Cleveland’s most hated list

And there it is. Who took the over/under at 9 games? Ironman Larry Hughes will miss a month, possible (more than likely) more with a, get this, bruised left leg. Really? A bruised leg? Really? That keeps you out a month? How can a professional athlete, who, supposedly is in peak physical condition be out for a month with a bruise? Did Larry just refuse to drink milk growing up? Is he some kind of scientific experiment made out of toothpicks and popsicle sticks that they brought to life? I don’t get it.

Of course, this is actually good news. I’m not complaining here. I’m glad he’s out of the lineup. He’s actually shooting negative percent from the field on his way to averaging 6.8 ppg. I don’t think he’ll be missed. Cal Ripkin’s exact opposite is exactly where he is most comfortable and were most Cavs fans like to see him anymore, on the bench and in a suit.

The Cavs host Utah tonight. Which means Carlos “I steal from the blind” Boozer is back in Cleveland. We all know Cavs fans hate him for leaving the way he did. He is one of the most hated people in Cleveland sports history. In honor of the ugliest man to put on a Cavs uniform, The Cleveland Plain Dealer came out with a list of the sports figures who have done Cleveland wrong. They rank the guy who would rip off a girl scout selling cookies door-to-door at No. 15. I’d have him higher. Here’s the PD’s list. For the full story, click here.

1. Carl Mays
2. Art Modell
3. Bill Cowher
4. Bil Belichick
5. Jose Mesa
6. Frank Lane
7. Michael Jordan
8. John Elway
9. Manny Ramirez
10. Jim Thome
11. Albert Belle
12. Rasheed Wallace
13. Pete Rose
14. Any Yankee, Steeler, Michigan Wolverine.
15. Carlos Boozer.

I would have to disagree with a lot of that list. Maybe I’m just to young to really rank the importance of some of those older guys but I have a completely different list. So some of the older things were dropped, I don’t fault Thome for leaving (the Indians weren’t going to resign him anyway as they were in a rebuilding mood then). Same with Belle and Rameriz. Who wouldn’t go to the team that offered them the most money. So they aren’t that high. But Boozer, he ask for to become a free agent to sign a bigger contract with Cleveland, the Cavs awarded him that, then he left for Utah. Now that’s a traitor. So out of those 15 players, here’s how I would have ranked them.

1. Art Modell – taking the Browns out of Cleveland is like taking gambling out of Vegas.
2. John Elway – Not once but twice denied the Browns a Super Bowl.
3. Michael Jordan – If not for him, the Cavs may have been in the Eastern Conference finals before last year.
4. Jose Mesa – Could easily be No. 3 because he blew the World Series but so did Chuck Nagy and several others.
5. Booozer – for all the reasons above
6. Rasheed Wallace – just because he is so ugly everytime I look at him I think about stabbing my eyes with a fork.
7. Any Steeler or Yankee – but not Wolverine, we’ll but Buckeye in there – mainly just because of their fans. Hate them all.
8. Carl Mays – I didn’t know about him but he actually killed a Cleveland Indian, albeit, with a pitch to the head, but still, that’s awful.
9. Bill Cower – seeing his jaw and his spit fly on TV, I swear I felt it.
10. Frank Lane – for trading Rocky Colavito.
11. Pete Rose – for ending the career of an All-Star catcher.
12. Rameriz – highest of the three because he went to Boston.
13. Belle – I love him for chasing down trick-n-treater’s and stalking his ex-wife.
14. Thome – There’s no reason for any Indians fan to hate him
15. Belichick – why is he on the list? No coach is good in his first stint as a head coach. The worse thing he did was bench aging Bernie Kosar.

So that’s my list. Other Cleveland fans have their own? Danny Ferry and Larry Hughes are to names I would add to this list very soon. Ferry, possibly twice.

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The Game

The weekend is here and surprisingly there is a lot going on besides the Michigan-OSU game. Of coure none of it is as important as the 104th game between Michigan and Ohio State.

As has been heavily discussed, it’s an off year for the The Game. Funny to say that considering this is all the game used to stand for; a Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Amazing what that BCS has done here. Oh well. It still UM and OSU. ‘Nough said.

The Game has plenty of story lines to get over the fact that both lost last week and are out of the national title picture (although OSU could get back in it with a convincing win and the Big 12 teams, Kansas, Missori and Oklahoma, all beat each other by the season).

There’s the “Is this Lloyd Carr’s final game against Ohio State?” story line. I say it is. I’ve been saying this is Carr’s last season even before the App State loss. He’s been feeling the heat for a while. He restructured his contract in the offseason to include guarantee jobs for his assistants for two years and he’ll pick up a bonus whether he is the coach or has a position in the athletic directors office. Those two things alone add up to someone who, if isn’t 100% leaving, is very close to it. Carr is close to the senior class. The only class who, if they lose, will never have beaten Ohio State. He could/should ride off with them.

There’s the “Michigan seniors who have never beat Ohio State” story line. Hart, Henne and Long said they came back for this game. Now they have to step up and prove they made the right choice in coming back to school. Hart said the right thing (for once) this week when he said how can he be considered one of the best backs in Michigan’s history if he never beat Ohio State. Same can be said for Henne and Long. They are a great class but it’s time for them to get the job done.

Along those lines, there’s the “Will Hart and Henne play?” story line. Of course they’ll play. As mentioned above, they came back for this game. There’s no way they don’t play. Hart’s leg and Henne’s arm would have to fall off for them not to play. They didn’t sit out last week’s game just to sit out again this week. With them, Michigan has a chance and the emotional edge. Without them, hello Alamo Bowl.

If Michigan wins, it’s a great time for him to leave. If they lose, he’ll have to leave because there will be so many people calling for his head. So yes, this is Carr’s final regular season game at Michigan.

So what’s going to happen in the game? Last week and early this week, I was scared OSU was going to pound Michigan. Michigan’s defense is weak and OSU has a pretty good offense. I just didn’t feel confident about there chances. But then I started thinking about it more. It’s a rivalry game. The best team doesn’t always win. And OSU isn’t that much better. When they were tested and challenged for the first time last week, they rolled over and died. Michigan has been tested all year. If you want to chalk that up to being a weaker team since all their games were close against the same teams, fine. But Michigan learned how to fight and comeback. Three times they had to make 4th quarter comebacks. The one time OSU needed a fourth quarter comeback, their coach called timeout on fourth down and allowed the other team to controll the ball for the final 8 plus minutes of the game.

Then there’s the emotional factor. Michigan is playing for their seniors and their coach. The senior class doesn’t want to be the only class to never beat OSU. Led by that same class, they want to send Carr off with a big time victory of the Buckeyes. In an emotional game, Michigan’s got more to play for and will come in with more emotion. The 111,000 plus people in maize and blue will only add to that fire.

I just can’t see Michigan losing this game. It might be a bias outlook but I really think, because of all that I said above, Michigan will come out on top. I’m not trying to talk smack to those OSU fans (although I’m sure I’ll get some ignorant comments from them. What else is new.) I’m just saying how I see the game play out. Hart will have a huge game. Henne will find Manningham for two scores and somehow, down the stretch the defense makes a big play to seal the win. It will be close and come down to the final minutes. It will go down as a classic but Michigan will make the big play when needed. Michigan 31, Ohio State 27.

GO BLUE!!!

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