Cleveland Browns Trade

The Eagles and Browns completed a five-player trade Friday, with Philadelphia sending former Pro Bowl cornerback Sheldon Brown and linebacker Chris Gocong to Cleveland for a fourth-round pick, a fifth-round pick and linebacker Alex Hall.

"Sheldon Brown has been a very good football player for the Eagles over the last eight years," Eagles coach Andy Reid said in a statement. "He's a good person, a legitimate tough guy and he'll do a good job helping the Browns."

It would figure the two teams would be trading partners.

The Browns' general manager, Tom Heckert, is the Eagles' former general manager. Cleveland is likely to extend the contract of Brown, sources close to the deal said.

"Chris did a good job converting from defensive end to linebacker and helped us win a lot of football games," Reid said of Gocong. "We wish both of them all of the best."

Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider.

ESPN LINK

Shaun Roger Arrested

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - Breaking news into the 19 Action Newsroom this hour.

19 Action News has learn Cleveland Browns Defensive lineman Shaun Rogers has been arrested at Hopkins airport with a gun.

It happened as the NFL'er was about to board a flight. The gun was discovered in a bag. Apparently, Rogers told officers he forgot the gun was in there.

No further details are available at this time.

Check back for details on this developing story.

©2010 WOIO. All rights reserved.

How Arnie Palmer Put Ben Roethlisberger in His Place

by Ryan Ballengee on Mar 13, 2010 8:53 PM EST in Golfiness 20 comments

This story was told to me just a few days ago from a very credible source.

The Steelers have their training camp in Latrobe, PA - a town absolutely owned by Arnold Palmer. Near the training camp is Laurel Valley golf club. It has hosted several major championships and is a big deal club in the area. Ben Roethlisberger came by during training camp one summer and said he wanted to get on the course to play. The pro shop said that they would accomodate him but that members that had tee times would go ahead of him and they would work him on.

So, Ben looks around the pro shop and starts buying up stuff. Makes his purchases, then disappears to the first tee. He's teeing off out of turn. The pro shop wrangles him down in the first fairway and demands that he return to the clubhouse to wait his turn to play. Eventually, he gets to go off. He runs into a bunch of people who naturally want his autograph. He says no to all of them. Doesn't want to be nice to the people letting him play their exclusive track.

When he's done with the round, Ben goes into the locker room in the clubhouse. He takes a shower and comes out, when a man comes up to him and tells him, "What you are going to do right now is go into the pro shop and sign autographs for every single person who wants them, and then you will never come back here again."

The man who told him that? Arnold Palmer.

Link.

Salty's Thoughts: I absolutely love it. Proves, again, that Ben is a punk. Arnie doesn't play reindeer games.

Breaking Down the Cavs Trade

Cavaliers send Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his $11.5M expiring contract to the Washington Wizards.
- Everyone who is anyone that is a Cavaliers fan has a place in their basketball heart for Z. We saw him battle back from foot problems, and develop into a mainstay on some very bad teams, and then some very good teams. He even became an All Star. Right now, Z is no All Star. As Nate Thompson put it, "Dwight Howard eats Z for breakfast." He's right, Howard does. Z doesn't move around as well as he used to, but he does stretch other centers into covering him because of his ability to hit jumpers. (Well, they are kind of jumpers, he barely leaves the floor.) Regardless, the Cavs will miss Z, but there is an outside chance the Wizards may cut him and the Cavs can resign him. That's a big couple of "ifs", but it can happen. Or maybe it won't happen. Nothing is promised in the NBA, right Carlos Boozer?

Cavaliers send Washington a First Round Draft Pick.
- Fine by me. We seem to do better with our Second Round picks (Carlos Boozer, Boobie Gibson) anyways.

Cavaliers receive Antawn Jamison from the Wizards.
- Jamison is big (6ft9") and averaging 20.5 points and almost 9 rebounds a game. Don't get the fantasy into your head that he'll score 20 a night for the Cavs. We don't need him to. He may even come off the bench with the second unit to provide a legitimate scoring threat when LeBron needs a breather. Best 6th man in the NBA, believe that.

Cavaliers receive Sebastian Telfair from the Los Angeles Clippers.
- Telfair is a real toss in. He could provide some quickness, but I really don't know how or if the Cavs will find him minutes. Consider that Mo Williams will be back soon, Delonte West is now healthy, and Leon Powe has been practicing. Cavs may even release him.

What this boils down to is the fact that the Cavs and Danny Ferry want to win NOW. Shaq has the "Get a ring for the King" mentality, the rest of the team is on board, and Jamison is saying all the right things after finding out he'd been dealt to the 1st place Cavs.

If you think about it, the Cavs starting 5 will be:

Mo Williams
Delonte West
Shaquille O'neal
JJ Hickson
LeBron James

Coming off the bench then is:

Antawn Jamison (a starter on any other team in the NBA)
Anderson Varejao (a starter on most teams in the NBA)
Anthony Parker (can really spread the floor, and plays above average defense)
Jamario Moon (also spreads floor with good defense)
Leon Powe (The Cav Killer should provide toughness if he can prove healthy)
Daniel "Boobie" Gibson (with as many open looks as he'll get, he should be a marksman from the 3pt line)
Darnell Jackson (may see the floor more often until/if we see Z come back)

Is that the lineup to bring Cleveland the Championship it so yearns for? I'm not sure, but I do know, if I'm Danny Ferry, I feel good about my chances.

Well done, Danny. Well done.

Love,

Cleveland Fans Everywhere

Shaq Keeping it Real

How can you not love Shaquille O'Neal?

His Shaqship was shocked — shocked! — the Orlando Magic had the nerve to double-team him Thursday night, even though the Magic's starting center, Dwight Howard, likes to call himself "Superman."

Shaq is old school. He comes from a time when men were men and superheroes were superheroes.

The essence of his message to Howard on Thursday was this: "I was Superman before you were Superman. And besides, you ain't really even Superman, so stop calling your tired self that, anyway."

The only thing missing was a "Why, I oughta ... " from Shaq.

"When I was coming up," said the world's largest human being, "there was Patrick Ewing and Hakeem (Olajuwon), I never doubled anybody. You tell me who the real Superman is. Don't compare me to nobody. I'd rather not be mentioned. I'm offended.

"Don't let them (the Magic) double team me and make it a him vs. me thing. Eighteen years straight, Hakeem, Patrick, Rik Smits, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, the best of the best, straight up. I never doubled nobody, nor have I ever asked for a double team."

Got that?

Just to make sure reporters did, at the end of his postgame rant, the big fella got downright Shaqeloquent: "Superman, my (butt)."

Another Cavs Rumor

Rumors are circulating that the Cavaliers are on the verge of acquiring forward/center Troy Murphy from the Indiana Pacers.

A source said Friday that wasn't true.

The Cavs might be reluctant to give up second-year forward J.J. Hickson or a first-round pick in the Pacers' deal.

If they can trade center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and get him back in 30 days, they might be inclined to make such a deal.

The 6-foot-11, 245-pound Murphy is averaging 14 points and 9.9 rebounds and is shooting 38.6 percent from the 3-point line.

- News Herald

Salty's Thoughts: I love how the News Herald posts the rumor, then the next line says a source said it isn't true. Why post it then? Anyways, stay tuned for all the Cavs trade hype and non-hype.

The Plain Dealer is reporting the Cleveland Cavaliers are in negotiations to acquire Suns All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire.

The Plain Dealer is reporting the Cleveland Cavaliers are in negotiations to acquire Suns All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire.

Citing multiple league sources, the report confirms a meeting between Cavs general manager Danny Ferry and Suns GM Steve Kerr Friday afternoon in Dallas.

According to the paper, sources indicated the Cavs and Suns have been discussing a deal involving the five-time All-Star for nearly a month.

The two teams have collaborated on deals before, including a trade that sent Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland in the summer of 2009.

In recent weeks, Stoudemire has heard his name pop up in one trade rumor after another. Suns coach Alvin Gentry had a discussion with his big man before the Suns' victory over the Nuggets last week about all the speculation, reminding Stoudemire the situation is completely out of his control.

"I told him he's got to try to put it behind him and move on because whatever happens is going to happen," Gentry said after the game. "It always happens this time of year, there's someone that's always the talk -- it just happens to be him this year."

Article here.