Playoff Time!

Looks like the Cleveland Gladiators have made the AFL Playoffs. Sweet! The first game will be next Monday (the 30th), in Cleveland against the Orlando Predators. The Gladiators already beat the Predators by three touchdowns earlier this season at home, so hopefully the trend can continue. Raymond Philyaw and Otis Amey are going to need to keep hooking up for TD's on a consistent basis if the Gladiators want to make a deep run in the Playoffs. Also, the defense is going to have to step up--just like they did Saturday night against the Columbus Destroyers. They held them on quite a few 4th downs to cause turnovers.

On another topic, the Tribe lost again today, again because Paul Byrd doesn't know how to pitch like a Major Leaguer. I don't know how much more I can take of this bum pitching for us every five days. He's now "improved" his numbers to 3-8 on the season, with a beautiful 5.21 ERA. This guy is terrible. If the Indians want to have any shot at sticking around in the AL Central, Paul Byrd needs to get the hell away. Speaking of pitching, did you happen to see C.C. Sabathia's MONSTER HOME RUN yesterday? He hit a tape-measure 440 foot shot out of the stadium. Yep, you read that right. From a pitcher.

Well, the NBA Draft is Thursday, so I'll be back that evening, complaining about how dumb Cavaliers management is for drafting whoever they take. Who knows--maybe they'll surprise me and actually draft someone who can help the team out.

Come on, Gladiators!

Yep, I've lowered my standards this time of year. All that's going on is Indians baseball, and quite frankly, that's enough to kill a man. One weekend remains in the Arena Football League before the Playoffs. Bernie Kosar's Cleveland Gladiators sit at 8-7, one win away from making the Playoffs. Playoffs? Playoffs? Don't talk about...playoffs!

Yep, I'm talking playoffs. All they have to do is beat their interstate rivals, the Columbus Destroyers and they're in. Did I mention that Columbus is 3-12? Yep. So the Gladiators should win and make the playoffs. However, they are still a football team in Cleveland, so anything is possible. Raymond Philyaw, Quarterback for the Gladiators is having a great season. Over 4,000 yards, 77 TD's, and only 10 INT's. Marlion Jackson leads the AFL in rushing, and Otis Amey leads the league in receiving TD's with 48. They have a good team, so hopefully they get in. It'll be cool to see how far they can go, before disappointment sets in.

On another note, don't forget to watch the Indians get steam-rolled tonight in Colorado. Paul Byrd is pitching. Ugh.

Well, this season is over.

It's pretty much official now. The 2008 Cleveland Indians are probably a few weeks away from dismantling the team that was one win away from the World Series last year. They sit at 31-36, 6 1/2 games out of 1st in the AL Central. I know that doesn't seem like much--and it really isn't--but at the same time, look at the team.

C.C. Sabathia is gone at the end of the year--might as well get some guys for him before he leaves for nothing.

Jake Westbrook is hurt for the rest of the season. Tommy John surgery. Not good.

Travis Hafner is on the DL. Victor Martinez is having elbow surgery, and headed for a long DL stint. Fausto Carmona is still on the DL for at least close to another month. Josh Barfield just went on the DL yesterday because of his hand.

Add all that up, and it's going to be near impossible to continue to win on a daily basis. Take those guys out, and let's look at the batting lineup and starting rotation.

PROJECTED EVERYDAY LINEUP:

1. Grady Sizemore CF

2. Jamey Carroll 2B

3. Ben Francisco LF

4. Ryan Garko 1B

5. Jhonny Peralta SS

6. David Dellucci DH

7. Casey Blake 3B

8. Shin Soo Choo/Franklin Gutierrez RF

9. Kelly Shoppach C

Well, that lineup doesn't look real productive. Bench players are even worse (See: Andy Marte.) And the rotation? (Because of off-days it's all mixed up, but you get the point.)

1. C.C. Sabathia

2. Paul Byrd

3. Aaron Laffey

4. Jeremy Sowers

5. Cliff Lee

Let's see. One proven ace who's playing his last season with the Tribe (C.C.). One washed up righty who throws batting practice (Byrd). One young lefty who is turning into a great pitcher (Laffey). A young righty who gets rocked every time he starts (Sowers). And lastly, one of the best in baseball right now (Lee).

The pitching has to anchor this team for at least a month, if the Indians want to stay in this race, and try and get to the Playoffs. If they don't, the team will probably have a firesale of sorts, shipping out guys like Byrd, Sabathia, Blake, Borowski, etc.

Here's hoping the SP's keep dealing, C.C. sticks around, and these young'ns start hitting the ball like All-Stars.

Non-Cleveland Ramblings...

I know, this is a Cleveland Blog. Everything should be about Cleveland. Well, I'm sick of Cleveland for the moment, and wanted to talk about anything that floats my boat. So here we go.

Random thoughts for 6/3/2008:

1. Marc-Andre Fleury was amazing for the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. 55 saves? The Pens had no reason to win that game, but Fleury kept them in it long enough to keep the series going.
2. Petr Sykora is the new Babe Ruth. Towards the middle of the 2nd OT, Sykora told one of NBC's reporters that he was going to score the game winner. And what happened midway through the 3rd OT? Sykora scored the game winner.
3. I think the Penguins still don't have a snowballs chance in hell at beating the Red Wings for the Stanley Cup.
4. That's enough hockey talk for about a year.
5. The Indians still play bad. Whoops, there I go again.
6. Kenny Chesney puts on a better concert than anyone in the world, guaranteed.
7. Go see Kenny in concert if you ever get the chance. You won't be dissapointed.
8. The Chicago Cubs are going to win the World Series. This year.
9. Did anyone else watch the ACM's? How sweet was that Taylor Swift performance in the rain? Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
10. The COT sucks. NASCAR races are so boring anymore.
11. Speaking of boring, it's Pocono this weekend. The most boring racing of the year annually, and now we're gonna add the COT to the mix? It's gonna get even worse. I'd probably rather watch paint dry.
12. Bear Grylls is the most insane person in the world. Some of the stuff you see on Man vs. Wild is rediculous.
13. Time Warner Cable still has the worst customer service in the world.
14. Knocked Up is one of the few movies I can sit through over and over--and still laugh my ass off everytime.
15. A year later, I'm still irritated by the ending of The Sopranos.
16. I used to hate on him, but I've come to the realization that Kobe Bryant is the man. I hope he crushes the Celtics. And yes, he's better than LeBron by a ton.
17. Is it football season yet?