2010-2011: The Cleveland sports holocaust.

The Cavs go from first to worst. The Indians continue to be a farm team for the rest of baseball and had the MLB's worst attendance. The Tribe and Royals drag-raced for last in the AL Central and were able to gas past KC to hold on to 4th place. The Browns fired yet another head coach...Eric Mangini this time. The Brownies are working on coach #5 since the rebirth in 1999.

All three franchises are going nowhere. The Cavs are in the most immediate heap of crap. They went 0 for January(0-16) and are riding a 21 game losing streak. At least a top 4 lottery pick awaits them at season's end. The team is probably looking at a 3-4 year period where the lottery will be home. That is 3 or 4 chances of coming up with a new superstar. It will be a slow burn, but the NBA is a quicker rebuild than baseball.

The Indians are doomed because baseball is screwed up. It's the only major sport without a salary cap. The other sports don't have to sweat the whole big market small market thing as much as baseball. All the non big market teams need to pull the chair on the likes of the Yanks and Dodgers and Red Sox and say "we want a salary cap or we are all leaving MLB". That would leave a 6 team MLB where the heavy weights can all slug it out together. The other 20 some teams can form a new league with a salary cap. I realize this idea is ludicious, but it does shed light on the fact that a league without a level playing field will continue to drift off into oblivion

The Browns are back to their old tricks. A new coach on the sidelines, a defensive philosophy switch that calls for a major overhaul. I'm not holding my breath. The new coach, Pat Shurmur, has never been a head coach...on any level. He's barely been an offensive coordinator (2yrs. with the Rams) and now he wants to be head coach and call the offensive plays. I'm not seeing the silver lining for 2011. While the hated Pittsburgh Steelers are going for super bowl #7 (#3 since 1999), the Browns are looking for playoff berth #2.

I'm thinking of taking the next couple of years off from fandom. If that proves enjoyable, a may extend it indefinitely.