All posts by Ai

Cavs, Cleveland

LeBron to produce new CNBC show “Cleveland Hustles”

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from CNBC.com:

“ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. & PASADENA, CA — January 14, 2016 — After eight consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth among P25-54 in primetime─the only cable network to deliver such significant gains─ CNBC today announced the network is teaming up with NBA superstar LeBron James’ and Maverick Carter’s production company, SpringHill Entertainment, and Magical Elves for a new unscripted series set in Cleveland, Ohio. The series, set to debut in Summer 2016, will give local entrepreneurs the chance to realize their own dreams while also helping to revitalize struggling neighborhoods in their city.

In “Cleveland Hustles,” NBA superstar LeBron James and his longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter will give four aspiring local entrepreneurs the chance to realize their own dreams while also helping to revitalize a neighborhood in Cleveland. LeBron and Maverick will enlist the aid of four trusted business experts and associates, who will in turn invest in and mentor fledgling entrepreneurs who need a little jumpstart. In success, these four businesses will provide jobs and services for neighborhoods that desperately need investment.”

LeBron meets Shark Tank. Sign me the f*** up.

Seriously though, this could be pretty cool. The press release was vague in terms of if Bron would actually appear in the show or just produce it (or I could just be really dumb), but either way you better believe I’m tuning in. Just your weekly reminder about how lucky we are to have a guy like this playing for one of our city’s sports teams – a lot of athletes do great things and give back to their cities, not a lot of athletes take aspiring entrepreneurs under their arms on national TV.

Who do you think his “four trusted business experts and associates” are though? I’m out if one of them isn’t JR. The ratings.

Indians

Whoever runs the Indians Facebook page is having themself a day

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I know, I don’t really go on Facebook anymore either, so s/o to our friend @JL_Baseball for (unintentionally) tipping us off to this via Twitter.

It started when the team posted an article from MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince. In it, he lists 5 teams who have quietly had good winters so far, and the Indians are numero uno. The comments section….did not agree.

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They cite this article more than a few times, though I’m sure none of these scholars clicked it. The whole headline is, “MLB teams continue to spend, despite evidence that it does not help them win.”

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I make this argument all the time too. There are multiple ways to improve your chances of winning a baseball game. Score more runs, or prevent the other team from scoring more runs. Sure, power bats help one of those strategies. But that’s not the strategy this particular team implements. And neither have any of the recent teams that have made it to the World Series.fb2

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Boom. Roasted.

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This this THIS, times one thousand million. Challenge yourself to get past the accepted narrative about our team. There’s not a lazier group of fans in the city of Cleveland, maybe in professional sports, than the “Dolans are cheap” crowd. Have a thought process, back it up with facts, I’ll listen to you all day. I love having those conversations. But I throw up in my mouth every time someone complains about the Dolans not opening their wallets, period, end of argument. Put some work into forming an actual informed opinion. Bet it ends up being a different one.

 

KEEP THE CHIEF

 

Browns

Browns hire (first choice?!?!) Hue Jackson as head coach

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BANG.

Head coaching experience. An offensive mind. History of developing quarterbacks. No-nonsense attitude. And, perhaps most importantly, NOT named Doug Marrone.

The Cleveland Browns hired their first choice to be their next head coach and I’m not really sure what to do with my hands right now. Give Hasashipodesta (yup) some credit here. They did their due diligence on some guys, recognized one they really wanted, and went and got him. The new regime is 1-0.

This search seem SO much different than the last couple to anyone else? No smoke and mirrors, not many rumors floating around. They interviewed guys, publicly confirmed they interviewed said guys, then moved on to interview the next guy. Much more succinct. It’s like they had an actual, real-life plan (gasp!)

I’m relieved. Give Huey the nickel tour of Berea and let him get to work so I can stop talking about this team for a little while and enjoy my Cavaliers in peace. See you at the draft.