Cleveland Sports are in a Bad Place

April 29, 2007 seems eternities removed for Cleveland sports fans.

The day exploded famously into the city’s metaphorical bloodline, raising sports expectations to heights not seen since the days of Jim Brown. Or at least not since the ping pong balls bounced our way in the Lebron sweepstakes. The Indians were in the beginning stages of a deep playoff run, the Cavaliers were hitting their stride on the way to an Eastern Conference Championship and the Browns had just selected TWO First Round Talents in the NFL Draft. Short of the Entourage Production Team moving their filming to Cleveland, things could not have been better.

It is nearly a year and a half later and, needless to say, Vincent Chase still hasn’t made it to town.

Our Cleveland Indians, after ending 2007 one game shy of the World Series, failed to remain in contention through the All Star Break in 2008 and were forced to trade their franchise lefty for prospects. The Cavaliers were dismissed rudely from the playoffs by the superior talent of the eventual champion Boston Celtics; and rumors abound that Lebron James will depart after his current contract expires in the summer of 2010.

The Browns are possibly the worst of the three, however. The team that General Manager Phil Savage assembled that exciting spring day gave the fans a fascinating ten win season and finished a tiebreaker out of the playoffs in 2007. As it stands in 2008, the Browns are self-destructing under the leadership of Head Coach Romeo Crennel and quarterback Derek Anderson and currently reside in the cellar of the entire NFL at 0-3.

The city is devastated. The emotional rollercoaster needs to come to a screeching halt. All three major teams in Cleveland are plagued with poor coaching and worse management (Danny Ferry’s horrible contract killed the Cavs when he was a player and he is now doing the same thing as GM – see: Larry Hughes). What makes the situation so painful is just how close we were in each sport so recently; a rollercoaster.

There are a few things that can be done to possibly save the ever-shrinking base of die-hards:

First, and most immediately, START BRADY QUINN. He was once the savior and face of the franchise; now he sits behind an immobile Tim Couch clone from Oregon. Best case scenario, he saves the season and the Browns rally to make the playoffs. Worst case scenario, he plays worse than Anderson and Coach Crennel gets to say, “I told you so.”

Next, tell Indians GM Mark Shapiro to spend some money and bring CC back along with a free agent bat a la Manny Ramirez. If you can’t get CC, get K-Rod. This bolsters an abysmal bullpen and protects the decent Indian sticks in the middle of the lineup. Also, move Jhonny Peralta to third, make Adrubal Cabrera the everyday shortstop (Buster Olney thinks he is the best defensive shortstop in the league RIGHT NOW) and get Josh Barfield healthy and confident again to play second base. Make Victor Martinez the everyday first baseman and let him work there throughout training camp and suddenly you have a great defensive infield.

The Cavaliers have Lebron. If they can get rid of Danny Ferry OR Mike Brown and convince Mo Williams to be a pass first point guard, they should be ok. With all the trade bait on the roster come February, it would be hard for even the worst GM in the league to not get whatever extra piece the Cavs will need at that point (for instance, Carlos Boozer if the Jazz are out of contention – they won’t be). Not that Danny Ferry is the worst GM in the league. So the answer with the Cavaliers is to stand pat until December or January, at which point Ferry should ask King James what he wants, and go get it.

Through these simple steps, Cleveland can get headed back in the right direction, fan wise. The electricity can buzz through the city like it did in April 2007. The city can be saved from the darkest sports nights it has ever known. Things can begin to brighten.

Unless Lebron leaves in 2010, at which point Cleveland might just cease to exist altogether.

Now about these Buckeyes…