Danny Ferry is looking a lot better as GM than he did as a player. Landing Damon Jones was a very iffy prospect last week. Michael Finley went to San Antonio, Jones seemed likely to stay put in Miami. Ferry got him anyway. Nice. Listening to Kenny Roda on WKNR right now, Bryan Winters of the Akron Beacon Journal speculates that Jones will likely start at point guard. Makes sense to me, too.

The Cavs are now almost the exact opposite of the team they were last year. Now the Cavs are a major three point threat AS A TEAM, with the addition of Jones & Donyell Marshall. Last year, they didn’t have a jump shot outside of Lebron. Last year, our front line was solid. This year, their big man situation is a problem, with Verajao down for a while, no Tractor Trailer, and Drew Gooden still, kind of, a work in progress.

After missing out on Lithuanian free agent Sarunas Jasikevicius earlier this offseason, the Cavaliers filled their need for an offensive-minded point guard by signing Damon Jones to a four-year deal worth between $15 and $16 million. Jones, who set Miami’s single-season record by hitting 225 three pointers last season, gives the Cavs a much-needed outside presence to go along with fellow free-agent signee Donyell Marshall. Jones hit 43% of his three-point attempts last year and ranked third in the league in threes made, while Marshall hit 42% of his attempts from downtown and ranked 13th in total threes made.

What makes this such a solid move for the Cavs is, while Jones isn’t great at running an offense from the lead guard position, the Cavs don’t need him to be. Eric Snow will start because he’s more of a traditional point guard, a guy who looks to pass before he looks for his own shot, plus he can play some D. But when the Cavs need a jolt off the bench, they can bring Jones in and let Larry Hughes or, occassionally, even LeBron run the point.

This kind of versatility will make the Cavs dangerous. Marshall can play either forward position and, in a pinch against a smaller lineup, could even play some center. Hughes can play either guard position. LeBron can play PG, SG or SF. And now Jones can also fill either role in the backcourt.

Now if the Cavs could only find some healthy big men….

Three games against Oakland, three against Minnesota. In that period, the Yankees play a 3-game home series against Boston. Big week ahead. Could make or break the playoff chase.

Or not.

I admit…I’m a Browns fan first. And I’m one of those underappreciative Indians fans who people wonder why aren’t we getting excited about the Tribe’s playoff chase. So I decided I’d write a Tribe piece or two today, and wandered across the PD’s TribeTracker blog, by a guy named Joey Morona. Guess what.

It hasn’t been updated since last Friday. Call me crazy, Joey, but if you’re tracking the Tribe with a blog, during a playoff chase, you don’t disappear for FIVE DAYS, even if it is a holiday weekend, and especially if you are, as Joey is, senior sports producer at Cleveland.com since 1998. Maybe those PD bloggers have a union contract. They don’t really blog all that much.

The writing of PD sports columnists is often so bizarre my head hurts reading it. Bud Shaw’s column today on the Browns QB situation reads like he’s got some cliche generator on his computer, which he lets run all night, but the program has a glitch, so every cliche comes out garbled and making no sense.

I guess he’s arguing in favor of Dilfer over Frye, but he’s so busy throwing cliches at you, it’s impossible to tell what the hell his angle is. He cites stats in support of Dilfer that are so depressing, Dilfer should wonder, “with friends like Shaw, who needs enemies?” I’ll give you just one.

Dilfer following Garcia is like having the programming slot after Jerry Springer gets off the air. You can’t help but look classy.

High praise indeed. Or not. I can’t tell.