Been a busy week here.  I had 5 interviews on Monday for a new job -- same company, different position.  Candidates were weeded out before even making it to the interview round, so as far as I know there are only 3 people that were interviewed.  I think there is a round 2 of interviews though, so I should know something by next week.

Also, I'm getting Lasik tomorrow at the Cleveland Clinic.  I was there for a while today getting tests done to make sure everything looks good, which it does.  Hopefully by Friday morning I'll be able to see 20/20 without the need of glasses.

Someone needs to step up in the NBA and call a spade a spade.  The agents are obviously tampering with players.  Players are tampering with other players.  Still other players are demanding trades while under contract.  Agents and players are working with each other to try to navigate themselves to only destinations they want.  It's completely out of control and can definitely go a long way towards killing the sport.

In this regard the NFL has it right.  They have franchise tags that prevent certain players from demanding moves.  They can simply void contracts for any reason.  Sure, in some ways that's too slanted to the owners, but there has to be a sweet spot in the middle.  I really like the idea of a franchise tag in the NBA.  The player will get their money (guaranteed in the top 5 avg salary or something) and the team will keep their star.
  Not to mention the fans can actually root for someone without fear of them demanding a trade or orchestrating player movement to certain other teams.

Just got back from a weeks vacation in the Outer Banks -- Nags Head specifically.  Took Reagan in the ocean for the first time.  She liked the sand and the waves lapping at her feet.  She also hung out in the pool for a while almost every day.  She's not scared of the water at all, which is good.  We also have some really good pictures of her in her vast array of swimsuits and rash guards.

We've been house hunting recently.  It's a great time to buy.  Just not for us.  Work timing issues getting in the way.

The Cavs continue to take shots with players who had ability but have failed to play up to their talent level.  At this point I think that's the best option available.  Maybe they strike out.  Maybe they hit the jackpot.  Either way, what can they really do?

Mediocrity is the death knell of a franchise.  A team can recover from being horrible by drafting well.  A team can continue to be great by luring free agents.  A team that's just out of the playoffs or just into the playoffs can't really improve via either method though, and like it or not, that's the position the Cavs are currently in.

They do possess a large trade exception, but I expect them to hang on to that until after next season.

Still settling in after being out of town this past weekend.  My mom and Lindsays sister were here last week and her mom is here this week.  It's nice to have visitors but it will also be nice to be home for a weekend without visitors AND no weddings to go to.  We don't have another wedding until next week.  Huzzah!  That'll be 3 weddings in 4 weeks.

The full page ad never appeared, and my guess is that his "team" heard of the Amare Stoudamire ad in Phoenix and decided to pull it (if in fact it was ever real to begin with.)

Whatever, let's get on with it.  I like the Cavs idea of taking chances on talented players who haven't lived up to their potential.  It's like a lottery ticket.  Chances are, they won't hit it big, but it's worth the shot.  Prime example being Rashad McCants.  It costs them $100 per day to have him on their summer league team and maybe he makes the team and maybe even becomes a starter.  He has the physical tools, just needs to put it together mentally too.

LeBron supposedly will take out a full page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer tomorrow.  My guess is that it goes like one of these two ways.

First (and much more likely):

Dear Cleveland Fans,

My PR people have written you this letter from me because my reputation is in the toilet right now after my distasteful informercial last week. If I ever want to salvage my brand anywhere outside of Miami I need to "reconcile" with my hometown, whom I treated like the temple priest in the Temple of Doom and ripped out your still beating heart.  Sorry about that.  The truth is I just woke up on the morning of July 9 and decided that Miami would be fun.  That's the truth.  I swear.  I never premeditated anything with Mike Miller during the NBA finals.  I never told Wade and Bosh that I wanted to play with them last year.  I just woke up and thought, "Hmm, Miami sounds nice."  I never meant to hurt your feelings.  Akron will always be my hometown and I'll do you proud.  What?  Oh.  I mean Cleveland.  I love Cleveland.  Go Cowboys!  I mean Yankees!  No, no, go Cleveland State!  Yay Ohio!

Sincerely,

Anonymous Nike PR rep


Second (and less likely):

Dear Cleveland,

You suck.  I'm better than you.

P.S. Go Heat!

Zydrunas Ilgauskas has left the Cavs for the Miami Heat.  That's unfortunate, but understandable.  He called the Cavs owner and GM today to personally tell them the news.  He said he's been in the league for 15 years and wants a last chance at a championship.  I can't fault the guy.  Sure, I'd prefer him to be anywhere else, but still.  He did everything the city and the team ever asked of him.  He also said that Cleveland is his home and he's only changing his work place.  He wants to come back and work for the organization when it's all done.

Talk about a different way to leave compared to that other guy.  Un-named player will get booed ferociously and Z will get a standing ovation.  That's my prediction anyway.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

It seems to me that, right now at least, LeBron leaving the Cavs isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The reason for that is the way he left; utterly destroying and past connection he had with Cleveland. That actually made it easier to move on.

Would the Cavs be better with him? Absolutely they would. He's a terrific basketball player. The size of his ego dwarfs the amount of talent he has though, and that's something I never realized before. Were the Cavs enablers of that? Yes. Were the fans? Yes. I just never saw the entire scope of it until now.

So, rumor has it that the Cavs will get 2 future 1st round picks and 2 future 2nd round picks as well as a $14.5 million trade exception. Unfortunately, the picks are all at a point in time when Miami will be among the best teams in the league and therefore very late first and second round. Those assets are better than getting nothing though. The trade exception can be used to immediately trade for any single player making up to $14.5 million next year. That means in theory they could trade that straight up for Chris Paul and only give up the trade exception to get him. Will that particular trade happen? There's no chance of it, but they could get someone like Al Jefferson who would be a good pickup for the Cavs as they have little to no depth at the center spot now.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.