Your Weekly Sports Mash Up

Moore will try to lead his team to victory against the Hokies

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The first week of college football ends tomorrow, and we have a jam packed week ahead of us as the Buckeyes get ready to face off against the Hurricanes. Boise State will test their might aganist Virgina Tech, to see if they are a contender or a pretender. The ITS Poll will come out Tuesday. (Hopefully).

Your Weekly Sports Mash Up

Cavaliers: The Cavaliers will open the season aganist the Boston Celtics, but the big game comes December 2nd, as the Miami Heat head to Cleveland. This is going to be interesting. For all your Cavs news, head over to Fear The Sword.

Reds: The Redlegs won another game aganist the Marlins last night, taking the series after they're tough 3 game sweep to the Cards. The Cardinals lost, giving the tie for first back to the Reds. Dusty doesn't like going for sweeps, but I think in this situation they have to. The next series they have is a tough 9 game series of West Coast teams including the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Giants. They need to take 2 out of 3 of those series to stay in this race. This in my opinion, is the toughest away stretch this half of the season. The other one that comes to mind is at St. Louis, and at Colorado. For all your Reds news, head on over to Red Reporter.

Bengals: After an opening loss to the Cowboys, the Bengals will look to bounce back against the team that gave them the immaculate deflection at the beginning of the regular season last year. Chad Ochocinco has informed the world that the starters will play all of the first quarter this time, instead of a couple of drives. For all of your Bengals news, go to Cincy Jungle.

Buckeyes: The Seniors and juniors lost the kick scrimmage, and Jermil Martin is transferring to Ashland, which is full of former Buckeyes. That's one spot gone, with about 3 other RB's to fill it. I wouldn't worry too much about it, as he was pretty much gone anyway since he never attended practice. My man, Jaamal Berry is soaking in the Buckeye camp, as he's full of good news. Berry says he hasn't dropped a pass, for fans to expect a lot of big plays and runs, and he expects to start on Kick Return! (There you go SBB). You should know where to go for your Buckeye news (maybe not).

LeBron: From and Akron Native's Perspective

Yesterday, LeBron put an ad in the Akron Beacon Journal thanking everyone from Akron for all their support, vowing to do whatever he can for his hometown. He also said:

"Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It's where I started, and it's where I will always come back to."

This would've been viewed as a great gesture from our native son if he would've handled himself like someone who cared about any one's feelings over these past few months. Because he's acted like a complete (fill in desired adjective here), this gesture that would normally be viewed as humble and caring, is seen (in my opinion) as very hollow. As someone who went to elementary school with him and was a high school student in Akron during his tremendous high school career, it's sad to see what he has become. During his years in Akron he was very humble, nice and approachable (as documented in this lovely musical montage). I was overjoyed that Akron finally had a representative on the global scene. I still get goosebumps (or at least I used to) when I see video of Austin Carr's emotional reaction after the Cavs won the draft lottery in 2003.

My opinion of LeBron remained unchanged during his 7 years in Cleveland however, after reading various articles and reports, the LeBron I thought I knew wasn't who he really was. Reports of his horrible attitude and lack of respect are truly saddening and disheartening, his great service and dedication to his hometown has been overshadowed by his ego. This type of person is not who I want representing my hometown, we may not have many notable natives, but I hope and pray that one day someone else will eclipse the so called "King".

Your Weekly Sports Mash Up

To start things off, we are less than a week away from the ITS Fantasy Football League draft! We are giving a free item from our shop away, if you win the league! If you would like to sign up, just go to the link above and the password is beaniewells

Cavs: The Cavs just finished their summer league play, finishing with a record of 3-2. The "star" player during the league was with no doubt Pooh Jeter. He averaged 14.8 points per game and finished fourth in the Summer League in assists per game, and has agreed to a deal with the Sacramento Kings. This is obviously not good news. For everything Cavaliers, visit Fear The Sword.


Reds: After coming off a disappointing 2-2 series tie with the Washington Nationals, the Reds have regained the NL Central lead with 2 wins over the Houston Astros, as they took the series. Looking for the 3 game sweep, and trying to distance themselves from the Cards, they play again today at 2:05. Mike Leake, 7-1, will look to continue his dominance, as the Reds, and their fans start to get excited about this team. For everything Reds, visit Red Reporter.

Bengals: The Bengals could still sign Terrell Owens, but reports are saying that it all depends on Antonio Bryant's knee. Cedric Benson had a "productive" talk with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after he was charged for assault. For everything on the Bengals, visit Cincy Jungle.


Buckeye Football: Terrelle Pryor says that his knee will never be 100% again, but it's as close as possible right now, and he is excited to prove what he can do on the football field this season. You know where to go for all your Buckeye news :).


Inside The Shoe: ITS is looking for 1 writer as of now, a basketball writer. If you think you are interested please let us know in the comments and/or email us at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com. Look forward to hearing from you!

So... About those gun charges

Browns NT Shaun Rodgers dodged a major bullet this week when he entered into a diversion program, avoiding felony gun charges for bringing a loaded gun into Cleveland Hopkins Airport this past April. Although this is some good news, I don't think this "diversion" program will save him from suspension. So much for the middle of my Browns defense for the first 2-4 games of the season.....

Cavs PG (well..at least for now) Delonte West pleaded guilty to weapons charges in MD yesterday. He will avoid jail time but was sentenced to eight months of home detention with electronic monitoring, two years of unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service and psychological counseling. So much for that trade value.....

Tonight is the Night!!!

LeBron promises to announce his decision on 'The Decision' within the first 10-15 minutes, for those of you who haven't seen this yet, try not to tear up (I did, seriously). Tonight is the night, and only time will tell.

Be sure to join us for the live blog tonight at 8:45 pm!!!!

'The Decision': The Details, plus Live Blog!

So it looks like we'll have full LeBron coverage tomorrow from about 6pm until midnight on ESPN. Here's the details of tomorrow night according to ohio.com. Also, please join us for the Live Blog here at Inside The Shoe, which will include Ian, SBB, and I. Come join us in the tearful, or fantastic night. Live Blog starts at 8:45 PM, EST. The regular 6 pm Sportscenter will be extended from one hour to three which will lead right up to 'The Decision'. The actual decision isn't expected to come until around 9:45. Immediately following 'The Decision' will be a two hour Sportscenter special... Looks like the King will own the night tomorrow in sports...literally...

Cavs New Coach/Possible New Big Man

Update: Byron Scott agrees to 4 year deal.

It's going to be a busy July 1st for the Cavs. Fox Sports and ESPN are reporting that Byron Scott will be named the Cavs new head coach some time today. Scott formerly coached the New Jersey Nets to two consecutive finals appearances in 2002 and 2003 and the New Orleans Hornets from 2004-2010.

I am hoping he will be leader the Cavs need to take them to the next step. Now they need is a PG, SG and F/C

Speaking of Forwards and Centers, Brain Windhorst of Cleveland.com talks about the possibility of a double sign and trade with Dallas involving Shaq and Brendan Haywood as well as other FAs the Cavs have contacted.

Tom Izzo coaching next year...for the Cavs??

Cmon! Enough of the rumors..

The rumor has now been distributed, and still is very quickly. Apparently, Tom Izzo told his players at MSU that he had accepted the Cavs Head Coaching job. The rumor has been racing around Twitter, and it won't be long until ESPN and co. get their hands on it, blowing it up. The real question in my mind, whether it turns out to be true or false, is whether or not it will be enough to make Lebron stay. The only reason it's not official yet, according to WFNY, is because he wants to wait for his daughters to be finished with school this year. This is very random of a time to announce this, but everyone thought from the beginning that he was interested and might take the job offer. Now Izzo is in search of assisstants to help out with the Cavs. Let's see if this is all true by the end of the day. We will keep you updated, but you can go ahead and start your timers to when this story gets shot down.


Update: 18 minutes..That's what I got. Heres the source


Update 2: Jerimiah Masoli is no longer a Duck. Wow.


Update 3: This rumor won't die.."We have three separate confirmations. Nobody at WFNY expects Izzo to announce a press conference immediately in response to this. He has his timing. We will stand by the story and wait it out."

What to expect.

For the next week or so, ITS will be breaking down all the spots on offense and defense, telling you how they did this spring and who to expect where come fall. This includes our early predictions for the fall depth chart. It's been a busy weekend, but were making it up to you starting tommorow. As we wait for fall, this will ease the pain, if just a little. Of course, to get the rest of your fix, head over to Eleven Warriors, as they  are doing a tremendous job right now with the stats pouring in. I'm excited for this series, and we won't let you down. The Rivalry Esq. is on Wisconsin now for their Big Ten team of the week, and they will go over everything from spring, to the MVP of last season, even down to Rivalry day.

Won't be too long until we see this.

Lebron and the Cavs got destroyed physically and mentally in the third quarter to a point where they were down by almost 30. Eventually the comeback started, but it was too late, although the Cavs came within 8 at one point. Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were key players, but my MVP of the night goes to Ray Allen. Boy, for being too old to play on a superstar level, he seemed like he couldn't miss from the 3 point line, as he made two awkward shots, as well as draining them from the perfect spot. The Cavs will have to now bounce back on the Celtics court, which is no small task. I look for them to take at least 1.

The Reds last night went into extra innings with the Mets, going to the bottom of the 11th, it was tied 2-2. Lance Nix then hit a walk-off homer to keep the Reds in the hunt of those Cards. Good pitching was key, and Kyle Masset provided.

Good start for Cavs.

The Cavaliers and Lebron James. What a beautiful combination. The Cavs last night played the first game in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference playoffs, competing against the hated Boston Celtics. This rivalry is intense, and elbows and punches are thrown quite often. In this game, it was pretty tame. Lebron had suffered a sprained elbow and fought through it to score 35 points in the 101-93 victory. Mo Williams had a pretty darn good night as well, adding his first career dunk as a Cavalier. That in itself is impressive, but it also got the team, crowd, and himself ignited. After that dunk, Cleveland went on a 21-9 run to end the third quarter, starting with Williams' slam. Before that, Boston led by 11 points and was looking to put Cleveland away early. Now Lebron will be heading out to receive his second MVP trophy, after winning last season. Lebron also delivered the final dagger to the Celtics with about 40 seconds left, leading by 4, Lebron nails a 3 from the outside sending the Q into pandemonium. If you want to know how important this game was, Historically, winning a series opener is a good omen for the Cavs, who are 10-0 when taking Game 1. That is amazing, and I really hope they can pull it out. I think we can win Monday, but I think we lose one at Boston, but take one as well. At that point we will lead 3-1 in the series. That should be enough to finish them off at home.

The Cincinnati Reds are sitting at 2nd in the NL Central Standings right behind the team they lost to yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals. They are currently 4 games back, and they can win the series today against the Cards when Harang takes the mound at 2:15.

In case you missed it.

During the Spring Game, whether you were able to watch or not, Adam Homan, the fullback for the gray was running to the sidelines when a defender came up on him. Homan had been impressing all day, but then he did this.

Josh Winslow

It's already impressive when a running back does it. A fullback doing it, not even in a real game, is even more impressive. Although it wasn't as good as the Beanie Hops, it still had the same effect in the crowd. Homan did a great job, and we look forward to seeing him do more great things in the future. Speaking of great things, check out Josh Winslow's site. He takes amazing pictures, as you can see above.

The Cavs have a chance to end the first round for them tonight. They play the Bulls and they are at the Q. If your going, get loud. I would love for this series to end tonight. I can't wait for the (most likely) Boston match up.

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Inside The Shoe is still looking for two writers. One basketball, and one football writer. If your interested, please leave a comment, or email us at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com. The requirements can be found here. We hope to be talking to you soon!

Let the countdown start.

The 2010 Spring Game came and went, and most people were most excited to see the upbringing of freshman Kenny Guiton. He had a great day, and most fans weren't worried about Terrelle Pryor, the running backs, the defensive line, or the offensive line. No, the one thing they were wondering once the game was over, was if Guiton was going to be OK. I took this as a good sign, and it also could mean were going to be really good, and have depth at every position. I like this, and I'll take it. The hit he took usually ends up with knee surgery, or a career ending injury. He walked off his own power, and then was able to walk up and down the sidelines, which is good. So now the countdown starts until the Marshall game. Summer ball will start up here, and we will keep you up to date.

The Cavaliers won their 3rd game, at Chicago giving them a 3-1 series lead. Lebron posted a triple double yesterday, and seems to get better every game.

The Reds won 5-4 to avoid being swept by the San Diego Padres as Homer Bailey pitched pretty well.
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Inside The Shoe is still looking for two writers. One basketball, and one football writer. If your interested, please leave a comment, or email us at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com. The requirements can be found here. We hope to be talking to you soon!

Your POW.

This is ITS second picture of the week, and we got a little love from it, so we will keep it going. If you would like to suggjest some photos, just email us at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com or tweet @us, or even fire off a message at Facebook. Today, we go off Ohio State for a little bit to honor the 13 game winning streak the Cleveland Cavaliers are on. Last night they extended it to 13, aganist Yogi's Orlando Magic team. To honor that, the POW will be Mr. James.

(Getty Images)

Congrats to Lebron and the Cavs for getting this week's POW.

Last week's POW