Cleveland Teams

Papa John's estimates that they sold an estimated 75,000 pizzas on Thursday in Ohio during a promotion that offered pizza lovers the chance to snag a pie for just 23-cents. More than 80 Papa John's locations in Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo, and Columbus took park in the one-day special.

The promotion netted more than $17,500, with all proceeds going to the LeBron James Family Foundation. Papa Johns also donated an additional $10,000 to James' foundation, as well as another $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.

Paja Johns offered the promotion to Ohioans after backing the wrong team in the playoffs, and giving away t-shirts making fun of "cry baby" LeBron James. After numerous complaints, Papa Johns decided on a 23-center special, taking inspiration from LeBron's #23.

Obviously more than just Cavs fans showed up for the special deal, and throughout the day there were reports of long lines, traffic problems, and complaints about long waits.

What do you get when you fool a blind man? Well, Overstock.com likes to reward the most despised NBA player in Cleveland, signing him today to a 4 year contract to help hawk their goods and services. If you are new to the Cleveland sports scene you may have no idea what I am talking about. If you follow Cavaliers basketball there is little doubt that you know that I am speaking about Carlos Boozer, who betrayed Cleveland and the team's then-owner Gordon Gund, who is legally blind, by shaking on a contract. Here is what ESPN wrote in 2004 of the situation:

The Cavaliers had an option year remaining on Boozer's contract at the bargain-basement price of $700,000. But Boozer averaged 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds last season. Acknowledging he was worth way more than that, Cavs general manager Jim Paxson supposedly shook hands with Boozer on a deal in which the team would forgo the option and let Boozer become a restricted free agent. In exchange, Boozer would sign with Cleveland for $41 million over six years.
Shortly afterward, however, the Jazz stepped in with an offer worth $27 million more, one the Cavs couldn't afford to match. Boozer accepted that deal and the debate began: Did Paxson get bamboozled, and if so, was he at fault for taking the player's word? Did Boozer act with malice by breaking his promise? And was there a promise made to begin with?

Even Boozer's own sports agency, known to have less morals than used auto salesman, washed their hands of Boozer after the deal. Again, quoting the AP story that ESPN ran:

Among the intriguing pieces of fallout was the decision by SFX, the company that represents Boozer, to disassociate itself from the player, a rare move that spoke to the bad public relations it must have received in the wake of the contract. The agent who worked out the deal, Rob Pelinka, resigned from the company, as well.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost game one in their playoff series against the Boston Celtics tonight. The Cavaliers superstar LeBron James shot only 2-18 from the floor but Cleveland managed to keep the game close falling by 4 with the final 76-72.

The struggles of James, unarguably one of the NBA's most popular players, came to a climax when he missed a 5 footer with less than 5 seconds to play that could have tied the hard fought game. As the shot rattled out, so did the chances of stealing home court advantage against the team that most pundits predict will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals this season.

Remember when the Cleveland Indians acquired Andy Marte in the 2006 off-season and all Tribe fans heard about how good he was going to be for the next couple of years? In 2005, Baseball Prospectus wrote of Marte:

The best prospect in baseball and a future superstar. As a 20-year-old toiling in the mostly hitter-unfriendly Southern League, Marte hit .269/.364/.525. In only 387 at-bats, he smacked 52 extra-base hits. He's got monstrous power and a broad base of hitting skills. In his prime, expect a few seasons of Adrian Beltre, circa 2004.

Since then Marte has been plagued by injuries and slumps. The worst case scenario for him is that he is a 4A Player. A player that is too good for Triple A but someone who never amount as much of a Major League Baseball player. The worst news for the Indians is that he becomes another Brandon Phillips. A player that never got it going here in Cleveland and turned out to star for another team.

Members of the Cleveland Browns and Indians front office will battle for supremacy in the bowling lanes on Wednesday. The Tribe leads the brown and orange in the annual event 3-2. The real winners, however, are Big Brothers and Sisters of Cleveland which the fundraiser benefits from the "Bowl for Kids Sake Program".

If you are downtown tomorrow evening from 5:30-8:00 you can watch the friendly rivalry at the Corner Alley which is located at East 4th and Euclid. For more information on the Big Brothers and Sisters Program call 216-621-8223

Cleveland Indians fans are starting to get worried and rightfully so. The team that was within an inch of the World Series last season is struggling. It is not the pitching, which was predicted to be stellar, but the offense that has given Tribe fans fits.

The Indians of 2008 have made average starting pitchers look like Walter Johnson on a nightly basis. In the last 7 games that Eric Wedge's team has played, they have averaged less than 2 and half runs a game. They have been shutout in two of the those games. If you throw out the game in which they exploded for 8 runs, they averaged 1.5 runs per game in those six contests. Something is broken, and it needs to be fixed desperately.

One of the problems is very easy to point out. His name is Travis Hafner, and for over a year now he has not been producing the numbers that you would expect out of slugger in the middle of the lineup. Hafner is hitting just 9 points over the Mendoza line this year with three long balls. In 2006, in just 129 games, he hit 42 homers and and drove in 117 RBI's. His numbers declined last season and seem to be ready to hit rock bottom this year. Do you think it may wake him up if the Tribe at least started talking about bringing in the the all-time, tainted as it may be, home run champion in the history of the sport? Could it hurt to see if Barry Bonds has something left in him?

Papa Johns found out it is not smart to mess with King James. The pizza chain choose the wrong side in the Washington Wizards-Cleveland Cavaliers series and will now sell pizzas for 23 cents on Thursday. This came after the company gave away shirts that made fun of superstar LeBron James, who had been the subject of hard fouls and trash talk in the series played between the two clubs. Numerous calls, faxes, and letters were written by angry Clevelanders so the the company decided to make things right. Papa Johns released a statement said that they are fans of the Cavaliers and LeBron and wish them the best throughout the playoffs. Looks like another witness has been converted.

The Cleveland Browns have granted general manager Phil Savage a 3 year extension after the teams 6 game turnaround from the 2006 season. The Browns just missed the playoffs, going 10-6 2007, and look to be a force to be reckoned with in the AFC Central this season. Savage is now signed with the team through the 2012 season.

Savage nearly lost his job in the middle of the turnaround as a personality conflict between him and John Collins became an issue in 2005. Fans, unwilling for more turmoil in the Browns front office, voiced their displeasure when it looked like Savage going to be fired and Collins, a friend of owner Randy Lerner, got the boot instead.

Speaking of the situation that nearly saw him exit Cleveland before he got to turn things around in the football crazed city he said:

"It probably brought our group together both from a personnel and coaching standpoint," Savage said. "A lot of times when you survive something like that it makes you better. I know my relationship with Randy after [the first season] has been great. It has been what I hoped it would be from day one. It took 11 months to get it there but it's been fantastic the last 2 1/2 years."

The Cleveland Cavaliers had the chance to seal the deal against the Washington Wizards tonight at the Quicken Loans Arena but fell just short losing 87-86. The Cavs led late in the fourth quarter but failed to hold onto the lead. Lebron James had the opportunity to send the hometown crowd happy but his drive to the hoop as time expired resulted in a miss 5 footer that ended the game. The Cavs let the Wizards score the last 6 points in the last 1:30 to steal the victory. Game 6 will be played in Washington on Friday night.

Lebron James led all scoring in the hard fought battle with 32 points and added 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Caron Butler's 32 points and 9 rebounds led the Wizards.

The Cleveland Browns are gambling that Penn State running back Austin Scott has left his troubles behind. Scott, who started at tailback for the Nittany Lions at the start of the 2007 season, is an extremely talented running back. Problems off the field off the field have plagued him and nearly ended his football career.

Scott was kicked off the Penn State football season last season when he was out until 4 am during a weeknight before the Iowa game. His troubles didn't end there when the following week he was charged with rape. Those charges were dropped last week and the Browns are taking a gamble on the player.