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Do IT this week: Layering
Talk-show host says fans generally like the deal; ratings at season's high
Published on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
Fred McLeod, the TV voice of the Cavaliers, said during Sunday's broadcast of the Memphis Grizzlies game, which featured the debut of Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Delonte West, that one of team owner Daniel Gilbert's favorite sayings is, ''A penny saved is a penny.''
In short, the man doesn't mind taking a gamble when he thinks it might pay off.
Gilbert told the assembled media before Sunday night's game that he didn't spend $375 million on a basketball team to get cheap all of a sudden.
That can explain the mega trade that shipped Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and four lesser Cavaliers off to other teams and brought in what could be four key contributors to the playoff run. It has been the talk of the town since, at least on Kenny Roda's evening radio show on WKNR (850-AM).
''I'd say the calls have been running 80-20 in favor of it,'' Roda said of reaction to the team's moves. What the Cavaliers received in return proved the cause of consternation for that smaller contingent of fans, he said.
Roda likes most of the deal. Wallace gives the Cavs a dominating defensive presence and an enforcer. Szczerbiak, a graduate of Miami University, provides a consistent outside shooting threat. Roda said he didn't know enough about Delonte West to pass judgment on his abilities.
He gave General Manager Danny Ferry credit for being able to unload an unhappy Hughes and his unwieldy contract. However, he thinks the key part of the trade is Smith, who will fill Gooden's spot in the lineup.
''I think Joe Smith, after one practice, knew the Cavaliers' offense better than Drew Gooden did in all the time he was here,'' Roda said.
Ouch.
Roda wasn't the only media type offering kudos to Ferry. WJW (Channel 8) sports anchor John Telich got the chance to watch the new-look Cavs on Sunday and said the new roster gives coach Mike Brown the chance to play mad scientist with his lineups, figuring out what works best and especially what provides flexibility with the number of big men on the team.
On the air
Gilbert couldn't help but show a bit of glee when he joined the FSN Ohio broadcast team during Sunday night's game. It didn't hurt that at the time he began to speak, this incarnation of the Cavaliers was dominating the Memphis Grizzlies.
''We have to do the right thing by the fans and the franchise,'' he said. ''If things go as well as the first quarter, if they're a leading indicator, I guess they're pretty good so far.''
While obviously thrilled with the talent the Cavs got in the deal, Gilbert said he was just as happy that they got character guys, also.
He did, however, show that he hadn't lost his sense of humor.
''Our guys in the front office, they worked very, very hard and long hours. You saw Danny Ferry with a little stubble,'' he said. ''The only stubble before that was on the side of his head, right? So it's good to see it on his face.''
Smiles everywhere
If anyone has the right to be happy about the moves the Cavaliers made, it was local television rights holder FSN Ohio.
Industry insiders have said that Cavaliers broadcasts have been down about 28 percent from last year's numbers, a fact that had to send minor quakes through the offices in Broadview Heights. There could be myriad reasons to explain that.
My gut tells me that the fans don't (or didn't) expect to match last year's lofty position, and the injury bug that has bitten the team might have caused fans to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
Sunday's Cavs-Grizzlies game gave the cable channel its highest rating for a game this season, according to an FSN spokesman.
Marching Gladiators
A source with the Cleveland Gladiators said the team expects to have five to seven of its Arena Football League games on FSN Ohio, courtesy of a contract negotiated on the national level. There probably will be more of the team's games airing with one of three suitors vying for the local broadcast rights.
Ratings, ratings, ratings
As Tiger Woods goes, so go golf's television ratings. The powers that be with the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, which aired on WKYC (Channel 3), must be elated. Its ratings skyrocketed 67 percent over last year. . . . College basketball's Memphis-Tennessee game generated ESPN's best numbers of the year in that sport.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz.
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