Written by Brian McPeek

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I don’t have to tell those of you who suffered for decades with me to enjoy these times. But enjoy these times, Cleveland. This is the Golden Age of sports in this town when you consider the Indians have a chance to win their second World Series title in 5 years, the Browns are 3-1 with the most exciting rookie QB/RB combination in the league and the Cavaliers have won two of the last three NBA titles and picked up PG Kyrie Irving in the year LeBron James was injured and the team lost 65 games. They’re looking to make it three of the last four starting in about a month behind 4-time NBA MVP LeBron James.

It’s good to be a Cleveland sports fan. And this is the Weekend Warped.

The Tribe

When you consider the lack of an even playing field in MLB, what the Indians have done in the last five years is nothing short of brilliant. Recognizing that they can’t keep every big time free agent they acquire or develop, the Indians made a good deal with the Brewers for CC Sabathia to land a couple solid starting position players, but kept Cliff Lee in house with a long-term deal that pays Lee ridiculous cash (and was greeted by ‘holy craps’ and ‘I can’t believe they did that’s’) but is ultimately less expensive than lacking pitching and trying like hell to find it.

 Yes, it’s nice that Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley panned out and LaPorta’s .265/20/80, while maybe not the numbers people were hoping for when he was killing Triple-A pitching, is good enough to keep him at 1B and not roll the dice or spend precious cash on free agents. And Brantley has become a solid player who produces MLB-quality at bats each time at the plate while playing a really solid CF. Brantley has been a very productive replacement for Grady Sizemore in CF and in the lineup. The Indians woke up last winter and realized Sizemore was gassed. It wasn’t easy because Grady always played balls-out and was a dynamic, productive player when healthy, but he was no longer healthy and, at 30, he wasn’t likely to get healthier.

It’s hard to cut ties with a player the fans identified with and worshiped but the Indians looked past the sentimentality of the moment and spent that $5million elsewhere, more wisely.

And you can’t credit the Indians enough for taking that money and signing Josh Willingham. The Indians had to eat some pride and an additional year of salary when they signed Willingham in the offseason, but they smartly realized Travis Hafner was also done and that with Grady gone and Hafner’s option being in no danger of being picked up next season, giving that money to Willingham was a worthy gamble.

And, man, was it ever.

All Willingham has done is have an MVP-type of season anchoring and powering the Indians offense from LF and from Hafner’s often vacant DH position Willingham’s only hitting .260 but he’s hit 35HRs and driven in a 110 runs to become the engine of this offense. I mean, that 3^rd year was hard to swallow for a guy who never did THIS, but when you consider the risk and the fact that Hafner was clearly a dead man walking for the last couple years, can you imagine the Indians NOT ponying up another year and another “paltry” $7million? Without Willingham the Indians are in big trouble.

Obviously a division-leading offense has been adequate or a bit above that. Shin-Soo Choo has been very solid, Asdrubal Cabrera has finally seemed to figure out he has to actually apply himself for 162 games per year and has been excellent defensively and very good offensively and hasn’t looked lazy and bored in 2012 at all. Jason Kipnis continues to develop into an All-Star-caliber 2^nd baseman and is the Indians gnat at the top of the lineup that drives opposing pitchers and defenses crazy with his hustle. Carlos Santana isn’t what he may be one day but his maturity and attitude improvement has been impressive. He’s taken a leadership role on this club and his pitchers and teammates seem to really respect that he went from a lazy, selfish player, who seemingly wouldn’t adjust his game to the situation or think of anyone other than himself, to a guy who cares more about the team as a whole than his own numbers.

The offense and defense have been fine but there’s no way to overestimate just how terrific it is for the Indians to be able to pencil in Lee’s name as their number one starter andas  the guy who gets the ball to start every big playoff series. Not only that but Lee DEMANDS the ball even on short rest and when the situation begs for a big-game guy to want it.

Penciling in Cliff Lee is worth the big money the Tribe pays him and it’s not like the Indians couldn’t bail on the deal and get value for Lee if they had to go through the rebuilding process again. The Indians smartly understood that today’s ‘ridiculous’ deal is tomorrow’s bargain as salaries and prices increase seemingly every day in MLB. Hopefully that’s not necessary because the Indians have a nice situation with Justin Masterson as the #2 starter, with Drew Pomeranz, Alex White and gritty, strike throwing Josh Tomlin at the third, fourth and 5^th  spots. White and Pomeranz have benefitted greatly from developing in the Tribe’s minor league system and despite some bumps in the road these two young kids are a big part of the Tribe’s future while giving the Indians left and right-handed balance and effective innings now, in a playoff season.

This is how it’s done, folks. Strong drafts, smart decisions and taking the right risk and spending bigger money on the right players because you know NOT spending it costs more in the long run. It’s no accident the Indians are looking at the possibility of their 2^nd World Series title in 5 years. Smart organizations are the ‘lucky’ organizations. Thank God for Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti as well as an owner who spends the cash required to allow a smaller market team to be perennial contenders.

The Browns

When it rains it pours.

Back in April the Browns made two questionable moves in the draft, moving up one spot to select Alabama RB Trent Richardson and using the 22^nd pick on 28yr old rookie Brandon Weeden. Both moves were questioned at the time because Richardson almost assuredly would have been there for the Browns at #4 (and if he wasn’t there were plenty of players there who would have made the Browns immediately and significantly better) and because Weeden was a shotgun spread QB at Oklahoma State with a big arm but no elite skills that seemed to translate to selecting him at 22.

The move reeked of desperation from the Browns front office: an attempt to save their job by selecting a kid that wasn’t Colt McCoy and who could potentially come in and play at a high level. Well, sometimes when you gamble you put all the chips in the pot with a hand like J-10. Normally, you don’t want to take your chances (or risk your job) on J-10 but that’s what Mike Holmgren did. And if the first 4 games are any indication, the flop for Holmgren came up JJ10.

Weeden is one poor (but rookie-like) Buffalo game from being 4-0 on the season and he’s faced down Michael Vick, Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco and walked away with impressive wins. Yes, the game against Philly was a defensive win, but for Game 1 in Weeden’s career, he did all you could expect against a defense like Philly’s. He made quick reads, went through all his progressions quickly, got the ball to the right receiver far more often than not and he hit wide open receivers when one of those rare opportunities came up.

Weeden demonstrated the ability immediately to take this offense by the throat and lead it by example and by his own fiery nature. But hitting on deep ball after deep ball softened up defenses so they couldn’t crowd Richardson at the line and suddenly the Browns have balance and threats throwing and running the football. No one is talking about Weeden needing three t five years to develop and him being nearly 35 if that’s the case. The Browns took the kid because it turns out he was an elite leader and thrower of the football who didn’t need years to fill into shape.

The Thursday night win against Baltimore may go down in current Browns history like the Kosar-to-Slaughter OT win against Pittsburgh game 25 years ago. Weeden hitting the sure-handed Greg Little on the final play of regulation to tie that game and lead to a Browns TD drive after the Ravens kicked a FG on their OT possession still sends shivers through a fan base that’s been dying for wins and heroes and may now have plenty of each.

Big time, legendary QBs do what Weeden did Thursday night. There would have been 1,000 valid excuses for coming up short but special players make special plays and Weeden appears to wear that distinction. It doesn’t matter that he’s 29 this month. What matters is it’s obviously not going to take him 2-3 years to get up to speed, his emergence will keep the continuity in Berea, and we’ll avoid yet another regime change/reboot and you can still look forward to maybe ten years of this guy performing his magic.

Had it not been that way, had Weeden looked like a guy who might be able to get it done only with the perfect complement of help around him after developing for a couple years, well, who knows how things would have gone and who would have been coaching this team. There’s a chance that Weeden would himself be set aside for yet another high QB pick instead of the Browns using those picks to procure pass rushers and much needed defensive help.

But sometimes things work out. Sometimes gambles are worth taking. Sometimes the flop hits you right in the nuts like it did here for the Browns and Browns fans.

The Cavs

Ten years ago it was hard to envision the Cavs being the beacon and driving force behind Cleveland sports but that’s exactly what they are. The team has won two of the past three NBA titles and has a chance for a third this year and all (or the majority anyway) due to the brilliance and selflessness of LeBron James.

Irving has been huge too. He’s the link that for so long was lacking in terms of a PG who can do it all and is the ‘yin’ to James’s ‘yang’. And the team never skipped a beat when Mike Brown was fired after that 60+ loss season so that Byron Scott could come in and shape Irving into the PG the Cavs thought he could be.

James is still the best player on the planet and his experience and maturation on and off the court more than make up for the little bit of athleticism the knee injury stole from him. The fact he’s willing to exert himself every night and that, well, he’s LeBron James, along with the addition of Irving makes the Cavs a tough night for anyone in the game.

Things could have and no doubt would have been different if James had made a different choice in July of 2010 but he eschewed the desire to play with friends and instead demonstrated a loyalty to the team and the region that has paid off handsomely for him and for us.

The future is always tough. The Cavs had to reach at the end of the first round this past draft for Syracuse 6^th man Dion Waiters, but when you have James, Irving and banners being lifted regularly you have a chance to draw the finest free agent talent to the North Coast, even for a season that winds through the heart of rough winter weather.

But after crawling through the depressing years these franchises had experienced up until the most recent renaissance you’ll gladly take what we have here in Cleveland today and count on the fact that three of the finer front offices in all of sports will find a way to make the future as equally bright as the present.

Follow @Peeker643