No Excuses

Second Season Expectations
The Cleveland Cavaliers should reach the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Anything short of that would be a disaster. They head into the 2007 post-season healthy, with home court advantage in rounds one and two, and facing opponents that are very beatable due to their talent level, playoff experience and injuries.

This corner expected a second consecutive 50 win season and a second round out again prior to the 2006-07 season beginning. However, the playoff match-ups could not have fallen into place any better for Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers. Had the Cavaliers upgraded their roster this season, we might be talking about them reaching the Finals with the bracket that awaits.

We still see the Pistons coming out of the East again and facing the Spurs in the Finals. In order for the Cavaliers to reach the Finals, they will need other scorers on their roster besides James to step up in the post-season and give them CONSISTENT play. Last year, Z was invisible, Gooden was so-so and Hughes was dealing with the death of his brother. As was the case in '06, James cannot do it alone - not when you get into post-season when the game slows down, the defense heats up and the warts are exposed.

Browns On The Clock
I keep reading and hearing from the local media how hard it is to get it right when drafting players in the first round in the NFL. That's ridiculous. No one expects you to nail it every time, but the most embarrassing statistic in sports today is that the Browns have had 71 draft choices since returning to the league in '99 and not one has earned a pro-bowl berth.

Next week, the Browns will have the #3 pick overall. Please - don't try to get cute. For the last time - take QB Brady Quinn, and if he's off the board, take WR Calvin Johnson. If either of these two remain when you go on the clock, run your pick to the front of the room - don't walk it up. I believe these two players will be both earn pro-bowl mentions sooner rather than later, and will be cornerstone players for whatever franchise takes them.

The last three quarterbacks we loved coming out of college included Donovan McNabb, Drew Breez and Vince Young. And that's without watching much Saturday football or paying any attention to combine results. No, it's not that difficult to get it right. It's a lot lot more difficult to get them ALL (71) wrong.