Written by Brian McPeek

---

It was a pretty exciting weekend for Cleveland sports. The Cavs went into San Antonio on Friday night and won, then stole a thriller from the Hawks in Atlanta on Sunday night. And it looks as if Joe Smith will rejoin the team after being bought out in Oklahoma City. And the Browns traded enigmatic tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 2nd round pick this season and a 5th rounder next year. Peeks isn't going to miss K2, and breaks down the trade and the Cavs weekend for us in his latest.

With Team's Wins Low, Tin Souljah's Got to Go 

Soldier my ass.  

Unless real bad-ass soldiers don't drill with their team because they're sore and unless real soldiers only show up to half their side's battles because of, in part, self-inflicted, dumb-ass motorcycle wounds and suspensions. 

If actual soldiers had the attitude and scrambled brains that Kellen Winslow Jr. possesses we'd be speaking Farsi or German or maybe even Grenadian.  

Seriously, good riddance to an unlikable, self centered athlete. Don't let the door hit you in your staph-addled ass or swollen scrotum either KWII. 

Okay. Now that the personal feelings are documented and my dislike of the arrogant hump is out there, there is clearly no way at all that the Browns are a better football team today. They're just not.  Winslow was immensely talented and there's no clear cut replacement on the roster to take his snaps. Snaps on which you'd think a rhythm QB like Brady Quinn could use sure hands and a talented tight end. Instead you're looking at those snaps being taken by a very young Martin Rucker and a very old and increasingly fragile Steve Heiden. 

So we all agree KWII was talented and that the Browns have no one as talented as Winslow today to plug into that spot. That they're a worse football team without him than they were with him despite the fact he can be a prick and a distraction. 

Was it the right move right now? 

Yeah it was.  

This team is 28-52 during KW2's tenure. Winslow doesn't have a single post-season catch. That's mostly due to the fact that despite his immense talent the team hasn't played in a single post-season game during his tenure. The guy has played in but 55% of all possible games due to legitimate injuries and stone cold stupidity.  He might just be the oldest 26 yr old in the league when the season starts in September due to the arthritis in his knees. He's already shown signs of slowing down given the fact it was his hands more than his legs that he used to get open and create separation this past season. If you're not seeing that the officials certainly are. 

Yeah, I know. He's a Pro Bowler. Well, he's a Pro Bowler like Derek Anderson is a Pro Bowler. He got the call when the actual Pro Bowlers begged out. 

The Browns were 4-12 with Winslow last season.  That's 4 wins and 12 losses with this indispensable, wonderful, irreplaceable, Pro Bowl talent. I'm thinking even without him the club wouldn't sport much worse of a record. 

So they pick up a 2^nd round pick this season and a 5^th round pick next year. They needed the 2^nd rounder since the last regime gave the 3rd round pick away. People who watch more football and more game tape than I do determined that even a healthy, decent year out of Winslow (which means 13-14 games played and most practices missed) wasn't worth the whining he does about money and everything else or the fact that each season seems to age him two or three years physically.  

Good luck to the Pseudo Soldier in Tampa. I'd like to say he'll be missed on the field and in the locker room but, all things considered, that's simply not the case.  

Welcome Back Joe Smith? 

Looks like the path has been cleared for Joe Smith to return to the Cavaliers. Smith was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night and apparently a return to the Cavs is his first choice. Players released before midnight Sunday were eligible for the 2009 playoffs and Smith will step in immediately if/when signed by the Cavs, possibly playing Wednesday night when the Cavs take on the Milwaukee Bucks at ‘The Q'. Adding Smith likely would have happened even without the broken leg suffered by Ben Wallace but the need for an experienced, two-way big man reached critical stages when Wallace went down.  

The 6' 10" Smith will give the Cavs some size and length defensively, will grab you 5-8 rebounds a night and is death from 10-15 feet. He'll be another option offensively who will benefit greatly from finding an open spot and having LeBron and Mo Williams find him off penetration. 

Just in the nick of time too. Anderson Varejao and JJ Hickson are solid role players at this point but those boys leave some points on the table that Smith will cash in. 

Etcetera 

• Stunning development in Goodyear, AZ with the announcement that Adam Miller has been shut down with soreness in his problematic finger. The Indians also announced that water is wet.  

Would it be in poor taste to wave my problematic middle finger at Adam Miller and his never-ending string of aches and pains?  

• I'm thinking the much-maligned David Dellucci has about a month left in his Indians career to prove his bat still belongs in the majors. While Dellucci is making about $4million for this season it would only cost the Indians about an additional $350k to hand his spot to a young, minimum salary player. Dellucci is yet to take a Cactus League swing because he showed up at camp with a thumb injured when he closed a tailgate on it. Remember the quick trigger on Jason Michaels last season when he was let go and replaced on the roster by Ben Francisco? Well substitute Dellucci for Michaels and Trevor Crowe for Francisco and you can see how this might play out.
  
• Seems to me that both Cavs fans and Celtics fans have reason to be concerned about Stephon Marbury's new gig with Boston. He could do damage to either team depending upon which Marbury shows up.
  
• Big, gutsy win in Atlanta Sunday night for the Cavs. After yakking away a 14 point 3^rd quarter lead they scored the final 6 points of the game against the Hawks to steal an important win and capitalize on both the Celtics and Lakers losing Sunday.
  
• Careful Buckeyes Hoops squad. I realize 5 wins (and likely 20 or more total) over (then) ranked teams is a solid resume but losing 4 of your last 5 to Big 10 competition could put you squarely on the wrong side of the bubble. Truth be told, OSU might be too Jekyll & Hyde for the selection committee's tastes already. That's a dangerous squad for anyone to play given the Buckeye's propensity for living and dying with the three point shot but they need to win a couple more ball games, likely including a Big 10 tourney game, to put themselves in the NCAA tourney.