Big Day in Cleveland Sports

Yesterday was a big day in Cleveland sports, as all three major franchises made transactions.

The big news was the trade that reshaped the Cavaliers, who traded their spare parts and overpaid veterans for two other teams' spare parts and overpaid veterans. The Cavs gave up Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, Shannon Brown, Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak (to be henceforth referred to as Wally, or Wally Eyechart), plus a 2009 second round draft pick (Chicago's).

In doing so, the Cavs take on enough salary to have luxury tax implications this year, but also take on players with complementary skills to LeBron James and that should fit in well with what Mike Brown wants to do with the team (ie, play tough defense and let LeBron do his thing). Let's break this down player by player, starting with the new hires:

• Ben Wallace: if motivated, a key enforcer down low with tough defense - we probably won't be able to truly measure his impact until the playoffs. With Chicago - big contract, not much performance. With Cavs? Who knows? The Cavs are gambling that a change of scenery will inspire him.
  
• Wally Eyechart: 3-point shooter, defensive liability. All he has to do to help this team is spot up on the 3-point line and wait for the kickout. His presence should open up more room for LeBron to do his thing.
• Delonte West: combo guard with more point guard skills and better outside shooting ability than Larry Hughes. Should be able to provide a perimeter threat as well as the ability to distribute the ball and provide another late game ballhandler other than LBJ.
• Joe Smith: solid veteran forward having a good season.
  

What they lost:

• Larry Hughes: slasher who was miscast as a point guard. Solid perimeter defender. In hindsight, he was never a good fit for the Cavs because he is more of a slasher than an outside shooter and point guard. He was starting to make some progress offensively in the last few weeks. Often hurt and cast as a villain by fans upset with his inability to play up to his contract and tendency to get hurt. Genuinely seems like a good guy and will likely perform better in Chicago assuming he can stay healthy.
• Drew Gooden: when he's good, he can be very good. When it's not his night, you might as well sit him early. Excellent offensive skillset - defensive skillset questionable. Should do well in Chicago with former KU running-mate Kirk Hinrich to set him up.
• Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown: Projects with some potential upside
  
• Ira Newble: solid perimeter defender, occasional offensive skills. Defense will be missed.
• Donyell Marshall: streaky shooter capable who has run hot and cold throughout his career. With the Cavs, mostly cold.

The question now is how well the Cavs can integrate the new team with the holdovers. How good of a coach is Mike Brown? We're about to find out.

The Browns have resigned Jamal Lewis, apparently to a 3-year deal, believed to be worth $17 million. Good for the Browns, and good for Lewis, who genuinely seems to like playing for the Browns and being in Cleveland.

The Indians signed Jason Tyner to a minor league contract, without an invitation to the major league camp. Even with the glut of fourth outfielders in the big league camp, it seems that Buffalo will need outfielders, too. What does it say about Jason Tyner that no team wanted to give him as much as a non-roster invitation to their big league camp?

Brady Who?

Quarterback controversy? What quarterback controversy?

The Cleveland Browns played inspired football yesterday, at least on offense, and beat the Cincinnati Bengals 51-45, behind 5 touchdown passes from Derek Anderson and 215 yards rushing from Jamal Lewis. The offensive line looked like it had actually received an overhaul in the offseason and the defense made just enough key plays, including a nifty interception by Leigh Bodden with 21 seconds left the Bengals driving for a potential game-tying touchdown.

The Browns' playmakers - Kellen Winslow, Jr., Braylon Edwards, and Jamal Lewis, stepped up and made plays. Derek Anderson resembled an NFl quarterback, throwing confidently, getting rid of the ball quickly, and making the right read. The much-maligned offensive line, gave Anderson time to find the open receiver and opened some giant holes for Jamal Lewis, who showed some the same kind of open field speed that he did a couple years ago when he was all-everything in Baltimore.

So, what happened? I think two things happened. First, I think the Bengals came in thinking that all they had to do to win was show up. Given how bad the Browns have been, this is understandable. The Bengals defense played an inspired game on Monday night against the Forces of Evil and Darkness in the Football Universe (FEDFU), and all the press about how much they had improved apparently got to their head.

Second, I think the Browns came out inspired and determined that one week as a national laughing stock and the accompanying public humiliation was enough. To quote Twisted Sister, I think they decided "We're not gonna take it." And so they didn't. This team, unlike other Browns teams we've seen recently, actually appears to have some character and resiliency.

I have been telling people all off-season that, if the Browns are lucky, they will win 6 games, but they will be more competitive. I still think that. However, I'm more than willing to allow myself to watch this team prove people wrong. The Browns took a big step forward this week to becoming a winning team. However, it is important to keep this in perspective - their defense still got shredded, and they won playing in their own stadium with their manhood on the line against a division rival that was taking them lightly. After this performance, I guarantee that no other team will look on the Browns as the equivalent of a bye week again.

In addition, we may have seen the arrival of Derek Anderson as a pro quarterback. He may be just good enough for the Browns to actually give Brady Quinn the Full Carson Palmer Treatment, which I think is what management would really like to do. Derek Anderson slugged it out, toe to toe, with the guy who is pretty much acclaimed as the second-best quarterback in the NFL, and won the game.

It will be a pleasant few weeks in the office, giving "Who deys" to my co-worker Bengals fans, of which there are several.

Oh, and Chad Johnson did score that touchdown, and did jump into the Dawg Pound where Browns fans tried to pummel him and successfully poured beer on him and gave him the finger.

Special Browns Edition: Steelers 34 - Browns 7

I've been telling people for weeks that any optimism on behalf of Browns fan is misplaced. It's extremely disheartening to have been proven right in such a brutal fashion. Some thoughts.

• This team was beaten 2 minutes into the game after that sorry punt attempt. How does your team break down so completely that you draw four penalties on one play?
• I thought Jamal Lewis had a reputation as a guy who didn't fumble.
• Charlie Frye looked like he had a serious case of Tim Couch disease. Throw the ball away, Charlie. It is beginning to look like Charlie Frye will not ever be able to make decisions quickly enough to be a successful NFL quarterback.
• Derek Anderson, on the other hand, appears quite decisive, and seems to make the right read most of the time. He just can't reliably get the ball into a position where the receiver can catch it.
• The defense played relatively gamely considering they were on a short field all day. It could have been 50 or 60 to 7.
• Hines Ward is a cheap-shotting punk. Considered by his peers as one of the dirtiest players in the NFL, Ward threw a blindside helmet to helmet hit on Daven Holly after the whistle, giving Holly a concussion and drawing a personal foul. It would be one thing if this were Ward's fist such incident against the Browns, but in 2004, he laid Earl Little out on a downfield block from the blindside and then taunted Little while he lay on the ground, injured. What was almost as bad was CBS color commentator Rich Gannon, who should know better, commending Ward for the cheap shot hit, saying he was someone who "plays through the whistle", while Holly was lying on the ground concussed. Ward regularly taunts opponents and opponents fan. In short, he's a punk. And, amazingly, he get's a free pass from the media. It's about time that somebody in the media called out Hines Ward for his cheapshotting punk-ass behavior.
• It's going to be a long, demoralizing season. They're already making plans for the Browns first-round pick in Dallas. If they don't beat an improved Oakland team in a couple weeks, they could easily not win a game until November or December.
• Despite all this, I still think Brady Quinn should get the full Carson Palmer treatment. Playing him behind that line, even if it is allegedly improved, could be disastrous.