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Browns find another way to lose
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
New version of Mozilla Thunderbird landing soon
SCORE offers wide variety of workshops
About Matsos Greek Dressing & Marinade
All-in-one units jolt desktop computer sales
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Cavaliers aligning themselves for a running mate for LeBron
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Sunday, Aug 24, 2008
Because the Cavs seem to have something very slick and important up their sleeve. And that is to keep James and give him a superstar-caliber cohort as a teammate.
The vision — and it's not a pipe dream — has James staying and playing on the same team as Dwyane Wade. Or Chris Bosh. Or Josh Howard. Or Amare Stoudamire. Or any of the other big-name NBA guys who can become a free agent in the summer of 2010.
Don't laugh.
There is only one NBA team positioned to sign two superstars in 2010, and that's the Cavaliers.
That's because there's only one team with a superstar and the cap room to sign another.
Everyone has been focusing on the cap space of the New Jersey Nets or the New York Knicks or Athens, Greece, but the Cavs quietly have manipulated themselves to the point that they have more salary-cap room than anyone for that offseason.
The Cavs have almost $30 million in cap space — and that counts James' salary, which will go away when he opts out of his final year.
As of today the Cavs have four players under contract (sort of) in 2010-11: James for $17 million (though he's probably going to be a free agent), Maurice Williams for $9.3 million, Daniel Gibson for $4 million and J.J. Hickson on a team option for $1.5 million.
That's it.
Wally Szczerbiak's contract expires after this season.
Ben Wallace goes after two seasons.
So does Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Other players surely will be added to the roster, but the Cavs won't add anyone who will compromise their ability to bring in talent in 2010.
This, apparently, is what General Manager Danny Ferry always talks about when he says he wants to maintain future roster flexibility.
The Cavs realistically will be able to re-sign James and add another top-caliber player, as well as the other pieces and parts needed to make a team.
All they have to do is sign the other free agents first, then sign LeBron. Because NBA rules state a team can go over the cap to sign its free agent.
Another team might want to add James, of course. But no other team will be able to add James and another max contract. To do so, a team would need $40 million or so in cap room. The cap is projected to be $60 million in 2010, which means a team would have two guys with max deals and a bunch of other ''guys'' who would average, at the most, $2 million a year.
Which means it would be a bunch of Developmental League guys and two stars.
The myth of NBA free agency is that a standout will leave his team willingly.
The reality is that it doesn't happen that often. The perception grows because it is a huge story when someone like Steve Nash or Shaquille O'Neal changes teams. Most of the time, a player stays where he can make the most money for the longest number of years.
So the thinking should be to expect James to stay.
But the reality is that he could stay, and the Cavs — not the Knicks or the Los Angeles Lakers or the Miami Heat — could add another star to go with him.
Enough with the angst already.
As the Cavs no doubt are thinking — and if they're not thinking this way, they're nuts — it's not about James leaving Cleveland in 2010. It's about what superstar will join him in Cleveland.
UA SOCCER
Top recruits make way to the Zips
Steve Zakuani didn't know Akron, didn't know the university, didn't know the Mid-American Conference.
His life in the Woodgreen area of London didn't expose him much to Zips, Akron's or otherwise.
Yes, that is London as in England, across the pond, as it were.
''I had only heard of places like Michigan and UCLA back home,'' Zakuani said last week before a Zips soccer team practice. ''But as soon as I met the people here, I had no doubt this was where I wanted to be.''
Talk about a journey.
When Zakuani was 4, he moved to London from the Republic of Congo. He was all set to turn pro two years ago, when University of Akron coach Caleb Porter came calling.
Now he's recognized as one of the nation's best soccer players — for a program that is establishing itself nationally, as well.
UA plays outstanding soccer, and it has a team that has legitimate national title hopes. It might be a ''minor'' sport to some, but Porter has made the Zips into a major power.
UA has gone 45-10-7 since 2005, the nation's best winning percentage. The Zips are ranked 12th in the NSCAA/adidas preseason poll. They have been to the NCAA Tournament six of the past seven years.
UA's recruiting class was ranked as high as fifth in the nation — highlighted by the signing of defender Kofi Sarkodie, who played for the United States at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup in South Korea.
''This team can go a long way,'' Zakuani said. ''It's a cliche, but we can go as far as we want. We have the right coach. We have the right mentality in place. The pieces are there.
''This time last year, I didn't feel as good. This year, I think we can turn some heads. Our recruiting class is very good. My class, we have one year under our belt. Our coach is more experienced.
''The pieces are there.''
Including a key piece in Zakuani, one of the nation's best.
The proof? He is one of 48 players on the preseason watch list for the prestigious Hermann Trophy, the Heisman of NCAA Division I soccer.
This follows a freshman year when Zakuani scored six goals, three game-winners, and was a member of the College Soccer News All-Freshman team.
Of the 48 on the watch list, there is one underclassman: Zakuani — or ''Steve O,'' as his teammates call him.
Ponder that thought again: The nation's best soccer player might just be playing in 10 home games right here at Lee Jackson Field.
UA found Zakuani when Porter sent one of his assistant coaches to scout Zakuani's teammate in England.
Zakuani was talented enough to have professional options in the soccer-rich Europe. But he said he put those plans on hold to come to UA, saying as soon as he talked to the people with the Zips, he knew it was where he wanted to be.
He knows he might get more pro offers, and he plans to rely on Porter's advice, but he hopes to finish at Akron.
''If all goes well, I'll last four years here,'' he said. ''That would be my dream.''
That is just one of several dreams, actually. Another is to play professionally for Barcelona, and yet another is to use his degree in sports management to help disadvantaged kids. He would like to open a sports club in neighborhoods where kids could use a sport like soccer to further themselves.
Why help the disadvantaged?
''Because I was one of them,'' he said.
Random thoughts
• Cliff Lee won his 18th game for the Indians last week. It's worth repeating that only five pitchers have started 18-2 since 1969: Ron Guidry, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Lee.
• Unlike one of those guys, Lee did not appear in the Mitchell Report.
• The Indians report that Lee's career won-lost percentage is .654, which is the sixth best among active pitchers (at least 900 innings).
• He is under contract for 2009, with a team option for '10.
Lee will earn himself $1.25 million if he wins the Cy Young. His contract calls for a $250,000 bonus and a $1 million increase in '10 for winning the award in either '09 or '10.
• Not bad money if you can pitch.
• Andy Marte does not seem to be the answer at third base for the Indians, does he?
• Congratulations to Indians media relations manager Jeff Sibel and his wife, Tiffany, on the birth of their son Thomas John on Thursday.
• Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps will write a book to be released just before the holidays.
Who'd have expected THAT to happen?
• While the success of Phelps and others has been celebrated, there have been some very weird things happen in track. Woman loses gold when she falls going over a hurdle. Two relay teams drop the baton.
It's . . . just . . . odd.
• How'd ya like to be the guy who looks up and sees he's running against Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in the final relay leg?
• The Browns acquired cornerback Travis Daniels from the Miami Dolphins. He might be a find, but the scuttlebutt is most NFL types thought he was going to be cut and giving up even a seventh-round pick was too much.
Those NFL types must not have watched the Browns' secondary against the New York Giants, then.
• The bitterness from former NFL players who think that the union did not take care of them remains strong, even with union head Gene Upshaw's sudden death.
Giants great Sam Huff told the New York Daily News: ''You want to be sympathetic, but it is hard to do.''
Ouch.
Upshaw often pointed out how much the union gave former players.
• Current players owe Upshaw a huge debt of gratitude. His move to force the owners to commit a percentage of revenue to salaries was actually brilliant because it made the players partners in the game. The more the owners made, the more the players made. The employees had a stake in growing the game, its revenue.
And, boy, did they.
• Until next time . . . there you have it.
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