Cleveland Indians: Tribe Front Office Hinders Team's Progress

     All you need to know about the success, or lack thereof, of the Indians' front office over the past few years is that they have twice traded away the reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner, C.C. Sabathia in 2008 and Cliff Lee in '09.
     The main culprit is the general manager, Mark Shapiro, who has now put the Tribe into another rebuilding mode.  However, the last one only produced one playoff appearance and no World Series titles.  If his plan for running this ball club is to have five bad years followed by one good season, he is not going to last very long in Cleveland. 
     However, owner Larry Dolan has not only refused to fire Shapiro, he recently gave him a promotion from G.M. to team president.  The change will be effective at the end of this season.  One might think this is a good move for the Indians because we could go out and get a better G.M. to run this ball club, but the incompetent Tribe brass is going to replace Shapiro with his hand - picked assistant, Chris Antonetti. 
     So, what you have in Cleveland is a dysfunctional front office trying to run a team that is overflowing with young talent.  With the right executives in place, this team could be entering a golden age in  Indians baseball, but with Dolan, Shapiro, and Antonetti in charge, the future remains bleak.

Cleveland Indians : Russell Branyan to Miss Start of Season

     The Indians' big offseason pickup for 2010, Russell Branyan, will find himself on the 15 - day D.L. to start the season due to a back injury.  This news comes right on the heels of the injury to Kerry Wood that will cost him two months of playing time.  This is a team that can ill afford to lose key players, yet we are not even to Opening Day and we have already lost two.
     On a lighter note, the Tribe continued their red hot spring training by whipping the Los Angeles Angels, 15 - 5.  Branyan's replacement at first base, Matt LaPorta, hit a home run and drove in five.

Ohio State Men's Basketball: Buckeyes Lose Heartbreaker

     All season long, we as Buckeye fans have worried about two things costing us basketball games, both stemming from our lack of depth.  One was potential foul trouble and the other was fatigue, but against Tennessee, it wound up being our inability to stop the Volunteers' inside game.  The Vols outscored us 50 - 20 in the paint, thanks in large part to the fact that OSU's Dallas Lauderdale failed to show up in the biggest game of his college career.  Although Evan Turner proved once more why he is the best college basketball player in the country, it wasn't enough as he received very little help from his teammates.
     This loss raises a lot of questions for Ohio State fans, the most important of which is, will Evan Turner return for his senior season now that he fell four games shy of his ultimate goal?  That will have to be answered in the coming weeks, and hopefully for the Bucks, the answer will be in the affirmative.