Podcast with Guest Ricky Cobb of Super 70's Sports!

We talk for the hour with Ricky Cobb-the man behind the hilarious Twitter account-Super 70's Sports!!
We talk sports,wrestling,toys,television and more...

Austin Jackson-Does he finally tip the scale against the Indians?

I've always tried to be an understanding fan.
Being a fan of Cleveland teams in sports (Particularly non-capped ones),you have to be!
It can be hard to entice players to come to Cleveland in the first place and often the teams (read Indians) are underfunded,but this time I cannot fault the city,pro sports or anything else but the Indians themselves.

The Indians entered the winter with one of best rotations in baseball,but with a desperate need for hitters-particularly at third base and the outfield.
The outfield was a huge need considering only Michael Brantley was an average big league outfielder and the outstanding Brantley's status was considered to be tenuous at best with an injury that was figuring to keep him out of the lineup for a minimum of a month and likely more of the 2016 season.

Cleveland's answer to this was signing aging Mike Napoli to be the first baseman based off a good final month of the season (after a awful rest of it in Boston) in Texas and a spring training sign of another aging player in Juan Uribe-who at 36,245 pounds and losing defensive range by chunks,looks to be perhaps a risk likely to fail.

However,the bigger indictment was the signing of veteran Rajai Davis in the off-season.
Davis signed a one year deal for a nick over five million,which is a little of an overpay,but not outrageous.
However,Jackson is a better player,younger and both would eventually sign for similar deals,but lets not get too far out front yet.
Put aside the questionable decision of Davis,a player that at 35 brings one tool to the table (speed) that is beginning to fade (Steals dropped in half last year 36 to 18) and was a 4th outfielder at his peak and that brings us at the decision to bank on Abraham Almonte.
Again,put aside the eventual PED suspension of Almonte-the Indians didn't know that was coming entering the hot stove league,Look deeper to see why the team banked so much on a career AAA outfielder that put together this line in 51 games at the Jake (.264 ,5 and 20) to begin with,
What about Almonte enabled the Indians to believe that he was the everyday answer to begin with,even with a healthy Michael Brantley,Almonte wasn't anywhere near that type of player.

Which brings us back to Austin Jackson.
Now Austin Jackson's numbers have dipped over the last two years,but I'm willing to excuse that a little by considering he played for three teams in that span and some players are affected more than others by changes in ballparks,leagues etc.
Jackson is younger than Davis (29 to 35) and comparable to Almonte (Jackson turned 29 in January to Almonte turning 27 in June),has better career numbers and has a track record of being able to be a full time starter,which is more than I can say about Davis,Almonte or any of the other players out of the grab bag that the Indians signed in the off season for outfield competition in Collin Cowgill,Joey Butler or the in-house competitors headed to a AAA ballpark near you in Zach Walters, Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey.

When you consider all of the things wrong with the Indians lineup and especially the outfield,one would make an argument that Jackson (still a free agent until yesterday) would have been a nice fit on a one year deal (which he signed with division rival Chicago) and at a cost BELOW that of Davis (five million) for a team in either need or (in my opinion) desperate need would have been an excellent fit.
However,Indians fans saw this "the budget is tight and Jackson would have wanted more to play here than Chicago" and naturally thought-finances,AGAIN.

I'm not going to argue against that,especially considering that for an additional five-six million that the Wahoos would have a much better chance of avoiding dropping to their knees out of the gate,but what I will say is this-The Indians did a poor job of allocating the finances that they did have.
Rajai Davis is not a MLB average starting outfielder and even if Austin Jackson didn't perform up to expectations over his career,I'd still consider him a better player than Davis.
The Indians took what money they had and invested into a guy that looked ready for retirement before a final month in one of the best hitters parks in the game,a mediocre 4th/5th outfielder and then in desperation signed a older player with a slowing bat and a weight problem to address a problem that wasn't even mildly looked at.

Now is the issue that the Indians don't have the funds or don't allocate them properly?
I'd make the argument that it is both.
Combine the two and you have a good reason why the Indians have a tough time pleasing their ardent fans and capturing the casual ones....

Ortiz,Vargas post KO's-Boxing Challenge

HBO went to Washington with a two bout card and was rewarded with a chalk bout along with a surprise in two levels...

Jessie Vargas ended a surprisingly good fight with a knockdown just before the end of the eighth round of Sadam Ali and then finished Ali off in the ninth round to win the vacant WBO welterweight title.
Vargas had not scored a knockout in ten fights,but suddenly looks to be revitalized with a new more aggressive style...
R.L.Malpica and I each picked Ali for no points.

Luis Ortiz dropped Tony Thompson twice early before ending the fight near the end of round six.
Ortiz wasn't quite as entertaining as in his destruction of Bryant Jennings,but some of that is due to the lanky and less than active Thompson's refusing to engage..
I earned three points for Ortiz's win and KO with a bonus point for the correct round,while R.L added two.

In an untelevised bout,Oscar Escandon knocked out Robinson Castellanos in round seven.
Both of us selected Castellanos for no points..

Over on Showtime,Julian Williams became the mandatory challenger for IBF jr.middleweight champ Jermall Charlo with a seventh round stoppage of Marcelo Matano.
I earned three points for the Williams win,KO and correct round,with R.L. picking up two...

Lucas Browne moved himself further in the WBA "tournament" to clean up their heavyweight title mess with a 10th knockout of Ruslan Chagaev in Russia.
Chagaev knocked Browne down in the eighth,but couldn't finish him off.
R.L. picked Browne to win for one point as I picked Chagaev...

On the day,I added six points to R.L's five.
The boxing challenge now stands at 23-16 in my favor.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge steams on with three bouts from Washington,a title eliminator and a bout from Russia.

Two of the WBA's minor titles at heavyweight on the line tonight and even though neither are the real champion (Tyson Fury is),give the WBA credit as their new president has realized how silly their three titles are and have begun proceedings that will eventually rid us of all this mess.

In Russia,the WBA "regular" (unrecognized) champion Ruslan Chagaev defends against Australia's Lucas Browne.
The issue here is do you like Chagaev,who hasn't beaten a top 10 opponent in five years and lost to the only one he has fought in Alexander Povetkin or Browne,who is undefeated and is reputed to be a big puncher,but in his 23 wins has faced only one fighter that you have heard from-very faded champion James Toney-who he could not stop.
This one is a hard one to pick....

The WBA "interim" title is on line in Washington as Luis Ortiz comes off his most impressive win in a seven round destruction of Bryant Jennings and battles veteran Tony Thompson.
Thompson has multiple title challenges in the past,but at 44 has lost three of his last five fights and in his last bout dropped a decision to light punching Malik Scott.
To be fair to Ortiz and his promoter (Golden Boy),several fighters turned the bout down and Alexander Dimitrenko accepted before pulling out...

The best fight of the night is also in Washington as talented Sadam Ali faces Jessie Vargas for the WBO welterweight title vacated by Timothy Bradley,who chose huge dollars for his third (yawn) fight with Manny Pacquiao rather than defend against Ali.
Robinson Castellanos takes on Oscar Escandon for the WBC's "interim" featherweight title on an untelevised bout.
I normally hate interim belts,but considering the WBC champ in that division is the perpetually inactive Gary Russell,so it makes sense here.

Showtime has three bouts tonight,but we are only adding one for the challenge as Julian Williams is a heavy favorite against Marcello Matano in a IBF 154 pound division eliminator.
The winner becomes the mandatory challenger for IBF champ Jermall Charlo.
The challenge with R.L.Malpica currently stands at 17-11 in my favor.

Heavyweights.12 rds
Ruslan Chagaev vs Lucas Browne
R.L;Browne Unanimous Decision
TRS:Chagaev Split Decision

Heavyweights.12 rds
Luis Ortiz vs Tony Thompson
R.L;Ortiz KO 4
TRS;Ortiz KO 6

Vacant WBO Welterweight Title.12 rds
Sadam Ali vs Jessie Vargas
R.L:Ali Split Decision
TRS:Ali Unanimous Decision

Featherweights.12 rds
Robinson Castellanos vs Oscar Escandon
Both:Castellanos Unanimous Decision

Jr.Middleweights.12 rds
Julian Williams vs Marcelo Matano
R.L;Williams KO 7
TRS:Williams KO 4

Alec Scheiner-Goodbye

It's been a long time since I've been so happy to see someone move on that really didn't have a lot to do with the on-field product (that we know of) of a favorite team, but yesterday I was thrilled to see the resignation of Alec Scheiner as President of the Cleveland Browns.

Now these front office titles often blend together, but Scheiner wanted to be more involved in football matters and reportedly was the key figure in the total shift in the front office, only to apparently get aced out by the "analytic" guys.

Jimmy Haslam's press release stated that "the new structure would limit the opportunity for his leadership"-which basically means they didn't need him with Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta in the one cook too many theory.

Scheiner's reign with the Browns will best be remembered for four things-some work on the stadium, his relentless branding of everything down to the garbage cans as "Dawg Pound", the laughable non-change of the team logo, and of course the controversial dog (pun intended) ugly uniforms that Scheiner pushed for and made final decisions on.

I suppose anyone that was put in those positions could have made similar decisions, but what I think happened to Scheiner was this-Scheiner came to the Browns from Dallas and working with Jerry Jones, you learn that everything is for sale and everything has a brand.

Scheiner never learned that Dallas isn't Cleveland and that Browns fans are a traditional bunch that like having a link to the past.
Considering the rotten product that the fans have received since 1999, that was really all that we had and this guy took some of that away!

The statement that Scheiner made was that he would be "Stunned if the fans didn't love these uniforms" would be the one that haunted him the most as they are so hated as the fans just need to wait until the mandated time period expires to get rid of them.

The uniform decision was going to backfire, no matter the look, but the decision of the various "garanimals" mix-and-match types made things worse.
Combine that with the much-ballyhooed logo change that basically just brightened the orange a bit and Scheiner overestimated his brilliance to sell what people didn't want to see changed (think new Coke for those of you that can remember that) which in the end may have written his own exit strategy.

Goodbye, Alec -I won't miss you, but there is one good thing that I can add- Looking at the off-field destruction that you left, Imagine the damage you could have done with the on-field influence that you desired?
There is a bright side to everything and I stretched to find it!!

Miracle in Richfield

I know that I have written about this bunch before (six years ago),but tonight is the 40th anniversary of the Miracle in Richfield.

Sadly,not only will I not be there,I won't even be able to watch much of the celebration as the opponents (just as in 1976) are the Washington Bullets (nee' Wizards),so I'll have to watch the game on the Washington network.
Terry Pluto writes far better than I at the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the 40th anniversary and I've written about the team before,but what I want to write about this time is about the difference in being a fan then and now.

In a era that that you can see every game that your team of choice plays,it's hard to imagine that most of the games in this series were not televised!
Truly a different age as the radio was the only place to "see" every game (at least for baseball and basketball),which is how local broadcasters became such icons in their particular markets compared to today.

Another difference that Pluto touches on and made me think is how truly loud games from those times were compared to today.
Today just has too many distractions from "entertainment",cell phones,etc that just as you get into the game,something causes a distraction and the crowd noise doesn't reach that peak roar that lasts for a while...

Another difference between then and now is just how distant of a third sport that the NBA really was.
You couldn't buy NBA stuff in stores when I was a kid.
The only NBA pennant (Cleveland of course) I ever owned was bought at a Bullets game vs Phoenix.
Watching clips of that series and you see next to nothing in NBA items on the fans and many of what you do see are homemade/custom made.
Remember going to a mall to get decals on a shirt???

I miss the Richfield Coliseum and it seemed like the Cavaliers were there forever and just left a few years back.
Actually,the Coliseum has been gone for 22 years and the "Q" has now been an NBA arena longer than the Coliseum.
The Coliseum just seemed (despite its size) more of an basketball arena than the Q.
And the place certainly had better acoustics!

Finally,for as good of a team that the Cavaliers have now,the Miracle team played solid team basketball without no selfishness.
The current game has so much more of that and that team (along with the Price,Daugherty teams) involved all the players in their offense.

Check my above link for more specifics on the basketball side of 1975-76 Cavaliers.
I cannot believe that 40 years have gone by-Going to be a melancholy night at the home office tonight!

Cleaning out the inbox

Time to clean out the inbox and sadly we start with three recent passings from baseball.

Journeyman outfielder Walt "No Neck" Williams has passed at the age of 72 after a heart attack in Texas.
Williams,known best for the nickname "No Neck" which is pretty obvious when you look at his baseball card,played for four teams in his big league career.
Williams was always a fan favorite for his hustle and was noted for being a very fan friendly player.
Williams never hit double figures in homers in any season,but did hit over .300 with 22 doubles for the White Sox in 1969,
Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explains how Williams acquired his neck issue and speaks of knowing Williams personally as a teenager before becoming a writer as a fan of the Indians of the early 1970's...

Jim Davenport,an original member of the San Francisco Giants and one of few surviving members of the New York baseball Giants passed away at the age of 82.
Davenport,who spent his entire career as a Giant,was usually the teams starting third baseman and peaked in hitting .297 with a career high 14 homers for the 1962 National League champions in a 13 year career with the Giants.
Davenport also managed the Giants for one season in 1985 going a dismal 56-88 before moving up to become a scout,advisor and minor league instructor for most of the next thirty years....

Tony Phillips passed away from a heart attack at just 56 in Scottsdale,Arizona.
Phillips known best as the super utility player for the Oakland A's last 1980's dynasty,spent time with six teams in a eighteen year career and was a constant favorite for his well-known hustle and intensity.
Despite being best known for his term in Oakland,when you look at the numbers of Phillips career,his best season came at age 36 with the Angels as he hit 27 homers in 1995 at the age of 36.
This number does look odd considering the time,Phillips advanced age and the fact that he had hit 19 homers just one time in his career before that point.
Phillips was a versatile and winning player-the type of player that good teams always seem to have and rarely stand out on the stat sheet...

I asked my friend and favorite baseball writer Christina Kahrl for some thoughts on Phillips.
Christina is a long time Athletics fan and was a big fan of Phillips.
"Lots of folks note that Tony Phillips was (Ben) Zobrist before Zobrist,but that barely touches the subject of what he brought to the mix.
Phillips was one of the most viscerally aggressive guys on the diamond,but more importantly-he was a guy that visibly enjoyed playing".
"It might have been that hard-charging style that kept him from staying healthy as a regular in the middle infield,but that helped make him the super utility player that he was meant to be"
Thanks to Christina and check her work out on ESPN...

Alan Sepinwall writes on Hitfix about the late comedy Parks and Recreation after it has now been off the air for a year.
Parks,along with the Office,ranks as my favorite comedies of the last 20 years.
It currently can be found in repeats on WGN,I highly recommend it....

Our favorite LPGA player Jessica Korda talks with Golf.com about her struggles during 2015,the Olympics and about her presence on social media among other topics.
The 23 year old Korda currently ranks 22nd in the Rolex sponsored world rankings...

That ALMOST empties the inbox-but the one remaining item will have to wait until our next post and I might even make it a podcast.
I hope you'll like it.
Until then....