway. But at least by going for it you tried to win.

This is inexcusable.

Tribe Beat Up KC & Lee Wins #21

Well, I got to hurry up with this recap before I get trampled by the way more important (really) Browns recap. I also feel sorry for the OSU recap I'm pushing out of the way here but it wasn't too impressive, so I'm sure most OSU fans have already started thinking and worrying about next week's game.

Game 1 brought Anthony Reyes to the mound once more. This morning Terry Pluto wondered if Reyes was our Brandon Philips or Jeremy Guthrie. The good news is: yes I think he could be. The bad news is: he left this game after pitching three innings with a sore elbow. While sore elbow can sometimes be a horrible, horrible thing Reyes has been cleared of any major problem and his next start will be skipped (more on that later). Asking this bullpen to cover for a three-inning effort from the starter is usually asking a lot. Luckily, the bullpen has been strangely more effective recently and this is the Royals we're talking about. Mujica goes two scoreless and picks up the win. Following Mujica is Mastny, who also went two innings but was tagged for the sum of the Royals offensive output with three runs. Betancourt and Kobayashi close out the game with scoreless innings. Luckily for the Indians, the offense was still working and scored five runs off starter Brandon Duckworth, which would have been enough to win if that was all the Tribe had in them. The offense ended up with nine runs on 12 hits. Cabrera, Choo, Martinez and Carroll all had two hit games and the offense was supplied by almost everyone with Gutierrez being the only Indian without an RBI or an run scored. Tribe win 9-3.

Zach Jackson took the mound, looking to continue the Indians' 10 game road win streak. Unfortunately for Jackson, he faced off with Gil Meche, who the Tribe didn't figure out all night. Jackson, however, pitched an OK game himself going seven strong innings and only giving up three runs. That wasn't enough on this night against Meche, who ended the evening with seven innings of three hit baseball while only allowing one run and striking out 10 Indians. The lone Indians run came from a triple by Choo, who was then scored thanks to a sac fly by Garko. Tribe lose 1-3.

With Cliff Lee pitching against the Royals Sunday you had to expect good things, and today was no exception. Lee went 7.1 innings, scattering seven hits while allowing a run in a less-than-impressive sixth inning after hitting Jose Guillen and then giving up back-to-back singles to score the run. Lee did settle down and closed out the sixth and seventh without any real trouble after that. Offensively the Tribe did enough for Lee. With Choo reaching base three times and scoring two runs and Martinez knocking in all three Indian runs with a two-run single and a Choo scoring double. Perez, Betancourt, and Lewis closed out the game. Tribe win 3-1 and Cliff Lee wins number 21.

Back to the Reyes situation. If you haven't heard, the Indians recalled Scott Lewis to start for Reyes' Wednesday scheduled start. This will mark S. Lewis's major league debut. The 24 (late September birthday) year old Lewis went 6-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 13 starts for the Aeros this year, and 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA in four starts at Buffalo. With room already taken at the majors it was decided to send him to AA to allow him to participate in the Aeros playoff run. In Akron's 6-5 victory over Bowie, he took a no decision while allowing three runs in 5.2 innings.

Speaking of the Aeros playoff squad, Travis Hafner is doing what he can to help out the AA Tribe guys. Hafner, who will likely be recalled Tuesday, has hit a two-run homer in Saturday's contest and had a grand slam in Friday's match against Bowie. Saturday's win sent the Aeros to the Eastern League Finals.

Over at the Tribe Time Report they have some questioning of Wedge's lack of use of the September callups. Is Wedge too busy trying to win every game?

There is also been some rumbling about Laffey's shutdown and what it means for his free agent deadline. The other possible question is why the Tribe called up Lewis instead of Huff for the spot start Wednesday. Choo continues to impress and I look forward to seeing what he can do for an entire season.

Finally a sad thing will happen tomorrow when the Red Sox pass the 455 mark of consecutive sold out games. No one before the Indians had sold out an entire season and then the Indians go and do it for five seasons. I'll always happily remember those years and don't feel like the Red Sox passing it will diminish that at all.

The Tribe open a four game set against Baltimore tomorrow at Camden Yards.

Game 1: Fausto Carmona, RHP (8-5, 4.51) vs. Garrett Olson, LHP (8-7, 6.53)
Game 2: Jeremy Sowers, LHP (2-8, 5.97) vs. Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (10-11, 3.57)
Game 3: Scott Lewis, LHP (0-0, -.--) vs. Chris Waters, LHP (2-2, 5.40)
Game 4: Zach Jackson, LHP (0-2, 5.56) vs. Radhames Liz, RHP (5-4, 7.91)

Olson got lit up last outing, Guthrie's last start was skipped thanks to a case of dead arm, Waters has a hard time going six but last time out was betrayed by his pen, and Liz allowed nine runs in 3.1 innings at Fenway his last time out. I like the Indians' chances this series.

Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Ugly Win

Ohio St.'s 26-14 win this Saturday over Ohio was certainly not pretty. I'm talking like Sarah Jessica Parker ugly. For three quarters the offense looked horrendous without star tailback Chris Wells. Losing most of the game, it took a 20-0 run to end the game to win it.

1st Quarter
This was the worst quarter I've seen Ohio St. play in a long time (not including National Championship embarrassments). The Bucks averaged 2 yards per play and managed only one first down. It was tough to watch. I hated the play calling. They refused to throw deep, which is Boeckman's strong point. They didn't throw to Hartline or Robiskie once. Not once in the entire quarter! These guys are All Big Ten caliber, get them the ball. The one bright spot in the quarter was a Lawrence Wilson interception, which he almost took to the house. Of course the anemic offense couldn't punch it in and settled for a field goal. 3-0 Ohio St.

2nd Quarter
I was taking notes during the game for the purposes of this blog, and my notes for the second was simply this: "What?" Editor's note: this should read: 'WTF'?" As bad as the first quarter was, this may have been worse. The offense continued to look pitiful, and when Erie PA's own Donte Harden ran one in from 15 yards out, halfway through the quarter the Bobcats were up 7-3. Early in that drive, backup QB Boo Jackson somehow scrambled away from a Lawrence Wilson sack and completed a 31 yard pass on 3rd and 14. No, not Bo Jackson. Boo Jackson. OSU finally had a decent drive on the next possession, but after Hartline and Robiskie each dropped passes which could have been touchdowns, they settled for another Pretorius FG. 7-6 Ohio.

3rd Quarter
Shortly into the quarter, an Ohio punt pinned the Bucks inside their own 10. On 3rd and long, center Jim Cordle snapped the ball over Boeckman's head. Boeckman appeared to grab the ball and was tackled in the end zone for a safety. You can imagine my surprise when the ref signaled touchdown. Apparently Boeckman lost the ball as he attempted to scoop it, and Ohio recovered. Things were getting real bad. On the last drive of the quarter OSU drove down the field easily, led by the running of Daniel "Boom" Herron. Herron finished off the drive with a 1 yd TD run. Instead of going for 2 to tie the game, Ohio St elected to kick, which Pretorius promptly missed. 14-12 Ohio.

4th Quarter
Again, Ohio St. drove right down the field and scored on a Brandon Saine run on their first drive of the quarter. Finally having the lead, OSU's defense took care of the rest. A Teddy Ginn-looking punt return by Ray Small put the game out of reach. 26-14 Ohio St.

Notes
Where's T.P.?
Terrelle Pryor saw very limited action. I'm assuming it was because Tressel doesn't want USC to see anything, which makes sense, but you need to get him some experience. When the game was in doubt, he played only one drive, which resulted in a three and out. He was also in the last series when the game was over. He finished the game going 0/2 and had 5 carries for 37 yards. It will be very interesting to see how he's used against So Cal.

Final Thoughts
There wasn't a lot to cheer about in this game, but a win is a win. Obviously, things will need to change against USC. The Bucks can play twice as good as they did against Ohio and they will lose by four touchdowns. The defense did look good however, coming up with four picks. Lawrence Wilson was everywhere. It was clear that the offense isn't much without Wells. He won't be 100%, but he needs to be effective enough to get the job done or we don't stand a chance against SC.

Looking Ahead
Next on the schedule is the showdown with USC (8:00, ABC). The winner of this game could be well on their way to Miami for the championship. Two of the most storied programs in the nation. Two of the best coaches in the game. Tressel and Carroll both took their respective positions in 2001; Tressel's 75 wins since that time is second only to Carroll's 76. This is gonna be a war. Beanie needs to play, and he needs to do well. Hopefully I'm not too drunk by the time the game starts and I remember it.

NFL notes

I have but two. Three days until kickoff.

One item is this gem from Lions President and CEO Matt Millen, as quoted in the team's media guide: "Success in the National Football League is simple: 'The team that wins the Super Bowl is successful and the other 31 teams are not.'"

If you ain't first, you're last! That statement of Millen's is so completely insane I don't even know where to start. Were the 18-1 Patriots unsuccessful last year? Were the 10-6 Browns, who many pundits picked to win two games, unsuccessful? Of course not. Obviously, a Super Bowl win is the ultimate goal, but it's far from the only measure of team success. Crazy. Detroit, maybe putting Reese Bobby in charge of your franchise wasn't such a great idea. Millen should lay off the old peyote.

Adding an extra veneer of absurdity is that Millen has been one of the league's least successful and most-criticized GM's, with Lions fans threatening a walkout when his contract was inexplicably renewed. Dude, go .500 and we can talk about benchmarking success.


The other is that Chad Johnson legally changed his name to Ocho Cinco, which I find hilarious. I've always been amused by Johnson, his pregame talk, TD dances, etc., and I find this comical as well. As a teammate, I've heard he's not the greatest, but as a fan I like 8-5.

Big Ten clubs in the national rankings

From The Onion's sports department, excerpts from the Top Ten:

2. Ohio State: Have more experience beating teams in its conference and losing to teams in the SEC than any other squad

...

5. Michigan: Did we say fifth? Sorry, we meant 53rd; didn't mean to be insufferable arrogant pricks about it, the way Michigan fans were back when their team was any good

...

10. Wisconsin: Powerful offense; fast, gambling defense; would be ranked higher if it weren't for lame "Jump Around" celebration, annoying marching band

NFL Picks: Week 1

Welcome back to FCF's weekly NFL picks! To make it a proper challenge, we pick each game against the spread. For the record, Andy is strongly in favor of legalizing gambling, even though he does this for fun, not profit.

The opening week is an interesting challenge. The guys who are real pros can probably fnd a lot of inefficiencies in the first-week lines, while guys like me who sit down and pick once a week think: how am I supposed to know if Tampa Bay is any good this year? Let's see how Kickoff Weekend goes.


GIANTS (-4) vs. Redskins
Andy: Giants
Nick: Giants
Figgs: Giants

RAVENS (+1.5) vs. Bengals
Andy: Ravens. I feel like one of these teams is going to be surprisingly good, but I don't know which. In such instances, I assume it to be the one I hate more.
Nick: Bengals
Figgs: Bengals

DOLPHINS (+3) vs. Jets
Andy: Jets. I'm alright laying these points.
Nick: Jets
Figgs: Jets

PATRIOTS (-16.5) vs. Chiefs
Andy: Chiefs. I'm not alright laying these points. I scored well last year betting against New England because of their huge lines; let's see how it goes this season.
Nick: Pats
Figgs: Pats

STEELERS (-6.5) vs. Texans
Andy: Steelers. Why can't we open with the Texans?
Nick: Steelers
Figgs: Texans

TITANS (+3) vs. Jaguars
Andy: Maybe it's a soft "J," like "Yaguars." I like this pick.
Nick: Jags
Figgs: Jags

FALCONS (+3) vs. Lions
Andy: Lions
Nick: Falcons
Figgs: Lions

BILLS (-1) vs. Seahawks
Andy: Bills. If this were cold, the Buffaloes would be favored by like 19.
Nick: Bills
Figgs: Bills

SAINTS (-3.5) vs. Bucs
Andy: Saints. Tropical storms bring out the best in this organization.
Nick: Saints
Figgs: Saints

EAGLES (-7.5) vs. Rams
Andy: I'll take the Rams in the Honorary Game of the Week I Would Never Bet
Nick: Rams
Figgs: Eagles

BROWNS (+5.5) vs. Cowboys
Andy: Browns. I hate you guys.
Nick: Cowboys
Figgs: Cowboys

CHARGERS (-9) vs. Panthers
Andy: Panthers. Sir Purr does not allow double-digit losses.
Nick: Panthers
Figgs: Chargers

NINERS (+2.5) vs. Cardinals
Andy: Cardinals
Nick: Cards
Figgs: Cards

COLTS (-9.5) vs. Bears
Andy: Colts
Nick: Colts
Figgs: Colts

PACKERS (-2.5) vs. Vikings
Andy: Vikings. Remember what I said earlier about it being cold in Buffalo?
Nick: Vikings
Figgs: Vikings

RAIDERS (+3) vs. Broncos
Andy: Broncos
Nick: Broncos
Figgs: Raiders

White Sox haven't seen the last of these Indians

After an embarrassing sweep at home at the hands of the worst team in baseball, I had high hopes that the two best pitchers on the Tribe staff, Lee and Carmona (Reyes is a very close third at this point), would help right the ship and return some normalcy. I was not wrong.

Cliff Lee took the mound Monday night on a game televised on Cleveland local channel 3, meaning that Mike couldn't watch it. Anyway this was another vintage Lee gem. At one point he retired 21 straight batters as he pitched his way to the complete game shutout of one of the best offenses in the world. Offensively the Tribe had 10 hits and scored five runs, but the obvious story of the week and probably the season was Cliff Lee's 20th win. Yes, not since Gaylord Perry (1974) and the introduction of the five-man rotation have the Indians had a 20-win pitcher. Wedge remarked that Indians fans shouldn't have had to wait this long. Congratulations for Cliff and for making almost every fifth game worth looking forward to in a disappointing season. Cliff Lee wins, 5-0.

Game two of the series wasn't much different. Sure the White Sox scored and the lead at one point was cut to one run, but the outcome was still the same. Carmona was cruising for the first five innings, but ran into a little trouble in the sixth. While Carmona kept the walks to only three he didn't make it out of the sixth going 5.2 and giving up three earned runs. However the bullpen was in fine form and Betancourt, Perez, and Donnelly all pitched scoreless innings, with Perez going 1.1. Offensively the Tribe came through again scoring two runs each in the second and fourth innings. In the seventh, after the White Sox closed the gap to 4-3 the Indians dropped a five run inning on the boys from the South Side. The offensive highlight was Victor's first home run since September of last year, coming in the second inning. With 13 hits, everyone participated with either an RBI or a run. Tribe win 9-3.

The final game against the White Sox at home this season saw the usual Jeremy Sowers take the mound. He was his usual dominant self for four innings, but as I've mentioned about Sowers before, unfortunately dominating for four innings doesn't always win you games. Not helping was the Indians' offense, which was similarly baffled by ChiSox pitcher Vazquez. The White Sox came alive in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring two runs in each. This ended Sowers' day at 5.1 innings and four runs and ended his attempt at win number three. The Tribe did score two runs in the sixth but that was unfortunately their total offensive output of the day. The big news was the squirrel delay that lasted a minute in the ninth. Other than that the bullpen did a fine job with Rincon going 2.1 scoreless. Rich Rundles made his major league debut with the Tribe in the ninth with two outs and proceeded to give up a walk. Rundles' box score line reading 0.0 innings with one walk, hey it could have been worse. Tribe lose 4-2.

In other Indians news Aaron Laffey has been shut down for the season due to elbow soreness. He supposedly tried to pitch through the pain his last two starts and it showed, trust me. This eliminates the talk of the six-man rotation. Supposedly an MRI was taken and he doesn't require surgery, so here's to his speedy recovery.

Hafner continues his rehab assignment, which makes sense. Unfortunately the AAA season is over and he'll be assigned to another minor league team.

Speaking of the AAA season, the Tribe have informed MLB that they are cutting ties with Buffalo and looking for a new AAA site. Of course this new site is Columbus, OH soon to be vacated by the Washington Nationals AAA team. This is an exciting development for me. I look forward to the day I get to travel a short 1.5 hours to a Cleveland Indians AAA game. This also ends another Buffalo Buffaloes team which my editor so often likes to make fun of.

Moving on, starting tomorrow the Indians will be playing 14 games in 13 days. Starting off this march towards the sea that is the end of the season is a series against Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium.

Game 1: Anthony Reyes, RHP (4-2, 2.93) vs. Brandon Duckworth, RHP (2-0, 4.91)
Game 2: Zach Jackson, LHP (0-1, 6.00) vs. Gil Meche, RHP (10-10, 4.07)
Game 3: Cliff Lee, LHP (20-2, 2.32) vs. Zack Greinke, RHP (10-9, 3.67)

I have complete faith in the Indians for this series. While a sweep is probably out of the question less than two wins would be a disappointment. However winning games isn't exactly the focus of the Indians right now. With all the September call ups I'm not sure who will see playing time, but it should be interesting.

Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Rough Start

There are two things that can happen in a season opener against a cupcake that I would consider to be catastrophic. The worst thing would obviously be to lose the game and basically end your season before it starts. (Remember when michigan lost to Appalachian St last year?!? HAHAHAHA). The next thing would be watching your star player go down with an injury. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the Buckeyes watched happen this past Saturday in their opener against FCS Youngstown St.
As all of you reading this already know, Heisman hopeful Beanie Wells injured his foot in the third quarter of a 43-0 slaughtering of the Penguins. The first question that comes to mind is, of course: why was Wells still in the game? The score was 26-0, and obviously already in hand. While I want to say there's no way he should have been in there, most coaches would disagree. Mark Sanchez and Colt McCoy both played in the fourth quarter of their teams' blowout victories. ESPN.com's Pat Forde calls this "Cupcake Roulette." Many teams have their star players in when the game has pretty much been decided, some guys get hurt, some don't. People can debate whether he should have been in or not till they are blue in the face, but it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is he was in, he got hurt, and now we must all collectively hold our breath and hope that he's ready for So Cal in two weeks. There is some good news: the x-rays came up negative and when Tressel saw Beanie in the weight room this morning Wells said he "feels great." Of course he's going to say that - hopefully it's true.

There's not much to report on the game other than the injury to Wells, which I will continue to update as I know more. Prior to the injury, Wells had 12 carries for 113 yards, a ridiculous 9.4 per carry. Speaking of Pryor, Freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor got into the game earlier then most people expected, playing a series at the end of the first quarter. Simply put, he looked like a man playing with boys. If you didn't see his 18 yard TD run yet, you're missing out. Of course he basically was playing with boys, so we'll have to wait and see how he looks against stiffer competition, but what I saw was definitely positive.

Boeckman looked sharp, going 14/19 for 187 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 picks. Wells' replacements looked decent in limited action, each getting 5 carries. Maurice Wells, Brandon Saine, and Dan Herron ran for 32, 20, and 17 yards respectively. Pryor had 9 carries for 52 yards and that touchdown. He will certainly see much more playing time against USC if Wells can't go. The ball was spread around nicely, with 11 different guys catching a pass. The defense looked pretty flawless, but again, they were playing a FCS team. Marcus Freeman looked the best with 3 TFL and looked like a real leader out there.

Next up is the Bobcats of Ohio (Saturday, Noon, ESPN). Even if he feels 100%, there's no way Beanie should be in uniform. The goal is to obviously win without him, which shouldn't be a problem, and get Wells ready for our showdown with SC.

Perspectives on Cliff Lee

Good Morning! It’s Monday at 10:19 in the PM, and this is "Perspectives"! I’m your host Lionel Osbourne, to offer some perspective on Cliff Lee's ridiculous 20-2 (so far) 2008 campaign. I'm going to do so by comparing it to Kevin Millwood's 2005 season and CC Sabathia's Cy Young-winning 2007:

Lee 2008: 2.32 ERA (leads league), 5.5 K/BB ratio, 1.050 WHIP, 189 ERA+
C'baoth: 3.21 ERA (5th in league), 5.6 K/BB ratio, 1.141 WHIP, 143 ERA+
Millwood 2005: 2.86 ERA (led league), 2.81 K/BB ratio, 1.219 WHIP, 146 ERA+

(Before we advance, two quick numbers because I like numbers. Can you believe Borowski led the AL in saves last year? I guess I knew that but maybe my brain had subconsciously discarded that info because, come on, Joe Borowski? Also: CC has an ERA+ since joining the NL of 302, an ERA of 1.43, and a WHIP of 0.989. Those are video game numbers. The best ever single season ERA+ is 294, but that was set in 1880. The best modern-day number is Pedro Martinez's 291 in 2000; Greg Maddux claims two of the five best ever. CC is awesome.)

Lee has pitched considerably better this year than Millwood did three years ago and has been much more effective than Sabathia was a season ago - nearly a full run per game! Both Millwood and Sabathia led the league in ERA and all three were the most effective chuckers the AL had to offer, with the possible exception of Johan Santana in '05. Lee has much better peripherals.

Sabathia won the Cy Young yet Millwood, who generally had similar numbers (almost identical ERA+), finished sixth in the Cy Young voting. Sixth! Bartolo Colon won that year with an ERA+ of 122. The guy who finished fourth only had an ERA+ of 111. Yeah, that was none other than Cliff Lee. Only Santana (who should have won) beat Millwood in ERA+ (and had a sub-one WHIP), yet Millwood pulled down exactly one third-place vote. That's ridiculous. Sabathia's race was close. His resume was pretty near that of competitors like Lackey, Carmona, and Beckett, but I wrote last year that his numbers (including many more innings thrown) made a stronger case than all the other guys.

This year, Lee is the clear front-runner for the AL Cy Young - it's not even close right now. He actually has far better numbers than Millwood or CC did in their career years - the gap is wider than I expected when I started writing this, but the Cliff Lee Bandwagon is full for the same reason he beat Millwood out in voting in 2005 with an ERA almost a full run higher: more wins.

Lee went 18-5 in 2005 while Millwood inexplicably went 9-11. Yes, the league ERA leader had a losing record - and on a 93-win club no less. This is Exhibit A (a scale model of the entire mall! ha ha ha!) of why wins are not a good way to evaluate pitching performance. Lee's eye-popping 20-2 mark in 2008 is impressive, but in most years you'd expect him to be like 17-5 or something. Not that 17-5 wouldn't be excellent, but he's been both lucky and good this season. Millwood, by all rights, should have won 15-plus at least, what with leading the league in ERA and all. Funny how these things happen.

Fan-tas-tic! It's 10:33 in the PM and you're watching Perspectives! I'm Lionel Osbourne, closing with the thought that poor run support can make an excellent season seem so-so and make an even more excellent season seem historic.