LeBron James returns to Cleveland

Thursday December 2 is a day circled on the calendars of a lot of people particularly Cleveland Cavalier fans. Tonight, Akron born and raised LeBron James returns to Quicken Loans Arena to face the Cavs a team he played for in his first seven NBA seasons.

James now plays for the Miami Heat who was predicted to break the Chicago Bulls 72-win record. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked well for LeBron and the Heat.

• They haven't figured out who is the alpha-dog? LeBron or incumbent superstar Dwayne Wade
• They lack a point guard and a center. It’s interesting the team is now starting Zdrunas Ilgauskas who was exposed as a starting center in the play-offs when also playing with LeBron James in Cleveland.
• Not only haven’t they clicked offensively but it has carried over to the defensive side.
• The team lacks maturity: James has complained about playing too many minutes, while the Heat's third superstar Chris Bosh has come out and said the team would rather "just chill” while it seems no one respects head coach Erik Spoelstra.

It is only a matter of time until Pat Riley once again takes over, much like he did in 2006 when he replaced current Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Miami gets their act together and is playing for the NBA Championship in June.

On the other hand, if Cleveland can get their act together on Thursday night and get a win against LeBron, the other 81 games this season won't matter.

AIW Wrestling from Lakewood, Ohio

Here are the results from last night's card at St. Gregory’s Byzantine Hall.

1. Preshow: Da Latin Crime Syndicate beat Lights Out. Afterwards the beat down continued and Mr. RBI and Kombat Kid made the save
   
   
2. The Duke defeated Aero
   
   
3. Womens Champion Angel Dust pinned Mena Libra
   

Girls High School Basketball Results: 2010-2011

Girls Hoops Co-Players of the year
Westlake's Kalpana Beach and Lorain's Shanique Ogle
Girls Hoops Coach of the Year, Scott Terry
All Morning Journal Girls Basketball Teams
3 area players All-Ohio for girls basketball
Lorain's Shanique Ogle & Alexandria Harris; Avon's Emily Julius


Friday March 18
Oak Hill 53, Elyria Catholic 49 | 2nd story | 3rd story | 4th story
Elyria Catholic seniors finish excellent careers at state

Elyria Catholic vs. Oak Hill preview
EC's Rothgery is coaching girls because of daughters
Eight seniors look to go out as state champions
Shining stars: Schuster and Taylor
EC's Emily Taylor tough to deal with
EC should stay calm, play basketball
EC scouting report
EC coach Eric Rothgery's Panther pride has pedigree
Praise, support for EC girls hoops
Pep rally


Saturday March 12
Elyria Catholic 50, Youngstown Ursline 41 | 2nd story | 3rd story
Elyria Catholic heading to state | EC bench makes difference in win | EC seniors came together early

Youngstown Ursuline (17-8) (9 9 11 12--41): Beasley 3-1-8, Curd 1-0-2, Irizzary 7-0-18, Powell 1-3-5, Whitehead 2-4-8
Elyria Catholic (24-2) (10 8 15 17--50): Flowers 1-0-2, McGrath 4-0-8, McNamara 2-2-7, O'Malley 1-3-5, Schuster 4-4-12, Taylor 4-6-14, Tremont 1-0-2


Elyria Catholic eager for shot at state
EC is trying to become the first team in school history to play in the state tournament and the first in Lorain County since Amy Manco's Avon Lake Shoregals won it all in 1994. Other than Avon Lake's back-to-back appearances in 1993-94, the 1979 Elyria Pioneers are the only other county team to make state.

Area claims district basketball awards
Eric Rothgery, Emily Taylor, Shanique Ogle, Ashley Schuster, Kourtni Taylor

A season to remember
Lorain, Avon Lake, Amherst, North Ridgeville, Keystone, Avon, Elyria Catholic, Lake Ridge Academy

O H ! I O !

In just 3 short days the Scarlet & Gray will once again dominate that school up North on the gridiron for the 7th consecutive season.

Did you know? It's now been:

• 2,559 days since Michigan beat the Ohio State University and it is only
• 3 days until the Buckeyes beat them again!

It’s over for the Browns

Time to get real Cleveland fan: the Browns will not make the NFL play-offs. Bottom line: they're 3-5. Teams with five losses at the halfway point usually means picking in the top ten in the NFL draft. A two-game winning streak against New Orleans and New England does not mean it's time to make plans in January.

Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh have six wins (that's double Cleveland's win total) and have won a head-to-head meeting already. That means three games back and losing the first NFL tie-breaker.

Cleveland had a 10-6 record in 2007 that was not enough to make the play-offs which means 11-5 will assure a wild-card berth. To finish 11-5 would require ending the year on a 10-game winning streak. It isn't going to happen.

So enjoy the two-game winning streak, enjoy the fact that Cleveland defeated their ex-head coach Bill Belichick and enjoy watching the development of QB Colt McCoy and RB Peyton Hillis. Given Cleveland's 2nd half schedule, I would not be surprised to see the Browns go 6-2. They is still a lot of good football this year.

Just don't book any plane reservations for Dallas in February.

Final Lorain County High School Football Rankings

Here is the final Lorain County high school football power rankings:

1. Avon 10-1 (7-0 West Shore Conference) The Eagles had a 10-0 season for the 2nd time in three seasons. Unfortunately, they played their worst half of football in week 11 against Sandusky. Still a great year and coach Mike Elder has plenty of talent returning.
   
   
2. Elyria Catholic 10-2 (4-1 North Coast League, White Division) The Panthers showed me something with their win over Huron in week 11. A team that throws the football all over the place had faced bad weather on a bad field. EC won the game with defense and running game. Unfortunately, the next week against Orville, the Panthers reverted to old form: too many mistakes, not enough defense and questionable play-calling. Still EC played their first home play-off game this year and won their first play-off game since 1992.

PrimeTime Sports: Browns vs Jets is not JUST a game

PrimeTime Sports: Browns vs Jets is not JUST a game
Interesting facts from my friend Rob Trrautman about Sunday's game.

My WOBL radio games

From left to right: Bob Karlovec, Eric Girod, and Darryl Maynard

WOBL van

This is my 4th year covering high school football in Lorain county Ohio. Click the listen link to hear games. Audio player will open in a new browser.

Date	Game					Listen
8/27	Firelands	7	at	Brookside	21		Listen
9/03	Wellington	0	at	Avon	42		Listen
9/10	Akron Kenmore	44	at	Oberlin	0		Listen
9/17	Columbia	42	at	Black River	20		Listen
9/24	Buckeye	13	at	Clearview	21		Listen
10/01	Keystone	0	at	Black River	7		Listen
10/08	Padua	41	at	Elyria Catholic	23		Listen
10/15	North Ridgeville	54	at	Firelands	21		Listen
10/22	Keystone	21	at	Wellington	7		Listen
10/29	Wellington	35	at	Brookside	14		Listen
11/05	Sandusky	42	at	Avon	35		Listen
11/06	Ohio Wesleyan College	12	at	Oberlin College	16		Listen

Prior Year Games

**To listen to games, copy and paste any of the below URLs into your web browser.**

High School Football Announcer

10/31/09: Southview vs. Admiral King
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/2009/football/wdlw_20091031.html

High School Basketball Announcer

Wellington vs. Avon
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WOBL_20081222.smil

Dalton vs. Oberlin
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WOBL_20080223.smil

Firelands vs. Wellington
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WOBL_20071228.smil

High School Football Sideline Reporter

Amherst vs. Twinsburg
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WOBL2_20081101.smil

Southview vs. Admiral King
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WDLW_20081025.smil

Black River vs. Clearview
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WDLW_20080919.smil

Amherst vs. Elyria
http://www.loraincounty.com/liveaudio/archive/WDLW_20080822.smil

Sandusky vs. Avon tonight

High school playoffs start tonight from Avon Stadium as the Avon Eagles host the Sandusky Blue Streaks in a Division 2, Region 6 match-up. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with Bob Karlovec and Brian Dietz.

Sandusky (6-4) from the Greater Buckeye Conference has a long storied history as a football powerhouse in the state. The Blue Streaks were state champions in 1965 and 1988. They have made the play-offs seven times between 1978 and 1990. However, the most recent years have not been kind to Sandusky. This year’s 6-4 record marks the first winning season since 1999. The Blue Streaks 8th play-off appearance is their first in twenty years.

The Blue Streaks head coach Mike Franklin is in his 5th year (22-28) coaching and is a Sandusky graduate. Senior running back Cordney Strickland (6-1, 185) had a huge year with 1479 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns. Quarterback Lucas Poggiali (Jr., 6-1, 180) is among the leading passers in the GBC while Tristen Jeffries and Dameyion Smith were among the league leaders in receptions.

Avon had a perfect 10-0 season and is making their 4th trip to the post-season. Their last trip to the play-offs was in 2008 which was also an undefeated regular season plus wins against Defiance and Columbian before losing Big Walnut. The Eagles 2010 campaign started big with a win at Avon Lake spoiling the Shoremen’s $2.8 million renovated stadium. After a pair of shut-outs against Wellington and Lorain, Avon rolled through the West Shore Conference.

The Eagles are a deep team. They have a trio of running backs featuring sophomore Ross Douglas (680 yards, 9 TDs), junior Adam Horrocks (366 yards, 5 TDs), and sophomore Mark Kvach (219 yards, 2 TDs); they have two quarterbacks in senior Cody Schroeder (99-167-1615, 19 TDs, 4 INTs) and junior Justin O’Rourke (36-61-511, 7 TDs, 2 INTs); and talented receivers junior Matt Eckhardt (37-709, 10 TDs), senior Kevin Krakora (27-358, 5 TDs), and senior Connor Friss (23-366, 6 TDs). The Eagle defense has several talented athletes as well including senior Patrick Furnas (six sacks), junior Bryan Cox, sophomore Alex Kelly, and junior Matt Tomlin.

The winner of tonight’s game faces the winner of Maple Heights and Toledo Central Catholic.