The Official Waiting For Next Year Podcast

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Kevin Kleps of Crain's Cleveland Business Mar 21, 2017

Show notes

Kevin Kleps has one of the more interesting beats in Cleveland sports media. He writes for Cleveland Crain's business, so he's not tasked with game stories or every roster transaction. Instead he picks his spots and covers a somewhat unique beat at the crossroads of sports and business. Here's his bio from the paper and feel free to follow him on Twitter.

Kevin Kleps joined Crain's in January 2013 as assistant editor. Before joining Crain's, Kevin was the assistant sports editor at The News-Herald for 13 years and a sports writer at The Meadville Tribune for four years. A native of Erie, Pa., he earned his bachelor's degree in speech communications from Edinboro University.

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Sports business reporting for Crain's Cleveland business
Jobu_lives and the good side of Twitter
Jason Kipnis' shoulder
How important is it for the Indians to go back to back in the playoffs?
Indians attendance talk
How much of the Indians success in 2016 was a confluence of factors?
Do the Indians make the Andrew Miller trade?
Indians were in on Bautista as well as Encarnacion
Mark Shapiro being risk averse
Terry Francona getting credit for some of Andrew Miller
Will Cleveland ever step up to a sports team owner?
Cavaliers and The Q stadium funding
Getting the All-Star game
The Q deal was negotiated before it got to the public
The Browns are at a crossroads
The die-hard Browns fans are even jumping off the bandwagon now

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Kipnis, Brantley, and the rest of the Indians injuries - EHC Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

The boys of EHC do the most comprehensive Indians talk available anywhere. They do it right here on the WFNY podcast. Jim Pete, Mike Hattery and Jeff Nomina got together and discussed everything that concerns Indians fans everywhere.

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Here's what they talked about more specifically...

Strategy while Kipnis is out at second base
Michael Brantley starting to play real games
Cody Anderson being out for the season
Lonnie Chisenhall at third base?
Yandy at third base?
Is Michael Martinez actually good at defense?
Carlos Santana and the Indians' willingness to try him at spots

If there's ever a topic that you want the EHC boys to tackle, you can hit Jim and Mike up on Twitter. (Jeff doesn't listen to his fans.)

Jim Pete Twitter
Mike Hattery Twitter

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We Fix Officiating - Hot Sports Boys Episode 4 Mar 16, 2017

Show notes

The HSBs are back, and we are tackling another big topic. We look at all the major sports, and how the rules are kept. Who is in charge of them and what do they do to enforce them? We look into the little nuances of every system and pick our favorites. Don't like our opinion? Tell us about it on twitter @FridayFumble

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Aaron Goldhammer of ESPN Cleveland Mar 15, 2017

Show notes

I reached out to Aaron Goldhammer to come on the WFNY Podcast to talk about his career in Cleveland sports media. Hammer has always been the "young guy," the "new guy," the guy who "isn't from here," and all of a sudden he's been here quite a long time. We discuss all of that and how he and ESPN Cleveland have gotten to where they are in the media environment that exists today.

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Here's what else we discussed.

Handling adversity and going viral for the wrong reasons
Being around when Good Karma purchased WKNR
Deciding to be authentic on the air for good and for bad
What's a typical work week like off the air?
What does it take to prepare and do RBS?
Radio influences
Being in town for the Cavaliers championship and the Indians World Series
Much more

I had a bunch of interview questions written down, but as it turned out, the conversation just flowed how it flowed.

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Jason Kipnis, Terrelle Pryor, and March Madness Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

TD is a WFNY graduate and whenever we get a chance to talk to him, you know the takes are going to be solid. He's an old-school radio kind of guy and he knows how to discuss sports like the best sports talkers we knew growing up in Cleveland. This time we've got plenty to discuss including Jason Kipnis' shoulder, Terrelle Pryor, and of course TD's favorite time of year being March Madness.

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Kipnis and how the Indians report injuries
Michael Brantley and the ghost of Grady Sizemore
How do the Indians compare to other MLB teams in terms of transparency?
Comparing the Indians to the larger markets
The Indians handling of the Chris Perez drug shipment
Do the Indians downplay their injuries?
Spring training games are pointless for a veteran like Kipnis
The Kipnis injury domino effect and who we could see. Yandy Diaz?
Anyone but Michael Martinez
Going back to Game 7
Terrelle Pryor and what the hell happened
Browns sign Kenny Britt to same deal
The Browns process and how to win in free agency
Browns seats and the Cowboys debacle
The Browns and not having a real quarterback
Getting Jimmy Garoppolo
TD loves Deshaun Watson
Craig loves DeShone Kizer
The Browns trading for Brock Osweiler
Removing Kizer from the stink of Notre Dame's awful season
TD doesn't want Mitchell Trubisky
The Browns fan wanting to draft Buckeyes
Sashi Brown and Depodesta doing something unique to the NFL
NCAA picks with TD
Only six or seven teams that can win it all
Kentucky gets screwed
Arizona having an easy path in the West
Wichita State is criminally underseeded
Middle Tennessee State as a Cinderella
Florida might be overrated
TD discusses his own team, Kansas

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The Kipnis shoulder, Zimmer swings, and JRam/Lindor long-term deals Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

The Indians spring is almost halfway over, and while there isn't much to talk about, two shoulders are at the top of the worry list. With Michael Brantley still recovering from a 2015 injury, Jason Kipnis has quietly been on the shelf for most of Spring Training with shoulder ailments of his own. Mike Hattery and Jim Pete take a way-to-deep look at the shoulder, and what this could mean for Kipnis in 2017. The EHC boys also discuss Yandy Diaz, and why he should make the roster, groin or no groin. They gaze at the almost surreal swing changes that Bradley Zimmer has undergone, and ponder long-term deals for Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

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The proverbial Jeff Nomina discussion...and excuses
Jason Kipnis and the "minor" shoulder injury
Mike doesn't ease Jim's mind on precautionary shoulder injuries
A sneaky bad Indians spring
If it's more than precautionary, the Indians have alternatives that are Major League ready
There's smoke with shoulder injuries, we just hope there isn't fire
Bradley Zimmer's swing changes
He's always had good power, but does this change his ceiling?
Small sample sizes don't make a career
Is Zimmer's swing repeatable?
If Zimmer cuts his K% to 25% or better, is he a top 20 prospect?
These are tough changes to make at an advanced level
The Indians have been giving their young guys a chance, and they've been performing
Yandy Diaz needs to be on the roster, groin or no groin
Diaz gets four games a week if he's a utility
Yandy's only mystery is how good he is defensively in the outfield
Long term deal for Lindor and JRam?
"Hollywood" Lindor
WBC rants

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2017 Cleveland Indians Positional Previews: The Starting Rotation Mar 12, 2017

Show notes

The Cleveland Indians' starting rotation is considered by many to be the engine of the team, anchored by former Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber. With fellow ace Carlos Carrasco, and potential future aces is Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer, the top end of this staff can match up with anyone.

The fact that playoff hero Josh Tomlin is considered by many to be a footnote to the "thunderarms" ahead of him really says it all. With the staff back and healthy after Carrasco and Salazar missed substantial crunch time (discounting brief Salazar sightings), some are saying that the starting five are as good a rotation as there is in all of baseball.

WFNY's Mike Hattery and Jim Pete take a look at why this rotation is so good, and why there is still cause for concern. They also take a look at the Columbus rotation, Mike Clevinger, and why Cody Anderson's UCL injury is giving them nightmares.

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Conways
Cody Anderson is shut downs, and Jim has rotation angst
The rotation is the third best unit on the team
The Big Three
Can Carlos Carrasco overtake Kluber as the top arm
Danny Salazar is the puzzle piece...dependent on control
How will that 10-day DL and bullpen balance the usage of the rotation, especially with Kluber's innings in 2016, and Salazar's injury issues?
Saving Andrew Miller for the playoffs
How many innings do you expect from Danny Salazar?
Salazar is a playoff, four-inning weapon
Kluber has grooved into awesome
The Trevor Bauer experiment...when does it stop being an experiment?
Outing teammates political views, and how Trevor Bauer could give a shit less
Bauer made the transition to a ground ball pitcher in 2016
Supplemental depth vs. long-term rotation depth
Why didn't the Indians sign a lottery ticket who could fit into the rotation long-term, if needed?
Doug Fister
To be high on Clevinger, or not to be, but he is a high upside guy...without command
Can Clevinger figure out control this late in the game?
How elite is this rotation...really?
Rotational dominoes, and how Kluber and Carrasco and affect the rest
Oh yeah...Callaway!
Will a healthy rotation mean 100 wins?
A Jason Donald reference?
Are we heading to a situation where we don't have a rotation or a bullpen, but just pitchers
Love it or hate it, but the Indians are at the forefront of specialized baseball
I plug Mike, and Mike plugs me, and we both plug Adam Burke...and screw Jeff...putting his family ahead of us..it's just not right

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Terrelle Pryor and the Cleveland Browns both lost in free agency Mar 11, 2017

Show notes

We will put the Terrelle Pryor thing to rest soon, but it's still very fresh at this moment. The Cleveland Browns had an offer for Pryor. Free agency opened, that offer disappeared and the end result is the Browns lost Pryor, Pryor didn't make much money, and I think everyone lost in the end.

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Have the Browns' habits regarding their own free agents started to become a trend in just two years with Mitchell Schwartz and now Terrelle Pryor?
Should the Browns have handled their business differently?
Should Terrelle Pryor fire his agent?
Did Terrelle Pryor really want to be in Cleveland or not?

We talk about that from all angles.

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Joel Bitonio, Kenny Britt, and Terrelle Pryor Mar 09, 2017

Show notes

It's been a frustrating week on the podcast, but things are looking up. There's finally some Browns conversation to be had. The Cleveland Browns reportedly make a "monster" deal with Joel Bitonio. The Browns reportedly pay Kenny Britt somewhere around $8 million a year for four years. The Browns reportedly still haven't locked up Terrelle Pryor.

We try to make sense of all this and figure out when the Browns regime lost the benefit of the doubt. We also talk about if failing to bring back Terrelle Pryor will continue to keep them from earning that benefit of the doubt.

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Scott Raab on the Cavs championship, Browns draft, and his book Mar 07, 2017

Show notes

Scott Raab has followed up his book, The Whore of Akron with a championship book called You're Welcome Cleveland. I put out a call to see if he would come on the podcast and Scott was willing. We are forever indebted to Scott for the weekly appearances he made on the WFNY Podcast and it's always great to catch up.

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Here's what else we talked about.

You're Welcome Cleveland
Are you still feeling the championship love?
How long will the championship feeling last?
Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson talking about the difference between the regular season and the playoffs
LeBron saying he's addicted to the process
Waking up and not liking football
Expecting pro athletes not to feel real life
Kyrie Irving flat earth and JR Smith
When athletes and celebs go direct to the fans, what role does media have
Figuring out how to add value in 2017
What's left of the newspaper?
When was the last time you knowingly clicked on an ad?
When will we talk about the death of radio?
The Browns and trading down
Finding talent period
What's the difficult thing to do as the HBT?
Who would we take instead?

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