Thursday, October 1, 2009

Rough End of September for Cleveland

What a day it was yesterday in Cleveland. All three major sports "teams" (take off the quotations for the Cavs) had a major news story. None of them provided good news, unless you hate certain individuals, but either way they were important.

Cavs: Delonte West failed to show up to training camp for the second day in a row. It is sad that this is all over the news when the Cavs have such an obviously bright season ahead. West has been battling depression and other anxiety disorders so he has an excuse not to be there. Not to forget, he also has gun charges against him. It usually is not a good idea to carry two pistols and a loaded rifle while a riding a three wheeled motorcycle. He will face his court date in late November so it is likely that he will not be on the team for the second half of the year. The good news is that the Cavs picked up guard Anthony Parker in the offseason so Delonte's spot can be filled quickly with no real loss of talent.

Browns: The so called quarterback controversy continues this week with another starting QB being named. Derek Anderson will start Sunday against the Bengals. Brady Quinn has shown that he is not capable of running an offense in the NFL. Derek Anderson is not that much better, but provides more hope than Quinn does. I don't think either QB is of NFL level but the team is going to have to manage until the draft next year. Hopefully, Tim Tebow is available by the time the Browns pick, which shouldn't be too late in the draft.

Indians: The team provided the most interesting story of the day with the firing of manager Eric Wedge and his whole coaching staff, effective at the end of the year. They have been in Cleveland for seven years with only one playoff appearance and only one other successful season which came in 2005. That playoff appearance, which came in 2007 involved the Indians being one win away from the World Series. They would probably have won the World Series against the Rockies, who were no competition to either the Indians or the Red Sox. Wedge was the fifth longest tenured manager currently in the league before the firing. His record over the seven years was 560-568, not too bad of a record for the talent he had. The firing included coaches Jeff Datz, Luis Rivera, Carl Willis, Derek Shelton, and Chuck Hernandez. Wedge will be missed by some and not cared about by others, but no matter whay anyone says, Wedge provided Cleveland with seven great years of baseball.