The Ohio State Buckeyes basketball squad had their first tough test this season. They travel to North Carolina and battled to a 98-89 defeat on the road. The Bucks started fast as they ran out to a 4 point halftime lead. The first half featured Ron Lewis scoring from all angles and Mike Conley leading the team from the point guard position.

In second half, Ohio State’s inexperience and lack of depth took its toll on this young squad. North Carolina went on late 17-2 run and never looked back. This game featured two of the top teams in the nation. If Ohio State can stay with the Tar Heels on the road, without Greg Oden, this team may have what it takes to make a run at the title.

The New York Knicks took the Cavs down to the wire and pulled out a 101-98 win at the Q. The quickness and athleticism of the Knicks put a lot of pressure on the Cavaliers’ defense for most of the night. Their D had trouble stopping the Knicks’ one on one penetration. When the Cavs sagged off the defenders to make up for that, the Knicks were able to knock down the three-pointer. The Cavs lose for just the second time at home this season. LeBron finished with 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Cavs finally got their offense going and played solid defense in the third quarter. They closed the quarter on a 17-2 run and led by four going into the final period but weren’t able to sustain the momentum.

Down 101-98 with less than a minute remaining, the Cavs had a couple of opportunities to cut the deficit but failed to do so. A LeBron missed layup on a drive, a Damon Jones bad pass, and a Donyell Marshall missed three-pointer doomed the Cavs in their final three possessions. With just under eight seconds left and the Cavs needing a three to tie it, they executed two inbound plays very poorly, leaving Marshall with no choice but to hoist up a long three with a hand in his face at the end.

Once again, we continue to play down to the competition and are having difficulties playing a full 48 minutes of basketball.

The Bowl Championship Series is continually criticized for which team doesn’t make the BCS games each year. This year the rules will help one school make it that shouldn’t. The system only allows two teams from each conference to be invited to the BCS competition.

Notre Dame will most likely receive millions of dollars by playing in a BCS contest this year. The 10-2 Irish will compete solely on popularity and not talent. The only two “real” opponents Notre Dame faced this season blasted them by at least 20 points. Michigan won by 26 in the shadow of the golden dome.

Wisconsin and LSU will be left out of the competition because of this rule. These two teams, along with many others, are more talented than the Irish. So, while I think we need a playoff to determine the real Champion, we need to take popularity out of the formula too.

The USC Trojans will face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Jan. 8 in the BCS Championship game. This is assuming they defeat arch rival UCLA this weekend. The Trojans jumped over Michigan in the BCS poll after pounding Notre Dame. I was not a fan of an Ohio State/Michigan rematch. I do feel the Wolverines are one of the top teams in the nation, but a rematch is a no win situation for the Buckeyes.

The Trojans did look strong this Saturday night, although Notre Dame is the most overrated team this year. The Irish have soundly defeated lesser opponents, while Michigan and USC walked over Notre Dame like a rug on your kitchen floor.

I still feel USC will struggle stopping Troy Smith and the spread offense of Ohio State. The Buckeyes have more weapons than all USC opponents in the Pac 10 put together. This game will bring back memories of these two traditional powerhouses battling in the Rose Bowl. If Troy Smith has another game like he did against Michigan, Jim Tressel will be looking at another National Championship.

Longtime Browns sportscaster Casey Coleman’s battle with pancreatic cancer has unfortunately come to halt. Coleman, 55, died early Monday morning.

His sideline reporting and broadcasting skills were tremendous and the passion and knowledge he brought the game of football each and every Sunday was unmatched. Casey loved Cleveland and Cleveland loved Casey. He will be missed.

“He will definitely be missed, that’s for sure,” said Browns color analyst Doug Dieken, who worked nine years with Coleman on the team’s radio network and also lived next door to him in the Cleveland suburb of Bay Village for five years. “I never saw Casey. He was always out and about doing something with sports. He was what I guess you would call a ‘sportsaholic.’ For him, it was sports 24/7.”

Kenny Roda from WKNR SportsTalk 850 will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the sports world both locally and nationally. Check back often for his updates!

When you look at the 3-8 Browns of 2006, there are so many things that are wrong, that you don’t know where to begin. But let’s try and see if there’s one major problem or a ton of little problems.

A second year head coach in Romeo Crennel who has a combined record of 9 & 18 and is losing this team game by game, minute by minute. Those Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach only go so far in the respect category.

An owner in Randy Lerner who may be more concerned with his football (that really means soccer) team in England, than his football (that really means football, all though you’d never guess it by watching them) team in Cleveland.

A wide receiver in Braylon Edwards who’s dropped as many balls as he has one liners. Calling out coaches, teammates and opposing teams in the media. If he grabbed the passes thrown his way like he grabbed Charlie Frye Sunday on the sidelines, he’d be a Pro Bowl candidate.

An offensive line that acts like turnstiles, allowing opposing defenses to get to Charlie Frye faster than Browns fans can get into their seats at the stadium.

A quarterback in Charlie Frye who created more turnovers than Martha Stewart and the Pilsbury Doughboy combined.

No real veteran backup quarterback to tutor Charlie Frye through these tough times.

An offense, who now with it’s second offensive coordinator, hasn’t scored a touchdown in six quarters and was shut out today by the NFL’s 32nd, that’s right, the last ranked defense in the entire league.

A general manager in Phil Savage who needs to be held accountable for his talent evaluation so far in the draft, free agency and in trades. It now makes you wonder if indeed it was Ozzie Newsome who was the brains behind the Baltimore Ravens. By the way, Baltimore is now 9-2 and running away with the AFC North.

The Fans. For continually showing up and selling out the stadium even when you know the product sucks!

I could go on and on about the secondary, the running backs, strength and conditioning. But I think we’ve figured out at least one thing here. That it’s not just one major problem. It’s a bunch of major problems that the Browns need to correct just to be considered a respectable team. Because right now with all the chaos and confusion going on, they’re considered a laughing stock in the NFL.

The Browns don’t need to worry any more about losing defensive coordinator Todd Grantham to Michigan State. The Spartans instead decided to hire Mark Dantonio, currently the head coach at the University of Cincinnati. Ohio State fans will remember Dantonio as the defense coordinator of the Buckeyes during the 2002 National Championship season. This is a great choice for Michigan State, and a great opportunity for Dantonio.

As for Grantham, the Browns have to be relived. Despite the pitiful performance yesterday against the Bengals, Grantham has done an excellent job with the Browns defense. The secondary has been ravaged by injuries, but Grantham has successfully overseen the transition to a 3-4 defense. If thing continue to spin out of control in Berea, the firery Grantham would have to be a candidate to take over for Crennel. The Browns have invested too much in the 3-4 defense from a personnel standpoint to make a change in scheme.

The Cleveland Browns are an embarrassment to the city of Cleveland. Today, the Browns didn’t even show up for the inner state rivalry game against the Cincinnati Bengals. We can complain about Charlie Frye not having the talent, Braylon Edwards not shutting his mouth, or the offensive line not blocking. The bottom line is Romeo Crennel needs to be FIRED.

I know everyone is tired of new coaches, new players, and new management, but Crennel’s style is not working for this organization. Phil Savage promised this city a new image. The current image is the worst it’s been since the return of the Browns.

I have said this since Modell and his backstabbing group left town. We need a coach that “gets in face of players” when they don’t listen. This teams needs discipline and a WE attitude. I refuse to wait till the end of the year to fix this problem. This city and fans deserve changes NOW and the first should be the FIRING OF ROMEO CRENNEL.

The Browns got completely embarassed and humiliated in front of their home crowd, losing 30-0 Sunday to the Bengals. Charlie Frye threw four picks and nothing went right for the Browns all day long in one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. Things got off on the wrong foot right from the opening kickoff when Joshua Cribba took it to the hosue, only to be called back on a holding call.

To make matters worse, Braylon Edwards continues to show his prima donna, T.O immaturity by shoving Frye on the sidelines at one point during the second half. The team showed absolutley no passion or excitement and looked like they still hadn’t recovered from last week’s close call to Pittsburgh. I’m sure plenty of storylines will develop over the next few days regarding Edwards, Frye, Crennel, and the extreme disappointment with the entire organization.

The Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-95 tonight at the Q. This game was similar to last night’s contest, except the Cavs were the team coming back from an early deficit. The 76ers jumped out to a double digit lead in the first quarter, only to watch Cleveland outscore them by 22 in the second.

LeBron James scored 25 points and passed out 11 assists to lead Cleveland, but the difference in tonight’s contest was the emergence of Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Z scored 18 points and had 15 rebounds. The Cavs seem to struggle with their transition game tonight, but they continue to be strong on the boards.

This much needed win stopped a 2 game losing streak for Cleveland.