Cavs on a Roll with Suns on Tap

I'll be the first to say that I am very surprised by the Cavs recent play and surge in the Eastern Conference standings. I attribute the success to myself not criticizing their play in the last month. That and the play of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and of course LeBron James. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I actually saw more than three different offensive plays out of the Cavs last night.

What has taken place during the Cavs 11-2 record over the last 13 games is pretty amazing considering where they were to start the season and at the quarter mark of the season. They are up to 4th in the Eastern Conference standings and completely crushed a Wizards team last night that is current 5th in the standings and who have given Cleveland fits over the last three years.

Varejao is making a difference. His play if much more under control compared to last year and he is quickly getting to a consistent double-double level night in and night out. Big Z may be having the best year of his career. Sure he has scored more in other seasons and even pulled down more boards, but from a flow perspective he is right in stride with what the offense has been trying to accomplish lately.

I'm back on the bandwagon and back in a big way. I'm seeing things that I have always hoped for during Lebron's time in Cleveland. Role players are finally starting to hit wide open shots. That's not to say that Hughes and Gooden don't get out of control still, but when wide open, the guys around Lebron are hitting their shots. Lebron will always draw three guys when the ball is in his hands, leaving at the least two perimeter shot opportunities. Over the last 13 games, the role players are delivering.

The team still has some holes, but like last year's holes, they can still make it to the Championship series the way they are. A point guard would be nice, as would another 3-point shooter, but this team can beat Boston and repeat as Eastern Conference champions. They beat Boston once this year and in the other head-to-head match-up in Boston, Lebron was on the mend.

Tomorrow's game at the Q against the visiting Suns will be a nice test to see where this team truly is at this point in the season. It's been a while since the Cavs topped the Suns and the Suns are a great regular season team coming off a horrible loss last night to the T-Wolves.

Here's an interesting stat on Lebron. He is shooting 48.2% from the field this year. That's better than all but two NBA teams this year. He has yet to shoot 30 times or more in a game this season. Considering Cleveland only shoots 43.5% as a team, would it be all bad if Lebron stepped it up to 35 shots a game?

Swope Blog Logo Design

I've had a few people comment on and ask about the Swope Blog logo since it went up a month or so ago. I wish I could take the credit, but I'm pretty confident that my Illustrator work just isn't up to par with the rest of society's graphic designers.

The logo was actually created by Adam Garcia. Adam is a colleague of mine and professional graphic designer. The image below of the Phoenix Suns' Gorilla mascot is an original illustration of Adam's and recently won a contest promoted by the Suns. This piece will be the cover artwork on a Suns Game Day Program late next month around playoff time.

The 16-Team Playoff System

The one time I think I have an original idea and it takes me only two minutes to realize I'm late to the scene yet again. The college bowl season has ended and BCS talk is still a hot topic, with everyone from coaches, school presidents and athletic directors to the media throwing out their thoughts on what a perfect system would look like.

No matter what objections someone has to a playoff system. Be it the Big Ten & Pac Ten monopoly on the Rose Bowl, the guaranteed money at stake for schools big and small, curriculum schedules for D-1 student-athletes or the million other reasons; everyone seems to agree in it's purest form that a playoff system is what would work the best.

If not, get used to seeing the Buckeyes in the BCS Title Game year in and year out. Even if USC knocks off OSU in week 2 next year, the Buck'os could run the table and benefit from no late season loss. You hate them because they are there every year, but they may turn out to be the one final reason a playoff system is put in place.

We have heard of the Plus-1 plan, the 8-team playoff plan and a few other systems that are being tossed around, but the one that I thought I had my finger on the pulse with is a 16-game playoff system. Turns out Darin Darst on cbssportsline beat me to the punch by about three days a while back. Click the link and have a look at it.

We take the same existing bowls, even leaving the lovely names the same and take what is practically the top 16 teams in the country. But understanding the nature of today's college bowl system and tradition, Darst plugs in some guaranteed bids with big conference winners and leaves plenty of at-large bids for those teams that get bit by a late season loss.

Put a 16-team playoff system in place and the eligible teams will see even more money pour into their schools. Sponsorship opportunities will be endless, loyal fans will follow their team around the country spending even more on tickets than usual and TV ratings will be through the roof. I understand politics usually win out in deals like this, but before I hit the grave, I would love to see just one season where the NCAA gets this thing figured out.

The Media is Out of Control

Quick reminder for the media: Carie Underwood broke it off with Tony Romo because football, yes football, was all he cared about. Underwood said he spent too much time worrying about football and simply didn't have time for her.

This may be a little late in posting, but after seeing the hundredth wise crack from a reporter about the pit bulled face Jessica Simpson distracting Tony Romo by being at the game Sunday, I just couldn't take it any more.

Let me set the record straight! From the time the ball was kicked off to start Sunday's game until the final whistle, there was not one time during the game that Tony Romo gave a thought to Jessica Simpson being in the stands. Sorry, luxury suite.

If this was the case, then how do any of the players make it through a game with their wives, girlfriends, family and friends in the stands? Again, take a look at the photo above. He was too addicted to football is what the girl in the upper right said. You know, the one with a career of her own. The biggest country music singer going right now. The one that every American Idol fan worships. The pit bull on the left and the one that was such a distraction from about a half mile away Sunday, is considered to be about the dumbest female alive in the court of public opinion. Sure, she might be a nice late night distraction for Tony, but that's where the distractions stop.

So how does it make sense that Jessica Simpson was a distraction to Tony Romo against the Eagles on Sunday? It doesn't! The guy is as focused on football as Payton Manning, Tom Brady and every other quarterback in the league. Amazing how Brady can fly across the country, during a week leading up to a game, to be there for the birth of his child to an ex-Hollywood actress girlfriend and it doesn't garnish much media attention at all.

And I hate the Cowboys. But, I hate the media more. It's boring. Report that Romo is actually the father of Jamie Lynn Spears' baby...then I'd call that news.