The Cleveland Beat

02/22/2026

The Cleveland Sports Beat
By Michael Greenland

James Harden suffered his first defeat in a Cavs uniform today. We can all pump the brakes on the "pencil the Cavs in the NBA Finals" talk today.

In the first major test for the new-look Cavaliers, an injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder team playing without reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and other key pieces ran to an early 20 point lead and held on for the win. The Cavs couldn't rebound, got outshot from deep, and weren't able to prove they're a contender against a quality opponent.

They'll get plenty of chances in the next few games. The Cavaliers have the Knicks, the Pistons twice, and the Celtics among their next five games. Matchups with the Sixers and the Magic loom right after. We've all come to realize that nothing counts until the playoffs start, but the next few weeks will tell the world where this team stands.

You can't overreact to one game, and this team still needs time to jell. Evan Mobley is still getting back into game shape. There's a lot of reasons for optimism.

Still, it's frustrating to not be able to top a champion when they're vulnerable. Things are trending in the right direction overall, but today felt an awful lot like a second-round playoff game. The Cavs couldn't get it done.

No time to dwell. More games in the spotlight are coming up this week. Let's hope the Cavs are ready to step up.

02/16/2026

Celebrate the Life and Music of Bob Marley at the Beachland Ballroom this Sunday!
Deanna Adams

The late, great Bob Marley would have been 81 years old on February 6th, and although he’s no longer on the planet, the iconic reggae singer continues to be remembered and revered since his death at age 36 in 1981.

He is called the King of Reggae for a reason. Marley, the legendary Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician spread reggae music throughout the world, becoming a global symbol of peace, love, and social justice through spiritual and political messages in his songs and sound. With his band, The Wailers, he merged customary Jamaican sounds with rock, soul, and R&B. The group crafted symbolic songs such as, "No Woman, No Cry," "One Love," and "Redemption Song."
Renowned Cleveland musician, Carlos Jones, continually spreads that same message of Peace Love and Unity he shares with his musical family, his Syndicate, thus, The P.L.U.S. Band.
Jones has been honoring Marley’s music for decades. “I fell in love with Bob’s music with his first album, [‘The Wailing Wailers’]” Carlos says. “Then I saw him live at Music Hall in '78 and that did it for me. It was such an electric, magical feeling—spiritual even—just the sound of his voice takes you to a special place. Bob Marley’s music is transcending.”

As most everyone on the North Coast knows by now, Jones began his musical career with the band, I-Tal, notably the first band to bring reggae to the North Coast in 1978. Then came First Light, which Jones led until 1998 when he formed Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band.

The guitarist/percussionist/vocalist honors the late great Marley with an annual celebration of the reggae star’s birthday [Feb. 6], which he has done now for more than 25 years. While many recall the event taking place at the Parkview Tavern, it was moved last year to the larger Beachland Ballroom venue. The fun begins at 3 pm with DJ Mark Mrazek spinning the tunes to set the mood with reggae vibes.

“I’ve known Mark first as a fan,” Jones says, “but we’ve become friends over the years, and he loves the music like we all do.”

There will also be a special performance by “Sun Shade & the Tropical Vybes Band.” If you haven’t heard yet, Sun Shade is a young Jamaican artist based out of Cleveland, who is quickly rising both nationally and internationally, so you will want to make sure to catch his energetic stage show. “Sun Shade is one of my favorite reggae singers,” Jones notes. “He has a real stage presence and will definitely get you moving.”

Then, of course, Carlos Jones and the PLUS Band will take the movement to even greater heights with its usual enthralling roots-rock-reggae set, featuring a blend of Marley tunes, along with Jones’ original music recorded through the years and available on Little Fish Records (www.littlefishrecords.com).

Jones himself looks forward to this event every year. “I want to acknowledge the music that hits you in that sweet spot and makes you feel joyful. The lyrics are elevating and all undeniably true to life. My band tries to capture that with our music because Bob’s music is unifying. The beat/music forces your body to move.”

Oh, no doubt about that. In the words of the OG member—who knew Bob Marly—83-year-old George Gordon, when asked once what I-Tal stood for, said, “It is the natural movement of the body when it hears music.”

So get your body moving and your mind in a good place and head over to the Beachland this Sunday. Doors open at 3 p.m. and the party will last until 7 p.m.. There will be Jamaican food provided by Hooper Farms, as well as Jamaican-themed merchandise for sale throughout the event.

The Beachland Ballroom is located at 15711 Waterloo Road in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland.

Get your tickets at https://www.beachlandballroom.com/shows/carlos-jones-the-p-l-u-s-band-22-feb

02/04/2026

The Cleveland Sports Beat
By Michael Greenland

The Core Four is no more.

I haven't written about the Cavaliers this season. There's been no reason to. Injuries have devastated any chance at cohesion. In a wide-open Eastern Conference, the Cavs have been an afterthought much of the year. And after the last two seasons, even if they'd have started 15-0 again, there would have been skepticism about what would happen come April.

Today, the Cavs finally shook up an underwhelming season. Their second trade of the past week was a blockbuster, because it broke up the team's supposed strength. The Cavaliers said goodbye to a 24 year old former All-Star in order to pick up a 36 year old future Hall of Famer.

Clearly, the addition of James Harden is a win-now move. This trade might look really bad in five years if Garland stays healthy and continues elevating his game. But right now, Harden is the better, and healthier, player. James Harden brings added hope of this team contending for the NBA Finals.

As lackluster as the season has been, the Cavs are still closer to the #2 seed than they are to falling into the play-in tournament. They've been playing some of their best ball without Garland.

It's possible the Cavs aren't done yet. They could move other players before tomorrow's deadline. As it is, they've already been a major player despite allegedly being hamstrung as a second-apron team, salary cap wise.

This deal is also about appeasing Donovan Mitchell, no doubt. We've been down this road before with trying to placate superstars. Mitchell is more likely to stay if the team can get further in the playoffs, and if the front office shows that they're committed to winning, no matter who needs to go.

It will be interesting to see how the season evolves from here. I'm not crazy about this trade from a long-term standpoint, but it makes sense for the 2025-26 season. You can question this franchise all you want. It's still the only team in town to take home a trophy in the last fifty years. Let's see if tonight leads to another one.

01/28/2026

The Cleveland Sports Beat
By Michael Greenland

The Cleveland Browns have a new head coach. Because it's the Browns, there was a lot of dysfunction along the way, and drama at the end.

With ten coaching vacancies this off-season, it was always going to be difficult to get the best and brightest candidates to consider an organization with decades of failure as its legacy. It's not surprising that the last three vacancies were the Browns, Cardinals, and Raiders.

Still, it's the way that the Browns seemed to be publicly humiliated along the way that stands out. Three candidates openly stated they were pulling out of the Browns search even as they continued interviewing elsewhere. At least one candidate said he had no interest in even interviewing, and another didn't go any further than an exploratory phone call by the team.

In the end, it appeared the team would either go for the risky young candidate from the successful Sean McVay coaching tree, or they'd stay in house and hire the team's beloved DC, who's been a head coach before.

Instead, they hired Todd Monken. Early indications are that Jim Schwartz has no intention of serving out the last year of his contract. How do you think Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward feel about today's developments?

It seems like an uninspiring and compromise choice. It feels like the team couldn't decide between their top options, so they punted (mmmm, punts) and took the third option.

We'll never know for sure. Maybe Monken really did rise to the top throughout the organization's much-maligned hiring process. Perhaps his essays graded higher, right?!?

It also doesn't help that the process took so long. With ten teams overhauling their entire coaching staffs, the Browns are already behind on building a staff, especially if Schwartz is out the door.

As a Browns fan, it's hard to see the national media continue to ridicule this organization throughout this process, and then scratch their heads when the decision was made. It feels like we, as fans, are set up for two or three more years of failure, and then a whole new search.

All that being said, let's be fair to Monken. He's highly regarded in NFL circles. He had success in his only previous head coaching opportunity, in the college ranks. And he's a bit of an old school, hard nosed coach who will demand accountability, which seemed to be the main deficiency of Kevin Stefanski.

The last time the Browns hired a head coach that the national media considered a home run hire, that coach went 3-36-1. We won't begin to know if the Browns were right or wrong until September comes. Let's hope Todd Monken is better than advertised.

01/25/2026

The Cleveland Sports Beat
By Michael Greenland

A common sports talk gimmick involves trying to pick a city's Mount Rushmore of sports stars. Here in Cleveland, names like LeBron James, Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Bob Feller, Jesse Owens, Jim Thome, etc., make for a lively discussion.

Today may have made Jose Ramirez the ultimate Cleveland legend.

For the second time in his illustrious career, Ramirez signed a long-term extention with the team. The seven-year deal includes reworking the last years of his current contract, but it still keeps him in Cleveland through 2032. He'll be 40 at the end of this contract. Jose has essentially chosen to be a Guardian for life.

Ramirez enters this season ranked the 5th best player in baseball by MLB.com. In a sport where free agents are signing for $60-$70 million per year, Jose was content with a mere $35 million. I'm being slightly sarcastic there, but not entirely. The hometown discount he's giving the Guardians is massive.

His case to make the Hall of Fame is hurt somewhat because he plays in Cleveland, but I think this deal changes that. I think there will be a lot of respect for an all-timer who chose to remain the face of a single franchise for his whole career.

Barring injury, he'll shatter the team's record books. What's more impressive is his commitment to an organization that hasn't always reciprocated. He's giving them financial flexibility to be able to compete, but the front office remains stingy to a fault. Yet he keeps putting this team on his back, willing them into the postseason.

He's the perfect Cleveland athlete. He doesn't look the part of an MVP candidate. He's not tall and chiseled. All he does is squeeze every ounce of talent out of his body by hustle and dedication to his craft. He's an underdog story made good, just like this town.

01/19/2026

Preview from an upcoming documentary on Cleveland's concert scene in the 70's:

This director’s select reel from the LIVE AT THE AGORA documentary features raw interview footage with legendary artists, music executives, and historians re...

01/10/2026

The Cleveland Sports Beat
By Michael Greenland

I'm glad I waited until the end of the week to comment on the firing of Kevin Stefanski. Dominoes fell over several days this week, and more openings may be coming after this week's playoff games. At this point, there's a pretty good view of the landscape, regarding both jobs available and coaching candidates.

I think it's telling that Stefanski is already near the top of the available coaching candidates league wide. I'm wondering...if Andrew Berry had also been let go, do you think he'd be a hot name in GM candidate searches? I don't. He had a good draft last year (time will tell if it was great), but he's still the guy who built a roster with the weakest WR room in the NFL. I'm not sure that a coaching change with the same front office will make a difference here.

As of today, there are eight coaching vacancies. I've looked both locally and nationally for insight on where the Browns vacancy falls on the list. Not surprisingly, most local opinion is wildly optimistic about the job, and most national pundits are extremely negative. I think it's on the far edge of the middle.

Baltimore is clearly the best opening right now. Success, stability, regular season MVP quarterback. I think tier two is the Giants and Dolphins. Franchises haven't been great lately, but there's been success. The Giants have a QB worth building around, though it's yet to be seen if he's the answer. The Dolphins have some quality on their roster.

I put the Titans and Falcons in tier three. Tennessee has Cam Ward and high draft picks this year, and Atlanta has young talent on both sides of the ball. They also both play in divisions that don't have dominant teams.

Sorry, Browns fans, but I can't put the team any higher than six on this list. Yes, there's an influx of young talent, and the defense is top-notch. But, the offense is so talent-deficient in every part that I wouldn't want to be saddled with it if I was a coach.

It doesn't help that the AFC North, despite a down year this year, is a strong division. The Steelers know how to construct a roster. Joe Burrow is throwing to Jamarr Chase. Lamar Jackson may come back even more energized under a new coach.

The biggest downfall? The Browns themselves. We may love them with the hearts of true fans, but the outside narrative is that this franchise is a dysfunctional joke. Problem is, the year by year results back up that national perception.

I'll give the team this...I don't think the job is as bad as Arizona or Vegas. I know that's a low bar, but it's something.

So no, I don't expect John Harbaugh on our sideline next year. Or Mike McDaniel. Or Sean McDermott or Mike Tomlin if they become available.

Andrew Berry said on Monday that the organization is looking for "the next Kevin Stefanski". I wish they'd aim a little higher, but at least Kevin was solid. His statement makes me believe the team is looking for another first-time head coach who's currently a coordinator. I think Berry understands he's going to have to take who's available, because the team won't get its first choice.

It's going to be an interesting January sorting this all out. We'll see next fall if it was a productive search.

01/04/2026

The Cleveland Sports Beat
Browns Recap Game #17
By Michael Greenland

The 2025 Browns season ended in surprisingly entertaining fashion. The defense scored two touchdowns, Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record, Shedeur Sanders led his first game-winning drive, and Andre Szmyt atoned for his one bad game by beating the Bengals on the last play of the season.

Not much to break down from this game. The undermanned defense was solid until they gave up a late touchdown, the equally undermanned offense showed nothing for the first 58 minutes, and the special teams actually had a big hand in winning the game. Szmyt hit every kick, including two long extra point attempts, Alex Wright blocked an extra point, and Grant Delpit broke up a two-point conversion attempt.

What matters now is tomorrow. It's likely that Kevin Stefanski will be gone. I don't think he'll be fired. I think it'll be a mutual agreement. The organization is ready to move on, and Stefanski is ready to find a new challenge elsewhere. Whether Andrew Berry will be around to pick the next coach is a big question.

The win will keep the Browns out of the top 5 in the NFL Draft. Still, they'll have three picks in the top 40. They had a very productive draft this year. They need to do the same in May to become competitive again.

The team had a two-win improvement over last year, but it doesn't feel like it. They certainly don't appear to be any better than they were last year on the field. The biggest hope is that the rookies from this year continue improving and become the core of a winning culture.

The 2026 Cleveland Browns are sure to have a different identity than this year's team did. Time will tell if it's an improvement.

12/28/2025

The Cleveland Sports Beat
Browns Recap Game #16
By Michael Greenland

The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by a final score of 13-6 today, and looked like the better team doing it.

I don't want to hear excuses from Steeler fans about who wasn't playing. Lord knows the Browns are severely undermanned these days. Welcome to our world.

I don't want to hear weeping from Browns fans about hurting their draft position by winning. If they were in clear position for the #1 overall pick, I'd at least give you a little break. But when you can deny your most hated rival a playoff spot while thousands of their fans sit in horrible weather after overpaying for tickets, you make the most of the opportunity.

Shedeur Sanders did what Aaron Rodgers couldn't. Yes, Rodgers was without his top two receivers, but Sanders was without David Njoku, Quinshon Judkins, and for most of the game Harold Fannin Jr.. Sanders carved the Steeler defense for much of the first half before falling back into regrettable rookie mistakes later in the game. Meanwhile, Rodgers had one good minute on the field, and it was almost enough. But not quite, Steeler fans.

Myles Garrett didn't set the sack record today. Still, he clearly affected the outcome of this game. The Steelers overloaded on stopping Garrett, which gave Alex Wright the opportunity to shine. And once again, Tyson Campbell showed that the Browns made a wise move in trading for him during the season. Carson Schwesinger showed up through the pain. The defense allowed their lowest point total of the season.

And look at that...the special teams showed up today. I've been critical of the unit, but clearly Andre Szmyt has had a great season after his early struggles. Also, Corey Bojorquez unleashed one of the most pivotal plays of the day when he boomed a 64 yard punt late in the game that pinned the Steelers deep in their own territory.

This was a team win. Even the beleaguered Jerry Jeudy moved the chains for the offense. Everyone contributed.

The score looks ugly, and it's indicative of all the missing talent on both sides. Yet, it looked like typical, hard-nosed AFC North football on the field.

And oh yeah...the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by a final score of 13-6 today, and looked like the better team doing it. Savor that, Browns fans. Only to Cincinnati.

12/24/2025

Ahh - Glory Days (gone by)...https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17mW4LEChz/

12/21/2025

The Cleveland Sports Beat
Browns Recap Game #15
By Michael Greenland

The beleaguered Browns showed a little fight today. Things didn't break their way, but Buffalo left some chances on the field too. In the end, a fairly even game ended with the Bills slinking out of town with a 23-20 victory.

The defense had a tale of two halves. They had no answer for the Bills running game in the first half, and it looked like a rout might be on. They toughened up considerably in the second half and kept things respectable. Myles Garrett only had half a sack today, but it's clear he's still affecting the outcomes of games because teams are scheming their entire offenses to negate him.

The offense continues to look like it's led by a bunch of rookies. They'll do some really ugly things, and then turn around and make positive plays that defy descrpition. It's becoming more likely each week that the Browns will use their bevy of early draft picks next year to shore up the many holes on the roster, and wait on taking the big swing at a QB. Shedeur Sanders isn't close to a franchise quarterback, but he does enough really good things to make you wonder how he'd fare with an off-season to prepare and a head coach who believes in him. This week Shedeur showed restraint, often taking what the defense gave him instead of forcing big plays. He took some big losses, but showed maturity.

I didn't see the injury to Quinshon Judkins, and I don't want to. It's unfortunate his season ended this way. Still, his replacements showed some potential. With the likelihood that Judkins may not be ready even next season, this is an opportunity for young players to show what they can do.

The team showed fight this week, unlike last week. We'll see if that carries over to next week. A good, but hardly great, Steelers team (and their fan base, no doubt) rolls into town next Sunday. It would be fun to be a roadblock to their postseason hopes.

12/15/2025

https://www.clevescene.com/music/local-music/upcoming-neo-rewind-series-to-explore-clevelands-rock-and-punk-legacy/

Last year, local musician/Bowieologist Thomas Mulready presented a series of multi-media lectures that focused on the times David Bowie played Cleveland. Mulready didn’t see Bowie’s first show here in 1972 or the second one that came at the end of the tour. He did, however, see Bowie play Public...