Is Floyd Mayweather coming back?
Posted: May 2, 2016 in BoxingTags: Floyd Mayweather, The Money Team
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Cleveland Indians first base prospect Bobby Bradley on MLB prospect Team of the Week
Posted: May 2, 2016 in IndiansTags: Bobby Bradley, Cleveland Indians
Bradley plays for Indians Class A Advanced affiliate Lynchburg.
Click the link below to read the entire story.
http://m.indians.mlb.com/news/article/175782562/prospect-team-of-week-led-by-dansby-swanson
This mock draft was done by myself and Sean Rhodes, from Phil Steele Publications. With the No. 8 Pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select….
- Los Angeles Rams (trade via Tennessee): Jared Goff (QB) – California
- Philadelphia Eagles (trade via Cleveland): Carson Wentz (QB) – North Dakota St
- San Diego Chargers: DeForest Buckner (DL) – Oregon
- Dallas Cowboys: Joey Bosa (DL) – Ohio State
- Jacksonville Jaguars: Jalen Ramsey (DB) – Florida St
- Baltimore Ravens: Myles Jack (LB) – UCLA
- San Francisco 49ers: Laremy Tunsil (OL) – Mississippi
- Cleveland Browns (trade via Philadelphia through Miami): Vernon Hargreaves (DB) – Florida
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ronnie Stanley (OL) – Notre Dame
- New York Giants: Ezekiel Elliott (RB) – Ohio State
- Chicago Bears: Jack Conklin (OL) – Michigan St
- New Orleans Saints: Sheldon Rankins (DL) – Lousiville
- Miami Dolphins (trade via Philadelphia): Eli Apple (DB) – Ohio State
- Oakland Raiders: A’Shawn Robinson (DL) – Alabama
- Tennessee Titans (trade via Los Angeles): Taylor Decker (OL) – Ohio State
- Detroit Lions: Reggie Ragland (LB) – Alabama
- Atlanta Falcons: Leonard Floyd (LB) – Georgia
- Indianapolis Colts: Darron Lee (LB) – Ohio State
- Buffalo Bills: Shaq Lawson (DL) – Clemson
- New York Jets: Paxton Lynch (QB) – Memphis
- Washington Redskins: Ryan Kelly (OL) – Alabama
- Houston Texans: Corey Coleman (WR) – Baylor
- Minnesota Vikings: Laquon Treadwell (WR) – Mississippi
- Cincinnati Bengals: Keanu Neal (DB) – Florida
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Mackensie Alexander (CB) – Clemson
- Seattle Seahawks: Jarran Reed (DL) – Alabama
- Green Bay Packers: Andrew Billings (DL) – Baylor
- Kansas City Chiefs: Will Fuller (WR) – Notre Dame
- Arizona Cardinals: Karl Joseph (DB) – West Virginia
- Carolina Panthers: Robert Nkemdiche (DL) – Mississippi
- Denver Broncos: Chris Jones (DL) – Mississippi St
Note: The New England Patriots forfeited their 1st round pick due to penalties handed down from “Deflategate.”
Previewing the Opening night of the Cleveland Area Golden Gloves
Posted: April 19, 2016 in BoxingTags: Boxing, Cleveland, Golden Gloves, Jibreel Hawkins, Levi Patterson, Tyrel Ross, Uriel Huerta
The 88th annual Cleveland Area Golden Gloves boxing tournament begins this Friday and Saturday, April 22nd and 23rd from the Brook Park Recreation Center (17400 Holland Rd).
Friday’s preliminary bouts feature 12 matchups in six weight classes, including four in the 152 pound Novice Division and three in the 165 pound Open Division.
Half of the bouts on the opening night will be filled by Open Division boxers. Of those six bouts, three will feature former Cleveland Area Golden Glove champions.
The opening bout of the competition is in the 123 pound Open Division and promises to set the stage for what the night has in store. 2014 Novice Division champion Uriel Huerta, from Cal Crowell Boxing, will look to become an Open Division champion this year. It won’t be easy as standing in his way will be the 2015 Lake Erie Association Jr Olympic champion, Jibreel Hawkins, from ABA Boxing.
Two former 165 pound champions will compete in separate bouts.
For those that attended last year’s tournament, Tyrel Ross, from MLK Premier, should be a familiar name as he was crowned the 165 pound Novice Division Champion. Ross will be taking on Mardell Halas, from Salem Boxing Club.
Levi Patterson, from Empire Boxing Club, won the 2011 Open Division championship at 152 pounds. He will be taking on Jose Rodriguez, from Rodriguez Boxing Club in what should be an entertaining scrap in the 165 pound Open Division.
The remaining Open Division bouts taking place on opening night will be Elmer Dennis against Henry Gaston at 141 pounds, Kevin Cole against Solomon Howell at 165 pounds, and Rashad Chisolm against Keith Fairchild at 178 pounds.
Six Novice Division bouts are also on tap, with the four aforementioned 152 pound matches, along with one apiece at 165 pounds and Super Heavyweight (201+), which will conclude the opening night festivities.
13 Former Champions highlight the 2016 Cleveland Area Golden Gloves Tournament
Posted: April 11, 2016 in BoxingTags: Alante Green, Armond Richard, Aurel Love, Boxing, Cleveland, Eric Miller, Frank Brown, Golden Gloves, Kato Montgomery, Levi Patterson, Matthew Brown, Ryizeemmion Ford, Tyrel Ross, Uriel Huerta, William Flenoy, Zi Stalnaker
It’s April in Cleveland and along with the start of the Major League baseball season, comes the Cleveland Area Golden Gloves tournament. 2016 marks the 88th edition of the annual tournament, which will again be held at the Brook Park Recreation Center, 17400 Holland Rd in Brook Park. The preliminary bouts will begin Friday, April 22nd at 7PM, the quarterfinals will be Saturday, April 23rd at 7PM, with the semi-finals & finals taking place the following Friday and Saturday respectively.
There will be a total of 13 former Cleveland Golden Glove Champions competing in the Open Division (10+ bouts of experience) in this year’s tournament, highlighted by Aurel Love from Bob Davis Boxing Club, who will be attempting to become a five time champion!
The Open Division winners will be able to represent Cleveland in the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in Salt Lake City, Utah, which starts on May 16th.
Love was the 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2015 Open Division champion at 114 pounds, but will be moving up to the 123 pound weight class this year. Attempting to dethrone Love will be another former champion in Uriel Huerta, from Cal Crowell Boxing, who was the 2014 Novice (between 1-9 bouts of experience) Division champion. Also in the mix is Jibreel Hawkins of ABA Boxing, who will be making his first appearance in the Golden Gloves. While Hawkins is a newcomer here, he has vast experience in the ring and was the 2015 Lake Erie Association Jr Olympic Champion in the 125 pound weight class.
Both the 132 and 141 pound Open Division will have three former champions each competing to add more hardware to their trophy case.
Eric Miller, from Blue Steel Boxing Academy, was the 123 pound Open Division Champion in 2014 and will move up to 132 pounds this year. Among those standing in his way will be Ryizeemmion Ford, from Common Ground, who was the 2013 Novice Division Champion and Frank Brown, from the Westside Boxing Club, who was the Sub-Novice (no experience) champion in 2012.
At 141 pounds, Armond Richard, who trains at Empire Boxing club, should be familiar to those who attended last year’s tournament as he was the Novice Division Champion in 2015 and has now moved up to the Open Division. He’ll be joined by two-time former Champion William Flenoy from Thurgood Marshall, who is attempting to win his third championship in three weight classes after winning the 2008 Open Division Champion at 125 pounds as well as the 2011 Open Division Champion at 132 pounds. Zi Stalnaker, from Terminator Boxing Club in Akron was the Novice Division Champion in 2014 at 132 pounds and will also look to become a multiple time Cleveland Champion.
The 165 pound Open Division features a pair of former champions in Tyrel Ross, from MLK Premier, the Novice Division Champion at 165 pounds last year as well as Levi Patterson from Empire Boxing Club, who was the Open Division Champion at 152 pounds in 2011.
At 178 pounds, Kato Montgomery, from Bob Davis Boxing Club, will be looking for his third Cleveland Golden Glove Championship, but first in this weight class. Montgomery is the defending Open Division Champion at 201 pounds, and was also the Novice Division Champion in 2012 in the 201 pound weight class. Among those looking to knock him off will be Matthew Brown, who was the Novice Division Champion at 165 pounds in 2009.
In the Super Heavyweight division (201+ pounds) Alante Green will look to become a four time Cleveland Golden Glove champion as he is the defending back-to-back Open Division champion and also was the 2012 Sub-Novice division champion.
For a full listing of the boxers in this year’s tournament as well as the brackets, visit www.clevelandareagoldengloves.com.
- Sure D’Angelo Russell violated the ‘Bro Code,’ but Nick Young is a soulless creep. Congrats on the soap opera Lakers. Why is Nick Young on your roster anyway?
- Five years ago Buddy Hield, the Naismith player of the year, would have had a tough time being more than a role player in the NBA. Fast forward to now, however, and Hield will be able to fit into the threecentric era that the league is currently in just fine.
- The Indians home opener has a chance to be the coldest in history. The forecast at the time of the first pitch is calling for a temperature of 34 degrees. All the way back in 1907, the coldest on record, the temperature was 36 degrees. No, I didn’t forget 2007, when it was 28 degrees and featured a blizzard. The game was actually cancelled and played in Milwaukee three day later.
- Speaking of the Indians, there will be a new scoreboard above the left field bleachers this year. The previous scoreboard had been in existence since 2004.
- Because I’m a fan of food, just as much as sports, I figured I should let you know the new food options available. The Indians have continued to add more local flavors to the Progressive Field lineup. After adding Barrio, Melt Bar and Grilled, Sweet Moses, and Happy Dog last year, Momocho, Fat Head’s Brewery, Dante’s Inferno, the Brew Kettle, Cleveland Pickle, Happy Dog, and Ohio City Burrito are new this year.
- I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a team as focused from start to finish as Villanova was in their 44 point thrashing of Oklahoma. While up 20, the Wildcats were playing like it was a single possession game. When up 30, they were playing as if they were down by five. Even when they led by 40, the effort level by the players was as if they were down by bucket with seconds left. Impressive to say the least.
- Michael Brantley AKA “Dr. Smooth,” will begin the season on the disabled list, meaning he will not be in the opening day lineup for the first time in seven years. Brantley normally is the No. 3 hitter, but that spot will be kept warm by super sophomore and rookie of the year runner up Francisco Lindor, while playing Brantley’s spot in left field will be veteran newcomer Marlon Byrd. The 14 year veteran Byrd hit .247 with 23 home runs last year with the Reds and Giants.
- Did you miss the knockouts that the “Sweet Science” provided this weekend? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
- Speaking of boxing, on this day, April 3rd in 1998, a 25 year old Felix “Tito” Trinidad knocked out Mahenge Zulu to retain the Welterweight Championship of the World.
- Also on this day in boxing history, Marco Antonio Barrera stopped Paul Lloyd in the first round to retain his Super Bantanmweight title, in 1999.
- Speaking of world titles, Cleveland’s Willie “The Great” Nelson will be one step closer to achieving a shot at one, as the top contender is scheduled to take on undefeated Demetrius Andrade on June 11th at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. Andrade was a member of the 2008 USA Olympic boxing team. Nelson is coming off a 2nd round knockout victory on March 25th at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma.
- Speaking of USA Olympians, congratulations are in order for Cleveland’s Charles Conwell, who qualified for the Olympics after winning a Gold Medal at the Americas qualifier in Buenos Aires on March 18th. Conwell is the fourth straight Cleveland boxer to make the USA Boxing Olympic team joining Terrell Gausha (2012), Raynell Williams (2008), and Mickey Bey (2004).
- The show I look forward to watching the most every week is Dr. Ken. If you like to laugh, I highly recommend it.
With the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft the Cleveland Browns…
Posted: April 2, 2016 in BrownsTags: Carson Wentz, Cleveland Browns, Jalen Ramsey, Jared Goff, Laremy Tunsil, NFL Draft
Phife Dawg rocking the Cleveland Indians attire
With the sad news that Phife Dawg, one of the members of one of my all-time favorite hip-hop acts, passed away last week as a result of diabetes, I’ve put together a bakers dozen of my all-time favorite songs from the legendary group. This list is no particular order, as I honestly can’t distinguish a better track between these, as all are classics in my book.
1nce again
Award Tour
Can I kick it
Check the rhyme
Electric relaxation
Luck of Lucien
Lyrics to go
Oh my god
Scenario
The chase part II
The Jam
The pressure
Versus from the abstract
Best player available, not best quarterback, is best option for Browns draft
Posted: March 24, 2016 in Browns, FootballTags: Calvin Johnson, Carson Wentz, Cleveland Browns, Eli Manning, Jalen Ramsey, Jared Goff, Laremy Tunsil, Myles Jack, NFL Draft, Peyton Manning
Now that the Cleveland Browns have added RG3 to their roster, the smart thing to do is to keep both Josh McCown and Austin Davis as well. With three quarterbacks on the roster, there is no need to waste the No. 2 overall pick on any of the quarterbacks that will be available in this years draft.
I’m not saying that RG3 is going to be the franchise quarterback of the future for the Browns, maybe he will, maybe he won’t, but the better selection for this team all along has been to take the best player available.
This Browns team is lacking talent all over their roster. Laremy Tunsil, Jalen Ramsey, or Myles Jack would help this team much more then Jared Goff or Carson Wentz.
There have been 12 quarterbacks taken in the top five of the draft the last 10 years. Just one of those 12 quarterbacks has a record above .500 in the playoffs. Who is that, you ask? That would be Mark Sanchez, who is best known for this particular play and not for being remotely close to a franchise quarterback.
Also, the lone playoff appearances for Sanchez were in his first two seasons (’09-’10) as he hasn’t been back since. That’s right. 12 quarterbacks. One with a winning record in the playoffs.
Here’s another reason why the Browns would be foolish to take a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick. Of the last 10 Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, just two were taken in the top five. Those two happen to share the same last name and it doesn’t take a genius to tell that there aren’t any Manning brothers available this year. Four of the ten were not even taken in the first round!
Another position that constantly gets mentioned for the Browns by misinformed fans and media at No. 2 is wide receiver. That would be another mistake. I didn’t agree with former Browns General Manager Ray Farmer on many things, but one thing he was highly accurate about was the wide receiver position. This may be the most overrated position in terms of the type of talent that equates to helping a team win games. The best receiver in the NFL over the last ten years has been Calvin Johnson. In eight of those years, he just so happened to have a quarterback that was taken with the first pick of the draft in 2009. Can you guess how many playoff wins Johnson has? I’ll give you a hint. It’s the same number that you have. ZERO! Just to be more clear about wide receivers taken early, in the last ten years, there have been five taken in the top five, and combined they are 0-6 in the playoffs!
Memo to Browns: Sign RGIII
Posted: March 20, 2016 in Browns, FootballTags: Browns, NFL, Redskins, RGIII, Robert Griffin III
With news that Robert Griffin III (RGIII) was in Cleveland over the weekend, there should be a real possibility that the Browns brass would make an offer to the former No. 2 overall pick from the 2012 draft. The Browns failed in an attempt to trade up in that draft to take the Heisman Trophy winner and now have a chance to get him on their roster.
Make no mistake, RGIII can spin it. Often mistaken for a runner first, passer second, anyone who watched him play while at Baylor, knows he is a quarterback that just so happens to be able to tuck and run when the situation calls for it. Sure, he can run the zone read offense as he did when he was named the NFL rookie of the year in 2012, but that was due to the Redskins trying to take advantage of a skill set that most NFL defenses weren’t used to defending. That also is a recipe for disaster as quarterbacks shouldn’t be taking hits from defenders on nearly every play.
After winning the Heisman Trophy at Baylor of all places, scouts were salivating at RGIII’s skill set. There was some consideration (however brief) as to who would be the overall No. 1 pick, which would eventually (and rightfully so) go to Andrew Luck.
RGIII set a rookie record with a 102.4 quarterback rating, had a phenomenal 20-5 touchdown to interception ratio, and led the Redskins to their first playoff appearance since 2007. After spraining his knee late in the season, RGIII missed one game (against the Browns) before returning for the finale, but then suffered a torn ACL to the same weakened knee in an opening round playoff loss.
Things have gone downhill ever since.
In 2013, despite not playing a single down in the pre-season as he was still rehabbing, RGIII returned for the opener. He ended up throwing for more yards while completing over 60% of his passes on the season, but the Redskins struggled and he clearly wasn’t able to take advantage of his agility as he was less then a year removed from major knee surgery. He was deactivated for the final three games of the season with the reason being to avoid further injury.
RGIII was 100% entering the 2014 season, but suffered a dislocated left ankle in the second game of the season. After missing six games, he returned but was ineffective in three losses and was benched in favor of former Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, who was named the starter over an ineffective Kirk Cousins as Griffin rehabbed his ankle. RGIII returned after McCoy was injured for the final two games of the season, throwing for a season high 336 yards in the finale.
RGIII was in line to be the starter last year, but suffered a concussion in the second preseason game and was inactive the entire year.
A change of scenery is just what RGIII needs. We in Cleveland know about dysfunctional organizations and the Redskins are right up there with the Browns in terms of dysfunction. The Redskins are a team that is having discussions about building a moat around their stadium. I always thought moats were to keep people out, but hey, that’s the Redskins for you. Its not a crazy thought to think that Washington just didn’t know how to handle his personality. Again, the Redskins are far from a stable franchise, having won 10 or more games just once in the last 10 years (2012).
The quarterback position is a fragile one in the NFL. A guy can have all of the physical skills in the world, but it doesn’t matter one iota. Sure RGIII is a bit of a loner, but could it be because he was raised in a military family? I know first hand about that experience. It’s hard to become close with people when you are forced to move every two to three years. That said, he comes from a strong family, with high values, which is the total opposite of what the Browns have had in their locker room the last two seasons.
The Browns have hired EXTREMELY smart people to run their franchise, and I’d be willing to bet that they would do everything in their power to make sure a quarterback with franchise changing skills is comfortable. Also, it’s not as if the Browns would have to offer RGIII a huge contract. They could sign him to an incentive laden deal, where both parties win if he pans out.
By signing RGIII, the Browns then can turn their attention to drafting a player at No. 2 overall that can help them win games right away, as opposed to any of the quarterbacks that all pose major question marks as the whether or not they can even play in this league.
Castro's Kingdom 