Mick Corcoran from Three Miles Out Discusses Cleveland Sports

It's tough these days to root for Cleveland sports teams, but those who do root keep on doing so, hoping that the elusive title will someday actually happen, which would be the first since the Browns in 1964. We had the chance to talk to bassist Mick Corcoran from hard rocking Northeast Ohio based band Three Miles Out about the state of the Browns and the Indians:

Musicians Talking Sports: How did you feel about Eric Mangini coaching the Browns before the season, and how do you feel about him now?

Mick Corcoran: Trust me when I tell ya, Eric Mangini is the coach we’ve been waiting for. We have to be patient because it’s going to take three years. There’s no way around it. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the Jets record, and that’s where we will be in three years. Just like Tom Coughlin did with the Giants, Mangini is infusing discipline into this team and purging the dead weight. It’s going to get better, just wait. Will we be drafting a new quarterback this year? All signs point to yes. I’m a big Derek Anderson fan and he has the third strongest arm in the league but he’s not going to be the long-term guy. Mangini will draft his guy this coming draft and then it will be a two-year wait for him to mature. In the third year, look for the Browns to begin contending. Jamal Lewis may be losing a step. Maybe Harrison should be the go to guy. Let’s see some more versions of the wildcat. Get your best player Cribbs in the game. I went to KSU while Cribbs was our quarterback and his arm can bring you some variety in the wildcat formations. We only saw the wildcat for one yard today. Use it more! That brings me to the offensive coordinator. His play calling is unimaginative and bland. How about some play action passing plays to offset the run? Maybe don’t always run on first down. Take a shot down field from the shotgun. Try to imagine how the defense is going to react and scheme something to catch them off-guard. I would take out every pass play under ten yards. Make the receivers step out at least 12 yards then catch the ball! Get a first down. And when Heiden gets better, have him run some of Winslow’s old plays. Move Royal to the other side and make him block.

Here’s your team philosophy…. are you ready? Spread the ball around to all the receivers go back to them if they drop a ball, then run the football around the outside with Harrison and use the wildcat to supplement near the red zone. Finish the red zone offense with Jamal Lewis like the BUS Jerome Bettis did for the Steelers, Make Jamal the smash mouth power touchdown machine.

MTS: Who are one or two bright spots on the Browns right now?

MC: After you get your quarterback in the draft, then draft all defense and then pick up another tight end and good receiver in free agency. In fact, remember who told you this, there is no salary cap in 2010. So have Lerner open up the checkbook and out spend everyone and put a dynasty team on the field that will last for years. It’s time to think dynasty. We should strive to build the #1 defense and a top ten offense and soon after, we’ll get the sausage.

MTS: Now that the Browns have one win how do predict they will finish the season?

MC: They might get one or two more victories. But I’m looking at those HIGH draft picks, and we have seven extra picks this coming draft. Our quarter back is coming…Tebow?? Lerner should infuse our scouting staff with large amounts of money and attract the best talented scouts. We need more out of our drafts and this is the year to do it. We need the most respected scouts scouting for the Browns.

MTS: How angry am I that our two CY young award winners are pitching against east other in the World Series?

MC: Open letter to the Dolans: Be a team that retains talent especially when it’s from our own farm system. Don’t preach to me that you going to build a team on pitching and then when we grow two CY award winners you trade them!!! You want to win? Then keep your talent, and add to that talent! Pitching and more pitching, and then go get the best hitters out there and then you’ll see some results. Imagine if we signed MANNY and kept CC and kept CLIFF LEE. How much better the last few years might have been additionally, our payroll would still be under what it was in the late 90’s? The Dolans will never bring us a championship unless they have amazing luck in all their moves. That kind of luck doesn’t exist; it leaves true baseball fans stinging from budgetary failure and cheapness year after year.

Three Miles Out is wrapping up a new acoustic album and continues to tour regionally in NE Ohio. Check them out at www.threemilesout.com

Singer/songwriter T Jay Gives Us 5 Reasons Why the Yankees Will Win the World Series

After receiving a Division One Scholarship, singer and songwriter T Jay's life was 24/7 Baseball. T Jay always loved music and played gigs on the side to make extra money while he was in college. However, one winter during the off season his music started to take off and he hasn't looked back since. For more information, please visit www.myspace.com/tjaymusic. Meanwhile, we knew T Jay was a big Yankees fan, so we asked him to give us 5 reasons why his team would win the World Series, which kicks off tonight with the Yankees taking on the Phillies.....

Although I might be a Yankee fan, I'm a baseball fan first. And to tell you the honest truth, I think its going to be a really great series. Both teams are top of the heap in almost every category. I think its really going to depend on pitching performance as well as who gets hot and stays consistent at the plate. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out, but here it goes...

1. Pitching - pitching is always key. CC (Sabathia) has had a great year, so they'll be looking for a big win from him. Pettite (despite the Angels loss) looked great in his last outing. One area where the Phils might falter is in Pedro (Martinez). He admittedly has struggled with the Yanks. But nonetheless, he's still a great pitcher with some great stuff, so its tough to count him out.

2. Bullpen - Mariano Rivera...there's not much more you can say about a guy who boasts the numbers he does. Let's not forget he only really throws ONE pitch.

3. Jeter - No one plays ball like Derek Jeter. There's no one else in baseball anyone would rather have at bat with the game on the line.

4. A-Rod - No one can deny the guy's been hot. Provided he keeps his momentum, he'll be difficult for the Phils to get around.

5. Recent hitting - the couple players, namely Mark Texiera and Robinson Cano who have not been as hot as we have liked so far, appeared to show signs of momentum in the past few games. Particularly Cano, who has been hitting a lot of solid line-drives. When all the pistons are firing, the Yanks are unstoppable. If the cooler hitters get hot, they could cause big problems for the Phils.

Although my pick is the Yanks, I have to say I think its going to be a great series. I doubt there would be a blowout by either side.

Dan Dinsmore from the band Owl talks Yankees baseball

Rock band Owl is the side project of The Cult bassist Chris Wyse, but that's not what we're here to talk about. That's just a table setter for drummer Dan Dinsmore of Owl, who is a huge New York Yankees fan. The Yankees are in the ALCS, planning to face the Los Angeles Angels this week to determine who goes to the World Series. We had the chance to talk to Dan about the Yankees' sweep of the Twins and what he thinks lies ahead....

Musicians Talking Sports: Did you anticipate a 3-game sweep against Minnesota?



Dan Dinsmore: Yes, I knew the Yankees would sweep.



MTS: Did the Twins scare you going in based on how hot they've been the last few weeks?



DD: No, not at all. We have a big vibe going on in New York, and this team is on a different level.



MTS: What would another championship mean to the core of vets on this team like Jeter, Posada, Rivera and Pettite?



DD: I think it would add to the legend that this is a consistent team and these players create magic. And the Yankees are creating a new decade of being the team to beat.



MTS: Do you think the Yanks would be in this position if they hadn't acquired CC Sabathia?



DD: Yes I do, I believe this organization would have done really well. However CC is awesome and he has been everything we hoped for.



MTS: Your prediction for the rest of the postseason?



DD: Yankees over the Angels in 5 games. Torre and the Dodgers then come to New York.


(Dodgers manager Joe) Torre gets greeted like a king, and Manny (Ramirez) gets his ass handed to him. Yanks take it in 6, and all will be beautiful.

For more information on Owl, including information on the band's recently released self-titled debut, please visit www.owltheband.net

Ludo's Tim Convy says not to count the Cardinals out just yet....

Tim Convy of the rock band Ludo is one busy man. In addition to touring and recording with one of the hottest bands of the last 18 months, Convy and some of his band mates have spawned a side project, The New Heathers, as well as sign acts, including Houston based Without a Face, to their own Redbird Records imprint. Somehow, dude finds time to kick ass in fantasy baseball (he had to mediate a clubhouse squabble between Matt Cain and David Wright after the former beaned the latter) and follow his beloved Cardinals. We had the chance to talk to Tim about the one that got away on Thursday night and on staying alive today in Game 3 against the Dodgers.....

Musicians Talking Sports: Did you think Matt Holliday should have caught that ball, and do you really think it was because of the white towels?

Tim Convy: Of course! I think everyone including Matt Holliday thinks he should have caught that ball. And yes, maybe it was because of the white towels, but that's a part of the game. Holliday missed the catch. There was nothing unfair about it. I know Wainwright was upset about the towel thing, but if I had pitched the game he pitched and watched it all go to hell in the 9th, I'd be pretty irrational too.

MTS: Now that the Dodgers have escaped Carpenter and Wainwright, how do you see Game 3 shaking out?

TC: I think (Joel) Pineiro has it in him to pull it out. And we can't underestimate the advantage of playing at Busch Stadium. The Cards haven't been playing poorly. We're getting hits, we're making plays, we're just not winning. I don't think the the Dodgers are a better team, I think we've had some bad luck and we've made a few mistakes that they haven't.

MTS: Also how do you see the rest of the series playing out and why?

TC: We're going to take the next three. I'm going to Saturday's game, and being a life-long Cardinals fan, I have no other choice but to BELIEVE!

For more information on Convy's projects, please visit:

www.ludorock.com

www.redbirdrecords.com

www.myspace.com/thenewheathers

Ari Hest Previews the MLB Playoffs

Ari Hest is one of those rare individuals who excelled at both a sport (baseball) and music (he's an awesome singer/songwriter). In other words, he's the perfect candidate to talk about baseball for this blog, and we had a chance to ask Ari to predict how he thinks the divisional playoffs will shake out. Here is what he had to say....

Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies--Ari says: "Phillies in 3 - I love the Rockies this year, but I think they're due for a letdown. They've been overachieving all year and I just don't see them getting past philly. Cliff Lee was a huge pickup."

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers--Ari says: "Cardinals in 5 - This one is really tough. I'm not crazy about either team, but (Adam) Wainwright and (Chris) Carpenter have been through it before and I think that gets them the win. Expect a lot of low scoring games that are settled late."

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers or Minnesota Twins--Ari says: "Yankees in 5 - my Yankees have looked dominant for a while now, but they'll run into some trouble with either team here. I expect them to drop games 2 and 3 and finish with wins in games 4 and 5."

Los Angeles Angels vs. Boston Red Sox--Ari says: "Angels in 4 - The Angels to me are the most exciting team in baseball, and the Sox are hard to trust this year. They'll win big at Fenway in game 4."

Ari Hest is touring in support of his latest album, Twelve Mondays. The album is available through www.arihest.com (which also has tour dates and more info) or on iTunes.

Roots reggae artist Tarrus Riley Talks About His Favorite NBA Player, Allen Iverson

Roots reggae singer-songwriter Tarrus Riley resides in Jamaica and loves basketball. Although cricket, soccer and track & field are the dominate sports of the Jamaican youth, Tarrus stands out on the island by cheering on his favorite NBA player, Allen Iverson. Tarrus gave us his comments on Iverson and his thoughts on his favorite player joining the Memphis Grizzlies recently......

It seems like yesterday Iverson was a rookie, crossing over Michael Jordan and scoring points like raindrops in the ocean. No one in my lifetime had his stature and toughness in his size. He was as unstoppable as Shaquille O’Neal in his prime and when A.I. got knocked down, he bounced up like a cat. However, he has a different story and is a different player today. After many championship caliber teams passed on him, it was announced two weeks ago that he has joined the Memphis Grizzlies.

Although he is on the downside of his career, my hope is that this season Iverson will give us all a glimmer of his basketball prowess from yesteryear. Perhaps it will only be a few games where he will shine, but I have faith. I am sure it is bittersweet for him to play on team in which he is the best player but has no chance for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. He may become the greatest NBA player never to win a NBA championship (hello, Karl Malone).

I foresee that Iverson will retire from the NBA after this season and turn his attention to his second love, football. Perhaps a quarterback coaching job awaits him at Georgetown.

For more information on Tarrus Riley, please visit http://www.myspace.com/tarrusriley

Oystein Greni of Bigbang Talks about skateboarding career that almost was....

Oystein Greni from Oslo, Norway was on the verge of a pro-skateboarding career when at age 16 he shattered his knee. Faced with a long recuperation, Oystein turned to music to pass the time and soon founded Bigbang, which has become one of Norway's biggest rock acts. Look for the US release of Bigbang's Edendale soon! Meanwhile, we asked Oystein to share his story with us....(photo at left by Tommy Solsadt)

I was a very skinny 11 year old wearing a The Who t-shirt and two pairs of Levis to make my legs look thicker. Since skateboarding was against the law in Norway (at the time), the scene was attracting a lot of anarchists and punk rockers. Very scary at first, but once you kept showing up at the ramp and tolerated nonstop snaking and verbal abuse, these people became both mentors and much needed soulmates. The story of these skateboarders of Oslo who helped raise me and a few of my best friends is to me as important and inspiring as any "coach-kid" story out there.

In the winter months, we would pour acetone on the frozen plywood in the bottom of the ramp and burn it dry, the fumes would make me really dizzy. Some guy would bring his tape player, and that´s how I got to love bands like Badbrains, Black Flag, Fugazi, Dinosaur Junior, descendents, Cro-mags etc... it was like jazz..you needed to listen a few times before you got it,
at first it just sounded evil.

To me, Chris Miller was skateboarding; speed, style, and the longest alley-oops ever...don´t get me started... you had guys doing all these tricks; lean airs, frontside airs, fastplants, indy airs.. and then you had Chris Milller doing the same tricks and they became more interesting than
540s... at least in my book. Steve Claars fronstide ollies and andrechts were amazing too!--Oystein Greni

For more on Bigbang, please visit www.thebigbangweb.com or www.myspace.com/smallbang