I'm not sure why I didn't think of this earlier, but I feel like it's worth going back and taking a look at the year that was in the sports world of our fair city with our three teams, and what 2011 might hold for them.
Cavaliers
What a difference a "Decision" makes, huh? Our basketball team has gone from perennial #1 seed in the east to one of the laughing stocks of the entire league. With LeBron James in the '09-'10 NBA season, the Cavs were 61-21 overall, including a 35-6 record at home. They reached the second round of the playoffs before losing to the Boston Celtics in six games, where LeBron either quit because he knew he was going to team up with the other two Amigos in Miami, or straight up choked. Either way, he broke the city's heart when he went on ESPN for his hour long "Decision" special to tell everyone he was "taking his talents to South Beach." Remember, all the "Decision" nonsense came after Cavs owner Dan Gilbert fired Mike Brown at the conclusion of the season, General Manager Danny Ferry resigned, and then Byron Scott was hired as coach and Chris Grant was promoted to GM to try to appease LeBron so that he would stay.
Obviously, none of it worked and people were burning jerseys all over North-East Ohio the night of July 8th.
Now the Cavs are dead last in the east with a record of 8-24. We all know Dan Gilbert is frustrated, as first evidenced by his Comic Sans letter to the fans, and then his tweet after the disgraceful loss to the Heat on December 2nd, but I think Byron Scott has got to be frustrated too. I really thought this team would be good enough to at least contend for a #8 playoff seed, but that's just not going to be the case. It's unfortunate to see a team go down so far so fast, but, as much as I hate to admit it, I guess it just proves how talented LeBron James is on a basketball court. He could really use some work in the PR department, though.
2011? Well, the Cavs better hope they get a nice lottery pick. I'm not particularly a fan of college basketball, so I really couldn't tell you who I think they should draft until I see them in the tournament in March. But our basketball team clearly has a lot of work to do in order to climb out of the same basement where they were locked for so long before LeBron arrived.
Indians
I'm pretty sure nobody thought the Indians would actually contend for anything other than 4th place in the AL Central with Kansas City, and that's exactly what they did. All. Year. Long.
I'm sure the Dolan's would love for it to be winter longer, in order to extend the "Snow Days" promotion that from what I've read has been very successful down at Progressive Field. But that stadium's primary use was downright ugly this year.
The Tribe did end up in 4th place, two games above Kansas City, with a 69-93 record. That's 25 games behind division winner, Minnesota, and also 12 games behind the 3rd place team, Detroit. Nothing like those sobering numbers to tell you just how bad the Indians were.
There were bright spots in the season. Carlos Santana earned a lot of respect for his bat and made some significant strides in his defense behind the plate under the tutelage of Sandy Alomar, before a season-ending knee injury against Boston ended his rookie campaign. Shin-Soo Choo had a great season, hitting .300 with 22 home runs, 90 RBIs, 31 doubles, and 22 stolen bases, then helped his home country, South Korea, win the Asian Games baseball tournament and earned his military exemption. That's good news for both him and the Tribe. Fausto Carmona had a good comeback year, after two terrible seasons of '08 and '09, going 13-14 with a 3.77 ERA in 33 starts. And Chris Perez looked like a real dominant closer, as he saved 23 games this year, first while Kerry Wood was hurt and then after Wood was traded.
However, there was a lot more bad than good during Manny Acta's first season as manager of the Indians. Grady Sizemore had another season ending injury, and now there are questions as to whether he will ever be the same All-Star caliber player he was again. Travis Hafner continued to struggle with his bad shoulder, and only hit .278 with 13 home and 50 RBIs in 118 games. Luis Valbuena took a few steps back at the plate as he struggled all year and finished the season under the Mendoza line with a .193 average. And Matt LaPorta really failed to improve at all as he finished the season with a .221 average, 12 home runs an only 41 RBIs. Very paltry numbers from a corner infielder, especially a first baseman.
It's also worth noting that Chris Antonetti took over the General Managing duties from Mark Shapiro during this offseason, as Shapiro was promoted to team President. This means pretty much nothing, as Antonetti was Shapiro's right hand man as Assistant GM for all of Shapiro's tenure. So if you were looking for a change in general managing style with Antonetti, you're not going to get it.
What might we see from the Indians in 2011? Well, unfortunately, probably a lot more of what we saw in 2010. I'd like to think our offense will be improved with the return of Sizemore and Santana, but I'm not convinced that Sizemore will be healthy the whole year. It will be interesting to see if Carmona can continue to get back to the Ace-like form he had in 2007 when he received votes for the Cy Young award, which then Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia deservedly won.
In speaking of Cy Young winners, I'd like to see the Tribe go after Bartolo Colon for another starting pitcher option. It might just remind people enough about the good 'ol days to put some fans in the seats. Plus, I just don't like watching young guys get shelled every fifth day. It would also be nice if the Indians could sign or trade for a 3rd baseman, because from the little bit of baseball I watched last year I can tell you Jayson Nix is not the bridge to prospect Lonnie Chisenhall at that position.
We'll have to wait until April 1st to see what 2011 will hold for our baseball team, but if the stars align properly, and if we have very few to no injuries (yeah right) then we could potentially contend for 2nd place in the AL Central. Now that is a dangerously optimistic outlook, but hey, that's why they go out and play the games, right? They can always surprise us.
Browns
What to say about those Cleveland Browns... Clearly it's the team I followed the closest this past year, and it's also the sport I know the most about since I played it in high school. That being said, after Mike Holmgren was hired in December of '09, and the Browns finished the season with a four game winning streak, we all expected a sound improvement in the team this year. I think the team is clearly better than last year, where they lost 7 games by at least two touchdowns, but unfortunately their 5-10 record doesn't show that at all.
The Browns had a great draft, headed by their new General Manager Tom Heckert, where they took three players who have emerged as regular starters this season in Joe Haden, T.J. Ward, and Colt McCoy. I think all three have a chance to be Pro Bowlers in the future if the Browns can improve the team enough around them.
Haden has six interceptions on the year, which is the most by a Browns rookie since Anthony Henry led the league with 10 in 2001. Ward has begun to emerge as a feared, hard hitting safety, which is exactly what the Browns need in the AFC North. And to me, Colt McCoy looks like the quarterback the Browns have been searching for since '99. His intangibles are off the charts, and you can tell this son of a high school football coach was born to be a leader.
I think it's been a tale of two teams for the Browns this season - the team of the first 10 weeks, and the team we've seen the last weeks. Sure, I was upset when we lost to the Buccaneers and Chiefs by blowing fourth quarter leads, but who knew those teams were actually good back in weeks one and two? And then we had the memorable back-to-back wins against the Saints and Patriots, and the overtime loss to the Jets where we looked like a real contending team.
However, ever since that loss to the Jets, the Browns just have not looked the same. I don't know if that loss was a shot to their confidence or what, but since then, we were defeated by the Jaguars - a game I believe we should have won. Then we beat arguably the worst team in the league, the Carolina Panthers, by 1 measly point because they missed a field goal at the end of the game. We beat Miami with a lucky break interception at the end of the game by Mike Adams. And then we lost consecutive games to two-win teams, Buffalo and Cincinnati. I just don't think the Browns of weeks 1-10 would have lost those two games based on the way Peyton Hillis was running, and the defense was stopping people from scoring with their confusing formations.
True, the team has suffered with injuries to all three of their quarterbacks, linebacker Scott Fujita, defensive end Robaire Smith, and (maybe they've suffered from losing) Eric Wright, but to me that's no excuse for what a lot of the time seems like a lack of effective offensive game plan.
What's on the table for 2011 with our beloved NFL franchise? Well, a lot of it depends on whether or not the players and owners work out their collective bargaining agreement which will determine whether or not there will be a lockout. There is a lot of speculation that there will be a coaching change, that Jon Gruden will be the next head coach, but I would honestly like to see Eric Mangini and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan stay. Brian Daboll, on the other hand, has got to go, and I would love it if Mangini's good friend and former Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels came in to run our offense.
In terms of draft and free agency needs, the Browns would be wise to pick up an impact wide receiver. Part of the problem with our team now is that they have very few dominant players on either side of the ball. You can never have too many offensive lineman, and I think the Browns could really sure up the right side of the line with a good right tackle so that we never have to see "Open Gate" John St. Clair again.
A lot of this is purely speculation, and Mike Holmgren is going to do what he feels is best for the franchise - which could be coaching the team himself. Either way, I think the Browns are going to be the team that carries us through this decade, much like the Cavs carried us through the last one.
~MAS
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