LeBron, Finley and Ted's Energy

Can TV (local and national) give the LeBron's a Yankee fan thing a rest? He's a Yankee fan. He sticks by his team. It's a game. If C.C. Sabathia doesn't care why should the rest of us? Make the point and move on...

That said, it was interesting LBJ turned the cap around and was gone by the time the Tribe made it 10-3. A fan's a fan but watching your favorites get slammed is no fun -- Cleveland fans know that feeling all too well...

Why the media (including us) really love sports playoffs involving home teams: we get to fill time and space with interviews with fans howling how much they love their Indians/Cavaliers/Browns, etc. It sure beats those man-on-the street interviews at crime scenes, high school sexual assault scenes, carjackings and armed robberies. Even the most hard-boiled street reporters get fed up at some point...

All said, it was still very satisfying to wake up Friday morning and see the score was the same as when the game ended. As an Indians fan I never take these things for granted...

Dollar General has removed Halloween products containing lead. Not Halloween candy but plastic buckets and monster tumblers kids could drink out of. It's easy to turn this into a made-in-China issue, especially since everything seasonal these days seems to come from China. Is the world's new strongest economy getting to the point yet where they'll keep the lead in the pencils instead?

Joe Finley still won't give up even though he admits there's no chance in the Akron Mayor's primary of making up that thousand-vote loss. Part of me agrees with MSM blogging buddy Eric Mansfield that it's admirable Joe sticks by his guns, but the bigger part thinks Joe should realize the point's been made...and now it's time to close the chapter. We know he's going to fight another day, show the kind of sportsmanship we try to teach kids to exhibit after the game is over. Why can't the phrase "MoveOn" mean what it says?

Jody Miller and I have a date Monday for taping a walk about the University of Akron to profile some of the remarkable changes in the Landscape for Learning. The transformation of the Akron campus is amazing and no, we haven't forgotten we paid for it. We'll do the proper gushing, I'm sure, but it reminds me how goofy I think this UA-Cleveland State merge talk is, especially when CSU exists just fine with Tri-C's downtown, east and west campus operations easily within their footprint. Want to save money? How about folding administration of CSU and Tri-C into one office?

I had the chance to listen to Governor Strickland's stump speech (note link includes audio) pushing his energy policy Thursday while attending the Ohio Association of Broadcasters convention. I've said before that Strickland's detractors (both public and private) really underestimate this guy. He's been in office for 10 months, had only one no vote on his budget, and the only major "scandals" he's had to deal with came in a missing hard drive (poor middle management decision making, not Strickland's policies) and the embarrassing departure of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman's wife from her cushy state job (well, that one hits home). Overall his easy-going country manner and speaking style plays well with folks and his management style so far paints Ohio as a pro-business tax-sensitive place for investment. And yes, Ted's still a Democrat.

If Ohio Dems were smart they'd remember having leadership that knows how to talk and act from both sides of the aisle wins votes statewide. It sure beats having Kucinich as the lone face of Ohio Democrat politics...