Glass Half Full, Glass Half Empty

As a Cleveland sports fan, the imperative is to temper all excitement with the knowledge that somewhere, sometime soon, the other shoe WILL drop. We don't know exactly where or when, we just have come to know that it will. At the present moment, coming off the Browns' best draft in their reincarnation, a Cavaliers playoff sweep, and the Tribe ending April 6 games over .500 and in first place, it would appear that the outlook is good for Cleveland sports. But, knowing what we know, let's examine the Cleveland sports landscape and look to see where the potential pitfalls lay.

Glass Half Full
Drafting Joe Thomas with the #3 pick means that the Browns can move Kevin Shaffer to either right tackle or right guard, where he would probably be better suited and would definitely help the Browns' line depth. It's no secret that our guard play was lacking last year, and adding Steinbach and Thomas helps the left side of the line, and also forces Shaffer over potentially to right guard, where he would very much help.

Glass Half Empty
Shaffer saw the Browns draft Thomas, and immediately asked for a trade. If they trade him, the Browns suddenly again become one injury away from complete suckitude on the offensive line. I remember being happy with the trade of Jeff Faine last offseason (hey, we'd just signed Bentley!) and we all saw how that worked out when Bentley subsequently went down to injury on the first play of training camp.

Glass Half Full
The Indians have a 4.21 team ERA, and only a .246 team batting average, and are still 6 games over .500 and leading their division.

Glass Half Empty
Umm, the Indians have a 4.21 team ERA and only a .246 team batting average.

Glass Half Full
The Cavs swept the Wizards out of the first round of the playoffs, and now get at least 4 days to rest up for their second round series against either the Nets or the Raptors. Meanwhile, the Bulls and Pistons will beat each other up.

Glass Half Empty
The Cavs weren't really challenged (by most accounts, the last three games were closer than they should have been, considering how under-manned the Wizards were) and didn't really dominate like they should have, and they have been somewhat lulled to sleep. A hot team (like the Nets) might pick them apart.


Really, I'm kind of reaching here, but as a Cleveland fan of many, many years, I've learned not to let myself get too excited. Call me a cynic; whatever. It's called bracing oneself for the inevitable.