Has it really been 6 months?

Yes, yes it has.

Apologies are in order, but there just hasn't been a lot of time to sit down and write anything at all.

Let's recap things though.

My girlfriend was pregnant, but no more as my first child was born on May 19th. Kylie Brooke is growing by the day and is quite rowdy in the morning, much to our chagrin. Overall she's a lot of fun and it's been amazing watching her personality start to really show. Even if she is a fiery red-head.

Speaking of Rachel, we just passed our 2 year anniversary last month (June 11th to be exact). I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend and mother of my child. Payton drives me crazy sometimes, but when she's not being bad (and she's been something else of late), she's a lot of fun as well.

We moved last week from our old apartment into a much bigger one, which has been a blessing since the extra space seems to have calmed our rowdy dog Ogimaa down quite a bit. Both dogs seem to enjoy the extra space and it's made things somewhat easier.

BTW, moving stinks.

A lot has happened in the sports world as well. The Indians signed Michael Bourne and Nick Swisher as well as traded for Drew Stubbs to bolster the offense. They added depth with Mike Avilas and Ryan Raburn, and if the bullpen hadn't been shaky, they'd probably still be in first place.

The Miami Heat won their second straight title last month, which probably shouldn't have happened given the San Antonio Spurs had a 3-2 lead in the series at one point.

Which is what I want to get into. The Cavs have made some moves this off-season in the draft and in free agency. Obviously the Andrew Bynum signing is the big story, but the bigger story that won't go away is the possible return of LeBron James via free agency next year. Many find it hard to believe that Dan Gilbert would go for resigning LeBron after how he left the franchise dangling, but some think if he wants to come back, you go for it.

I personally would rather see the Cavs try to continue to build around Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, but ultimately it's not up to us as fans to determine what they decide to do. They may very well be preparing themselves to take a shot at LeBron, but they may also be looking at some of the other big free agents getting set to hit the market next year as well.

The LeBron thing is frankly over done. He left three years ago. He's won two titles, lost one, and won two Finals MVP awards. On the court, he very well could go down as the best player to ever play the game. His game continues to evolve and he seems to be driven by the way he's perceived nationally.

Of course, ESPN is in love with the idea of LeBron courting the Cavs. Then again, ESPN seems to revel in our misery, often taking every chance they get to remind us of our worst sports moments. They've already put up projected lineups if LeBron signed back with the Cavs.

While many Clevelanders were wondering why the Sports Gods continued to torture us by letting our most hated villians continue to win, I shrugged it all off. Sure, I wanted the Heat to lose. I find the way they built that team to be atrocious and completely wrong. I'm almost certain there was an agreement made to put that team together to form a super team. I'm just as appalled that other teams tried to follow the same path.

In the end, LeBron is a two-time champion. We as fans don't have to like it, but it's happened. If the Heat stay as they are, they'll probably win at least two more, if not more. It is what it is. My hatred towards LeBron is almost non-existent at this point as there's no point to it anymore. I'd rather pay attention to what Chris Grant is attempting to build at the moment and think about all the potential that this group could have.

I'd rather look at the Indians, who while wildly streaky, have been a ton of fun to watch so far. Jason Kipnis has recovered from his early season troubles to put together a solid first half and Danny Salazar put on a tantalizing performance yesterday in his Major League debut.

Hell, even the Browns are intriguing with the moves they made (if you ignore all that legal trouble Jimmy Haslam is in right now). New coaches, new staff, new players, and a new system could make things interesting.

But LeBron? Talk to me after he's decided where he's playing next off-season.

Quick Hits

The signing of Bynum is a risk/reward type of scenario. If he's healthy and plays, the Cavs are likely a playoff team and a dangerous one at that. He'd also be in line for a HUGE payout, one I doubt the Cavs would pursue. If he's not, they're only out $6 million but likely miss the postseason again. I'm not a fan of Bynum, but this is such a low-risk move that I can't complain about it.

If Vinnie Pestano isn't healthy, he's not helping the team with how he's performed. He came out recently and said he's been trying too hard to miss bats, rather than trust his pitches, but the guy has clearly been off much of this season. If it's mental, it may never go away and given the situation with Chris Perez and the overall uncertainty of the bullpen, that spells big trouble.

Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters in the game, but he's awful whiny for my tastes. It seems he's another one of those players who believes you aren't allowed to pitch him inside and whenever something happens he disagrees with, he begins chirping away. Cabrera is a special talent, but his mouth sometimes overshadows his bat and that's a bad thing.

Rumors continue to swirl that Haslam might have to sell the Browns, but I continue to wonder how the NFL missed him being investigated by the FBI. This seems like something that should've come up at some point, but recent reports have come out that former owner Art Modell at some points barely had full ownership of the Browns and had to scramble much more often to keep the team than most of us previously knew.

With the trading deadline looming and no real big names being made available, this could be one of the less spectacular deadlines in MLB history, although that can change in a hurry. I just don't see anything real big happening at this point in time. Too many teams are in contention and the ones that aren't don't exactly have the most appealing pieces to offer. Let's see if someone gets desperate.

Several Cavs players are in Las Vegas getting work in even though they aren't playing in the summer league and that's highly encouraging. Even more encouraging is new Cavalier Jarrett Jack heading out there as well the same day he officially signed his contract. Jack has often been underappreciated where he's been at but could be a very key piece to this year's team. The influence he could have on Irving and Waiters is just as important as the way he plays.

Finally, for those of you who still don't know, I play a game called Minecraft and record it. I then put the videos up on  YouTube for all to enjoy. My channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/kreald1980 You should check it out. Rachel and I are also participating in the Warrior Dash again. We'll be raising money for St. Jude so go to http://www.stjudewarriors.org/dkreal1980 and donate.

Hopefully it doesn't take 6 months to write again.... 

 

The Sports Mixer - ring for LeBron and overanalyzing the draft

He finally did it.

He finally reached the mountaintop after several years and close calls.

All he needed was two other superstars and a bare-bones supporting cast that actually showed up in the NBA Finals.

Yes, LeBron James is an NBA champion.

Sure, there will be an asterix next to the year to indicate it was a lockout-shortened season, much like 1999-2000, but the championship still counts the same, the ring is still going to be his once awarded next season.

Say what you want to say about him as a person, he stepped up big in the finals and showed why so many believed when he came into the league that he could end up being mentioned among the all-time greats.  He finally thrived in a big game situation rather than wilting and deferring to Dwayne Wade.

Of course, it helped that the Oklahoma City Thunder threw the ball over the place, Russell Westbrook shot the ball miserably, and James Harden had a terrible series.  It helped that Mario Chalmers actually had a good series and that the rest of the role players took turns stepping up (an aspect that was noticeably absent in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks).

The Miami Heat finally did it.  What does it mean for Cleveland fans?

Nothing.

If you still aren't over James leaving, what's the reason?  He left over two years ago now.  As some have pointed out, he gave us 7 remarkable seasons.  He shouldn't have gone on national television to leave, but he did, he moved on, and everyone else needs to as well.

Instead, all that was heard were reasons why his championship isn't legitimate.

It was a shortened-season filled with injuries. Yes, it was.  Derrick Rose's ACL tear in the Chicago Bulls opening game against the Philadelphia 76ers remains the defining moment in the playoffs, the moment that told everyone that the season was compacted too much, the players didn't get enough rest, and that the injuries were excessive.

IF Rose were healthy, the Bulls would've moved on. He was healthy last season when they lost.  The Bulls again were the best team in the NBA record-wise, but it was no guarantee they would've beaten the Heat in the playoffs with a healthy Rose.  It would have been a great season.

He needed help to win while other greats didn't. This is perhaps the worst argument.  Remember, Magic Johnson's Lakers were loaded with talent, the Bulls with Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, who was better than most other team's best player, and Larry Bird had Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale.  Point being, most championship teams have at least two legitimate All-Stars.  When did LeBron consistently have that with the Cavs?

He's still a douche for leaving. Yes, yes he is.  But he was also within his right to do so.

He's overrated. This one's highly debatable amongst some, but after watching him for 7 years here, he's definitely not overrated.  He's put up numbers that frankly haven't been seen in the NBA.  If he has any fault, it's that he doesn't play off the ball very well, which causes some to consider him a ballhog.  But when you average 7+ assists a season on a regular basis, you're far from a ballhog.  If anything, if his teammates would consistently hit their shots off of passes from him, he could conceivably average over 10 assists a game.  Unfortunately, his teammates miss a lot of shots.

Look, I hated that he left Cleveland, but as much as I dislike him as a person, I can't take away from his abilities on the court.  Being a dick doesn't make you a bad basketball player, it just makes you a dick off the court.  While I wish he would've stayed and won that title here, that's not what happened.  And while I'll always root against the Heat, it's more for how they went about building a championship, not because of one specific player.

Frankly, the city needs to get over it.  The fans need to let go.  The media needs to stop reporting on him like he's still here.  We have our own team, our own budding superstar to follow, and new players drafted last night to follow.

Speaking of the draft...

I know the Cavaliers didn't exactly set the world on fire with their selection of Syracuse guard Dion Waiters last night.  I know the immediate reaction was "how could they screw this draft up so badly?" before the kid has even stepped foot on the court.  Then they traded for Tyler Zeller and the hands went up in the air again.

"We gave up 3 draft picks for him?"

*sigh*

It's like a tradition for Cleveland fans to immediate overreact to things like this.  Neither has stepped on the court yet, but already legions of fans are experts on what kind of careers these two are going to have.

The best comment I read was someone on Facebook who said "We picked a bench scrub.  A bench scrub."

Last I checked, a guy who won 6th man of the year in the Big East on a nation championchip contending team is not a mere bench scrub.  This is a guy who played limited minutes, but put up some decent numbers given the time he was playing.  His skill set is what the Cavs need and I don't care what anyone thinks, I was never sold on Harrison Barnes as an option.  I had mild hope that Michael Gilchrist-Kidd would fall to them, but that didn't happen.

As for Zeller, if he plays like he did in college, the Cavs will be all right.  One of the problems they had was consistently rebounding and Zeller can grab boards with the best of them.

The moral of the story is you can't grade a draft until the season is over, much like you can't grade a trade until a significant amount of time has passed.  Sure, you can look at what they did in college and think you know how it will translate, but you don't.

Kyrie Irving was a question mark, remember?  Many "expert" fans wanted Derrick Williams over Irving, that Williams was the sure thing.  Well, Irving won rookie of the year, Williams was unremarkable, and now the pundits are starting up again with the most recent picks.

Listen, give it a season.  If Waiters and/or Zeller fall flat on their faces and the Cavs stink even worse, then you were right.

Until then, calm down and breath.  Like with the Browns, it's just a game.  No one's life is going to end because of how their sports team performs.

The Sports Mixer: Where are the Indians fans; LeBron not only issue in Miami

Last night at Progressive Field, it was Puppypalooza, an event that allows you to bring your dog to the game.

It felt like there were almost as many dogs as there were actual fans, and given the 12,000+ attendance number, it wasn't as far from the truth as you might think.

The thing that I find interesting is the Indians are claiming there's a 4.5% increase in attendance this year, which isn't that impressive when you realize that they fail to draw 20,000 most nights even with that increase.  The other sad part to this equation is that this is the second straight year they've had a reasonably strong start to the season.

No, it's not the 30-15 start they had last year, but 21-16 and first place is nothing to sneeze at either.  The team plays hard, plays together, and has been in most ballgames even when they have lost.

In short, it's a good product to watch.

Last night against the Seattle Mariners, you had the pleasure of watching Carlos Santana score from second base on a pair of throwing errors, going airborne as he slid in safely ahead of the throw to Felix Hernandez.

Speaking of Hernandez, in his previous 10 starts against the Indians, he had gone at least 6 innings and allowed 3 runs or less each time.  In his only prior start this year, he went 8 dominant innings in a no decision.

Needless to say, it was grim news learning he was pitching.  Adding to the pot the news that it was Ubaldo Jimenez pitching for the Indians, and you didn't know what you were going to get.  Was it going to be good Ubaldo, who shut out the Texas Rangers? Or bad Ubaldo, who was rocked by the Boston Red Sox?

In the first inning, Ubaldo allowed consecutive singles to start, threw a wild pitch, and allowed a run on a groundout.  Then he shut the door on the inning, and in fact pitched a perfect second inning.  Meanwhile, the Indians picked up 4 runs thanks in part to the Mariners deciding that they wanted to throw the ball everywhere except where it needed to be.

Then in the third inning, Jimenez reverted back to bad Ubaldo, allowing a two-run homerun.  Luckily for Indians fans, that was the last run Jimenez, and the Indians for that matter, would allow.  He ended up pitching six very good innings while the bullpen cleaned up after him.

In the meantime, the Indians offense cranked it up a notch in the fourth inning.  Shin-Soo Choo singled, Jason Kipnis doubled, Travis Hafner doubled, Carlos Santana doubled, and Michael Brantley singled.  In the end, four runs scored and the Indians had knocked Hernandez out of the game.

Hafner added a solo homerun later to give the Indians the final margin of victory at 9-3 as fans and dogs went home happy.

Which brings me to the main point of contention.

What is everyone's problem with the Indians?  Why is a first place team (for the second year in a row) only drawing 14,000 fans on average?

Most use the cop-out that as long as the Dolans own the team, they won't show up because of the preconceived conception that the owners are too cheap and don't want to win.  They feel by not showing up (and instead watching the Indians-owned STO to watch the game), they send the message they aren't going to take this anymore.

Some claim it's too expensive, which is a reasonable argument in some cases.  Yes, baseball is much, much cheaper than going to a Browns or Cavaliers game, but the concessions are still expensive and that can add up quickly.  Even so, you can get a good seat for under $30 so ticket prices being too high is a poor argument.

Granted, Cleveland has always been a football town first; how else does a team that perpetually loses in grandiose style sometimes still manage to sell-out year after year?  The Cavs generated some excitement with the play of Kyrie Irving, so I can understand how they were able to draw decent crowds still, but people have always been lukewarm towards the Indians.

In 2005 and 2007, it took until after the All-Star break for fans to catch on. I remember this particularly well in 2007 as I had purchased a big bundle of tickets early in the year.  For the first several games, attendance was in the 15,000-20,000 range, but by the end of the season, the games were nearly sold-out.  Of course, having bought the tickets early on, I had good seats, but if I could tell the difference between a half-empty ballpark and a full one, you can bet the players can tell too.

It's just sad that fans fail to embrace the Indians when they're playing well.

Rachel and I aren't rolling in the money, but we still have managed to find our way to a few games last season and last night.  How many we go to depends on how things play out, but for now, we're enjoying the early success of the team and hoping it stays that way through the summer.

LeBron not only reason for Heat struggles

I'm going to say something now that some might not like.

LeBron James is a great basketball player.  He won a third MVP trophy this past season for a reason after all.

That said, he's still a despicable person for how he left Cleveland and how he's carried himself since.  He has often disappeared at the end of close games going back the last few years, thus giving him the label of being a player that shrinks in the moment.  He has certainly earned much of the criticism that he's received over the last two seasons for his play late in the game, but there's a part of me that feels it's just easy to dump on him when the Heat lose.

In game two against the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat were down two with James on the free throw line.  He promptly missed both free throws, a problem he's had since he was a rookie in the NBA.  He wasn't the only player to miss a free throw in that fourth quarter, nor was he the worst player on his team.  In fact, he played better than his partner, Dwayne Wade, and the Heat bench didn't do the team any favors either, yet headlines in Cleveland were only mentioning LeBron failing in crunch time again.

Now, I'm not a fan of him anymore.  But I'm not going to pile on a guy just because he's there, especially since he wasn't the only reason the Heat lost (perhaps the Pacers just played better this time?), and as one national writer pointed out, he isn't the only reason the Heat win or lose a game.  Keep in mind, Chris Bosh is out indefinitely with an injury, which put even more of a burden on James and Wade.

So while some of the criticism is fair, some of it isn't.

That all said, go Pacers!