Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Power Rankings: Make Way For Intangibles

As the Cavs continue their throat slitting tour through the Eastern Conference and the Indians continue to "fade into Bolivian," it seems like an appropriate time to reshuffle the Power Rankings a bit. My first inclination, and one that has been supported by a few members of the CMRC faithful, is to automatically ban all Indians from this list for trying to ruin summer in Cleveland.

As much as I would've liked to act on this impulse out of spite and pettiness, in all fairness, I couldn't do it. Is Sizemore off to a pathetic start hitting .227? Yes. But the power rankings are supposed to be a reflection of the comprehensive feelings that fans have on a daily basis about the players in this city. Cleveland fans might be upset with Grady right now because he strikes out every time he comes to bat, but they still love him, they still haven't forgotten how good he can be, and he's still the second most famous athlete in Cleveland. Similarly, Victor Martinez may be on the verge of irrelevance (at least until we hear his name start popping up in trade rumors), but he's still beloved in this town and he's still hitting at an absurd .374 clip. The fact that he was moved down in the power rankings is more a reflection of the fact that fans will begin to forget about him with the Indians being so terrible, because unlike Sizemore (and rather inexplicably since Victor has twice the personality that Grady has), he doesn't have the star power to keep himself in the Cleveland conscience with the team out of it.

In addition, I had to move Varejao up right now. He's beloved, he's playing insanely good basketball, and this team is starting to build a lasting legacy for itself in this town. The same is true for Delonte who, after months of not being the same guy he was at the beginning of the season, finally appears to be back at full strength. He's playing inspired defense, picking up the scoring load when needed, and endearing himself to the Cavalier faithful. He deserves a spot in these rankings.

Falling off the list is Shaun Rogers, not because of anything he did, but because with Browns fans resigned to the fact that the Browns are going to be bad again this year, nobody is going to give a damn about the veteran players. All of the focus will be on Quinn and our sexy high-octane young rookies like Brian Robiskie and Alex Mack (shaking head).

Just missing this list: Dave Dellucci, Rafael Perez, Lorenzen Wright

That's it for now. GO CELTICS! (and if you don't get why I'm saying that, you don't know the NBA)

16 comments:

Pat O'Brien said...

Vindication!!!

Jerry said...

How did Delucci, Wright, and Perez just miss your list? I can think of at least 5 guys who should be considered before those 3. Not sure how you can rank them 11, 12, and 13?

The Ryan Gar Company said...

Jerry's list of 5 guys:

1) Adolph Hitler

2) Osama Bin Laden

3) Pol Pot

4) The BTK Killer

5) Casey Blake

Biff said...

Good comment Gar Co. I forgot that Hitler had a brief stint with the Tribe in '39 and the Cavs got Bin Laden after Kandahar bought him out in '91.

I don't remember Pol Pot or the BTN killer ever playing here though? Were they late picks by the Browns back when the NFL draft was like 100 rounds?

The Ryan Gar Company said...

Biff, I think you know both the BTK killer and Pol Pot by their formal names-- Najee Mustafaa & Rich Yett.

Hope that clears up some confusion.

Jerry said...

This post is sort of funny to me, just dont understand how you can have Delucci, Perez, and Lorenzen Wright just miss you list of top 10 These three are barely important to their teams, when was the last time you saw Wright actually play in a game for the cavs? Perez has sucked this year for the tribe and has been demoted to AAA. Delucci, well I dont need to say much about him because he is terrible.


What about guys like Wally, Joe Smith, Cliff Lee, and others should be in front of these three you mentioned just missed your list.

The Ryan Gar Company said...

Jerry,

I think that this might help...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humor

Jerry said...

Ryan G: I dont find it to be funny when you are ranking these three ahead of the likes of Smith, Wally, and Lee. Did Lee not win the Cy Young in 2008, and is pitching great again this year? what has Lorenzen Wright done this year for the cavs, Perez Era is through the roof...just dont get it how you can say that.

The Ryan Gar Company said...

Also:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

Biff said...

Well Jerry the voting for these things is very corrupt. You've got your east coast bias, your homer sportswriters, etc. You just have to take it with a grain of salt.

Jerry said...

Biff: Give me a reason why Lorenzen Wright should be considered for this list ahead of Cliff Lee?

Biff said...

He's bigger. Size ===== prominence

Jerry said...

In what year was Wright named the best at his position in his respectfull sport? Lee was the AL CY Young last year, enough said. If size is an indication than why isn't Wally on the list over Grady Sizemore? by your faulty logic that size=prominence, then Sizemore and Delonte West should be left off of the list. Wally is bigger than both of them, your responses are making no sense to me. Please clarify, thanks.

Art Brosef said...

oh man this cannot be serious

Anonymous said...

Whats next? are you going to put hank fraley on the list over Grady Sizemore, from size persepective Fraley smashes Grady. not sure if i understand this ranking logic either Jerry

Jerry said...

Biff: I researched your claim that you forgot that a player named Hitler was on the 1939 Indians, well the fact that he never was is probably the reason why you have forgotten this name. Not sure where you are getting your facts from but this is the roster that i have collected, which i believe to be true.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Cleveland_Indians_season