So, what's new?

Finally ... Joe Cleveland ... has come back ... to the blog!

I apologize for the lenghty hiatus. It's been a busy couple of weeks with the real writing career. But, with a holiday today, it was the perfect time to put back on the "Joe Cleveland" hat and pontificate on what's been going on in the world of sports.

With the Browns season over, the fans attention turned solely to Cavs ... and we watched as this team that was the best in the NBA (regular season-wise) lose a professional sports-worst 26 games in a row.

Suddenly, the "Cleveland is a loser" jokes kept reoccurring. We really needed this losing streak like a hole in the head, especially on the heels of LeQuitter and his "Decision." Then the Indians had their usual dismal season, which resulted in fans staying away in droves not seen since the 1980s, and the Browns ... well, at least they finished ahead of the Bengals, along with beating the Patriots and the Saints. Oh yeah, and Eric Mangini was sacked; the fourth time since the team has returned 12 years ago that they have fired their head coach.

The Cavs were able to avert further embarassment by holding the all-time longest losing streak in pro sports by defeating the Clippers at home in overtime (so, at least we have company with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers). And, some measure of civic pride returned when the Cavs knocked off the Lakers at home just before the All-Star break, which left ESPN's L.A. homers so flummoxed, they didn't put Christian Eyenga's huge dunk on Pau Gasol in their Top 10 plays of the day.

One thing the Cavs are assured of is not having the worst record in NBA history (9 wins, by the 1973 76ers). And, they still have a great shot at the No. 1 pick, although who that No. 1 pick will be I have no idea.

It's time for the Cavs to put the losing streak aside and get back to how they were playing basketball at the start of the year. The fact that they overcame a 55-point loss by defeating the same opponent three weeks later is HUGE for this team's confidence. The playoffs are a pipedream. However, they still have another home game with LeQuitter and his Heat, and that guy deserves some payback.

The Cavs can get just as good of a player in the college draft at No. 3 or No. 6 or even No. 9 than they can at No. 1, so forget this "ping-pong ball in the hopper" crap. The second half is a whole new season. It's time for this team to gain some momentum for the future, and that's to start being competitive night in and night out and picking up a few wins. They won 18 games the year they got the No. 1 pick for LeQuitter, so it's not going to kill them to win a few more games.

Come on, Cavs! Got to make it happen!

***
Staying with basketball, the fortunes of the two college teams that the local fans seem latched on to -- Ohio State and Cleveland State -- almost seem intertwined.

When Ohio State's unbeaten season came to a halt in Wisconsin, Cleveland State was getting beaten on the road in Detroit. When the Buckeyes had a golden opportunity to reclaim the No. 1 ranking slip through their fingers in Purdue, the Vikings were getting beaten on national TV by Old Dominion in a key BracketBuster game.

CSU is 23-5, but it only has two "quality" wins -- Valparasio and Kent State. The Vikings have been on national TV three times this season, and have lost all three times (none of the games have been close). And, Butler, their old nemisis, has easily handled them twice. Their hold on a berth in the NCAA Tournament seems to get more and more tenuous with each game. And, there's a chance that, despite their glittering record, they could be as low as the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Tournament next week.

Ohio State is still a consensus choice to be a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, with only two losses this season. However, the Buckeyes look more and more exposed each time they lose a game. Even though they have a solid senior class, with David Lighty, Jon Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale, most experts think the only NBA player on the team is freshman Jared Sullinger (a candidate for the top pick). So, will it be enough for the team to win six consecitive games in March and April against some top competition? Will it be enough to get to the Elite 8 or the Final Four? We shall see.

Here's hoping that both teams make the tournament, CSU can win a game or two and be competitive, and OSU can make a run to the title game (and hopefully win it).

***
The Indians have begun spring training out in Arizona this week. As I look outside and see another winter storm, it amazes me that, six weeks from now, the Indians will be playing meaningful baseball games.

The common denominator with their recent string of failures has been the slow April. Eric Wedge patented the slow April all but two seasons. One of those seasons, the Tribe was one game away from the World Series. Coincidence? It's a big reason why Wedge is managing in Seattle now and why CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez are all wearing different uniforms.

Manny Acta is brimming with optimism. Not bad for a guy who should be looking over his shoulder since the team brought back popular ex-manager Mike Hargrove to be a "special advisor." Another slow srart and the team could make a PR move by dumping Acta and brining Hargrove back the bench.

Don't think they will? This is a team that was DEAD LAST in overall attendance last season. This franchise once prided itself on the longest home sellout streak in MLB and boasted about the "best fans in baseball." Those fans have spoken loud and clear about the direction of the franchise. They won't want to pay big league prices for a bush league team.

The fan base is very jaded, and deservedly so. Larry Dolan came in talking about "winning multiple World Series' titles," and since then, he's done nothing but perpetualy order rebuilding efforts and slash payroll. They once claimed they would "spend when the time was right," but that time may have come and gone.

It also doesn't help PR efforts when Dolan and Son proclaim that the reason they can't sign more players is because the fans don't come out to the ballpark. Fans don't want to hear that. Fans don't want to hear about baseball economics and the fact that teams in big markets can spend as much money as they can, thereby making it hard to compete. Fans hear that, and then look at the Minnesota Twins, the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Francisco Giants -- teams that have slashed payroll -- all field winning teams.

Fans look at the recent draft history and wonder why a team that knows it has to build internally to compete would continually waste draft picks. They wonder about the so-called "genius" of Mark Shapiro, who made one great trade and a host of other terrible ones during his stint as the Tribe's GM. They see a team that lost over 90 games and turned off most of their fanbase PROMOTE everyone within the organization. And, the Dolans wonder why they are having trouble selling season tickets?

A friend of mine purchased Indians season tickets this year. Mostly, because they gave him a free loge to use for one game this season. With the price of the loge, the ticket package actually paid for itself. This is what they have to do to get more asses in the seats.

However, what they really need to do is win ballgames. With the Browns on the verge of blowing everything up and starting over again and the Cavs an NBA embarassment, this city is desperate for a winner, ANY winner. If the Indians truly want to win back their angry fans, the only way to do it is to win.

Now, can they win? With this roster? I don't think so. That's where PR-moves like the potential Hargrove one comes into play.

***
Pat Shurmur has announced that he will not hire an offensive coordinator this season and serve as his own. He finished hiring his coaching staff, and, by and large, it is getting high marks from others around the league.

Dick Jauron and Ray Rhodes running the defense will be tremendous in helping transform this unit into something great. They had spurts of greatness under the bombastic Rob Ryan, but that greatness was never sustained. It's why he didn't get a head coaching job and why he's now in Dallas.

Shurmer seems like he has committed to Colt McCoy as his QB, and that should be good news for Browns fans. It's about time the Browns get a QB and then build around him and committ to him. They failed with Tim Couch, failed with Kelly Holcomb, failed with Jeff Garcia, failed with Charlie Frye, failed with Derek Anderson (although, Anderson failed them) and failed with Brady Quinn. The team will now have an offensive identity, something that's been lacking for a long time around these parts.

The one thing that could derail this train is the NFL's labor troubles. A prolonged lockout will hurt the Browns as they try to input the new offensive and defensive philosophies and try to find players to fit those philosophies. In fact, the one team that could be hurt the most by a lockout is the Browns, because of massive undertaking they are trying to do.

With a federal mediator stepping in, I have a feeling that a new agreement will be made. It probably won't be made until the final days before the current agreement ends (an 11th-hour deal, as some call it), but a deal will be made.

My prediction: Get ready for an 18-game regular season. You don't think NASCAR moved the Daytona 500 a week later next year for no particular reason, do you?

***
Thanks for reading. Joe Cleveland has now taken his act to Twitter. Follow him @JoeCleveBlog. I will post all of these blogs to my Twitter account, and throw in a Tweet from time to time.

And, there won't be as long of a gap between Joe Cleveland's next appearance ... hopefully.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!