Cleveland's Long Road To Rebuilding

A central theme of Miami and Cleveland's fourth and final match-up of the season Tuesday night was "showing up." Most observers, including myself, felt all Miami had to do was show up in order to win. They'd won the previous three match-ups by an average of 20 points, more than tripled the Cavs win total this season, and flat out possess more talent on their roster.

LeBron James also failed to show up for the pregame introductions, launching a thousand speculations as to why. The least likely among them is that James was scared to face the chorus of boos waiting for him. Unlikely because James has been serenaded with boos from every city this season and took part in the introductions on December 2nd, the last time the Heat played in Cleveland.

James claimed he was in the restroom during the introductions. Obviously, an eight-year veteran who hasn't missed a pregame introduction in his career shouldn't be granted the benefit of the doubt in this case. James most likely skipped the introductions in protest of some of his friends and associates being denied access to an underground parking garage at Quicken Loans Arena. The privilege, routinely granted to James' entourage when he was a member of the team, isn't typically granted to visiting players.

James hogged the pre-game and much of the in-game conversation, posting the 36th triple-double of his career. But Tuesday night was undoubtedly about the Cavaliers and their 102-90 win.

In their first meeting in Cleveland, the Cavs were rightly accused of cowering to LeBron. They joked with him as he approached their bench during free throw attempts and offered very little resistance on the defensive end. The Cavs went on to lose 35 of their next 36 games. Followers of the team pointed to the Miami game as the one that rocked the Cavs' confidence.

Heading into Tuesday's game the future of both teams was already decided. The 14-58 Cavs were headed for the draft lottery and the 51-22 Heat were gunning for the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A win figured to mean more to the Heat, but no one bothered to mention that to the new look Cavs.

Ryan Hollins shut Bosh down, holding him to 10 points on 5-14 shooting. He provided the defensive intensity that was sorely lacking during their December match up. Anthony Parker hit four three-pointers, all of which either prolonged a Cleveland run, or killed one of Miami's. Luke Harangody came off the bench looking to score and poured in seven 2nd quarter points. He was the biggest reason the Cavs held an 11-point lead at halftime. All unlikely heroes indeed, which seems only fitting for Cleveland's Herculean toppling of the supposed Miami super team.

I'm reminded of a quote from 1994 children's movie classic Little Giants, which coincidentally took place in Urbana, Ohio, about 200 miles southwest of Cleveland. Giants coach and perpetual loser Danny O'Shea addresses his depleted team at halftime of a blowout at the hands of the Cowboys, coached by his older brother Kevin. 

Danny O'Shea: ...you guys belong out there with those Cowboys. You know how I know that? Because I belong out there with my brother.


Rudy Zolteck: Give us a break, coach. You could never beat Kevin O'Shea at *anything*!

Danny O'Shea: That's not true. I did beat him once.

Jake Berman: When?

Danny O'Shea: When we were kids. We used to race our bikes down Cherry Hill every day after school. We raced every day and he always beat me, but one time, one time... I beat him.

Jake Berman: You beat Kevin down Cherry Hill?

Danny O'Shea: Yes, I did. He ate my dust.

This was the Cavs' one time.
 
It is now important for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland to move on. Even the Packers had to get over the hump and beat Brett Favre before they won the Super Bowl. The LeBron James chapter is now closed. Continuing to curse his name and sell out only the games he plays in just shows how dependent they are on the idea of LeBron.
Tuesday night was about the Cleveland Cavaliers and no one else. They showed up and beat a team they didn't deserve to be on the floor with. The city of Cleveland can be proud, if only for one night. This feeling, even more important than the upcoming 2011 Draft, is the first step towards the rebuilding process.

A Fond Farewell

In a way, Brett Favre has been a victim of his own success. Through his play over the last two decades, Favre has ingratiated himself with the mainstream media. The media's over-the-top praise of Favre's play, once the reason to celebrate him, has now largely become the reason to hate him.
The sad part about Favre's narrative is he hasn't been an innocent bystander, simply playing the game and letting the media and fans talk about him. His yearly flirtation with retirement is really just a cry for attention -- which brings me to the sad part. Brett Favre didn't need to pander for that kind of attention. People cared about Brett Favre, they didn't need to be convinced to care about him. In fact, his flip-flopping retirement speeches made people stop caring. The exact opposite of what he was trying to accomplish.
In March of 2007 when Favre first retired, most NFL fans were willing to embrace him. While he wasn't universally liked, I think most football fans appreciated what he did for the game and could respect a Hall of Fame career when they saw one.
He came out of retirement shortly thereafter, and hence, the Favre apologists were born. These apologists painted Favre as a man torn between his body and mind. His mind desperately wanted to come back to the game he loved and played so successfully, but his body told him no -- he couldn't hold up. It was quite a heroic picture. Through sheer will and determination, Favre could overcome his body's shortcomings.
Then there was the other side, Favre's critics. They thought of him as an attention-seeking prima donna, concerned primarily with keeping his name in the news, more so than winning. In 2007, most people were on the other side. Now, approaching the end of 2010, they've almost all converted to this side.
While Favre can be criticized for his performance, ego, or various off the field issues, his willingness to play can never be questioned. Favre's consecutive game's started streak ended a week and a half ago when he failed to suit up and face the Giants. He tallied 297 consecutive starts, 321 including the playoffs.
A day before Favre's streak was snapped, the Metrodome roof collapsed. Before the collapse, the Metrodome housed 230 consecutive Vikings games, 91 less than Brett Favre alone. If that doesn't put Favre's accomplishment into perspective, I don't know what does.
Growing up as a Bears fan, I was able to see Favre play often. I watched him rattle off eleven straight victories against us in the 1990s, and then seven straight in the 2000s. I saw him amass a 23-13 record against us playing for both the Packers and Vikings. I hated Favre, but I couldn't help but respect him. And even after all his shenanigans, I still do.
So when he decided to give it a go against the Bears on Monday Night, I was thrilled. I wanted one last chance to beat Brett Favre. From 1992-2003, Favre was 20-4 against the Bears. From 2004-2010 heading into Monday's game, he was 3-8. We couldn't beat him in his prime, so now we have to settle on beating him at the end of his career. As a Bears fan, I want every victory against Favre I can get before he's done.
Speaking of which, I believe this is his last year. I've never believed that before, but now I finally do. He didn't start a game. That's enough evidence for me to believe he can't do it anymore. I'm glad the Bears pulled off one last win, and I'm glad I was able to witness Brett Favre's career.  

A Win Is A Win...And The Bears Have Seven Of Them

The Chicago Bears are the worst 7-3 football team in the history of the NFL. Last week, they were the worst 6-3 football team in the history of the NFL. If they beat the Eagles next week they will be the worst 8-3 football team in the history of the NFL. If this is all starting to sound a little silly, it should.
ESPN.com writer Gene Wojciechowski (I triple checked that, it's spelled correctly) was kind enough to offer me an alley-oop. I was planning on addressing all of the excuses that have been made as to why the Bears have been successful this season, and Wojciechowski provided a nice, quick reason/excuse for each Chicago victory this year (minus the Packers, for whatever reason). I believe that his views match up almost perfectly with what I've heard about the Bears all season, so I decided to use his article as a reference point.

On the Lions win: "[The Bears] beat the Detroit Lions in the season opener, but needed a Matthew Stafford injury and a bizarre, last-second nullified touchdown to do it."

When healthy, Stafford is a much better quarterback than back up Shaun Hill, no one is disputing that. However, let's not pretend that Hill hasn't stepped in and played well. In his six starts this season, Hill has thrown for 1544 yards, 10 TDs to 7 INTs, and completed 62 percent of his passes. Not bad numbers at all, especially for a back up quarterback. The Lions were 1-5 in those games, not because of Hill, but because they gave up an average of 28 points per game in those five losses and couldn't run the ball. Hill played the entire second half of the Bears game and the Bears defense held him to his worst half of football this season.
Johnson's nullified touchdown is a tough call. There is a portions of the NFL rulebook that could have interpreted that as a catch, and another part, the part the referee's used, interpreted it as a drop. I'm convinced that Johnson could have came down with the ball in both hands, he chose to swing it to his right hand and payed for it. It's really no different than a receiver making a spectacular catch and coming down with his toe out of bounds.

On the Cowboys win: "[The Bears] beat the spectacularly underachieving Dallas Cowboys on the road for their second win."

I hate this argument. This was the second game of the NFL season. The Cowboys were 0-1, had they underachieved then, after one game? To suggest that the underachieving 1-8 Cowboys are the same team that took the field in the second game of the season is ludicrous. The football season does not remain static, some teams get better as the season goes on, and some get worse.
In Week 2 of the NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys were a Super Bowl favorite playing their first home game of the season. Dallas' D-Line came close to killing Cutler the entire first half, Romo threw for almost 400 yards, and Miles Austin caught 10 passes for 142 yards. The Bears won because they were plus three in the turnover battle, not because the Cowboys were an underachieving team one week into the season, they actually played very good that game.

On the Panthers win: "On the week [the Bears] lost Cutler to a concussion, the schedule gods gave them the Carolina Panthers -- and a win. Carolina is 1-8 this season."

I don't care what the opposing team's record is, if your quarterback (Todd Collins, the worst quarterback to start a NFL game this season) goes 6-16 for 32 yards and 4 INTs, you have no business winning that game. The Bears did because they created three turnovers of their own and held the dynamic Williams-Stewart combo to a combined 81 yards rushing.
The Bears also made a commitment to the run against the Panthers' pitiful rushing defense. Matt Forte scored two touchdowns and ran for 166 yards. When teams like the Patriots exploit other team's weaknesses, they're called smart. When the Bears do, they're lucky to be playing a weak team. It's all part of the double standard.

On the Bills win: "[The Bears'] fifth win came against the then-winless Buffalo Bills. And they didn't even have to play the Bills in Buffalo. Instead, they faced them in Toronto."

Sure, let's just ignore that after their Week 6 bye, the Bills weren't playing great football. They took the Ravens and Chiefs (both 4-2 when the Bills faced them) to overtime in back to back weeks. Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 605 yards and 5 touchdowns in both games. The Bills lost to the Bears and then went on to beat the Lions on the road. They're playing much much much better in the last four weeks than they were in the previous five.   
I'm not sure what Wojciechowski was getting at about playing in Toronto. He is aware that Buffalo and Toronto practically border each other, right? If he's suggesting that this was a home game that didn't have the feel of a home game it's because the Bears fans travel well, not because Bills fans couldn't make it to the game.

On the Vikings win: "[The Bears] got win number six against a Minnesota Vikings team that can't stand its coach and is without its best wide receiver."

Am I missing something? Haven't the Vikings hated Chilly for years? Weren't they going to win despite him? And not going to lay down like the Dallas Cowboys? Hasn't Sidney Rice been injured all season? These excuses could have been but weren't used when the Saints, Jets, Packers, and Patriots defeated the Vikings. Double standard, anyone?
Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre have made careers out of beating up on the Bears defense. In this game, they held Peterson to 51 yards, and Favre to 170 passing yards and 3 interceptions the week after his career high 446 yard passing effort against Arizona. If that's not impressive, especially for a team that has struggled historically against both players, I don't know what is.

On the Dolphins win: "And then [the Bears] threw a shutout against the Dolphins, who converted just one third down, had the ball nearly 16 fewer minutes than the Bears and saw Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams rush for a combined 11 yards."

I'm confused, these all seem like compliments to me. So the Dolphins a) couldn't convert on third down, b) lost the time of possession battle, c) had a reshuffled offensive line and couldn't run the ball, and d) started a back up quarterback. And that's why it was OK for Miami to lose? By my calculations, the Bears could have circled A, B, C, D, or E (All of the Above) for every game this season, yet they're 7-3, and being criticized for winning games that the Dolphins are getting a pass for.

The Bears are a flawed team, just like any other in the NFC. I believe they will make the playoffs, and after that, who knows what will happen. The last six games, especially next week at home against Philadelphia, and the three division games on the road will be hugely instrumental in shaping their playoff chances. Luck doesn't last for ten games and it sure doesn't last for sixteen. If the Bears make the playoffs it won't be because they were lucky, but because they deserved it.
For the record, Wojciechowski's summarized argument was, "I don't think the Bears are very good, but they've been so lucky this year, that I wouldn't be surprised if they made it to the Super Bowl." That seems to be everyone's view of the Bears in a nutshell. They're no good but they keep on winning, so I'm not going to be the one to wrongfully pick against them.
Just remember that there's more than one way to win a football game. The 2010 Bears are anything but conventional, but they're getting it done.

Favre Always Did Have A Flair For The Dramatic

What is it about Brett Favre and Monday Night Football? For a player that has always seemed to have a flair for the dramatic, Favre certainly seems to crank it up a notch on Monday night.
We can all remember back to December of 2003. Favre was scheduled to play the Raiders on Monday night, only a day after the death of his father. Favre suited up and threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns en route to a 41-7 beatdown of Oakland.
That game became a defining moment of Favre's career. The mistakes that plagued him early in his career seemed to be swept under the rug. Instead, the media propped Favre up to the iconic status he already enjoyed amongst the people of Wisconsin.
A year later his wife Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Packers had started off the 2004 season slow, with a 1-4 record at the time of Deanna's diagnosis. In typical Brett fashion, he played through the grief. Throwing for over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns on the year, he led the Packers to a Wild Card berth.
Favre could do no wrong. He'd dealt with some of the worst news imaginable and still managed to play. And not just take the field, but play at a Pro Bowl level.
While Favre's yearly "Should I stay or should I go," retirement contemplations have rubbed most of us the wrong way for the last three years, he's successfully been able to repair his public image.
By no means do people think of him as a Saint, or even like him for that matter, but he's still been a far cry from the womanizing, pill-popping alcoholic of the early 90s. 
Or so we thought. At least for one third of that Axis of Evil, anyway.

You've all heard the story by now regarding the pictures and voicemails that Favre allegedly sent two years ago while playing for the Jets. While the timing is certainly suspect, and the Favre allegations are just that, allegations, this story still needs to see the light of day.
Cheating to me is a lot like holding on the offensive line. It happens often, it's just a matter of getting caught or not. That doesn't make it right, but that's the harsh reality.
So should Favre be punished for pursuing a sexual relationship? If the allegations are true, I'd have to say yes. The woman was employed by the Jets. Therefore, her and Favre were technically coworkers, and sexual harassment amongst coworkers, by law, shouldn't be tolerated at any workplace.
Whether or not anything happens to Favre, tonight's game will be another defining moment of his career. Imagine if Favre plays well and the allegations turn out to be false. There's Brett again, playing through adversity.
Now imagine if Favre plays poorly and the allegations turn out to be true. The little reputation he has left will be shot.
This story is a big deal. Think of all the other things we could be talking about. The return of Randy Moss, who will eventually team up with the injured Sidney Rice to form the most freakishly athletic pair of receivers this league has ever seen on the same team.
Santonio Holmes comes back from his four game suspension and finally gives the Jets the number one receiver they've been missing all year.
Moss and Revis square off again. Hopefully this time for the entire game.
Adrian Peterson tries his luck against Jets vaunted front seven.
Maybe this speaks to the sensationalism we favor in our news. Sex sells and all that. But we can also chalk up this sex scandal trumping every other storyline to the aura of Favre.
Tonight is another significant chapter for Brett Favre the player. Brett Favre the person? I don't think we'll ever know.