After suffering their second loss of the season to Purdue Sunday afternoon, the Buckeyes maintained their position in both polls this week. Ohio State checks in as the No. 2 team in this week’s AP poll behind Duke and is the No. 3 team behind Duke and Kansas in the Coaches poll.

For some reason, the coaches ranked Kansas ahead of Ohio State despite the 16 point beat down they received at the hands of unranked Kansas State last Monday. It’s hard to complain about poll position when Ohio State didn’t take a step back in the rankings despite their loss, I just don’t understand why the coaches gave Kansas the upper hand when Ohio State lost to a much stronger opponent in Purdue.

The Buckeyes were able to keep their position in the polls mainly because of the upsets Texas, Pitt and Kansas suffered last week. Duke jumped to the top of both polls after their 22 point beat down of Georgia Tech on Sunday Night, giving them a great chance to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes are still in good shape for a top seed in the tourney as well, but they need to finish the season strong after suffering two losses in their last three games.

In his latest mock draft, Todd McShay of ESPN projects the Browns to select Alabama's Marcell Dareus with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Dareus is a 6-3, 309 pound defensive tackle who ranks second best at his position behind Auburn's Nick Fairley.

McShay, along with many other draft experts, anticipate the Browns to beef up a defensive line that recently lost Shaun Rodgers and Kenyon Coleman. Todd McShay offered his thoughts on the situation in a conference call yesterday afternoon.

"First off, let me point out that my last name has two capital letters -- which makes me exponentially better than you right off the bat." He later added these thoughts on Dareus, "He's strong, a lot stronger than people think ... has great awareness. He's not as big or athletic as Fairley, but he might be a more complete player when he's 100 percent. He can play the 3-4 or a 4-3 for teams going back and forth ... like Cleveland that want to do different things up front."

When someone pointed out Cleveland's desperate need for a game-changing wide receiver, McShay nodded solemnly, "The Browns have a lot of needs. You can look at a variety of position groups like the defensive line, the wide receiver core, the linebackers... Kiper and I were watching film on the Browns' receivers last week and noticed that often times, Robiskie and Massaquoi would line up on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage, run quick slants to the middle of the field, then see who could punch the other in the dick first instead of running their routes." After a quick chuckle, McShay added, "Although the entertainment value is high with their existing core, the production is sorely lacking."

McShay then redirected the conversation back to Dareus, "[He] has a little durability concern, and he had the two-game suspension," referring to the suspension Dareus earned for receiving improper benefits from an agent. "A few pro-scouts attended his pre-combine workouts and noticed that his girlfriend, who was also in attendance, was wearing an "I Heart Bieber" t-shirt -- so questions about his decision making ability have risen. I mean, if the guy is dating a Bieber fan, who's to say he won't take a gun into a nightclub and shoot himself in the leg?

"We also noticed him eating a few skittles after his workout, forcing many to question his commitment to fitness." McShay wrapped up the conference call with this, "All this to say, I'm obnoxiously and offensively overpaid for what I do, and although my work impacts nothing on draft day and will actually be proven completely useless by the team's actual selections, I'll continue to do this pointless process year in and year out. God forbid I actually do something that contributes to anything, ever."

*Quotes from McShay only slightly adjusted based on writers impression of the conference call...

Things just got a whole lot more interesting in Motown this summer:

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera has been arrested on drunken driving charges in Florida.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office says the 27-year-old's car engine was smoking alongside a road late Wednesday when a deputy spotted the vehicle.

According to the arrest report, Cabrera smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and took a swig from a bottle of scotch in front of a deputy.

Police say Cabrera repeatedly refused to cooperate, saying, "Do you know who I am, you don't know anything about my problems."

Yes, you read that bolded part correctly.

Lest you forget, this is the same Miggy Cabrera that was out drinking the night before the final game of the 2009 season who was then arrested in a domestic dispute with his wife.

Not sure how this all plays out (or how the people in Detroit will react to this), but the travails of Miggy could have a HUGE impact on the 2010 season for the Tigers, even after doling out $90.25M in contracts.  Regardless of those players added (or retained), the engine of the Tiger offense is Cabrera and without him (or with him battling his problem), the Tigers offense in 2010 may find themselves stuck in neutral.

After losing 71-67 to Wisconsin on the road Saturday afternoon, the previously top ranked Buckeyes fell to the No. 3 spot in this week's Coaches Poll. The Buckeyes were hopped by once beaten Kansas and a three loss Texas team in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. The AP poll, which I assume is backed more by common sense, has Ohio State at the No. 2 spot behind Kansas and ahead of Texas. 

The drop was expected after Ohio State's trip to Madison produced Ohio State's only loss of the season. A hostile trip turned disrespectful when fans stormed the court after Wisconsin's victory when Jared Sullinger was spat on by a Badger fan. After Wisconsin's football team gave the Ohio State squad its only loss of the season, it's hard to feel anything but hate for stupid Wisconsin and their stupid fans, their stupid football team, their stupid basketball team, their stupid coaches, their stupid mascot, their stupid band, their stupid state, their stupid economy, their stupid Governer Scott Walker, their stupid mass production of cheese, the stupid lake serving as a border connecting them to stupid Michigan, their stupid state motto 'Forward', their stupid state population of 5,654,774 according to a 2009 estimate, their stupid state fossil "Trilobite" and their stupid law prohibiting people from throwing rocks at train-cars.

Jordan Bastian of Indians.com tweeted today that Jeremy Sowers will be out for 9-12 months while rehabbing left rotator cuff surgery. He had the procedure on Monday and has decided to go home to Virginia to rehab rather than the Indians complex out in Goodyear, AZ.

Sowers is still under club control, but has fallen out of the organizations plans with the emergence of Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco, Jeanmar Gomez, David Huff, and the other starters catching the front office's eye, along with Aaron Laffey being used in spot start/long relief duty.

Even before this injury, the chances of Sowers throwing another inning for the Cleveland Indians were slim, but this probably (cough thankfully cough) ends the Jeremy Sowers tenure with the Tribe.

Pat Shurmur confirmed Thursday what most of us have assumed for quite some time - that he will indeed go without an Offensive Coordinator in his first year as Head Coach.  When asked at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards if he was going to go OC-less, Paddy responded:

"I think it's going to stay that way.  I will actually take that role and then we have quite a few very accomplished coaches on offense.  I feel like we've hired a terrific staff and everybody on this staff has roles and issues of the day.  I feel really good about how we've structured things and I think it's going to work well."

This is not a normal situation - only the Patriots went without an OC last year.  There are 2 ways to look at it:

1. Oh my God!  How can a rookie Head Coach expect to call his own plays, much less be his own Offensive Coordinator!  This going to fail in a huge way!  Why does everything in Cleveland suck?  We're doomed, I tells ya, doomed!!!

2. If Shurmur is calling his own plays, then he's the de facto OC anyway.  So not giving someone a glorified title just to appease the writhing masses is no big deal.  He hired Mark Whipple (QB Coach) to be his de facto non-playcalling OC.  Dick Jauron will basically be the Head Coach on the Defensive side of the ball.  Shurmur will have ultimate final say, but I'd venture to guess that he'll let Jauron have fairly free reign (for the time being, at least) while he concentrates on running what he knows best.  Not to mention that Mike Holmgren will probably be issuing many "suggestions" from his ivory tower, so this unconventional set-up has as much of a chance at succeeding here in Cleveland as anything else.

(Which is likely zero, but that's neither here nor there.)

In the end, it all comes down to talent, and if the Browns don't throw a lot more of it out on the field, it won't matter a lot if Paddy O'Shurmur has an OC or not.

According to Jon Heyman, the Indians are close to signing Orlando Cabrera, who spent last season as the Reds' SS before losing his job, thanks mainly to a 2010 OPS of .657. Where Orlando Cabrera fits on the Indians (assuming he is signed – and there has not been an indication as to whether it would be a Minor League deal or to an MLB contract) is not all that clear as Orlando Cabrera has played all but 33 games in his Big League career at SS, which would seem to be one of the only positions that seems to have an obvious starter in the infield with Asdrubal Cabrera.

Perhaps Orlando Cabrera fits into the Adam Everett column as a middle infield depth option that can play SS, perhaps as the Indians' Utility IF as no other player in the infield mix (besides Everett...and yes, I'm excluding Donald here) looks to be a suitable back-up at SS. There is a possibility that Orlando Cabrera is in the mix in the 2B or 3B quagmires, but realize that his cumulative OPS over the last 3 years is .692 (OPS+ of 83) and that his once-steady glovework has been deteriorating for the last few years at SS. Asking him to learn a new position when his bat doesn't justify it would be positively Nixian.

If Orlando Cabrera is brought in for depth or figures to have the same chance at contributing as Adam Everett (whose OPS over the last 3 years has been .589 cumulatively), that's all well and good, particularly for a team who is in need of a back-up SS.

Counting on him (or even hoping for him) to be much more than that looks like wishful thinking...

Browns head coach Pat Shurmur didn't wait long before mixing things up in Cleveland, cutting defensive linemen Shaun Rodgers and Kenyon Coleman, linebackers David Bowens and Eric Barton, offensive tackle John St. Clair and Tight End Robert Royal from the roster late Wednesday afternoon.

Personnel changes were expected when Shurmur took over and players that Mangini/Ryan favored like Bowens were the anticipated candidates. The most notable name though is Rodgers, who came to Cleveland in a trade with Detriot in 2008. After one pro-bowl year with Cleveland in his first season with the Browns, the massive defensive tackle struggled to stay healthy and only started one game last season. With the emergance of Ahtyba Rubin, who anchored Clevelands defensive front last year, Rodgers only notched 17 tackles and two sacks in 2010. Compare those numbers to his '08 season where he racked up 81 tackles and 4.5 sacks -- you can clearly see Rodgers' regression. Rumors of Rodgers questionable work ethic probably didn't help his case either. 

Linebackers Bowens and Barton were brought in by Mangini's staff to help implement Rob Ryan's 3-4 defense, but with the Browns new brass moving to a 4-3 system, the veteran backers were cut. Same goes for Kenyon Coleman, who started 14 of Cleveland's 16 games last season at defensive end.

Apropos of absolutely nothing (and with a hat tip to Hardball Talk), here are a couple of old renderings of rejected stadium ideas from Cleveland's past. With Snow Days now in the rearview and with another Super Bowl that didn't happen in Cleveland (with the requisite “we should have built a dome”) as CBS sits empty for about 350 days out of the year, maybe these will quicken your pulse so slowed by the frigid temps.

First up we have a dome concept from the 1980's on the Gateway site where The Jake and The Q now sit:

Next is an August 1989 proposal by Art Modell to renovate Cleveland Stadium which I can't figure out what's different, other than the flags, from my memories of the old Mausoleum on the Lakefront:

After scoring 19 points and 15 rebounds against Michigan on Thursday and racking up 18 points and 13 rebounds against Minnesota yesterday, Jared Sullinger was named the Big Ten's freshman player of the week. Sullinger has taken the honor 11 of 13 weeks so far this season -- freshmen teamates Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft took the honors away from Sullinger during his two "off weeks". 

Ohio State's streak of dominating the freshman POW award might come to an end this week as Ohio State only plays one game -- this Saturday against Wisconsin. The Badgers typically play styngy defense and low-possession basketball, so there's a good possibility that none of Ohio State's talented freshman will blow up the stat sheet. There are certaintly a lot of talented freshman in the conference this year, and if any of them want to make some noise and steal the honor away from the Buckeyes, this would be the week to do it.