Postseason Blues

Honestly, can we calm down a little?

The Dodgers swept the Cubs in the NLDS, finishing things off with a 3-1 victory Saturday. Fair enough. But what's with all the celebrating?

Teams roll out champagne, take curtain calls, and otherwise act like they've won the World Series when, obviously, they haven't. Haven't even won a pennant. Just a series. Still two more to win before they can claim the big prize.

So act like it. Shake hands, wave to the crowd, exchange a hug or two, and go shower up. Lots of business yet at hand.

Which brings me to another pet peeve. "Postseason" records. That's all well and good, but the notion that Manny Ramirez's postseason home run record is comparable to those of Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth is preposterous. Ramirez holds the all-time postseason record with 26 dingers, well ahead of Mantle's 18 or Ruth's 15 -- except theirs were all in the World Series. Every single one. How many World Series home runs does Ramirez have? Four.

No question, you have to get to the World Series to be able to hit home runs there, and Mantle and Ruth had the good fortune to play on powerful Yankee teams that seemingly made it every year. But that's part of the mystique. Theirs came on the biggest stage of all, under pressure like no other in baseball -- and, for their eras, like no other in sports.

Ramirez has hit 22 home runs in divisional and league championship series play, and that's impressive. But let's not lose perspective on what Mickey and the Babe did when they lived up to expectations and delivered time and time again to set the standard for World Series greatness.

Feel-Good Stories from a Not-So-Good Tribe Season

Now that the Indians' every-other-year funk is out of the way, a few upbeat notes from an otherwise disappointing season:

Cliff Lee. Duh.

Kelly Shoppach. Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity. The guy proved that he's an every-day big league catcher. Anybody notice that his 21 homers was tops among A.L. catchers? One of the best acquisitions the Indians have made this decade.

Jamey Carroll. Don't look now, but Carroll (left) had a better batting average than Grady Sizemore or Ben Francisco. Again, he took advantage of an opportunity (when Asdrubal Cabrera fizzled early and Josh Barfield went down with an injury) and made the most of it. Whodathunkit?

Shin-Soo Choo. Quietly the best hitter on the team down the stretch. In fact, in just over half a season, he had 14 homers, 66 RBI and 68 runs scored to go along with a team-best .309 batting average. Should come into 2009 with a starting outfield spot all sewn up.

Jhonny Peralta. I wasn't exactly in his camp early in the season, but he settled down and put up some solid numbers (like Carroll, posting a better batting average than Sizemore). I'm not a big fan of his at short -- I happen to think that his growth spurt a few years ago hindered his quickness and mobility -- and hope that he meant what he said this week when he told reporters he'd be willing to consider a move to third base if that's what's best for the team. Good for him. He would instantly become a solid presence at the hot corner, both defensively and offensively.

Grady Sizemore. I'm torn on this one, because his batting average took a disconcerting drop, but he still managed to put up big numbers for an average team. A career-best 33 homers, with 90 RBI and 38 stolen bases. Excellent defense, tremendous hustle. Cornerstone of the team.

Jensen Lewis. Hey, he produced as the closer when asked to do so. After the nail-biting adventures of Joe Borowski and company all season, Lewis got the job done, with 13 saves and a 3.82 ERA. Don't know if he'll be there next year, but the team could do worse, as we all know.

Scott Lewis. OK, call it beginner's luck. But he pitched like a seasoned veteran at the end of the season. In fact, he was as good or better than Cliff Lee in his late-season starts. Maybe it was a flash-in-the-pan thing, I don't know. But it was fun to watch, after a year of disappointments.

Casey Blake and CC Sabathia. Both good guys, who left fond memories behind, and now are in the N.L. playoffs. Good for them, and give Mark Shapiro credit for sending them places where they had a chance to taste the postseason. I hope they meet in the N.L. Championship Series, and may the best man win from there.

Finally, does anyone remember Jorge Velandia? It was that kind of season in 2008....

USC, Georgia, Florida -- Even Ohio State -- Got It Right

So, a big weekend of college football saw lots of top teams get knocked off their perches.

Big deal.

If history is any indicator, they'll all hover around the top and, more than likely, one of them will be right back there by season's end. I'd guess it will be USC, but time will tell.

It all comes down to polls, which, in all honesty, are a silly way to determine any type of champion. For years, that's all there was. Now, the BCS tries to even the score -- mostly to no avail.

Who said that any team should be ranked where they are? Writers. Coaches. It's all based on opinion, not fact. Not performance. Opinion. Where in sports does that count for anything, except in college?

Before a college team plays a down -- or in basketball, scores a basket, or in baseball, scores a run -- opinions determine where they rank.

And so, when they lose, opinions determine how far they should fall in the polls -- if at all. Ohio State loses big to USC? They drop about 10 spots, to push them, for all practical purposes, out of national title contention for good. That's probably as it should be, considering their lackluster performances against YSU, Ohio and even Troy.

Now it will be interesting to see where USC lands, after losing to Oregon State, a team that previously lost to -- wait for it -- Stanford.

Fact is, it always comes down to how you perform on the field. Teams lose. Sometimes, they lose games they're not supposed to, like when the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. After the USC debacle on Thursday night, favored teams like Georgia and Florida were upended on Saturday.

So we end up waiting breathlessly for the polls to come out, so we can determine who, for now, is the #1 team in the land.

Why? Why do we need to know that now?

We don't know who the best team in Major League Baseball is, and won't until after the World Series is played. What a novel concept. Play the season, play the playoffs, and let performance on the field be the only arbiter.

Same goes for the NFL, where we won't have a clue until the Super Bowl is played. Oh, sure, last year everybody thought the Patriots were tops -- perhaps the best ever. Performance said otherwise. And they were beaten by a Giants team that, had polls been relied upon, might have been excluded from the playoffs altogether.

Granted, there's never been an equitable method determined to have a college football playoff, and chances are there never will be.

And so we have the odd system of determining rankings by opinion. And that takes us back to the headline on this post. The teams that have already lost are in a better position to be higher ranked than any team that loses down the road.

Oklahoma and Alabama are sitting pretty right now. But, should they lose a game later on, look out! They'll tumble several spots, and one or more of the teams that have already lost will move ahead of them. We see it every year. A loss late in the season is far more costly than a loss early in the season.

It's silly, but that's the way it is. Don't be surprised if one of the early losers -- USC, Florida or Georgia -- finds its way back up the rankings and into the BCS title game. Not because somebody else just as deserving lost more games, but because they lost one at the wrong time -- late in the season.

Bumbling Browns

Yecccch.

Sunday's 28-10 loss by the Browns at Baltimore was ridiculous -- inexcusable on many levels. Fans are harping about Derek Anderson -- and yes, he was bad -- but the whole team looked lethargic and undisciplined. After an early drive showed such promise and resulted in a touchdown (and a 7-0 lead), the Browns simply frittered away the remainder of the game. You can cut the defense a little slack -- after all, they were handed impossible situations more than once thanks to DA's interceptions -- but, once again, this was a team that appeared to be woefully unprepared and terribly outplayed. The longer the game went on, the worse it got, and it became difficult and disappointing to watch.

And it comes down to coaching. There's simply not much being said, at any level, about Romeo Crennel's genius as a football coach. People more knowledgeable than I are not exactly leaping to his defense, which confirms my suspicions that there's a problem at the top. The fact is, the Browns have played seven games this year and lost them all: four in the preseason, and three in the regular season. It's been ugly, frustrating and shocking, all at once. Fans came into the season with enormous expectations. There was, no doubt, some wishful thinking involved, but 0-3? That's simply inexcusable.

While we're on the subject of Romeo Crennel, I want to scream when he refuses to refer to players by name during press conferences. This time he talked about getting more reps at quarterback for "the other guy" -- instead of referring to Brady Quinn by name.

Here's a suggestion for Phil Savage and Randy Lerner: How about, real soon, you refer to Crennel as "the former coach?"

Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.

OK, I'm Back

Enough of that silly retirement stuff. So I took a month off -- sue me. The whole Brett Favre thing still bores me. So much so that I got bored satirizing it!

Now then:

-- Anyone who honestly thought Ohio State was going to make a game of it against USC was kidding themselves. That they barely beat Ohio University was evidence enough. Fortunately, I had an event to attend that night, and didn't see a down. No loss. I'm a fan, but in the way I'm a fan of my son's high school team. I follow the team, and I hope they'll win, but I sleep fine either way. This Buckeyes team is not national championship material, so let's enjoy the season and be realistic about things.

-- I'm tired of the Browns' act. Really am. This is a team in disarray. They don't come to play. They're unprepared. Opposing teams punch them in the mouth and take over games before they know what hit them. After the talent on display last year, there's no excuse for it. There's a reason the experts had high expectations for the team this year -- THEY WERE EXPECTED TO BE EVEN BETTER. Instead, they stumbled through the preseason and stumbled through the first two games of the season. One can only assume they stumbled through training camp, too. It's ridiculous. I don't know Romeo Crennel, and I don't know as much about football as Romeo Crennel, but something is very, very wrong with this team and its ability to compete. I do know that he is responsible for that.

-- Cliff Lee has turned in one of the most remarkable pitching performances in baseball history, but I could care less if he wins the Cy Young Award or not. I suspect that it's not at the top of his list, either. It's great to win awards, but the list of sports awards from over the years is littered with one-hit wonders. And that's not what Lee wants. It remains to be seen if he'll be able to string together several excellent seasons, but, hearing his comments this year, it seems that's what he's most focused on -- being consistent, and giving his team a chance to win game in and game out. If he keeps that focus, he'll go down as one of the best in the game. That's more important in the long run than any individual award in one season.

-- I get a kick out of all these NASCAR rivalries and wars of words. This guy cut off that guy, this driver ran that driver into the wall, blah, blah, blah. Come on - these people are flying around oval tracks at ungodly speeds. Of course there are going to be bumps and bangs and crashes. Shut up and drive, and be glad you come out of these insane events alive.

-- I thought what Michael Phelps did was cool. People expected him to win eight gold medals, people wanted him to win eight gold medals, and he won eight gold medals. I can't even fathom how good he had to be to do that, and how many things had to go just right for it to happen. Good for him. Best ever? Who knows? Who CARES? It was remarkable, and that's enough for me.

-- The USA men's basketball team, on the other hand, was overhyped and surprisingly weak, I thought. Early in the qualifying rounds, Dwayne Wade actually said something about how the team was "growing" after they barely edged one of those tiny countries with a couple of factory workers and a baker on its roster. Growing? The best the NBA has to offer, and they're GROWING? Please. The decline of the NBA game -- lousy outside shooting, phantom defense, standing around on offense -- was on display for all to see. The Dream Team of Magic, Bird, Jordan, et al, simply dominated all comers. The "Redeem Team" would have lost to that group, based on what I saw this year. They may be athletically superior, but they're fundamentally inferior. A game between the two teams wouldn't have been close, I don't think.

Good sport, of a different sort

Last weekend I had the chance to rub shoulders with one of the most famous chefs in America, if not the world: Cat Cora, best known from her knockout performances on The Food Network's "Iron Chef America." Cat was in Northeast Ohio for a benefit for Meals on Wheels of Stark & Wayne Counties, where I do PR. She is, quite simply, the real deal -- a total delight, gracious and patient and kind in every way. A star, yes. But never a prima donna, even if she had the right to be, considering her exceptional talents and bonafide fame. Cat delivered meals for the agency, did a book signing at the local Borders Books, and wowed 230 guests at a fundraiser. She was down-to-earth and a blast to be around. The pic to the left includes her assistant, Ashley Campbell, and my wife Doreen. A great time, and a great memory.

So there. I'm back. Let me know what you think.

BREAKING NEWS: Delamater Reconsidering Retirement

Almost as quickly as he retired, blogger Tom Delamater is reportedly having second thoughts.

A source who asked to remain anonymous said that Delamater is apparently considering seeking reinstatement into the blogosphere, although the allegation could not be confirmed by anyone close to the blogger or his family.

Delamater retired abruptly on Monday, citing the fact that he didn’t have “anything left to give” to his readers or the sports world. He called his retirement “the right decision” and that there was nothing representatives of Blogger/Blogspot “can do or say now to change that.”

But he is said to have had second thoughts almost immediately after making the announcement. Things only got worse when he tried to go fishing Tuesday and lodged a hook deep into the ring finger on his left hand. Reports of the injury could not be confirmed, but Delamater is alleged to have said that it is not serious and would not hinder his blogging ability. "What am I doing?" Delamater told ESPN's Rachel Nichols. "I'm not a fisherman. I'm a blogger."

Although few people seem to be losing sleep over whether Delamater blogs or not, ESPN devoted another 15 minutes to the story at the beginning of its 11 p.m. "SportsCenter" broadcast.

Delamater Announces Retirement

In a surprise move Monday, Ohio blogger Tom Delamater announced that he is retiring from blogging.

At a hastily convened news conference, Delamater said he could no longer keep his part of the bargain. “I’ve given everything I possibly can to the Blogger organization, to the field of blogging, and I don’t think I’ve got anything left to give,” he said, his voice cracking as he put his head in his hands, trying to choke back the tears. “And that’s it. It’s been a great career for me, and it’s over.”

“As hard as that is for me to say, it’s over.”

After the words officially retiring escaped from his mouth, he broke down.
"I'm not going to sit here like other bloggers maybe have in the past and say that I won't miss it," Delamater said, fighting back tears as a hush fell over the room of usually cynical, not to mention self-respecting, reporters. "Because I will. But I just don't think I can give anything else, aside from the few minutes at a time when I’m actually writing on my computer. And in blogging, you can't do that."

Several times during the news conference, Delamater said that he could still blog “at a high level.” He also denied that representatives of Blogger had not done enough to urge him to write on. At the same time, he said he might have given it more thought if they had.

"I've questioned my decision," Delamater said. "But I believe it's the right decision. And there's nothing that they can do or say now to change that.

During the rambling, wide-ranging news conference that inexplicably lasted more than an hour, Delamater talked of his appreciation for being a Blogger blogger, his lack of a plan for life after blogging, the yearlong sabbatical he and his wife are going to take from appearing at social events, and the inspiration he drew from his readers.

He admitted that as time passed, being a blogger got tougher.

"Tom Delamater got hard to live up to," Delamater said. "It's only gotten tougher, and something told me 'It's gotten too hard for you.' I could probably come back and do it, suck it up, but what kind of a toll would that take on me, my family or my fellow bloggers who are putting forth a genuine effort?

"At some point, it would affect one of those, if not all of them. Maybe it has already."

There were questions about whether Delamater was nudged out the door. But he said no.

"As I walk away, I'm walking away on top, my head high, chin up,” he assured the crowded room of reporters who were hanging on his every twitch, his every word, and his every puzzled expression when someone asked an incredibly fawning and idiotic question. “And it is on my terms, which is a good way to go out."

Immediately, speculation began about whether Delamater would stay retired. ESPN devoted the first 15 minutes of “SportsCenter” to the breaking news, which, by definition, appeared to have actually broken.

“I think he still has too much good writing left in him,” said ESPN’s Mark Schlereth, breathlessly undeterred. “There’s no way he’ll follow through on this.”

Woody Paige of The Denver Post and ESPN’s “Around the Horn” said Delamater, like any other fickle member of the media, had the right to flip-flop back and forth and change his tune whenever he wants. “He’s earned that right,” said Paige. “Just don’t ask me to explain my reasoning.”

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, like Paige a frequent contributor to “Around the Horn,” said Delamater wouldn’t be able to stay retired. “What’s he gonna do, go fishing and relax the rest of his life? He’s too much of a competitor.”

“Mind you, he’s not from L.A., so I really don’t care about him,” said Plaschke. “But, still….”

And so, for today, at least, blogging fans everywhere will have to adjust to the reality that Tom Delamater has hung up his keyboard and moved on.

Delamater was expected to appear on "The Late Show with David Letterman" to discuss his decision to disappear from public view. "I mean, I don't want to draw attention to myself or anything," he commented, as he left for a meeting with representatives of Sports Illustrated to talk about being on the cover of the magazine's next issue.