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By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008
Northeast Ohio baseball fans heard the crack of the bat Monday, and the area's media covered it with a mixture of cheerleading and analysis.
Much of the rah-rah stuff came from those media outlets associated with the team, but there were legitimate news morsels to sample. Those ties give WKYC (Channel 3), WTAM (1100-AM) and SportsTime Ohio a decided advantage when it comes to what they provide viewers and listeners.
Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro and President Paul Dolan dutifully made the rounds to each of those spots to talk about the team and expectations. It made for some interesting contrasts, depending on who asked the questions.
The key one on every Tribe fan's mind this season: What's going to happen to Indians ace C.C. Sabathia? To hear Dolan and Shapiro talk, they aren't sure, or at least not on the same page — for now.
When talking to Mike Trivisonno on WTAM, Dolan seemed resigned that Sabathia's time in a Tribe uniform might be drawing to a close, given the economics of baseball. Dolan emphasized more than once the importance of keeping the front office that develops the talent intact and allowing it to continue to fill holes as needed.
On the other side, Shapiro is a glass-half-full kind of guy. ''I'm still optimistic,'' he said to WKYC's Jim Donovan, who serves as the voice of the team on his station's over-the-air broadcasts. ''I think we're going to sign the guy.''
Tony Rizzo of WKNR (850-AM) and WJW (Channel 8) expressed doubts about that. Rizzo called this Sabathia's senior year of college and predicted that the team's window of opportunity is closing.
Rizzo joined station mates Kenny Roda, Mark ''Munch'' Bishop, Greg Brinda and Aaron Goldhammer in a Tribe round table for a couple of hours before the game. Broadcasting from a bar in Cleveland, they didn't have the live interviews that others had. I didn't mind it a bit.
As a whole, they were fresh, had a blast on the air and offered spontaneity that the average fan could appreciate. Think of it as a bunch of guys talking sports at a bar. Combine that with some spot-on analysis, and you had the making of a great broadcast.
Brinda suggested Tribe fans not worry too much about the Detroit Tigers, the team that went on a spending and trading spree in the offseason, picking up Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.
''The Detroit Tigers gutted their farm system for a big bat and a pitcher who is still all over the place,'' Brinda said, suggesting that if the Tigers suffered injuries, they'd have problems.
Rizzo worried that the Indians couldn't be successful without Travis Hafner hitting 40 homers and Grady Sizemore not reducing his strikeouts.
On Tribe fashion
And on a not-so completely different topic, it would seem that in some respects that the local TV folks have begged off donning the Indians garb. Sorry, but when you wear it while doing a story on the team, it calls into question your objectivity.
Sure, you could spot it on the guys who did the weather. That doesn't bother me nearly as much as seeing it on the news anchors. WKYC's Romona Robinson took hits in the past for that offense. Not Monday. She did her job dressed tastefully in black.
Of course, there was the other extreme, STO's Bruce Drennan, who sported the team's new jersey along with a Tribe cap. But given who owns STO (hint: It's the Dolans), it's not surprising. And Drennan never has been shy about admitting his sports allegiances.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/.
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