Real Sports on HBO is one of the best programs on television, and possibly the best news magazine as well. So it’s not good news to hear that Real Sports will be doing a feature premiering at 10 PM tonight on the Ohio State basketball program. The segment is called “The Nanny” and it tracks the problems surrounding Boban Savovic that led to the firing of Coach O’Brien. Should be interesting.

Hi name usually brings back terrible memories for Cavs fans as they consider the infamous trade that sent Ron Harper packing years ago. You can’t blame Danny Ferry for that deal, but many fans resented him as his salary hung like an anchor for years on this franchise. Now, to his credit, it appears that Dan Gilbert is not letting this history stop him from considering Ferry as his next GM. Everyone seems to think this is a done deal, and frankly it doesn’t seem like a bad idea. He’s still very young, but he’s had the benefit of being a part of the best organization in basketball. It would also reunite Ferry with Mike Brown. Let’s see what happens.

There have been rumors that Crennell hasn’t been overwelmed with Charlie Frye in workouts so far. Frye apparantly has been improving as he gets more comfortable, but his performance and lack of experience convinced the Browns that they needed an experienced backup. So they went out and signed Doug Johnson who has experience with the Falcons and Titans. I don’t know much this guy, but it seems like a prudent move. Savage has come out and said that Frye has never been a great practice player so they are not concerned, yet they naturally felt some insurance was needed, particularly in light of Dilfer’s history of injuries.

The Tribe fought back hard, but the Red Sox won a 10-9 slugfest by beating up on C.C. Sabathia. It was a fun game for anyone who likes offense, but it was frustrating to watch C.C. deliver his second straight bad outing. Let’s see if the Tribe can bounce back tonight and even up the series.

ESPN’s Peter Gammons details how Mark Shapiro’s patience during the Indians’ early season struggles has really paid off. After 30 games, the Tribe was 12-18 and the offense was invisible. Five weeks later, the Indians are now seven games above .500 and right in the thick of the playoff race, if not in the Central, then in the wild-card standings. As Gammons points out, Cleveland’s recent hot streak may have actually put the franchise ahead of schedule since Shapiro and Eric Wedge had 2006 targeted as the year the Indians would be serious contenders.

Their recent hot streak can be attributed to many different factors: a starting staff that keeps the team in just about every game, a bullpen that owns the lowest ERA in all of baseball by almost a full half a run (2.51), and an offense that, as Gammons details, is led by two of the AL’s most promising youngsters: Grady Sizemore and Jhonny Peralta. Plus, Aaron Boone and Casey Blake finally have their averages above .200, Coco Crisp is proving to be a lethal #2 hitter and Travis Hafner is driving the ball just like he did last year. This team is dangerous now that everything is clicking, and kudos to Mark Shapiro for having the patience to let it happen.

So who’s the hottest team in baseball? The Indians, of course. Jake Westbrook limited the Diamondbacks to two runs in eight innings while Bob Wickman notched his 20th save in Sunday’s 3-2 win. The Tribe now has ninth straight, the longest current streak in all of baseball, and now find themselves just one game out of the Wild Card at 37-30. Of course, they’re still 8.5 behind the White Sox, who won again Sunday night, and this week’s series against the Red Sox will be a big test, but this is the kind of baseball we all expected when the season began. The bats are hot, the starters are lights-out virtually every night and the ‘pen is one of the best in baseball. Man, does this feel good or what?

The red-hot Tribe made it eight in a row with a 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. Scott Elarton has turned into a reliable starter and he delivered another fine outing even after 10 days rest. The bullpen slammed the door again and the offense delivered just enough to give Elarton his fourth win of the year. Unfortunately, the White Sox won again, though the Tribe is serving notice that they are a team to be reckoned with this season.

The offense is officially on a roll. The Indians pounded the Diamondbacks for 10 runs in the third inning on their way to a 13-6 victory. It was their seventh-straight win, and for a change the offense carried the day. Aaron Boone contines his resurgence, and Casey Blake hit another home run as he works to break out of his own slump.

Meanwhile, Grady Sizemore continues to make Shapiro look like a genius. Three years after the Bartolo Colon trade, Sizemore and Cliff Lee have become important components of this team, and Brandon Phillips still has great potential. Not every one of Shapiro’s trades yielded gems like Sizemore and Lee, but it’s hard to argue with the salary dump he initiated once it became clear that the Tribe needed to rebuild. Even the Robbie Alomar deal is paying dividends as Shapiro parlayed Matt Lawton into Arthur Rhodes, transforming the bullpen into a real asset this season. It remains to be seen whether the current roster can make it to the playoffs, but the Indians are certainly better off than they would have been had Shapiro held on to Colon and fading stars like Alomar and Thome. The salary structure is under control, and there is real hope for this season and beyond with guys like Sizemore and Lee leading the way.

Patrick McManamon has a great profile of Jeff Faine in the Beacon Journal as the Browns wrap up minicamp, pointing out that Faine has to prove himself to the new coaching staff. Crennell again demonstrates that he’s all business and only cares about performance, pointing out that he’s not concerned about Faine’s weight as long as he gets the job done.

McManamon also includes another interesting story about Butch Davis, explaining that the offensive coaches perferred Eric Steinbach, who now starts for the Bengals, over Faine. Davis, on the other, hand wanted to go with a guy that he had recruited. Faine hasn’t turned out to be a terrible pick, but he’s another first-rounder under Davis that hasn’t cracked the Pro Bowl yet.

The Indians now find themselves four games above .500 and 8.5 behind the White Sox and 3 games behind the Twins after beating the Rockies 2-1 Thursday night. In his first start back from the DL, Kevin Millwood shut Colorado out for five innings to earn his second win of the year and give the Indians their second-straight series sweep. Now sitting at 34-30 on the season and hosting the struggling Diamondbacks this weekend, the Indians have a chance to pad their record and make up even more ground in the Central.