I'll be the first to say that I am very surprised by the Cavs recent play and surge in the Eastern Conference standings. I attribute the success to myself not criticizing their play in the last month. That and the play of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and of course LeBron James. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I actually saw more than three different offensive plays out of the Cavs last night.

I've had a few people comment on and ask about the Swope Blog logo since it went up a month or so ago. I wish I could take the credit, but I'm pretty confident that my Illustrator work just isn't up to par with the rest of society's graphic designers.

The logo was actually created by Adam Garcia. Adam is a colleague of mine and professional graphic designer. The image below of the Phoenix Suns' Gorilla mascot is an original illustration of Adam's and recently won a contest promoted by the Suns. This piece will be the cover artwork on a Suns Game Day Program late next month around playoff time.

The one time I think I have an original idea and it takes me only two minutes to realize I'm late to the scene yet again. The college bowl season has ended and BCS talk is still a hot topic, with everyone from coaches, school presidents and athletic directors to the media throwing out their thoughts on what a perfect system would look like.

Quick reminder for the media: Carie Underwood broke it off with Tony Romo because football, yes football, was all he cared about. Underwood said he spent too much time worrying about football and simply didn't have time for her.

For the first time since the creation of the BCS, the BCS Selection Show had it's time to shine and blew it in a quick, uneventful half-hour show full of commercials and zero commentary.

With the Charlotte Bobcats and Anderson Varejao coming to terms on a 3-year deal that is reportedly in the $17MM range, I am going against my previous posts and saying it is now time for the Cavs to sign Varejao.

With the many, many flaws of the BCS scoring system, the one that really sticks out to me is how much the human element is taken into account with the polling formula. And, as we see year after year, when it comes to human rankings, it does not matter if you lose a game, it matters when you lose a game.

I'm not one to root for a player to get injured or one to applaud an injury when it happens. But, with the news Friday that Larry Hughes will be out of the Cavs line-up for at least four weeks, I had to crack a smile.

Congratulations to the Arizona Republic newspaper this morning. The two biggest sports events in the state, Arizona Wildcats hosting the #2 Oregon Ducks and Phoenix Suns hosting the Chicago Bulls, had zero coverage in the paper this morning because the games finished too late.

I take a lot of flack for my constant abuse of Arizona sports fans and finally I have a qualified, recognizable name that is in agreement with me. Phoenix Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni came out strong against Suns fans for their lack of enthusiasm at home games following the Suns victory last night over the Knicks.

The city of Sarasota, Florida recently voted down a measure that would have brought much needed renovations to the home of the Cincinnati Reds Spring Training facility. With the outcome of this vote, look for the inevitable to happen, a Red move to always sunny Arizona and the Cactus League.

Congratulations to Ron Zook and Illinois. Out coached, outplayed and Ohio State goes and proves everyone outside of Ohio correct. Ohio State's defense got pushed around more than Bonnie Bernstein during the post game raucous.

1. ESPN2 will lead all cable channels in sports ratings tonight. Why? Akron U football is center stage.

2. America's number one sports channel could use a better college football analyst than The Bachelor.

3. I'm eating my words #1 - The Cavs are hurting and need some help. I love the win at Golden State last night, but tonight's game at Utah can tell a lot. Back-to-back road west coast games. Tough way to start season.

With my Cavs coming into the desert only one time a year, my wife and I decided to pony up the money for some nice mid-court seats at US Airways Arena last night. From what we had heard, this is where the true sports fans of Arizona exist. Well, once again, Arizona sports fans failed to deliver.

I have yet to read one NBA forecast that has the Cavs returning to the NBA finals this season. In fact, some outlets have them as the 5th best team in the East. Everyone seems to be jumping on the Leprechaun train. And I mean everyone. Is the media not the most predictable industry in the world?