Best by the Number - Cleveland Edition

Below is a list of Cleveland sports players according to their jersey number. By some players I will be writing some stuff like other players who had a chance of being in that spot, or some information about the player. Please also note that since some players had multiple numbers in their tenure in Cleveland, there may be players next to numbers that don't seem to fit, but they do!

1. Terrell Brandon
2. Jhonny Peralta
3. Craig Ehlo - Also considered were Bob Sura, Matt Stover & Derek Anderson
4. Phil Dawson - The current Brown who has been on the team the longest
5. Steve Kerr - Many people are unaware that Kerr even played for the Cavaliers
6. Larry Nance - Also wore # 22
7. Kenny Lofton
8. Albert Belle
9. Dan Marjele - Also considered was Carlos Baerga
10. Brady Quinn - Never considered was Eric Zeier
11. Zydrunas Illguaskus - "Big Z" 'nuff said
12. Roberto Alomar
13. Omar Vizquel
14. Larry Doby - Most people here might put Browns QB Otto Graham, but Doby deserves to be on this list more than anyone else. Larry Doby was the first African American to play in the American League, and while it's true he started playing after Jackie Robinson he was the first African American to play in American League ball-parks
15. Sandy Alomar Jr.
16. Josh Cribbs - probably the most exciting player the Browns have had since Eric Metcalf
17. Brian Sipe - Even with "Red Right 88" he makes this list ahead of Braylon Edwards
18. John "Hot Rod" Williams
19. Bernie Kosar
20. Eric Snow
21. Eric Metcalf
22. Chris Dudley - No list would be complete without the worst free-throw shooter of all-time
23. LeBron James
24. Manny Ramirez - ManRam is still my favorite all-time Indian
25. Jim Thome - Others considered include Mark Price
26. Sean Jones
27. Jaret Wright
28. Leigh Bodden
29. Hanford Dixon
30. Andy Marte
31. Frank Minnifield - "Created" the Dawg Pound with Hanford Dixon
32. Jim Brown
33. Luke Jackson
34. Austin Carr
35. Danny Ferry - Former Cavalier is current GM
36. Paul Byrd
37. Jake Westbrook
38. Franklin Gutierez
39. Daven Holly
40. Bartolo Colon - Was traded to Montreal for Lee Stevens, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips & Cliff Lee
41. Charles Nagy
42. Paul Warfield
43. Brad Daugherty - My favorite Cavalier. I wore # 43 when I was on the Ashar Basketball team in honor of Daugherty.
44. Leroy Kelley
45. Jeremy Sowers
46. Lou "The Toe" Groza - Also wore # 76
47. Joe Borowski
48. Travis Hafner - "Pronk"
49. Edward Mujica
50. Tom Cousineu
51. Michael Doleac
52. C.C. Sabathia
53. Bill Cowher - Cowher was also an assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer
54. Andra Davis
55. Orel Herschieser - "Bulldog"
56. Antwan Peek
57. Clay Matthews - Played in 232 games for the Browns between 1978-1993
58. D'Qwell Jackson
59. Mike Johnson
60. Shaun O'hara
61. Steve Everitt
62. Lennie Friedman
63. Rafael Bentacourt
64. Joe Delamielleure - Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003
65. Chuck Noll
66. Hank Fraley
67. John Jurkovic - Played for the Browns when they came back in '99
68. Gene Hickerson
69. J'vonne Parker
70. Alvin Mckinley
71. Walter Johnson - Not "The Big Train"
72. Jerry Sherk
73. Joe Thomas - Played well as a rookie
74. Andrew Hoffman
75. Simon Fraser
76. Marion Motley
77. Dick Shafrath
78. Dan Footman
79. Bob Golic
80. Kellen Winslow Jr.
81. Jack Gregory
82. Ozzie Newsome - One of the greatest TE
83. Mark Bavaro
84. Webster Slaughter
85. Kevin Johnson
86. Brian Brennan
87. Keenan McCardell
88. JaJaun Dawson
89. Gerald McNeil
90. Drew Gooden
91. Sam Clancy
92. Ted Washington
93. Jerry Ball
94. Gerard Warren
95. Kameron Wimbley - Lead the team in sacks during the '07 season
96. Don Shula
97. Ryan Kuehl
98. Anthony Pleasant
99. Orpheus Roye

Best by the Number

In an issue of The Sporting News from May 14th 2007 there are 2 numbers lists with the best players based on uniform numbers. One list is of current (as of then) players, while the second list is of former/hall of fame players. Rewritten here is the list of the former players.

1. Jacques Plante
2. Secretariat
3. Babe Ruth
4. Lou Gehrig
5. Joe Dimaggio
6. Bill Russell
7. John Elway
8. Cal Ripken
9. Hockey's Trinity: Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe & Bobby Hull
10. Pele
11. Isiah Thomas
12. Joe Namath
13. Wilt Chamberlain
14. Otto Graham
15. Bart Starr
16. Joe Montana
17. John Havlicek
18. Peyton Manning
19. Johnny Unitas
20. Barry Sanders
21. Roberto Clemente
22. Emmitt Smith
23. Michael Jordan
24. Willie Mays
25. Barry Bonds
26. Billy Williams
27. Juan Marichal
28. Marshall Faulk
29. Ken Dryden
30. Nolan Ryan
31. Greg Maddux
32. Jim Brown
33. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
34. Walter Payton
35. Phil Niekro
36. Meadowlark Lemon
37. Casey Stengel
38. Curt Schilling
39. Roy Campanella
40. Gale Sayers
41. Tom Seaver
42. Jackie Robinson
43. Richard Petty
44. Hank Aaron
45. Bob Gibson
46. Lee Smith
47. Mel Blount
48. Jimmie Johnson
49. Ron Guidry
50. David Robinson
51. Dick Butkus
52. Ray Lewis
53. Don Drysdale
54. Goose Gossage
55. Orel Hershiser
56. Lawrence Taylor
57. Dwight Stephenson
58. Jack Lambert
59. Jack Ham
60. Chuck Bednarik
61. Bill George
62. Charley Trippi
63. Willie Lanier
64. Jerry Kramer
65. Elvin Bethea
66. Mario Lemieux
67. Bob Kuechenberg
68. Jaromir Jagr
69. Larry Costello
70. Jim Marshall
71. Alex Karras
72. Carlton Fisk
73. John Hannah
74. Bob Lilly
75. Joe Greene
76. Lou Groza
77. Red Grange
78. Anthony Munoz
79. Roosevelt Brown
80. Jerry Rice
81. Tim Brown
82. Raymond Berry
83. Ted Hendricks
84. Sterling & Shannon Sharpe
85. Nick Buoniconti
86. Buck Buchanan
87. Willie Davis
88. Alan Page
89. Mike Ditka
90. Bob Kurland
91. Sergei Fedorov
92. Reggie White
93. Doug Gilmour
94. Charles Haley
95. Richard Dent
96. Bill Voiselle
97. Cornelius Bennett
98. Tom Harmon
99. Wayne Gretzky

So here is the list of the greatest of All-Time. Hopefully in the next little bit I will post more lists like this including a list of All-Time Cleveland Sports personalities.

The Real Descision '08

Cleveland Indians 2008 Season Recap

The 2008 season was supposed to start where last years left off, back in the playoffs and on their way to winning a World Series. Unfortunately many things did not go as planned. They ended their season in 3rd place in the AL Central with an 81-81 record. In this extremely tough and disappointing season in which long time ace C.C. Sabathia got traded; Fausto Carmona, Victor Martinez, and Travis Hafner spent a considerable amount of time on the DL and a bullpen which could not close out games with a large lead; there were a few bright spots.

1. Cliff Lee - Lee came back from a horrid 2007 campaign to win 22 games with an ERA of 2.54.


2. Grady Sizemore - Sizemore hit 33 home runs and stole 38 bases, and if he had protection from the likes of Hafner and Martinez those numbers could have been much higher.


3. Jhonny Peralta - Peralta batted .276 with 23 home runs and 89 RBIs.

But what can the Indians do to be contenders next season?

1. Let Jensen Lewis close games. He was 13 for 13 in save opportunities last season so just give him a chance.
2. Get rid of Ryan Garko. I love the guy but he isn't so good. Then move Victor Martinez to First base full-time and let Kelly Shoppach be the everyday Catcher. Martinez is only valuable if he plays and if he's catching he's more susceptible to injuries, plus Shoppach played well last year in Martinez's absence.
3. Get a lead-off hitter. Grady has done a great job, but just imagine how much more runs the Indians would score if Grady batted 3rd in the lineup.
4. Give Anthony Reyes a chance to start. Last year he played well in the six starts that he had.

Of course we'll have to see if the Indians will go after any free-agents, but they are not known for spending money, so we'll see what happens.

Cleveland Cavaliers' Coach Mike Brown on Jim Rome Is Burning

Coach Mike Brown discusses LeBron, the 3-team trade and winning a Championship.

Brett Favre Retirement Coverage

Inside the Huddle with John Clayton

ESPN's John Clayton goes inside the huddle and discusses Randy Moss, New England and the Cleveland Browns.

Chris Mortenson discusses the Cleveland Browns

After the Browns signed Donte Stallworth and trade for 2 DL over the weekend Chris Mortenson says he likes the moves and that Cleveland may make a Super Bowl run.

20 Year Reunion for the cast of Family Ties Part 2

The Cast of Family Ties answering Fan-Mail:

Herm Edwards on ESPN NEWS

With February being Black History Month here is KC Chiefs Head Coach Herm Edwards discussing the influence of people like Fritz Pollard, Tony Dungy and Doug Williams.

20 Year Reunion for the cast of Family Ties

Rookie TE Kevin Boss discusses the Super Bowl on ESPN's First Take

Justin Tuck talks about the Super Bowl on ESPN's First Take

Shaun O'Hara on ESPN's First Take

David Tyree on ESPN's First Take

Archie and Peyton Manning discuss Eli and the Giant's Super Bowl win

Primetime guys and the Super Bowl Wrap-up

Sportscenter discusses the magnitude of Super Bowl 42

Sportscenter discusses Plaxico's GW Touchdown

Sportscenter discusses Strahan getting his first ring

Michael Strahan talks about the Super Bowl and Eli Manning

Amani Toomer on the Super Bowl

Plaxico Burress talk about the Super Bowl

Tom Coughlin talks about Giant's Super Bowl victory

Eli Manning named Super Bowl MVP

Don Shula was rooting for the Giants

Mercury Morris on the Giants win in Super Bowl 42

Look-Alikes Part Duex

Recently I've been posting some videos which have been more serious topics like steroids in sports and the 2008 Election. So now I decided to do something a little lighter, and so I bring to you my second "Look-Alikes" post.

Firstly, we have actress/singer Bette Midler and comedian/host of The View Joy Behar

Secondly, we have "Big Shot Bob" a.k.a. Robert Horry and "The Fresh Prince" Will Smith

Next we turn to Tiki and Ronde Barber...of course they are twin brothers so that is why they look alike.

And of course if we are going to give twins a chance we need to have the most famous set of twins in Danny Devitto and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Gov. Mitt Romney on MSNBC's Morning Joe (1/21)

Dan Naulty on Outside The Lines

The Good Guys Part 3

C.J. Nitkowski on ESPN's First Take

Gov. Mitt Romney on MSNBC's Morning Joe

The 2007 Cleveland Browns: A Look Back

This season the Browns took a big step forward and won 10 games. Although they did not make the playoffs, this season was amazing. This season basically started during the last off-season when the Browns were able to pick up a couple of players from division rivals in RB Jamal Lewis (formerly of the Ravens) and OL Eric Steinbach (formerly of the Bengals). Then on Draft day they picked up 3 excellent players in the first 2 rounds in LT Joe Thomas (from Wisconsin), QB Brady Quinn (from Notre Dame) and CB Eric Wright (from UNLV).

Early in the season many were calling for Brady Quinn to start especially after the opening day game against Pittsburgh when Charlie Frye looked horrible. During that week Frye got traded to Seattle and Derek Anderson was named the starter. Everyone speculated that Anderson would just start until their Bye Week and the Quinn would get to start from that point on. But Anderson stepped up big time and began to lead the Browns to their best season since 1994 when the Browns went 11-5. Anderson had a QB rating of 82.5, racking up 3787 yards and 29 TDs. His two main targets were WR Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow. Edwards caught 80 balls for 1289 yards with 16 TDs to have his first great season since he was drafted out of the University of Michigan. His 16 TDs were a Browns record formerly held by Gary Collins (whose former team high was 13). For Kellen Winslow his issues have been primarily injury based, but this season he stepped up and recorded 82 receptions for 1106 yards and 5 TDs. Jamal Lewis gained 1304 yards on 298 attempts and 9 TDs and a large part of their excellent numbers were due to the offensive line of Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach, Hank Fraley, Ryan Tucker and Kevin Shaffer.

The Defense took a step in the right direction but still has a lot of improving to do. LB D'Qwell Jackson had 101 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception while OLB Kamerion Wimbley had 51 tackles and a team high 5 sacks. Of course the team did give up a total of 2072 yards rushing and that was a large reason as to why the Browns did not win more games than they did.

Of course there was the Special Teams. Phil Dawson had many big game-winning field-goals this season including going 2 for 2 in overtime. Josh Cribbs has also had a great season and was rewarded with a trip to the Pro Bowl. Cribbs returned 2 kickoffs and 1 punt for touchdowns this season and had many other returns that led to many scoring drives.

Hopefully this was a season that the Browns can build on, but they will need to improve. Here are a few things that the Browns should/could do to help themselves:

1. Keep Derek Anderson: let Brady Quinn get another year of learning on the bench.
2. Re-sign Jamal Lewis: Lewis played well for the Browns this season and he has plenty left in the tank.
3. Pick up a #2 type WR: After Braylon's 80 receptions and Joe Jurevicius' 50 receptions the next highest reception amount by a WR was 8 by Tim Carter. If the Browns can get a good #2 receiver then they could move Joe Jurevicius to their #3 receiver and they could have a better offensive output.
4. Sign Albert Haynesworth from the Tennessee Titans: DT Shaun Smith played well while recording 62 tackles and 2 sacks, but the defense does need a run-stopper which is exactly what Haynesworth is.
5. Add depth: there are many positions where the Browns are young and inexperienced. Adding depth could help keep some of the older guys healthier and hopefully the Browns will be able to go back to the playoffs and eventually to their first Super Bowl.