Cleveland

Cleveland Browns: "3 more plead guilty in probe of Pilot Flying J" (AP) - "Three more employees of the truck stop chain owned by the Cleveland Browns' owner and Tennessee's governor pleaded guilty Tuesday in what authorities call a scheme to cheat trucking firms out of rebates." "Barkevious Mingo: 'This defense could be the best in the league'" (Plain Dealer) - "After spring practices and minicamps, Browns first-round pick Barkevious Mingo made a bold prediction about his new defense." "Jamoris Slaughter has eye on successful comeback, starting free safety job" (Beacon Journal) - "Browns rookie free safety Jamoris Slaughter is ready to take the next major step in his comeback attempt and his young career." "Bon Jovi cancellation is an opportunity for Cleveland Browns" (Plain Dealer) - "The temptation is to blame the Browns for the cancellation of the July 14 "Fan Kickoff Concert" at FirstEnergy Stadium with Bon Jovi. But then word came that Bon Jovi also canceled his concert on July 16 at Noblesville, Ind. We don't know all the details of the collapse of the Browns' kickoff concert because the Browns have said nothing of consequence." NFL: "Police visit home of Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez" (AP) - "State and local police spent hours at the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Tuesday night as another group of officers searched an industrial park about a mile away where a body was discovered the day before." "Russell Wilson faces new pressure" (ESPN) - "Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson spent last week's minicamp doing what he usually does -- saying all the right things. He talked about the need to grow and expand on what he did in his impressive rookie season." "Bruce Arians to use Larry Fitzgerald in multiple ways" (NFL.com) - "The Arizona Cardinals' death spiral over the final three months of the 2012 season was powerful enough to drag Larry Fitzgerald into the abyss. The dynamic wide receiver suffered through the worst statistical season of his nine-year career as Arizona lost 11 of its last 12 games." "Marcedes Lewis: One London game no problem, but two too much" (CBS Sports) - "Jacksonville tight end Marcedes Lewis is one of the leaders of the Jaguars and is also highly respected by players around the NFL. So what he says about the prospects of the Jaguars -- or any other team -- playing games in London matters."

Here at The Landry Hat, we care about what our readers think. Our entire site is dedicated to you, the die-hard Dallas Cowboy fans. And there is no better way to gauge your opinions then through our poll questions. Please submit your choice below, leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and come back to check and see what the bulk of Cowboy fans feel is the right answer. Nov 18, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett celebrates a score with tackle Doug Free (68) against the Cleveland Browns at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Conversations about local food typically focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, meats,eggs and cheese from nearby farms.But there's more to building a local, sustainable, integrated food system. One important idea is to create a supportive economic community that keeps dollars circulating close to home. To do that we need to utilize and consume more of what's produced in the region where we live and work. And these days Cleveland is blessed with a wealth of amazing culinary and beverage entrepreneurs. I have blogged about two of them- Cleveland Whiskey last February and Luna Bakery Cafe in September, 2011- and this past weekend they came together in an unexpected and delicious way.photo by Barney Taxel We're fans of the whiskey and try our best- demand is intense- to have a bottle of it in the house at all times. And, truth be told, we like to indulge in a bit of after dinner sweetness, especially on the weekends. Bridget Thibeault, Pastry chef and Luna's co-owner, decided to make a special batch of her signature macaroons spiked with the brown spirit distilled downtown (and aged at warp speed in a patented process) for Father's Day. When I saw an announcement about this in Facebook, I immediately emailed the husband suggesting he might want to pick some up on the way home from the studio. As the still life arranged on our kitchen counter reveals, he did. One bite of the light crisp airy cookie "sandwiches"-- two rounds of meringue united by the alcohol-spiked butter cream filling- confirmed this was an inspired synergy. Tom Lix, Cleveland Whiskey founder and CEO, take note. This is a whole other delivery system for your product. Planned as a limited edition treat through the end of June, I hope we don't have to wait a year for more, Perhaps, if customer demand is strong, Thibeault will consider baking them with some regularity. In another expression of local-and successful- symbiosis, start-up ice cream makers Jesse Mason and Helen Qin of Mason's Creamery , have a Cleveland Whiskey version. It's one of their many unique and unusual flavors. Spoonable spirits- great concept that totally worked for me. Try some for yourself- they're scooping this week at the Downtown Farmer's Market in Public Square on Friday and the Kamm's Corners Farmer's Market on Sunday. More about these folks coming soon I think of it as part of my job to promote our food artisans and independent restaurants and chefs. In that spirit, here are a couple of (somewhat) related tidbits. Thibeault is the author of a new book: Cupcake Decorating Lab: 52 Techniques, Recipes, and Inspiring Designs for Your Favorite Sweet Treats . Accent, Scott and Brenda Kim's University Circle restaurant (my rave review appeared in the magazine last month) is hosting a blind taste test between Cleveland Whiskey’s Black Bourbon and that of a competitor's. Take the Cleveland Challenge™ on Thursday, July 11th at 6:30pm. Stay for dinner- lots of exciting dishes on the summer menu.

Cleveland Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano has a recurring dream. A batter hits a line drive right back up the middle and it’s screaming toward his head. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Kansas City Royals News

Cleveland Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano has a recurring dream. A batter hits a line drive right back up the middle and it’s screaming toward his head. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Cincinnati Reds News

Throughout the history of Blazer's Edge, draft day has always been one of the biggest days of the year. Mostly because Paul Allen loves the draft. And that means just about anything can happen. In fact, it's down right disappointing when all remains quiet. During the days leading up to the draft, we're going to look back at Portland Trailblazer history through the posts of those who saw it first hand. Source Documents: Part 1, Part 2 What a wild year. All year long there had been concerns about Brandon Roy. He was in, then out, then back in but not doing very well. It was hard to watch. Andre Miller and Lamarcus Aldridge looked good together, though. The midseason pickup of Gerald Wallace was nice. Wesley Matthews was keeping Roy's spot warm. Marcus Camby was holding the middle down well, as Oden was recovering from his second microfracture surgery. But Brandon Roy needed to be Brandon Roy again. If he could, we were looking real good. And Game 4 of the opening round of the playoffs showed Blazer fans everywhere that Brandon Roy could be the very best, like no one ever was. But it was just one game. And we weren't sure if this was the last goodbye, or hello once again. If Roy could still play, even on that bad knee, then the Blazers needed very little. Oden back would fill one major hole. Which left only backup PG and PF. And perhaps a younger starting PG to replace Miller. And we had just the General Manager to pull it all off. Key word: had. Rich Cho had been hired soon after Pritchard was fired last year. He lasted 9 months. Apparently Cho and Allen didn't work well together. And that's not good news for job security. The Charlotte Bobcats weren't about to let Cho go though. And hired him before draft day 2011. Portland had acting GM Chad Buchanan sort of at the helm. But little was known if he had much say in things. To top it all off. Draft day started with the Rumor that Denver was willing to trade newly acquired PG Raymond Felton to the Blazers for Andre Miller. The rumor also mentioned the switching of the 21st and 22nd draft picks. Which was fine, if we could get our guy. And this year the consensus guy was Kenneth Faried. He not only led the NCAA in rebounding, he set the new all-time record for rebounding. It wasn't known if he could do much else. But that didn't matter. He penciled into the backup PF we needed perfectly. And mock drafts had him consistently at our range. But that could wait until we got there. After all, someone might take him ahead of us. Besides, the Raymond Felton rumors were interesting. Still with two GM's fired in less than one year, there were still some strong feelings about Paul Allen and the people he fired. Tom Penn, former Blazers' assistant GM had found a job at ESPN. On draft day, no less. And it made us wonder how bad things really were. 2011 was lining up to be a really weak draft. There were no "Tier 1" players to be had. Derrick Williams from Arizona and Kyrie Irving from Duke looked to be the best two players in the draft. But when was the last time a good player came from Duke? A whole lot of players looked good in college there, but not in the pros. And Irving had been injured half way through the season. Meaning you really just got a glimpse of him. Definitely big question marks. And this was supposed to be the draft that got Cleveland out of the LeBron shaped hole they found themselves in? Break out the Comic Sans, because somebody should write in for a refund. Still, you've got to pick somebody first overall. And the Cavs take Kyrie. Minnesota comes next and makes the easiest call since Seattle drafted Kevin Durant. Derrick Williams is going to finally turn that franchise around. Utah mildly surprises by taking Enes Kanter 3rd. He had spent the entire year at Kansas suspended permanently for getting paid in Europe. So nobody really knew what he was going to do. But Utah thought he was worth the risk. Blazer fans, however, are waiting for news from the Blazer

Cleveland - Alex Len Owner Dan Gilbert said it's "likely" they draft Len 1st overall Orlando - Victor Oladipo They need a point guard but don't think Burke is worthy of a number one pick. Oladipo better than McLemore Washington - Otto Porter Solid and established player who fits the team need of a small forward Charlotte - Nerlens Noel Who would have thought the day after the lottery that we had the slimmest chance at Noel at 4? We just have to. Yeah there's the risk, but he's pretty damn athletic. Phoenix - Ben McLemore He simply falls to them. Too much of a talent to pass up. New Orleans - Trey Burke They need a scorer. Bennett could go here but they need point guard more than a stretch 3 because Greveis Vazquez is clearly not a point guard that can run a playoff team. Sacramento - Michael Carter-Williams They need a floor general. His height helps him with that. Detroit - CJ McCollum Their probably going to abandon the Brandon Knight Project and let CJ start by the middle of the year. Minnesota - Shabazz Muhammed I don't know about you, but I'd take a lineup of Ricky Rubio, Shabazz Muhammed, Andrei Kirilenko, Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic. Healthy, this team is the 5 seed in the west, maybe higher considering chris paul might leave. Shabazz would add a scoring option from the two they haven't seen in a while and he has size. Portland - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope They need a center so they might go Steven Adams or Cody Zeller with this pick, but once again I think the talent is two good to pass up. Kentavious worked out well with several teams including Portland. Philadelphia - Cody Zeller He's a good fit. They need a big. He runs the floor and has an offensive game. Oklahoma CIty - Lucas Nogueira He's a really athletic center who can protect and finish at the rim. He's kind of like a more skilled and lets hope smarter version of Javale McGee. A full upgrade from Kendrick Perkins. Dallas - Dennis Schroeder He can score efficiently and distribute. They need a point guard because Darren Collison didn't exactly live up to the expectations of him. Utah - Shane Larkin They are in desperate need of a point guard. With Schroeder, McCollum, Carter-Williams, and Burke of the board, Larkin is the point available till the late 1st. Cleveland - Alex Len Owner Dan Gilbert said it's "likely" they draft Len 1st overall Orlando - Victor Oladipo They need a point guard but don't think Burke is worthy of a number one pick. Oladipo better than McLemore Washington - Otto Porter Solid and established player who fits the team need of a small forward Charlotte - Nerlens Noel Who would have thought the day after the lottery that we had the slimmest chance at Noel at 4? We just have to. Yeah there's the risk, but he's pretty damn athletic. Phoenix - Ben McLemore He simply falls to them. Too much of a talent to pass up. New Orleans - Trey Burke They need a scorer. Bennett could go here but they need point guard more than a stretch 3 because Greveis Vazquez is clearly not a point guard that can run a playoff team. Sacramento - Michael Carter-Williams They need a floor general. His height helps him with that. Detroit - CJ McCollum Their probably going to abandon the Brandon Knight Project and let CJ start by the middle of the year. Minnesota - Shabazz Muhammed I don't know about you, but I'd take a lineup of Ricky Rubio, Shabazz Muhammed, Andrei Kirilenko, Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic. Healthy, this team is the 5 seed in the west, maybe higher considering chris paul might leave. Shabazz would add a scoring option from the two they haven't seen in a while and he has size. Portland - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope They need a center so they might go Steven Adams or Cody Zeller with this pick, but once again I think the talent is two good to pass up. Kentavious worked out well with several teams including Portland. Philadelphia - Cody Zeller He's a good fit. They need a big. He runs the floor and has an offensiv

After all the hate that was spewed tonight all over my newsfeed, twitter, etc...I'd just like to say the following to an audience that will feel my pain:My cheering for the Spurs isn't about an irrational hate for LeBron and willingness to want to see him fail. He was my guy on the Cavs, win lose or draw, and he's still the #1 talent in the NBA, hands down. He had every right to leave Cleveland, and ever since Michael Redd and Joe Johnson declined teaming with LeBron many years ago (leaving us to our 3rd place Larry Hughes spoils), the writing has been on the walls that he was going to leave us. My only issue was and will always be he waited until every free agent under the sun had signed before he made his decision, leaving our immediate situation a disaster. Doing this to his hometown team was far worse than if he had just said "I'm done with this" after the Boston Series. But as that fan of a small market NBA team, if the Heat win another championship, against one of the best "teams" in the last decade (the Spurs being the epitome of relevance in a smaller market), it will prove that Free Agency Collusion and Buying Championships is in-fact, statistically, still the right strategy. It's bad enough that Boston, LA, Chicago, Houston, Miami and San Antonio have been a part of every finals (except '90 with the Bad Boys) since BEFORE I WAS BORN, it's simply worse to think that trend will do nothing but continue. That's right, one of 6 or 7 teams have represented their conference in the NBA finals every year for the last 30+ years. I root against the Heat because it's bad for the future of the NBA. If they win 2/3 straight finals, don't be surprised to see Cp3 and Howard team up, whether it be in Houston with Harden, or elsewhere to form another super team. And this will leave teams like Cleveland, Memphis, Toronto and others battling for the Table Scraps of the Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay or Andre Iguodala sweepstakes...irrationally outbidding one another for a chance to fill seats and stay financially relevant (while simultaneously handicapping future growth by being a .500 plus team). At the same time, a team like LA can "lose" for a year, and then trade a couple late round picks and Kwame Brown to get back Pau Gasol in his prime.#GoFigureAs a fan of the game, I know this has been the case since before I can remember, but it's even more of a reason to hope that the Spurs win on Thursday. That way a week from Thursday, the other 20 or so fan bases can approach the 2013 draft with some semblance of "that could be us" hope going into next season. After all the hate that was spewed tonight all over my newsfeed, twitter, etc...I'd just like to say the following to an audience that will feel my pain:My cheering for the Spurs isn't about an irrational hate for LeBron and willingness to want to see him fail. He was my guy on the Cavs, win lose or draw, and he's still the #1 talent in the NBA, hands down. He had every right to leave Cleveland, and ever since Michael Redd and Joe Johnson declined teaming with LeBron many years ago (leaving us to our 3rd place Larry Hughes spoils), the writing has been on the walls that he was going to leave us. My only issue was and will always be he waited until every free agent under the sun had signed before he made his decision, leaving our immediate situation a disaster. Doing this to his hometown team was far worse than if he had just said "I'm done with this" after the Boston Series. But as that fan of a small market NBA team, if the Heat win another championship, against one of the best "teams" in the last decade (the Spurs being the epitome of relevance in a smaller market), it will prove that Free Agency Collusion and Buying Championships is in-fact, statistically, still the right strategy. It's bad enough that Boston, LA, Chicago, Houston, Miami and San Antonio have been a part of every finals (except '90 with the Bad Boys) since BEFORE I WAS BORN, it's simply worse to think that trend will do n

Posted in CommentaryNewsPerformanceReviewRoy BerkoTheatre   By Roy Berko Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, Jr. are considered the fathers of modern American musical theatre. Their OKLAHOMA opened the door to musicals with meaningful storylines, and the integration of lyrics, dancing and music to help move the plot along. As with all of Rogers and Hammerstein’s musicals, there [...]

Posted in CommentaryNewsPerformanceReviewRoy BerkoTheatre   By Roy Berko Mamaí, Cleveland’s newest professional theatre, opened its summer season with a monumental undertaking, a staging of the U.S. premiere of Brendan Kennelly’s translation and script modification of Euripides’ classic tragedy, MEDEA. The company’s mission is “to create intelligent, relevant classical theatre that offers an artistic home for Cleveland’s [...]