I was. A team from Delaware did us in. They had to play the championship game, which ended after midnight, and then drive 2 1/2 hours home for school the next day.

Congrats to Klyd Jr. Going to the Pentagon and your Son's game, you had a busy week huh?

It was a busy week for sure, but a lot of fun.

Here are the 3 sports headlines out of Cleveland today:

1. Indians fire manager Eric Wedge. Being the class act that he is, Wedge will finish out the season as manager. I've disagreed with some of his managing style, but the man is a high character individual. He's had horrible starts to the seasons in 5 of his 7 years as manager - that was ultimately why he was relieved of his duties.

2. Eric Mangini contradicts his own statements during training camp that he will name a starter prior to the season and stick with it. After 2.5 games, he makes a switch. Mangini has been taking a beating in the national media ( Is Mangini the worst coaching hire ever? or Quitting seems possible as Browns join NFL's worst).

Mangini obviously made a lot of enemies in his three seasons as NY Jets coach. Now they are out for blood.

No matter who is at QB, the Browns still are a bad team. I would roll with Quinn for the following reasons: 1) the team spent a #1 pick to get him and he has started 5 games; he needs to start a full season to make a proper assessment 2) he has a good college background from Notre Dame and is not worth giving up at this stage, 3) he has no running game to support him and has one offensive weapon (Edwards) that defenses have to cover. I don't care who the QB is under those circumstances, nobody will succeed.

3. Delonte West still a no-show at Cavs camp. Not a way to start a season for one of the team's starters - a team with aspirations of winning a title in LeBron's contract year.

Tough times in Cleveland. But- HEY! Their former manager just won his third division title in a row last night, and is looking to repeat as world series champion. And Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco have helped him quite a bit.

But re: Mangini. I think some of the stuff he has done is strange, like loading up the rookies on a bus and driving them to New Enland for a fundraiser, or something, and fining the player $1700 for not paying for the $3 bottle of water. There's talk that he's losing his team. Do you think he'll last into next year?

It's hard to predict only because owner Randy Lerner avoids speaking to the public as much as owners Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban seek out all publicity. This is seriously how much of knee-jerk reaction the Mangini hiring was: on the day the Browns had a press conference to announce Crennel and Savage were fired, Lerner was told by an aide that Mangini had just been fired in NY. Lerner jumped out of his chair and left the press conference to begin pursuing Mangini.

So that's a long way of saying "no" Mangini will not be fired IMHO. Now, if they are 0-10 and/or finish with 1 or 2 wins, that could easily change. Much of the fanbase wants Lerner to sell the team. I would love to see Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert buy the team and run it like he runs the basketball team. He has a strong organization, whereas Lerner has nobody. The Browns have a GM, but Mangini truly has all the power within the organization. To this point, it's looking like a train wreck and that Mangini is in way over his head.

It's a catch-22 with Lerner. For years when Modell owned the team, many fans wanted an ownwer with deep pockets who did not mettle. That is EXACTLY what Lerner is: a billionaire who never intrudes. The problem is that Lerner has consistently whiffed hiring his personnel.

For me, over the past two years, I have become apathetic. I follow them to some degree, but have not watched a single Browns game. I actually have been turned off by all of the Cleveland sports teams in the past 3 years. Even the Cavs, the team with the only realistic shot of contending for a championship, wasted a terrific 2008-09 regular season by losing in the 2nd round of this past season's playoffs. All the pressure is on to win in 2009-10 in LeBron's last season, along with the acquisition of Shaq.

Tiger Woods is now the first sports-star billionaire.

Forbes magazine announced that the $10 million he won by taking the Fedex championship has put him over one billion dollars in earnings, endorsements, etc. He is the first sports personality in history to reach that plateau.

Even before Michael Jordan? Wow.

I don't think Jordan had the big paydays for such an extended period of time as Tiger Woods, Don Sicilia. Don't forget that Jordan played part of his time in a salary cap era. That said, I doubt Jordan was searching beneath couch cushions for money.

I'd have thought that the Nike deals and other endorsements would have brought Jordan close.

Carolina coach John Fox has told friends and some associates he expects to be fired once the season ends. It's not that Foxy is doing a bad coaching job; it's just that the Panthers are 0-3, and they don't appear capable of catching New Orleans and Atlanta in the South. But he's being blamed for sticking with Jake Delhomme and Julius Peppers, two high-priced stars, who aren't producing right now. If Bill Cowher is going to leave CBS, it would make sense that his former Pittsburgh boss, Dan Rooney, would try to persuade him to go to Carolina.

FOX Sports

Don S,

I see where The Cubbies filed for Chapter 11 to restructure to prepare for the team being sold. Is this a formality that was foreseen, or a sign of bigger problems?

It's a formality. The Cubs owners, The Tribune Company, is in Chapter 11 and for the bankruptcy court to formally "bless" the sale to the Ricketts family, the Tribune has to legally put the Cubs in Chapter 11. The move is probably designed to give the Ricketts family comfort that no Tribune creditors will come after the post-sale assets.

I wish Peter Angelos would go into Chapter 11 and have to sell The Orioles. Then maybe we'd get some decent players. haha.

This is the job Cowher has coveted since leaving Pittsburgh. He lives there, and has turned down other offers in the interim. I'd be surprised if he's not coaching there next season.

I always thought Cowher would end up in Cleveland.

That would have depressed me, and I thought the same thing a few years ago. I think Cowher is in a position where he can pretty much pick his opportunity, a rare luxury. If he were destined for the Browns, it would have happened as they would have preferred him over Mangini.

I think Cowher did not want to go to a complete reclamation project like Cleveland. Carolina at least has some pieces in place and, like Klydon stated, it is close to where Cowher chooses to live.

Holy crap! my girlfriend just got home from taking her son to the doctor and he has the Swine Flu! Everyone joked around when I got pneumonia earlier in the year saying I had swine flu, but now it's actually in my house!



And I blew out my knee so I can't get out of the house and work so I'm going to be breathing in his germs for however long it takes.

man nothing is going your way...first the giants dont make it to the playoffs, then the raiders suck (again), and now you will be sick (and handicap as well).

I guess I spend too much time in the sports section of this forum because I swear I posted this in the general discussion area.

I reposted it in the general discussion section so please comment there. Sorry guys...

Did you see the story about the 66-year old employee of the SD Chargers, who died from injuries sustained in a 30 foot fall from the press box? What a sad, freakish accident.

By the way, I like the old AFL history, but can we get teams to stop wearing the throwback uniforms?

It's yet another thing to market and sell. I agree - it is overkill. I enjoyed watching NE play in their 1980s uniforms during the opening weekend of the season. But I swear they have worn those uniforms 3 or 4 more times. I always thought that MLB's throwback uniforms were the best. Some NFL teams (Cleveland, Oakland, Colts) have had very little change over the years.

you know...if they want to make it more like the old AFL put the colts back in baltimore for a year.

lol bam, you sure know how to cheer up a guy

Hang in there, blib! life sucks...but there's always sport.

I actually prefer the patriots original helmet and color scheme over their present design, but Denver's look is hideous, and reminds me of the San Diego Padres of the seventies/eighties.

There are some bad uniforms in college. West Virginia comes to mind.

Has anyone else followed the drama of Steve Phillips that led to his firing at ESPN. Apparently, Phillips' wife had filed for divorce in September, and that his recent trysts were not his first. It seems ESPN has had more than its share of sex scandals, which also resulted in the firings of Sean Salisbury and Harold Reynolds.

I saw this story the other night for the first time. I sort of felt bad for everyone involved.

he will find another job...the mets do need a new gm soon enough

He burned that bridge already.

By the way, at least a dozen years ago Mike Tirico reportedly had a sexual harassment complaint lodged by a staff member, but he skated through it nicely.