Clevelander17

He's not good. Even as a thrown in as part of a Kyrie trade for a superstar, I'd prefer maybe a bag of basketballs or some spare lightbulbs for the scoreboard.

My assumption was that this statement couldn't be true, but I went and looked and you're right, he wasn't in the top 20 last season for PER, WS/48, or VORP, despite essentially having a career year. That said, the guy the Cavs probably could have had that did rank top 10 or top 15 in those categories is Jimmy Butler. Dammit.

LeBron's oldest son will be entering high school in two years. I have to believe that he's going to attend St. Vincent-St. Mary and that LeBron would want to be close enough to attend his games. In regards to Kyrie, I'd have no problem trading him, but I'm just not sure they're going to get fair return for him at this point. I think they need to be in win now mode and that means that any package that doesn't include multiple high quality NBA players (not rookies or future draft picks) are the only deals they should be entertaining at this point.

Seems like a bad time to be trying to trade a player, no?

Cleveland doesn't "claim" Akron, the two cities are in contiguous counties that are actually part of the same Combined Statistical Area per the U.S. Census Bureau. But putting aside that strange quote from the piece, obviously F.C. Cincinnati would be wise to market itself to Dayton fans, but this gets back to Garber's quote from just a few years back imploring fans from around Ohio to root for the Crew. Cincinnati is not that much closer to Dayton than Columbus, and there is a pretty good chance that if Dayton has deeply-committed MLS fans, they likely pull for the team from Capital City. Meaning, either they're going to be switching affiliations or sticking with their current team. Either of which isn't exactly an ideal situation from an MLS Commissioner's office point of view.

Has there been any discussion about "selling" the stadium to the public on potential uses for a new stadium beyond simply hosting an MLS soccer team for ~17 home dates? Soccer-specific stadia are versatile and in other cities have held a number of events, including all levels of rugby, lacrosse, and soccer, college football, high school football, major concerts, marching band competitions, political rallies, etc.

I think it would be great to see Cleveland State's campus presence expand north.

Generally-speaking, the outer-ring suburbs have lower proportions of students with special needs and English language learners, which means more money for other programs (whatever those may be, academics, athletics, extracurriculars, etc.). Who is the sponsor of the bill? If it's what I vaguely remember reading about a while back, I believe there's an ulterior motive. Yes modern school buses do have air conditioning. Interestingly enough, the Lakewood City School District does not have its own bus fleet thanks to the way the district is built around neighborhood schools. There was an interesting piece written about the district's transportation situation in a national publication a year or two back.

Also redirected from the Cleveland retail thread: The "best" public schools in the region are generally located in outer suburbs with steep economic barriers to entry. This ensures that these communities and thus their schools consist of limited socioeconomic diversity and students from primarily upper-middle and upper income backgrounds, a demographic that generally does very well on the tests that determine school ratings. (I'd rather not get into a sociological discussion as to why this might be the case, but the correlation is strong and widely-acknowledged). The balkanization and a lack of regional governance in Ohio actually enables the conditions for these communities to exist and thrive in a demographic bubble. Even worse, there isn't much that can be done to "fix" education in the urban and inner-ring suburbs on a wide-scale basis. The best alternative for these communities is to create programs and schools that have their own barriers to entry (advanced academics, magnet, charter, etc.). That's probably the best way for these communities to compete with outer-ring suburbs on the education front, though it will have to come at the price of creating socioeconomic disparities within those communities in who attends those specialized schools, and it's still unlikely to really appeal to folks more comfortable with the outer-ring bubble. CMSD has already come to grips with this reality, and has done much to create niche programs to retain residents as well as collaborate with strong charter schools, though the inner-ring suburbs have not (and in fairness because of their size have less flexibility to do so).

(Reply cut and reposted to suburban sprawl thread.)

You're not entirely wrong, though knowing the eastside I do believe there is some difference between Beachwood and Orange. Beachwood grew very organically as a second-ring suburb following World War II (and has the current density to back it up), where as Orange has traditionally been more a semi-rural outer-ring suburb that is cynically trying to make a play for retail revenue near its western border in an area that you correctly point out is already oversaturated.

I just don't think reality matches up with this idea that some are pushing that the Cavaliers were all that close in this year's NBA Finals. But I will grant you one this, after I made my post about how hopes for next year are futile, I immediately thought of the one thing that I believe would significantly alter the chances of the Cavaliers winning next year. If Golden State has a season-ending injury to one of its superstars, I think the Cavaliers can compete and win. Short of that, I think the NBA would be safe in handing the trophy to the Warriors again. The 1980s Browns actually went on several runs that were (by all accounts since I don't really remember) fun to experience and certainly nothing was given to them.* Those Browns teams also had opportunities to take the next step, and although they also had that one team that was their ultimate road block, it wasn't as if they were underdogs every time they matched up. I think there are other reasons why those 1980s Browns teams might be considered darlings, but in other important ways the situation is quite different. The Cavaliers are expected to make the NBA Finals, and rightly so, and for a city that has been bridesmaids so many times, that's simply not enough, especially with the best player in the game on the roster. *The Cavaliers are 36-5 over the past three seasons in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Browns won three playoff games in their three AFC runner-up seasons by an average of 8 points.

It's time to face the reality that the Cavaliers will walk through the weak Eastern Conference with no challenge and once again lose to Golden State in the Finals. The NBA season through the conference playoffs could be simulated at this point and no will would miss a thing. As a Cavaliers fan, there's no enjoying this ride, there's nothing to get excited about here, because this is all expected. Longer term, the outlook is much more discouraging. If LeBron returns in 2018-2019, the same thing will happen. Golden State may become vulnerable in 2019-2020 when Klay Thompson leaves, but by then LeBron will be into his mid-30s at that point and if he's still here, that will be his 17th season. When I look back on this era, I will remember the one title that this team brought to the city, but I'll also lament it as a time period of many missed opportunities. The Cavaliers will have failed in taking advantage of having the best player in a generation by only winning one title in four (or more seasons).

Wow! The Indians will have FIVE players heading to Miami for the All-Star Game, including those expected Ramirez (fan vote), Miller (player vote), and Kluber (manager selection), as well as Brantley (player vote) and somewhat of a surprise in Lindor (player vote).

Oh I agree entirely. Just mentioning it because it seemed somewhat newsworthy. In other news, I'll be curious to see who from the Indians makes the All-Star team. I have to believe that Kluber, Miller, and Ramirez are locks, especially with Tito picking some of the spots on the roster. After that, I think Carrasco and Brantley both should have a shot but are not guarantees. I think if you win the league and you're leading your division the following year, your manager should be able to make a homer selection or two to fill out his All-Star roster!

He's probably referring to the fact that Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati are large state universities. Case Western Reserve University is academically on par with the best schools in the country, but it's a relatively small (~5,000 undergraduates and ~6,000 postgraduates) private school whose enrollment is international in character, meaning it's almost certain that a smaller proportion of them stay in Cleveland after graduation in comparison to those moving to attend OSU and UC. And yes, while we do have Cleveland State, I'd argue that beyond its smaller size (about half as many students as UC and a quarter as many as OSU), it's in no way an actual peer, whether academically or in prestige, to the major public universities in Cincinnati and Columbus.

So former Indian minor leaguer Clint Frazier made his Yankees debut last night and had a home run. He's only 22, so I'll be curious to follow along with his progress to see if he's really ready to make an impact on the MLB level or if he'll have to go back down at some point. I still think it was a great trade for the Tribe as Miller is so dominant in his flexible role in the late innings of close games. Having him for last year's postseason run plus this year and all of next year seems well worth what was given up for his services.

I just find it interesting that it was barely three years ago that Garber was insisting that the rest of the state should be rallying behind the Crew. I'm curious what has changed? There has to be a reason why he made that comment in the first place. Is Cincinnati a more viable candidate? Does Columbus seems to have stabilized its support? Regardless, I will say that the gigantic coastal markets, with large Hispanic populations, are more likely to realistically be able to support multiple franchises. Though Southern California could end up with three franchises by the start of the next decade if San Diego can land its expansion team. I'm also not sold on two teams being sustainable in Florida long-term, but I have nothing to base that on. Hopefully Columbus can get a new stadium built soon.

Cross-posting this from the FC Cincinnati thread: The FC Cincinnati situation is fascinating to me for a number of reasons. First of all, this run through the U.S. Open Cup is impressive, particularly with the amount of enthusiasm it has generated in the Queen City in just a few years of existence. In terms of Cincy's chances of being elevated to MLS, it's looking more and more like there's a really strong chance of that happening. I read a piece in Sports Illustrated recently that details how many of the other potential MLS locales are much weaker than previously imagined and that the list of 12 may only consist of 5-6 legitimate bids. MLS should and probably does realize, however, that Cincinnati's bid doesn't exist in a complete bubble. The franchise just down the road in Columbus is struggling for attendance and some have argued that the city should be exploring building a new stadium for the team. Further, it was just three years ago that MLS Commissioner Don Garber, when asked about a potential expansion team in Cleveland (an idea that almost came to fruition a decade ago), stated, "What I would say to folks that are living in Cincinnati, the folks that are living in Dayton, folks that are living in Cleveland: Support the [Columbus] Crew." In looking at the bigger picture, it's hard to imagine that an expansion team in Cincinnati won't cannabalize at least some fans from the Crew, though to what extent is hard to know for sure. Worst case scenario, I don't think it's a stretch to believe it's possible that expansion to Cincinnati might be the first step towards the Crew folding or moving to another city.

The FC Cincinnati situation is fascinating to me for a number of reasons. First of all, this run through the U.S. Open Cup is impressive, particularly with the amount of enthusiasm it has generated in the Queen City in just a few years of existence. In terms of Cincy's chances of being elevated to MLS, it's looking more and more like there's a really strong chance of that happening. I read a piece in Sports Illustrated recently that details how many of the other potential MLS locales are much weaker than previously imagined and that the list of 12 may only consist of 5-6 legitimate bids. MLS should and probably does realize, however, that Cincinnati's bid doesn't exist in a complete bubble. The franchise just down the road in Columbus is struggling for attendance and some have argued that the city should be exploring building a new stadium for the team. Further, it was just three years ago that MLS Commissioner Don Garber, when asked about a potential expansion team in Cleveland (an idea that almost came to fruition a decade ago), stated, "What I would say to folks that are living in Cincinnati, the folks that are living in Dayton, folks that are living in Cleveland: Support the [Columbus] Crew." In looking at the bigger picture, it's hard to imagine that an expansion team in Cincinnati won't cannabalize at least some fans from the Crew, though to what extent is hard to know for sure. Worst case scenario, I don't think it's a stretch to believe it's possible that expansion to Cincinnati might be the first step towards the Crew folding or moving to another city.

Doesn't matter when Love's involved.

Supposedly LeBron didn't even know this was going to happen. What the hell is Gilbert doing?

Now hearing that the Cavs are in talks for Jimmy Butler. I think I'd prefer him to Paul George, especially considering Butler is signed through 2020 I believe.

Didn't you see that second-to-last picture? Signs are already going up, development is right around the corner!

This same guy? https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2016/03/11/democrat-ken-lanci-endorses-donald-trump