Mainstream Sports Media Scared Stiff and Not Sure of Next Move

After viewing and reviewing today’s episode of Outside the Lines, I could not help but begin to wonder why Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez were feigning such outrage towards Jerod’s post regarding Raul Ibanez.

It became easier to understand once I realized that Rosenthal had not even read the post before appearing on television to discuss its significance (now that’s what I call journalistic integrity).

Rosenthal admits and agrees that, “all players today must face this kind of scrutiny because of all that has happened in the past.” Apparently, he meant all players except for Raul Ibanez.

The fact of the matter is, ALL players; even players who are NOT performing unusually or particularly well; should be scrutinized for two reasons:

1) Several of them have already been caught cheating.

2) The Collective Bargaining Agreement protects players from being blood-tested.

So Ken Rosenthal feels that JRod’s post (which I believe he neglected to take the time to read) was “wrong” and “unfair”. He went on to illogically back up this point by saying that this never would have happened 10 years ago. Nice logic, Kenny.

Next, Rosenthal interrupts Jerod with some more of his brilliant logic. While JRod is explaining that his article carefully separates accusation and speculation, Ken chimes in with, “then how did we get here? How is Raul Ibanez responding to this yesterday?”

Those questions are so stupid and illogical, that I dont know where to begin. It is my estimation, that “we got here” because mainstream media is forced to sensationalize stories to stay afloat. That, and the fact that neither Ibanez NOR Rosenthal took the time to read and digest Jerod’s post. Gonzalez may or may not have misunderstood Jerod’s article; but he mis-characterized it nonetheless. Ibanez was NOT responding to Jerod’s blog, as Ken Rosenthal mistakenly points out. Ibanez was responding to the SPIN that Gonzalez put on JRod’s blog. Spinning things to suit one’s argument is very easy. Check this shit out:

JOHN GONZALEZ ACCUSES RAUL IBANEZ OF BEING “PAINFULLY OUT OF TOUCH”

(Ibanez referred to the blogger as a 42 year old living in his mom’s basement —> Gonzalez said on TV that “people who think bloggers are irrelevant and living in their parent’s basement are painfully out of touch” —> Gonzales thinks Ibanez is out of touch.)

When prompted to explain the “simple standard of decency” that Ken Rosenthal thinks all bloggers & journalists should adhere to, he spews out the following rule of thumb: “Would you want this written about yourself?”

Brilliant. Apparently, journalists are only supposed to report good news and present positive opinions and editorials. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Bob Woodward.

I think i figured out why these guys were so pissed. Newspapers are dying. Bloggers and blog sites are growing exponentially. It is ten times harder for John Gonzalez to get people to read his column than it would have been say… 10 years ago?

Here’s an example. Television used to be monopolized by ABC, NBC, and CBS. If you were on TV, you had a HUGE audience, no matter what. Now that TV viewers have the option of hundreds of channels, dish networks, and the Internet, it has become increasingly difficult to grab the attention of a large market share.

Similarly, the emergence of the blogosphere has quickly taken away the audience and influence of old-world “journalists” like Ken Rosenthal. The Internet has slowly turned sports journalism into a meritocracy, where information is sought out by the people, and not force-fed to them by the few. People now have options when it comes to where they will get their sports news and info, and that scares the shit out of the “boys club” that is old-school mainstream media. Ken Rosenthal is a whiny bitch who needs to spend more time honing his craft, and less time trying to eliminate the competition that can only make him better. I can call him a bitch for two reasons:

1) The 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution

2) I’m pretty sure he doesent read articles all the way to the end.

Optimistic In O-H-I-O

After recently moving back to my beloved hometown of Cleveland, I was amazed to discover the amount of apathy that lies within SOME Cleveland sports fans. Granted, Cleveland sports teams have not done much of anything to dissuade that kind of attitude, but it makes me wonder why anyone would choose to adopt such a defeatist attitude at a time when there are so many reasons to be optimistic.

My favorite part about living here again is reading the Plain-Dealer sports page every morning. All the Cavs, Browns, Indians, and Buckeyes info all together in one paper saves me hours of scouring PFT and bucknuts.com. My only problem is that Terry Pluto is not allowed to write every single article in the sports page. Instead I am forced to read the pathetically pessimistic views that are so often expressed by Bill Livingston and Bud Shaw. In my opinion, both Shaw and Livingstion do more harm than good, and could use either an attitude adjustment, or a new line of work.

I may not be nearly as old as those guys, but I have seen my fair share of disappointment regarding Cleveland’s epic failure in sports over the years. I vividly remember “The Drive” & “The Shot”, and I attended hundreds of Indians games (including World Series) throughout the mid-90s. It seems after enduring letdown after letdown after letdown, the typical Cleveland fan is forced to adopt one of the following attitudes regarding the teams he has loved over the years:

1) Maintain optimism, look at the bright side, and hope for the best;

OR

2) Become a miserable piece of crap who would rather be right about losing than wrong about winning.

Both Shaw and Livingston were the ones who said last year that Mike Brown was a terrible coach who should be dismissed. Wrong again, a$$holes. The worst part is that neither douchebag offered any ideas on how THEY would improve the team, other than firing Brown. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Less than a year later Brown received 55 first place votes as the NBA’s best coach. Houston’s Rick Adelman came in second place with 13 votes. Bill and Bud, you don’t know anything about coaching in the NBA…so what do you get out of being overly critical of someone who does?

(Editor’s Note: We had hoped to bring you a picture of Bud Shaw, however we were unable to use an actual picture because of copyright considerations. When informed of this Ryan said, “Just put some douche with a molestache and say it is him.” So we did.)

Last week Bud Shaw (pictured, left) actually had the stones to say that he thinks the Cavs will make it to the NBA Finals, but lose to the Lakers in the end. He ended the piece by saying, “you’ll thank me later.”

I don’t know where to begin with how screwed up in the head this SMUG SON OF A BITCH has to be to think that in the first place, let alone collect paychecks for distributing such drivel to the fans.

What is it about the Lakers that makes Shaw so confident that they can beat the hottest team with the best record and home court advantage throughout the playoffs? What the hell is, “you’ll thank me later,” supposed to mean? Is he suggesting that we bet that the Cavs lose in the Finals, cash in, and then thank him for his prophetic “wisdom?”

Does he think we should root for the Lakers instead of the Cavaliers so that we will be happy when the Cavs lose?

The answer to all of these questions is “NO”.

Bud Shaw was simply attempting to look like he knows what he is talking about by taking the safest bet in sports: that Cleveland will not win it all, regardless of what sport you want to talk about. If having the best team in the NBA is not enough to make Bud Shaw a Cavs fan, then why on Earth is he being paid to write about them? Why does he even watch the games (maybe he doesn’t), other than to pray that we lose and prove that he was right?

Anyway, my intent when I sat down to write this was to provide my optimistic spin on the current state of each of Cleveland’s major sports teams (and Sizemore just went yard as I write this!). So let’s go, one by one:

As far as I’m concerned, if you can’t get excited about this year’s team, then you have no business being a Cavs fan in the first place.

This year’s Cavs team might very well be the finest team that Cleveland has assembled in the history of the city’s professional sports teams. Perhaps the 1964 Browns, or the 1995 Indians could give them a run for the money, but I seriously doubt that is the case.

If we don’t win the championship, it will be a tremendous disappointment, but no one can take away how good we were this year. This year’s Cavaliers demolished another franchise record seemingly every night this month; and LeBron, Mo, Delonte, Z, and Varejao are simultaneously having what could be called their best seasons to date.

If you witnessed this season, and still want to try to poke holes in the Cavs, point out what you think are flaws, and convince yourself that they will find a way to lose, then I suggest that you just leave Cleveland right now, because you are a sad, pathetic individual and we don’t need or want you.

If you are waiting for a Cleveland championship before you believe and support our teams, then please just piss off, because you are exactly what is wrong with with most fans today (see: Indianapolis Colts).

This year’s Indians team is very young; but very talented. Additionally, we could benefit from the fact that the AL Central is so weak right now that even Kansas City stands a chance (just kidding, Coco). Just because we started off 4-9 though, many pessimistic “fans” (including my very own brother) have already given up on the Tribe.

This is ridiculous.

In 1997 the Indians started out 5-8 and went on to win the pennant. {By the way, bottom of 7th right now, 6-1 good guys; Laffey looks great!} If we win tonight, we are only a half game away from where we were the last time we went to the World Series. That, plus Wood closing, plus the fact that the division is not as strong as usual, suggests that it’s not crazy to be optimistic about the Indians’ chances in 2009.

Come on, Believeland!

I have never been less excited about having such a high draft pick.

The economy sucks, rookie salaries are higher than ever, and the talent pool isn’t nearly as deep as it was in years past, but I am still confident that Mangini and Kokinis know what they are doing based on their track records. EVERYONE is looking to trade down, which would be ideal but unlikely. I hope that a team like Philly, who is seriously considering Knowshon Moreno, might opt to take the hit and trade up to ensure getting him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if no team traded up in the first round.

That said, if we do pick in the #5 spot, I’d like to see us pickup Michael Crabtree. I know there is a ton of hype surrounding him, and that this year’s draft class is exceptionally backloaded with talented WR’s, but this kid seems too good to pass up. I should note that I felt completely different about who the Browns should draft when I thought that Winslow, Stallworth, and Jurevicius would be making contributions to next year’s offense. (Also, Braylon Edwards must have been pulling tubes with Michael Phelps, or caught VD from Ann Arbor (WHORE!); because he is no longer good at catching footballs.)

Anyone who thinks that they can predict how the Browns will fare next season is full of [baloney-sauce]. We went 10-6 in 2007 when we were supposed to suck, and 4-12 when we had high expectations for the team. And all of this happened when we actually knew a little bit about what was going on within the organization. Anything can happen in the NFL, and ManKok isn’t saying peep, so no one really knows what plans are in place and what expectations we should have for team personnel or outcome of the season.

My guess is that Bud Shaw and Bill Livingston, who is highly critical of Lerner, are only negative about the team because they don’t have any idea what to write about anymore. They have grown accustomed to having head coaches and general managers hand them their stories for years, and now Mangini is making them earn their inflated paychecks.

I know that journalists, even sports journalists, are supposed to be unbiased, and I agree completely. I just think that Shaw and Livingston are often negatively biased, for whatever reason, as opposed to unbiased. Like I said, it doesen’t seem to be a effectTerry Pluto, who has no problem balancing being both a legitimate jounalist, as well as a fan.

~ Ryan Russell

MSF Pick Em – Conference Championships

You may have noticed that I correctly picked the loser of all four games last weekend in an effort to keep the contest close, and not blow everyone away outright. I am such a gentleman. Here we go:

1. Philly @ Arizona

2. Baltimore @ Pukesburgth

Follow the link to check out the times, schedules, and announcers for this weekend’s Conference Championship games.

Playoff Pick ‘Em

I realize that i am an idiot, and apologize to everyone involved with our Pick Em Contest for the following:

1) Not starting the contest until week 8.

2) Neglecting the contest entirely for the last several weeks.

3) Being so much better than everyone at picking outright winners.

I will play like a champion, and make no excuses for my actions.

Next year will be different, I assure you, insofar as we will play every week beginning week 1 and have an ACTUAL prize worth winning (we hope). I cannot, however, promise not to win said contest.

At any rate, because I am responsible for the unfortunate temporary cessation of the contest WHILST in first place, I find it necessary to forfeit any title or prize I may be deserved of at the end of this years Pick Em Contest. I also agree to forfeit any bragging rights on this site, even if i may earn them.

So here’s this weeks pick’ em for those who still want to play. And again, please forgive me for my unforgivable absence and neglect.

• SATURDAY
• 1. Baltimore @ Tennessee
• 2. Arizona @ Carolina
• SUNDAY
• 3. Philadelphia @ NY Giants
• 4. San Diego @ Pittsburgh
  

MSF PICK EM – WEEK 14

You already know the drill.

Here we go:

1. Cleveland @ Tennessee
2. Cincinnati @ Indianapolis
3. Houston @ Green Bay
4. Minnesota @ Detroit
5. Jacksonville @ Chicago
6. Dallas @ Pittsburgh
7. Tampa Bay @ Carolina

Week 13 Pick Em – Thanksgiving Special

Last Week was a strange one, but with the Browns looking like shit again & me returning to the top of the Pick’em leader board, it appears that everything is back to normal. How did i know the Colts were going to make that last-second field goal? How did i know that the Titans perfect record would be broken by the Jets? How did i know that Green Bay would get blown out on the road? Don’t worry about it. Happy Thanksgiving.

Here are this week’s highlighted matchups:

1. Tennessee @ Detroit (Thursday 12:30)
2. Seattle @ Dallas (Thursday 4:15)
3. Arizona @ Philadelphia (Thursday 8:15)
4. Indianapolis @ Cleveland
5. Miami @ St. Louis
6. Carolina @ Green Bay
7. Baltimore @ Cincinnati
8. Pittsburgh @ New England
9. Chicago @ Minnesota
10. Jacksonville @ Houston

Ohio State, Jim Tressel Beat Michigan for Fifth Year in a Row

The game started out slow, and was almost a close game at the half, until Ohio State exploded in the second half, unleashing the beat down that Buckeye fans nationwide were expecting.

Very few people thought Michigan had a chance, but millions tuned in just to see how much Jim Tressel would run up the score.

This marks the fourth straight year that Ohio State has had at least a share of the Big Ten Championship, and more importantly, brings Jim Tressel’s record against Michigan to 7 and 1.

(JROD please finish this post and add some notable stats from this bucknuts article? maybe include the joke I texted you?)

(Editor’s Note: Here is where JRod takes over…)

Very well then. Not really sure what else there is to say about the Ohio State-Michigan game. The Buckeyes owned the Wolverines again and Rich Rodriguez sucks. Pretty much what we expected.

We’ll end this short game recap with the joke that Ryan texted me upon the completion of today’s Ohio State-Michigan game:

Q – How do you keep a Wolverine from masturbating?

A – Paint his unit scarlet and gray and he won’t beat it for at least five years!

Somehow, this passed our very meticulous censors here at Midwest Sports Fans. Basically, it made me laugh my ass off. Good work Russell.

MSF Pick ‘Em – Week 12 – New Leader

EJWasson is now in the lead, primarily due to picking twelve games less than the three people who are currently tied for 2nd place. You know the RULES.
Here are this week’s highlighted games:

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh
Houston @ Cleveland
NY Jets @ Tennessee
Chicago @ St. Louis
Tampa Bay @ Detroit
Indianapolis @ San Diego
Green Bay @ New Orleans

Monday Night Football Guarantee – Browns Over Bills

As many of you know, last month I correctly predicted the upset special of the season (Browns over Giants). I would now like to take this opportunity to publicly guarantee that the Cleveland Browns will defeat the Buffalo Bills tonight on Monday Night Football.

Don’t ask me how I know this, or why I know this, just know that I am currently “one for one” in my Monday Night predictions; STILL PERFECT in layman’s terms.

Here’s what needs to happen for my streak of perfection to continue:

1. Browns secondary will dominate early. Safety Sean Jones will lay down a few punishing hits early, to let the Bills receivers know that he isn’t messing around. Look for a first half interception or two from either McDonald, Jones or Pool.
2. Running MEN. Jamal Lewis should get at LEAST 20 carries (Jerod for Offensive Coordinator in ‘09!) and punch in at least one touchdown tonight. Also look for screen passes to BOTH Lewis and Harrison to be effective.
3. Pretty-Boy QB. I must admit, i was not a fan of Brady Quinn in the beginning. I hate Notre Dame, Charlie Weis, and anything that has anything to do with the state of Indiana. My feelings began to change on draft day, though, when I learned that Quinn grew up in Ohio, and saw the photo of him dressed in a miniature Bernie Kosar Jersey. Last week, Quinn was impressive. In spite of the loss, AND in reference to it after the game. Look for Quinn to have around 280 yards passing, and two TD’s. ( I have a weird gut feeling that he may throw one INT, and rush for one TD)

MY PREDICTION:

Cleveland 24

Buffalo 17

Midwest Sports Fans Pick Em Contest — Week 11

Here we go. Week 11.

Don’t forget to get your picks in on time to be eligible for the PRIZE at the end of the season. If you haven’t submitted picks up until now, don’t worry. All you have to do is participate in a minimum of seven weeks worth of games. If you start this week and pick from here on out, you’re fine.

And here is a reminder of the rules:

Rules:

–Picks must be in before the first Sunday game kicks off. (FYI — For any week in which there is a relevant Thursday game, you must have your pick for that game in before that game kicks off. The rest of your picks can be submitted before the Sunday kickoffs. If you miss the Thursday game, you’re out of luck for that game.)

–Because we started the contest later in the season, and we want everyone to participate, the winner will be based on overall winning percentage, not cumulative wins. However, you must have participated in a minimum of seven weeks’ worth of picks, including each of the final four weeks. This way, if someone who got in early runs out to a huge lead, they can’t just take the final few weeks off. Next year, we’ll start it from the beginning and be much more organized.

–If you are a guest, and decide not to officially register for Midwest Sports Fans but still want to participate, make sure you leave your picks under the same name in the comment thread where each weeks’ picks are submitted.

Email jerod@midwestsportsfans.com if you have questions or want to be notified when the weekly NFL Pick Em Post is published.

No prize has been defined yet, but there will be one.

Be on the lookout for the latest post on Wednesday or Thursday where you can submit your picks!

THIS WEEK HIGHLIGHTED MATCHUPS:

1. Houton @ Indianapolis
2. Chicago @ Green Bay
3. Philadelphia @ Cincinnati
4. Detroit @ Carolina
5. St. Louis @ San Francisco
6. San Diego @ Pittsburgh
7. Tennesee @ Jacksonville
8. Cleveland @ Buffalo

MSF Week 9 Pick’em Continues – Russell Alone in 1st Place

Last week, Midwest Sports Fans began its weekly NFL Pick’em contest, and it is not too late to join in on the fun.

Just make sure you post your outright winners below before 1:05pm EST on Sunday for your picks to be counted and recorded. For more information regarding the contest rules, regulations, and standings, visit the Midwest Sports Fans NFL Pick Em page.

Also, make sure to check in early next week to make your picks, as the cutoff will be Thursday night, when the Cleveland Browns demolish the Denver Broncos.

Here are this week’s highlighted games:

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NFL Week 8 Pick ‘em Contest

Week 8 marks the first week of the MSF Pick ‘em segment. Please post your predicted OUTRIGHT winners before 1 pm EST on Sunday, October 26th if you want your record to be counted and recorded.

Here are this week’s highlighted games:

1) Cleveland @ Jacksonville

2) St. Louis @ New England

3) Washington @ Detroit

4) Cincinnati @ Houston

5) NY Giants @ Pittsburgh

6) Indianapolis @ Tennessee

Click here for a breakdown, including point spreads and key injuries, as well as TV schedules and announcers, for all of the Week 8 games.

Santonio Holmes Caught With Pot — Giants-Steelers Prediction

Police stopped Pittsburgh wideout Santonio Holmes yesterday because his car resembled that of a vehicle used for known drug trafficking. Although it was not the car police were looking for, they did find what appeared to be three large blunts (also know as “marijuana-filled cigars”) in Holmes’ vehicle.

A Steelers spokesman said that the team was still looking into the matter before they make a comment.

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Cleveland Browns Lose to Washington Redskins 14-11

Nobody expected the Browns to look like they did on Monday night against the Giants; and everyone was right. The defense was actually somewhat impressive, with the exception of giving up 175 rushing yards to Clinton Portis, who has rushed for at least 120 yards per game four games straight (and has already racked up 818 yards rushing in six games this season). Outside of that, the Browns defense held their own and are ultimately not to blame for today’s loss.

The game started slowly, with 13 consecutive punts before Shaun Suisham missed a field goal in the closing seconds of the first half. Both teams were tied at zero until Clinton Portis broke the tie with a 3-yard touchdown run in the middle of the third quarter.

The Browns offense then appeared to wake up, if only for a moment, and answered back with a 37-yard field goal before the end of the 3rd quarter.

The there were several more failed third down conversions and punts by both teams until Jason Campbell hit Santana Moss in the endzone with an 18-yard touchdown pass.

Cleveland put together a few impressive, albeit scoreless, drives before they cracked into the red zone with 5 minutes left to play. Washington was able to stop the Browns on 4th and Goal, and the game appeared to be over.

A fumble by Portis on the following play gave Cleveland another chance, and they quickly capitalized by driving the ball 29 yards on a 5-play drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Cribbs (Anderson really sold the run on a fake-naked-bootleg-pass). After a successful 2-point conversion, they Browns had cut the Redskins lead to three.

Cleveland got the ball back with just over two minutes to play, and drove the ball to the Redskins 36 yard line, where Phil Dawson missed a 54-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the game.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

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MNF Preview: Cleveland Browns – New York Giants

Even though the show began in Cleveland 38 years ago, Monday night marks the first time the Cleveland Browns have been featured on Monday Night Football since 2003. Even more depressing is the fact that they have not won a game on Monday night since 1993.

All of that can change however, if the New York Giants come into town as cocky as they ought to be after embarrassing the Browns in the preseason on August 18th. History has shown that any team can upset a sleeping (New York Football) Giant on ANY given day, and MNF seems to have highlighted many more these games than CBS and FOX has in the last ten years.

Lets take a closer look at what Cleveland has to do to make Tom Coughlin look (and say something) stupid after the game…

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