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King James crowned All Star Game MVP

February 19, 2006 / JEC

Honestly, it still amazes me that someone this good plays for a Cleveland team. LeBron James scored 29 points and led the East’s 21-point comeback victory in Sunday’s NBA All Star Game, a performance that netted James the MVP award. He hit 12 of 21 shots but missed four of his five freebies (where have we seen that before?), and had a rather ordinary line outside of the points and a half dozen boards. Still, in an All Star Game, all that matters are points, and although Tracy McGrady outscored him (36-29), the East’s 122-120 victory secured the award for LeBron, the youngest player in league history to win an ASG MVP.

Man, this kid’s something special. It’s nice to see someone from Cleveland hoisting hardware at the end of a game, even if it’s not during a championship celebration.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Buckeyes need to finish strong

February 19, 2006 / Bob

The Ohio State basketball team can at least share the Big Ten title this year. The best way to do this is win the last 4 games. This isn�t as easy as it sounds, considering they play at Michigan State Wednesday night. OSU is a half game out of first, with Iowa holding the top spot down at 9-4. The Buckeyes showed how strong the conference is by narrowly defeating the Northwestern Wildcats at home yesterday.
Coach Matta�s team needs to finish strong and have a good showing in the Big Ten tournament to secure a high seed in the NCAA tournament. The experts are predicting as many as 7 Big Ten teams making the dance. If the Buckeyes can win at least 3 of 4 to end the season, and win a couple Big Ten tournament games they would be looking at a 4 seed in the tournament. This would be a great spring board for next years recruiting class.

Cleveland Browns

The NEW Ohio State University

February 19, 2006 / Bob

The Ohio State University has come a long way the past couple years. It seems like ages ago that John Cooper was consistently losing to Michigan, Maurice Clarett�s antics and Jim O�Brien�s firing. The last couple years OSU has really righted this ship and started to become the envy of most major universities.
This is why it�s so critical that the NCAA uses proper judgment and doesn�t apply any further sanctions against the OSU basketball team. I believe that Coach Matta is keeping quiet on this situation because he is waiting to see the results of the investigation. Matta is a fast track coach that loves OSU, but has to use good judgment while he waits for the results.
If the NCAA does a shocking reversal, look for Matta and his recruits to possibly look elsewhere to continue their careers. This would be a severe blow for an Ohio State program that has recovered quickly from such a shocking end to Jim O�Brien�s career. I believe that the NCAA will use proper protocol and inflict no further punishment to the program. This will allow OSU to make a quick trip to the top in basketball, just like in football. Let�s hope I�m right and the chant OH�IO will be heard year round.

Kenny Roda

Matta has no comment, but OSU fans shouldn’t worry!

February 18, 2006 / Bob

Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta is not commenting on the open basketball coaching position at Indiana University. Under Matta�s contract he won�t be able to discuss this job with Indiana till the end of the season. This is an awful tough situation for Matta to be in. He has many ties back to Indiana, but also has a top recruiting class coming in next year at OSU.
The only way I could imagine Matta even considering this move is if Ohio State faces some stiff post season sanctions next year. According to sources close to the situation, this is very unlikely. Let�s hope OSU basketball and Matta have a long and successful career together.

OSU Basketball

Albert Belle: retired slugger, active stalker

February 17, 2006 / JEC

Honestly, is anybody surprised by this?

Former baseball star Albert Belle was arrested Thursday and charged with stalking his ex-girlfriend, police said.

Scottsdale police said the 39-year-old Belle was taken into custody after a former girlfriend told officers that he had stalked her.

This is my favorite part of the article, though:

The volatile Belle often ran into trouble on and off the field during his playing days.

He was fined in 1994 for using a corked bat and suspended after instigating a brawl by elbowing an opposing player. In 1991, he threw a baseball into the chest of a fan taunting him. Years later, he tossed a ball at a photographer.

Ah yes, the good old days. Who can forget when Joey ran down a bunch of kids in his SUV after they threw eggs at his house on Halloween?

Cleveland Indians