Bill Livingston

Cleveland Sports Analysis and Commentary

Who's the best? Great Book of Cleveland Sports Lists has the answers

by Bill Livingston

Sunday October 12, 2008, 4:58 PM

Say you're out to eat at an undisclosed location with friends on a mild autumn Saturday night, with the Buckeyes having won, the Browns having not lost (yet?), and with the stock market not cliff-diving because it's a weekend. What could better complete your experience than to have a sportswriter approach you, waving a book?

In this case the sportswriter was your faithful correspondent, but the person perusing the list was a contributor to my new book, "The Great Book of Cleveland Sports Lists," co-authored by WKNR-AM 850's Greg Brinda. And that contributor was. . . none other than our very own "Iron Chef" Michael Symon, who owns Lolo and Lola Bistro and who is one guy with serious kitchen cred.( Symon just happened to be at the same place. Honest. I don't stalk celebrities.)

The book is on shelves at area bookstores now. It can also be purchased at _http:

runningpress.com/perseus/book_detail.jsp?isbn=0762434163_ (http:

runningpress.com/perseus/book_detail.jsp?isbn=0762434163) and _www.amazon.com_ (http:

www.amazon.com/) .

Symon, as noted in a blog on Sept. 13 (_http:

www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2008/09/between_the_lines_visit_to_pin.html_ (http:

www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2008/09/between_the_lines_visit_to_pin.html) ) rated the top 10 hotdogs in the area for the book. And whatever Symon says, foodies pay attention to.

Celebrity lists are part of the fun of the book. We have some interesting ones -- Bernie Kosar's toughest opponents and fondest memories, Jim Brown's toughest opponents, LeBron James' favorite passers, Drew Carey's top Cleveland sports memories, Mike Hargrove's best players at every position in baseball, Don King's favorite fights to promote, Bubba Baker's barbecuing tips, Jim Tressel's favorite Browns and Buckeyes when he was a boy growing up here, Sen. Sherrod Brown's most hated Yankees, the fastest men Harrison Dillard ever saw, and more.

Greg and I did a lot of lists on our own, too, and with our friends in our respective fields. In the book Burt Graeff rates the top 10 Cavs players and the best area golf courses, Bob August discusses his list of the the top 10 Indians, Tom Feran handles the best movies shot here and the top music groups, Joe Maxse weighs in on the best boxers, Dennis Manoloff on the best bowlers, Elton Alexander on the top Indy car races at the lakefront, and lots of other good stuff.

Not to mention the top seasons, biggest busts, lamest things done by Indians, Browns and Cavs players, a 19-part recap of Albert Belle's temper tantrums, the all-time area track team, and so on.

Drop by the Winking Lizard on Huron Road near The Q -- our pick as the area's top sports bar -- from 6-8 p.m. and warm up for the kickoff of the Browns-Giants Monday night game. Brinda is on the air then, but I'll be signing copies of the book there and talking sports. Buy it and find the answer to these questions:

10. Who was the Duck, an almost forgotten Indians mascot?

9. Who was Karen Panek?

8. Who was Lily Miller?

7. What were the most memorable Browns, Indians and Cavaliers games Jim Donovan, Tom Hamilton and Michael Reghi called?

6. Why was Jaret Wright called "Jughead?"

5. What made Eric Metcalf so fast?

4. Who were Cleveland's funniest comedians?

3. Who were our city's most beautiful actresses?

2. Who were the top football players at St. Ignatius, St. Edward, Benedictine and Glenville?

1. Who were the top 100 athletes in the seven-county metropolitan area and how did we select them? This is a list as critical to the clientele at a sports bar as chicken wings and hot sauce.

Greg and I expect debates. Sometimes, we tried to settle arguments in the book. But sometimes, I'm sure, we started them. endit

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The sports personalities are fake, but fans' laughs are real, and relished, by Caliendo

by Bill Livingston

Saturday October 11, 2008, 9:48 PM

Frank Caliendo, who has a whole TV named for him, was on the other end of the phone line. While every cell of my being wanted to greet him, John Madden-like, with a hearty "Boom!" I knew it would not work.

"I love the show," I said, referring to the comic impressionist's "Frank TV" on TBS. Promotional ads for ran for it in the divisional baseball playoffs. (And I know it's a television show, not a TV set. It was a joke!)

"Can you say it?" I wheedled.

"Boom!" Caliendo said.

Caliendo owns "Boom!" in a way that former Bengals quarterback Norman "Boomer" Esiason never did. Hey! Madden, the real NBC analyst, will be on "Football Night in America" Sunday evening, shouting the "B-word." He is not all that much better known these days than the guy pretending to be him.

Continue reading "The sports personalities are fake, but fans' laughs are real, and relished, by Caliendo" »

Good-time Charlie: Solid manager but a better man, Phillies' Manuel reaping his just rewards

by Bill Livingston

Wednesday October 08, 2008, 6:54 PM

Charlie Manuel is on the short list of the most decent men I have known in sports. He is a man worth cheering for because he is man without pettiness or meanness.

He might have had fans scratching their heads with some of his moves when he managed the Indians at the start of this decade, but so does the current guy, Eric Wedge.

Manuel took a 2000 team that used everybody but slow-pitch guys from the beer league on the mound to within a game of the wild-card berth, so don't cry me a river over the injuries this past season.

In 2000, Major League Baseball made the rain-plagued Tribe play a "split" doubleheader against two different clubs in the final eight games of the season. They lost the nightcap to the Twins. It cost them everything.

Wedge's team got within clinching distance of the wild card in 2005, then played tight and could not beat also-ran Tampa Bay and the hung-over White Sox, who had already won the division race.

Continue reading "Good-time Charlie: Solid manager but a better man, Phillies' Manuel reaping his just rewards" »

Hanging out with former Cavaliers GM Harry Weltman

by Bill Livingston

Monday October 06, 2008, 9:53 PM

The Cavaliers are bright with promise now, but when the basketball lifer was their general manager, Ted Stepien had just finished being their owner. That meant the franchise was a national joke.

The lifer stopped the laughing. Still, the first thing he tells you at lunch is that these are the good old days.

"The first time I saw LeBron James," said Harry Weltman, "I thought he could be the best player ever."

Continue reading "Hanging out with former Cavaliers GM Harry Weltman" »

Memories of Pryor from the Wisconsin win

by Bill Livingston Plain Dealer Columnist

Sunday October 05, 2008, 5:28 PM

Since this got lost in the last-minute dramatics and the deadline struggle to comment on Terrelle Pryor's traveling salvation show Saturday night, I figure better late than never, huh?

I have two dominant impressions of Ohio State's 20-17 thriller, and they both involve the 80-yard drive Pryor, the freshman wunderkind, led to win the game with 68 seconds left.

First, Pryor's poise was remarkable for someone who was playing a couple of cuts below the big-school division in high school in Pennsylvania a year ago. The offensive line gets its share of credit for that too. It's been maligned, but Pryor had time on the big drive for the most part.

Poise is an intangible, but Pryor's speed, shown on his option streak for 11 yards to win the game against a disorganized Wisconsin defense, is a measurable asset. He and Beanie Wells on the option present the defense, when it comes to workable ideas, with a box checked "None of the above."

Coaches harp on blocking and tackling, and Jim Tressel is a guy who's strong on fundamentals. But sometimes, you have to have a guy who can make the opposition miss, who can make a play on his own. There will be growing pains, but Pryor brings a big-play potential every time the ball is in his hands.

Primetime premiere: Pryor steps forward in clutch

by Bill Livingston

Sunday October 05, 2008, 12:58 AM

MADISON, Wis. -- The final series was not the end, but the beginning, for Terrelle Pryor.

Ohio State beat Wisconsin Saturday night, 20-17, as Pryor cut straight into tomorrow on the 11-yard option run that won it in the last 1 minute, 8 seconds. On it, he faked a pitch to Beanie Wells, who had already scored on a trampling, stiff-arming first quarter run of 33 yards.

With Wells running out of yesteryear, before the mysterious foot injury, before the derailment of his Heisman campaign, and with Pryor doubling the jeopardy with his size, quickness, and instincts, the Badgers had no sound defensive choice.

"[Wells] is a big body, he's elusive, and a couple of times we were just barely holding onto him," said Badgers coach Bret Bielema. "They went to the quarterback option on second-and-long (8 yards) and obviously there was nobody in position to tackle the quarterback."

ESPN's Mark May had said Pryor wasn't ready for a stage this vast, and Pryor had been stung by the words. "I made some young passes, and I did some young things," said Pryor, 19. "All I need is experience. I wanted to show I'm pretty decent."

Continue reading "Primetime premiere: Pryor steps forward in clutch" »

The Laurinaitis debate: A very good player, lacking great moments, says Bill Livingston

by Bill Livingston

Friday October 03, 2008, 8:24 PM

EDITOR'S NOTE: OSU beat writer Doug Lesmerises and columnist Bill Livingston ponder the accomplishments of Buckeyes linebacker James Laurinaitis. Lesmerises' opinion can be found here.

How good would James Laurinaitis be at Ohio State without the back story of the war paint and spikes of his pro wrestler father, Joe?

Would he be Tom Cousineau, a top pick of the entire NFL draft? Would he be A.J. Hawk, taken fifth?

How good would he be at a school without Ohio State's recent dominance of the Big Ten?

Would he be Shawn Crable, a fierce force at Michigan? Would he be J Leman last year at Illinois?

The Nagurski Award winner in 2006 as the best defensive player in college football, as well as the Butkus Award winner in 2007 as the game's best linebacker, Lauriniatis, now a senior, ought to have made plays that reverberate like the Victory Bell. But when you put him in perspective, matched against Ohio State's best at a strong position for the Buckeyes historically, those plays are missing.

Continue reading "The Laurinaitis debate: A very good player, lacking great moments, says Bill Livingston" »