A couple of big ticket items happened while we were away. The NBA lockout ended after 149 days, just in time for the major games to be played on Christmas. Us fans could care less about the particulars, as long as there is basketball to bridge the gap between football and baseball, we're all good here.
The Cavs are a young team with two freshly-minted first-round draft picks: PG Kyrie Irving and F Tristan Thompson. They traded JJ Hickson to the Kings for Omri Casspi, who will be looking to be the reliable swingman. Older, more experienced players like Baron Davis and Antawn Jamison will provide the leadership for the youngsters. They could very well be traded before the end of the year. My early thoughts are that Byron Scott's Cavs will be very exciting to watch. They may not win many games, but at this point of the franchise, it's more important for the Cavs to follow the Oklahoma City Thunder plan and accumulate top level talent through the NBA Draft Lottery.
Ohio State football, our fourth professional franchise in the Cleveland area, went from losing to Michigan 40-34 for the first time in 8 years to winning the sweepstakes in the Urban Meyer head coaching pursuit. Meyer was just introduced as the next head Buckeye, supplanting Luke Fickell after a 6-6 season. Let's be honest here, Fickell had no shot at winning enough games to keep this job. Through all of the suspensions, injuries, lack of choices for assistant coaches, he managed to take down the mighty Wisconsin Badgers to virtually save the season. Now, was he the best in-game coach around? Absolutely not. He didn't handle the Joe Bauserman-Braxton Miller situation well, and that may or may not have cost him a game or two. Ultimately the right move was made with Miller taking the snaps and going through his learning pains.
Fickell was the best candidate to replace Jim Tressel. He is an Ohio State and Columbus guy through and through. Fickell wasn't going to pass on the opportunity for his dream job no matter how stacked the deck was against him. "Next man up" was his motto, meaning if a player was hurt or not able to perform, the next guy had to be ready to pick up the slack and continue on. He practiced what he preached in taking over for Tressel.
In the long run, it's impossible to ignore the possibilities with Urban Meyer taking over the program. He's taken three teams to unimaginable heights. He restored Bowling Green, took Utah to an undefeated season, leading to a BCS win, and lead Florida to two National Titles. He has not lost a BCS bowl and he's 7-1 overall in bowl games. He'll bring a little SEC influence to the Midwest already stocked with the ideal spread QB in Braxton Miller. As a Buckeye fan, I have to say it'll be much better to have Meyer on your side rather than staring at him across the field as we did in the 2006 National Championship.
Locally, congratulations to the three NE Ohio teams that qualified for their respective state championship games: St. Ignatius in Division I, Avon in Division II, and Kirtland in Division V. It's the last week of high school football. Be sure to support the teams in their quest for Ohio football immortality.
Lastly, what can you say about the Browns? No, really, I'm asking you folks. What can you say about them? Post your thoughts on our Facebook page.
Enjoy the post-Turkey Day sports!
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