Patrick

and perhaps Shaq???

And I'm comforted to know he's actually been to Cleveland.

Couple of comments. 1. Looks like they will do a sign and trade. LeBron will get the 6th year and max cash, Cavs will get two first round draft picks, two second round draft picks, and a $16M trade exception that they can try to parlay into other players. I think they also get the right to swap first round picks with Miami next year (...just in case Cavs have a better season...). I'm not so confident that they will be able to land something useful with the trade exception and it expires in a year, but we shall see. They certainly are motivated. Also not sure what they will accomplish with the last pick (or nearby) in the first round. Recent experience not so inspiring. But they can be used in trades. 2. Management certainly was not successful in landing another top tier player during the LeBron era. Plenty of blame to go around on that one. Gilbert/Ferry certainly tried, and while it is fashionable to bash Ferry as a GM, I think he made a number of good acquisitions. Face it, free agents have to be paid a premium to play in Cleveland due to the size of the market and the weather. [see Ray Allen going to the Sonics, and Larry Hughes' contract.] Having LeBron on the team made it feasible to contemplate signing top FAs, but they didn't come. I don't think this was because mgmt was unwilling. LeBron has superhuman powers, but apparently not any to convince big time guys to join him in CLE. My recent delusions included the possibility that Bosh would come in a sign-and-trade this year (despite public announcements by Bosh against going to CLE, LeBron would convince him), or that LeBron would sign a 6 yr deal, everyone would relax, and his buddy Chris Paul would arrive in two years when his deal was up (taking Jamison's salary slot). 3. LeBron could have signed longer term deals with the Cavs. He chose not to, primarily to maintain his options and keep mgmt "motivated". What happened? Gilbert/Ferry went all in signing/trading for players with a constant "win now" mentality. Turns out, in this case, that that was not so useful for "winning now". The displayed impatience is also sad. Jordan didn't win a title until his 7th season. LeBron just completed his 7th season. Nice to see that Durant, only 2 yrs in the association, has signed a long term deal. Bodes well for OKC. 4. I'm not into conspiracy theories, but I currently think the formation of the "Justice League of America" (several heroes with super human powers that somehow can't get much done on their own) was pretty much pre-ordained. Just needed to have a team or two in the position that they could sign all three. Thank goodness it was somewhere warm! LeBron's post-season this year raised questions. I put most of it on the elbow, but in retrospect... 5. Cleveland will get over it. The bond with the home grown product was especially close, so it may take awhile. Cavs will go all out this year, probably make the playoffs as a 6-8th seed. Byron Scott will bring a refreshing uptempo style. Not sure if the highly competitive owner will ever be willing to go into full rebuild mode, but that will be necessary in a market like Cleveland.

Agreed. Gilbert letter definitely cringe-inducing. But enough about sports. Time for music. Cue the orchestra!

Yes, referring to himself in the third person is extremely tiresome. And he has every right to move on to another team, even if it has a certain bus tossing element. Just done in such a crass manner. Kobe did similar crap with demanding to be traded, meeting with the Clippers (if I recall correctly), etc, didn't he? Fortunately his people didn't turn it into an hour long infomercial. For this we can all be thankful. Kudos to Kevin Durant for signing a long term deal with a small market team on the rise, and not making a big production out of it. I'm a fan.

Don't worry, Cleveland will "get over itself" (WTF!!!). The best athlete in town since Jim Brown (if not better), a local product, a kid who grew up in very challenging situation who as far as I know hasn't gotten into legal trouble [not raping women in Colorado, not getting into bar fights, not promoting anti-police videos, no drugs, gangs, gambling etc., ...seems like a refreshing change] And a damn good team basketball player. A bit of sadness/angst/frustration is reasonable. Thanks LeBron for the 7 exciting seasons in Cleveland. You've rarely been revolting, until this post-season (apparent lack of effort against the ancient Celtics) and this offseason. This ESPN infomercial was pretty damn crass. Could you have thought a bit about what you would say to your fellow NE Ohioans? Apparently not. Congrats on the big contract (although you could have made more at home). Wish you would have bothered to sign one long term one in Cleveland. But you didn't. At least the Cavs owner went for it, going over the salary cap rather than wasting a season or two of DWade's career dumping salary. Ultimately the stars did not align (as they do for all champs to a certain degree), so you've moved on. Superman, but not super enough to deliver another free agent (like Bosh) or a championship. Cleveland will get over it. So Byron Scott will get to coach a team built around Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams. It could be worse. Probably still more entertaining than the local baseball or football squads. Thank got NBA free agency is basically over. David Stern is still smiling ear to ear...

Anti-Cleveland snark is so played out.

I'm watching a few matches with interest in the worldwide spectacle, and not drawing any stereotypes about nations, their players, their fans, the sport, etc. Just watched Brazil v. Cote d'Ivoire. Brazil looked good, but this match did not live up to the pre-game hype (at least as hyped by US television).

"Like my B-side?"

Congrats to LAL--an exciting conclusion to the NBA season. Nice to see Kobe have a less than awesome game, but be picked up by his teammates. And the C's managed to get some production out of Rasheed.

...and that the margin of victory is something less than 20.

Nice game from Strasbourg against an admittedly underpowered offense. Huff hung with him for awhile, and I got to hang with Rob Dibble and Bob Carpenter for a few hours. Carpenter in a respectable pro and Dibble has a fair amount of insight for a player turned color guy, but it was getting a bit tedious (kinda like the game was after SS left) listening to Dibble talk about how he destroyed locker rooms after bad outings, and hated to wear throwback unis. Please stop.

...and the game took only 2 hr 3 minutes to complete.

Nice second game for Carlos Santana--a double, a HR and 3 RBI. Strasburg likely will be tough tomorrow afternoon, but nice to see the new #3 man performing in his first weekend up. And a great outing from Carmona, CG, 3H, 1ER, 7K, 0BB.

Kerry Wood is the worst closer in MLB. Not Bob Wickman on a bad day. No, approaching Joe Borowski on an average day. Who was the last reliable Indian closer? Probably Jose Mesa before he lost it. KW gets to within one out of a victory, then puts on a runner and serves up a go ahead HR. Fortunately the Boston bullpen returns the favor by loading the bases with no one out for Hafner (who strikes out), Peralta (who pops out to catcher) and old man Russell Branyan who hits a game winning single. Not bad for the lowly Tribe--get manhandled by Dice K, but do just fine against Buchholz and Lester.

Fellas, thanks for the pointers toward Silver's Serenade and the Cannonball. Will keep my eye out especially for them. Hey, it's mid-June. Time for a nice "Jazz in June" BN sale somewhere, right? jr.com? borders? anybody?

I don't know for sure (live closer to the Nats park than the Tribe's) but ticket sales are brisk (by local standards) for the team that is currently last in the majors in attendance. Strasburg story in PD When my mother called me up after the Hafner slam this evening, I told her she had to watch that Tribe/Nats game, even though the Tribe would probably lose badly.

Alright, I own about 2/3 of these already, and I'm not a completist. How essential are the following titles within that artist's body of BN work? Or asked differently, which of the following would you put in your favorite 100 BN titles? Any of them? Adderley, Cannonball Takes Charge Montgomery, Finger Pickin' Silver, Serenade to a Soul Sister, Silver's Serenade Smith, Softly as a Summer Breeze, Straight Life Turrentine, Bluish Bag

Justin Masterson!!!! (plus a week's worth of Indian offense) 11 consecutive losses for JM and now he has won 2 in a row. Finally saw the shift fail miserably. Bases loaded for Russell Branyan (for the second time in the 8th inning) and he hits a weak grounder right to where the third baseman normally stands. Goes for an infield hit because the third baseman is playing short. Could easily have been a double play with no runs scoring.

15 of 25 Indians on major league squad have less than 3 yrs service time: 4 rookies, 5 with less than 1 yr service time, 3 with less than 2 yrs, and 3 with less than 3 yrs. [And arguably their two best position players, Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera have potential season-ending injuries.] Does it show?

Definitely an idiotic call. ...and a nice pitching performance by Fausto Carmona...

Again, the Indians really couldn't afford to surrender one more run. Even if you pitch to Tex, what are the chances he gets an RBI when he flies or grounds out? Of course the strategy didn't work out for Cleveland. But would everyone be second guessing it if Tribe had pitched around ARod to get to Tex? Carlos Santana (cue the Abraxas clips, please!) likely will get called up by the All-Star break. He can't throw anyone out, but is crushing minor league pitching (memories of VMart?). Question for mgmt is whether they keep vet Mike Redmond who's doing a nice job helping Carmona back to effectiveness and keep two kids (Santana and Marson) or send Marson down. that last sentence makes no sense, but I can't get the editor to show me what I'm typing so I will just stop. Makeof it what you will.

I don't get all this nonsense about pitching around Tex to get to ARod. The score at the time was Yankees leading 2-1. Men on second and third with one out. Why are folks calling this CYA? Are you mentioning this only because the celebrity ARod is involved? It's a long shot, but why not try to get a double play, instead of conceding at least one run which probably seals the game [(1) given the anemic Indian offense, (2) assuming Joba won't pitch--sorry, got to enjoy one of the few pleasures of the Tribe season from hell.] Too bad another good outing for Mitch Talbot was wasted by the combustible Tribe bullpen. Austin Kearns, Jake Westbrook, and Kerry Wood currently available for some overhyped minor league talent. [see Masterson, LaPorta, Marson. I know, gotta be patient but...] Step right up!

In the rundown of the game I saw on ESPN, there looked to be some elastic strike calls in the early innings. Not enough to really grouse and all credit to RH and his fielders, but...

Not suggesting that you were, just stating the obvious differences. Was going to ask why Joba is in a game that the Yankees have well in hand, but I think (6 Indians runs later) I'll not mention it now...