Odds are, if you are reading this Ohio sports blog then you’re probably a fan of one or more Ohio sports teams. With Fathead already owned by Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert, it appears the company is doing more to cater to Ohio sports fans. The latest additions to the Fathead family include an Ohio Bobcats Fathead, the new Shaq Cavs Fathead, a new Fathead of Joe Thomas of the Browns, and a Jay Bruce Reds Fathead. Nothing shows dedication to your favorite team or players like a Fathead, so be sure to check out the best online selection of fatheads at Sports-Shop.com.

Each season the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians face off for 6 games, 3 in Cleveland and 3 in Cincinnati, in what is called the Ohio Cup Series. The Ohio Cup name came from the pre-interleague play days for MLB when the Reds and Indians would face off in Columbus at Cooper Stadium for a preseason exhibition game at the end of Spring Training.

Today’s Ohio Cup is a bit different with the two teams two 3-game series. While Cleveland has historcally dominated Cincinnati winning the annual series in 6 of the first 8 years of play, the Reds won 5 of 6 last season and trail Cleveland 30-27 in the historic regular series season.

The 2009 Ohio Cup Series began on Friday night as interleague play opened across Major League Baseball. The Indians struck first with a solo homer by Grady Sizemore in the 1st, but that lead proved to be short-lived as the Reds got a Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly RBI in the bottom of the 1st to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team would dent the plate again until the bottom of the 8th when the Reds scored two runs and Francisco Cordero closed it out for a Cincinnati Reds 3-1 win.

The series continues on Saturday evening at 7:10 pm and concludes on Sunday. Fans can stoick up on Reds gear and Cleveland Indians hats & apparel online through DFN Sports sites.

It was a slow day for Ohio sports teams as only the Cincinnati Reds were in action on Monday, April 20th. The Reds were looking to take 3 of 4 @ Houston and improve to 7-5 on the season and jumped out to a early 2-0 lead. But Bronson Arroyo was unable to hold the lead as the Astros took a 3-2 lead in the 6th, but a Joey Votto 2-run double put the Reds ahead for good and Francisco Cordero preserved Arroyo’s win with the save. The Reds now head to Chicago to face the Cubs in a 3-game series after winning 5 of 7 on the road trip so far.

Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavs prepare for Tuesday night’s Game 2 of their First Round series against the #8 Detroit Pistons. Meanwhile, Mike Brown was named the Coach of the Yearin the NBA on Monday.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Columbus looks to get back into their series wit hthe #2 seed Detroit Red Wings as they host the Wings in Game 3 @ Columbus on Tuesday night.

Cleveland Indians - The Indians begin a 9-game homestand on Tuesday as the Kansas City Royals come to town.

Cleveland Browns & Cincinnati Bengals - The Browns & Bengals continue to prepare for Saturday’s 2009 NFL Draft. The 2009 NFL team schedules were released last week.

www.dictionary.com defines curse as:

•  the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, doom, etc., befall a person, group, etc.
• a formula or charm intended to cause such misfortune to another.

We, the sports fan, are all too familiar with it.  We breathe it, live it, and become immersed with it.  Any true fan knows the story of the famous Billy Goat Curse, William “Billy Goat” Sianis bought two tickets to the 1945 World Series to watch the Cubs vs. the Detroit Tigers.  Sianis’ 2nd ticket was to take the goat to the game.  Cubs owner Mr. Wrigley objected to this because the goat smelled (he evidently hasn’t been to a Cincinnati Reds game in the middle of August, the goat would be a pleasant smell).  The story continues that Mr. Sianis placed a curse on The Cubs (to read more on the curse please visit http://www.karlschatz.com/yearofthegoat/archives/000092.shtml).  Yada Yada Yada, The beloved Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908.

The other famous professional sports curse is that of the Bambino.  The Boston Red Sox traded away the greatest player in the history of the sport, Babe Ruth to the hated New York Yankees   At that point in time, 1920, the Red Sox were a power house and the Yankees an afterthought.  Although many skeptics (see Mike Golic) don’t believe in curses, hard core fans (see Mike Greenberg) certainly do.  With the curse in place, the Red Sox went from 1918 to October of 2004 without a championship while the hated Yankees went on to win 26 titles during that time frame.  That has to sting.

There are plenty of moments to be told of both curses.  Most notably, Bill Buckner’s error in game 6 of the 1986 World Series vs. The New York Mets (replayed far too many times on every World Series history show known to man) which led to a Mets come back and ultimate victory.  For the Cubs, a fan comes to mind.  Yeah, a fan.  With 5 outs to go for a World Series appearance, innocent, loyal fan Steve Bartman reaches for a foul ball and steals it from Moises Alou, see picture.  Bartman was vilified and his life has been dramatically changed.  A little harsh but I understand.  Sick, I know.

All of this may sound like too much to take.  Oh contraire my friend, oh contraire.  That is nothing compared to what I have in store for you.  But first, let’s dissect the misery of Chicago and Boston fans.
Cubs and Red Sox fans, oh please.  You have it so rough.  In Chicago, Da Bears steam roll through the 85 season on their way to a Super Bowl victory.  Then to top it off, Michael Jordan falls into your lap bringing 6 championships in the 90s.  Oh boo hoo, I sympathize. You call that a curse? I don’t want to hear it from you either Boston fans, you pompous jerks.  How do you survive?  Not only did you end the curse of the bambino by winning the World Series in 2004, you followed it up with another in 2007.  If that isn’t enough, The Boston Celtics managed to win 16 championships up until your stinking Red Sox won the 04 title.  Then guess what, they add another banner to the rafters in 2008.  Sickening, some curse you got there.  Even worse, Mr. Personality, Bill Belichick comes to town in 2000.  He proceeds to win 3 Super Bowls by drafting a QB in the 6th round from all places, Michigan.  That hurts…yeah, what a curse.

Other teams have claimed to be cursed, but its mere jealousy.  All teams want a curse but few really have it.  I guess enough has been said.  Now, I give you the ultimate story of a curse and yes, it’s a painful, real curse.  You may want to take a walk, grab something to drink prior to reading this one.  Go hug your wife, kiss your kids, pet your dog.  Anything, and I mean do anything but don’t grab a drink.  When you start reading, you will only want more drinks.  It’s not worth it.  No pills either, far too dangerous in this situation.

Here we go, I’m a Cleveland fan.  There, I said it.  Go ahead and laugh, get it out of your system.  Live it up jokester; I hope you are having fun.  Not only have I put up with the misery of the Browns, I’ve also been fortunate enough to live through the horrors of the Indians and Cavs.  In Cleveland they name their points of misery. You want to talk curse?  Come on Cubs fans I’ve got your curse.

As a point of reference my days as a hard core, intense, passionate, far too obsessed fan really starts in the early 1980s.

Let’s start with the Cavaliers.  The Cavs started in the NBA in 1970.  Yep, you guessed it, no championships.  There have been several good teams over the years but none reached the pinnacle.  In May of 1988, in Cleveland, the Cavs managed to take a one point lead in the decisive game of the 1st round of the playoffs.  Misery resulted in such fashion, that it’s now named, “The Shot”.  Everyone on the planet knew Michael Jordan would take the last shot with his team trailing by a single point.  Wisely, the Cavs doubled MJ on the inbounds play.  Wow, you are such an incredible guesser.  You are correct; he got the ball anyway and knocked down an incredible shot at the buzzer for the win.  The Cavs are sent home.  Painful and nauseating…
If by chance you want to share in my misery or maybe you are gloating, here is a link to “The Shot”:

Despite the excruciating loss, the Cavs appeared to be heading for a title.  Instead, multiple injuries to star players resulted.  The curse is alive (more details to follow).  The Curse is so strong it drove Cavs All Star Center, Brad Daughtery (retired due to injury) from a college basketball analyst to a Nascar analyst!!!  Incredible…

The Cavs finally caught a break, quite possibly the biggest break in the history of the franchise.  They won the 2003 draft lottery which gave them the rights to local phenom, The Chosen One, Lebron James.  James, as a high school player, donned the cover of Sports Illustrated.  Finally, the jackpot.  James exploded on the scene and greatness was sure to follow.  Quickly, the Cavs arrived on the NBA scene.  In June of 2004, the Cavaliers agreed to help out young stud Carlos Boozer by letting him out of his minimum contract.  Boozer was drafted in the 2nd round and proved to be vastly underpaid and was outplaying his contract.  What did the Cavs get for their kindness? Boozer, in one of the shadiest moments in sports, signed with the Utah Jazz!  The Cavs could have paid him the minimum another year and had him for years to come!!  Of course, the curse wreaks its ugly head.  Go back to Alaska you back stabbing, Benedict Arnold *#&$(*&@.  Sorry, drinking yet?  You can relive the nightmare here:

Thankfully, with the best player in the league, Lebron James, the Cavs quickly bounced back making it to the NBA Finals in 2007.  Wow, nice guess you *&#*($#.  Yeah, hilarious.  The Cavs were swept mercifully by the Spurs.  Then in 2008 they were knocked out of the playoffs by eventual champion, The Boston Celtics.  Simply disgusting.  2009 looks like a whole new season as at this time, the Cavs have the best record in the NBA.  Did I mention, their All Star Center has a chipped bone in his ankle and is out for an extended period of time? Stinking curse.  Even with Superman wearing#23 on his uniform,  jumping centers with a single bound, we must remain cautious.  After all, we are Cleveland fans.

On with the depression.  The Cleveland Indians last won a World Series title in 1948.  That is hard to even fathom.  Can you imagine? 1948!!!  Of course there is heartbreak here as well.  How about game 7 of the 1997 World Series for starters.  Second baseman Tony Fernandez, known for his defensive prowess, instead of turning a double play, you guessed it an error.  Tribe loses yet again…The 97 Indians were loaded with talent but couldn’t pull it off.  The 99 Indians were the same, check out this roster! Basically a freaking all star team and still couldn’t win one lousy title.  All we want is one title!

To top it off, Manny leaves for the cursed team, the Red Sox.  You guessed it, wins two titles.  Jim Thome lies to all of Cleveland stating he loves it there, it’s not about the money blah blah blah, he leaves.

Then the incredible happens.  Slow talking, boring errrr Charlie Manuel, former manager of the Tribe, wins the freaking Series as the manager with the Philadelphia Phillies.  I believe Charlie’s  postgame press conference is still going on.  Cry me a freaking river Philadelphia fans.  Oh that’s real funny a river that catches on fire.   Haha, you’re a freaking comedian (Cuyahoga river caught on fire).  Shove a Philly Steak right up your *#$&*#(&$@.  ROCKY IS NOT REAL.  Deal with that Philly fans.

Ok, by now, you probably think you have a good feel for what incredible pain is.  Not even close, the worst is yet to come.

The Cleveland Browns last won a championship in 1964.  They were led by the greatest player in the history of football, Jim Brown.  After Brown’s retirement in 1966, at the age of 29(only in Cleveland), the Browns were subpar until the early 80s.  Then came The Kardiac Kids led by gunslinger Brian Sipe.  The team caught the eye of the sports world.  In January of 1981, the Browns were trailing 14-12 in the final minutes of a frigid game with the Oakland Raiders.  You are probably expecting a missed attempt at a winning field goal, nope, even worse.  Instead, for some unknown reason, the Browns attempted a pass play that was intercepted in the end zone.  Yep, its named, Red Right 88.  Wow…

The Browns went through several lean years which led to drafting local hero (my all time favorite player) Bernie Kosar.  Kosar, in 1985 quickly got into the starting QB role and led the Browns to a division victory, ultimately losing to Dan Marino and the Dolphins.  Not too depressing considering Kosar is but a rookie and will lead this team back!

In 1986, he did just that.  The Browns faced the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game in Cleveland.  The Browns take a 7 point lead with around 5 minutes left in the game.  The Broncos have 98 yards to tie the game.  Yep, another named misery, The Drive.  Elway led the Broncos the length of the field and won the game in overtime.  A very painful loss indeed.  But most Cleveland fans, as was I, were proud of the Browns and knew Bernie would lead us back.

In 1987, he did just that.  The Browns started horribly this time around in Denver.  In the 2nd half, it looked like our turn.  Kosar, calmly led the troops down the field looking to tie the game.  With little time left, Kosar hands the ball to Byner (note: I stand up and yell touchdown at this moment), the crowd is stunned, Browns players raise their hands, exuberance in all of Browns land.  Announcers Enberg and Olsen, “wait a minute the ball appears to be loose, the Broncos have it.”  This happens at the 3 yard line.  Yep, another named misery, The Fumble. Oh my, the misery.
At the end of the 1988 season, Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer has had enough and resigns.  We have a guy named Bill Cowher who played in Cleveland and coached under Marty that could have been hired.  Nope, the Browns don’t hire Cowher.  Eventually, Cowher goes to arch rival The Pittsburgh Steelers.  You guessed it, Cowher wins a Super Bowl.
The Browns make it back to the AFC Championship game in 1989 but this time they are no match for the Broncos.  After the season, the Browns trade Earnest Byner (remember The Fumble) to the Washington Redskins for Mike Oliphant.  Who??? Mike “Freaking” Oliphant.  Incredible…You guessed it, Byner goes on to win a Super Bowl.

Things only get worse.  In 1991, the Browns hire Bill Parcells’ disciple, Bill Belichick.  The Browns improve under “BELICHOKE!” but things get worse.  In his infinite wisdom, in 1993 he simply cuts Brown’s legend Bernie Kosar with no credible back up.  The city is in an uproar.  Man, I hate that guy.  In 94, Belichick leads the Browns to the playoffs, maybe this guy isn’t so bad, they get smoked by the hated Steelers.  Man I hate that guy.

Then, everything fell apart.  The most hated man in the history of Cleveland sports, the low life bag of wind no good stinking lying filthy human being, if he even qualifies for that, Art Modell, meets with Baltimore politicians under the cloud of darkness and agrees to move The Cleveland Browns to Baltimore.  The entire sports world was surprised and crushed.  Even Pittsburgh fans were outraged.  What a despicable low life coward Modell turned out to be.  He moved the team to Baltimore and called them the Baltimore Heathens, I mean Ravens. So 1995 is the end you must be thinking.  You probably have had enough of this melancholy epic.  Sorry to tell you, there is plenty more.

Belichick is fired at the end of the Browns as we then knew it later to be hired by The New England Patriots.  You guessed it, Belichick goes on to win 3 Super Bowls…errrrr.  Boston fans I hope you choke on clam chowder.  The ultimate proof life isn’t fair, Art Modell and the Heathens win a Super Bowl.  Modell goes from 1964 to 1995 and cannot win a title but does in 2000 with the Ravens.  Unreal.  Baltimore fans, I hope every crab cake in your pathetic city rots!!  I bet Cal Ripken was on roids like the rest of them!!!  Take that, the streak’s a fraud!!!  I don’t really mean that.  It’s not Cal’s fault.  Baltimore’s star LB Ray Lewis was arrested on murder charges during the previous Super Bowl in Atlanta.  Yep, he walked.  If he was a Brown, no doubt the curse would have him playing prison ball with Michael Vick and Rae Carruth. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/features/bloody_monday/news/2000/02/25/part1/

However, I do believe the curse wasn’t the reason the Browns moved. I believe the curse wanted the Browns to stay so it could punish us even more.  The curse expressed its anger at Modell moving the team by tearing his scrotum.  Ouch!

The Browns kept their history and colors, returning as an expansion team in 1999.  Still no Super Bowls and only 2 winning seasons.  Here is a quick recap of the Browns since 99:  A QB who cried- Tim Couch, A RB named Ben Gay-no joke- #1 pick Courtney Brown hurt entire career, Spurgeon Wynn-Who?, Cut opening day starting QB after 1 game, 3 coaches fired, so on so forth.  The worst is probably losing a game because of a helmet toss.  No joke, Dwayne Rudd thought he sacked the KC QB to end the game, instead the QB threw the football straight up in the air, a player caught it and continued to run, eventually tackled with time expired.  Of course, Rudd was flagged for a 15 yard penalty, the game cannot end on a defensive penalty, KC kicks a field goal with no time on the clock, Browns lose.  The curse is alive.  In 2007, the Browns go 10-6 with a young, talented team.  In 2008, they play horrible and a ton of injuries occur.  To the glee of all Browns fans, the future, QB Brady Quinn finally gets his chance.  Quinn plays well, then breaks his finger which requires surgery.  Amazing…To top it off, while is finger is in a splint, a Browns defensive lineman punches Quinn during a skirmish in the locker room.  Only in Cleveland…only in Cleveland.
So you may wonder what caused the curse.  Many theories exist.  It’s possible someone did it unknowingly.  Many theorize, Jim Brown himself caused the curse in anger of how Modell treated him when he was filming The Dirty Dozen.  Could be…
But after years of suffering and asking God why, I think I found the truth.

The curse didn’t start in 1964, the last year Cleveland had a champion, it started sometime in the 1969 time frame. The curse will now forever be known as the Raquel Welch curse!!!  She starred in 100 Rifles with Jim Brown which included steamy scenes.  At that point, an interracial scene like that stirred up a lot of talk and was viewed as highly controversial.  Somewhere in the moment of the hype, Raquel got angry and said something to the effect, “Curse that damn Cleveland!!!!!”  Today, I come with meekness and humbleness and ask with all sincerity, Raquel, Please think about everything you have said and take the curse back.  We beg you Raquel, we beg you.

As I’ve spilled out my heart, I think all of you “cursed” cities realize your curse is simply a small drought and really not that bad.  You now understand that only Cleveland has a curse.  So when you get down, frustrated and want to find Bartman and string him up in Wrigley, just remember, Cleveland has it worst.  We own and will cling to our curse, you cling to your championships.
I leave with a motto that all Cleveland fans are very familiar with: WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR…

By Scott Dryden
DFN Sports Staff Writer

While the Evil Empire of the New York Yankees have been paying to have most of the headlines this offseason, the Yankees are not the only team with changes from their 2008 roster. Both Ohio teams look to improve on disappointing 2008 seasons as they are lead by experienced General Managers. Reds’ GM Walt Jocketty has been busy during the offseason, but does not have a lot of transactions to show for it. The rumored Jermaine Dye trade for Homer Bailey fell through when Cincinnati did not want to take on so much salary (sound familiar?), so the Reds’ most significant move was dealing Ryan Freel toBaltimore for catcher Ramon Hernandez. Cincinnati has also added OF Will Taveras and lefty reliever Arthur Rhodes after signing both free agents to 2-year deals.

Cleveland, on the other hand, has made a bigger splash this offseason as GM Mark Shapiro continues to work his magic. The acquisition of IF Mark DeRosa could be huge as he comes off a career-best 2008 with the Cubs, but the additions of SP Carl Pavano and closer Kerry Wood add depth and experience to the team. Franklin Gutierrez is gone after being dealt in a 3-team, 12-player deal.

For more 2009 MLB offseason trades, signings & transactions, look to our friends over at MLB Center where they are keeping up to date on every MLB team.

While Cliff Lee has been an amazing story all season for the 2008 Cleveland Indians, it is the Indians’ recent success that has people taking notice right now. While Lee was becoming the 8th pitcher since 1920 to start a season 19-2, the Indians were hammering Detroit pitching en route to a 10-2 victory. Cleveland now sits at 64-67 and just 1/2 game behind the Tigers for 3rd place in the AL Central and with 9 wins in their last 10 games they are the hottest team in baseball over the past 10 games. Not only is the season now looking respectable, while still a disappointment, the Indians can now shoot for finishing 2008 over .500 and should have a better idea of the talent they have on their roster heading into the 2009 season.

The Cincinnati Reds implosion continues as the National League’s home run leader, Adam Dunn, joins Ken Griffey, Jr. on the former Reds list. Dunn was traded today to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Dallas Buck. Buck, a near 1st round selection in 2006, is currently in Single A as he’s coming back from Tommy John surgery. It is reported that the other two prospects from Arizona will both be players to be named later.

> Follow Dunn’s Diamondbacks in their playoff run with Arizona Diamondbacks hats & apparel.

On a recent Cincinnati.com blog post I read that the writer felt that the Reds’ current 22-game stretch was critical to the team making a move in 2008. Immediately, I had to chuckle. The Reds have been mediocre yet again in 2008 giving few Cincinnati fans reason to hope. But upon further research I found that the Reds certainly do have an opportunity to become relevant in the NL Central. Ater winning 2 of 3 over the Padres this past week, the Reds have 16 of their next 19 against sub-.500 teams. Meanwhile, the Cubs and Cardinals continue to tread water in the NL Central as the Brewers seem very beatable when newly-acquired CC Sabathia is NOT on the mound.

So by starting with 2 wins in 3 games the Reds began the 22-game stretch on a high not, but I think a minimum of 15 wins is a must to give anyone real hope this season.

Ohio’s two MLB teams received word on Sunday that they will be sending a combined 3 players to the 2008 All-Star game to be held at Yankee Stadium later this month. Cleveland Indians’ CF Grady Sizemore and starter Cliff Lee will represent the Tribe on the AL All-Star team while the Cincinnati Reds’ lone NL All-Star will be starting pitcher Edinson Volquez. Reds’ RF Ken Griffey, Jr. came in 4th in NL All-Star balloting for outfielders after leading Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun throughout all of the voting updates, but the excitement around Brewers’ baseball in Milwaukee appears to have given Braun the boost he needed to make the NL All-Star team as a starter. As a result, Griffey will not be headed to New York, and neither will Reds’ star second baseman Brandon Phillips.

For Sizemore, this will be his 3rd All-Star game as he is the lone player from either league with 20+ homeruns and 20+ stolen bases in MLB currently. After a nightmare season a year ago, Lee has been fantastic for the Indians in 2008 going 11-2 on the season with a 2.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 5:1 strikout to walk ratio.

> Ohio baseball fans can find Cincinnati Reds hats & merchandise and Cleveland Indians apparel online through DFN Sports and partner sites 24 hours a day!

Well it’s official Cleveland Indians fans, the 2008 season is basically over. As the Indians ventured on their current 8-game road trip against three AL Central rivals ahead of them in the standings, it was said that this stretch would be the Indians’ last chance to make a move in the standings. Cleveland’s response has been a dud as the Indians have lost all 4 games on the road trip thus far. With Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook on the DL, Paul Byrd unable to keep the ball in the park and roster moves shaking up the Indians’ bullpen, we can officially kiss the 2008 season goodbye. Pending trades could likely involve C.C. Sabathia, Casey Blake & Byrd (if anybody would want him) as the Indians look to fill holes for 2009 and beyond.

Fans can find Cleveland Indians jerseys & apparel online through DFN Sports and partner sites.