The Cleveland Beat

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.

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

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.

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

Upcoming NEO Rewind Series to Explore Cleveland's Rock and Punk Legacy - Cleveland Scene 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...