Fan Blog: Player Profile - Kyrie Irving

This week's blog focus is on the Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Kyrie Irving. I thought this would be a fitting topic since Irving recorded his first career game-winning basket on Sunday against the Boston Celtics. The most impressive thing about that play wasn't the shot at all but rather his ball handling ability to keep the play alive. We haven't seen that kind of ball handling skills under pressure from a Cavalier since Mark Price in the 90's. Kyrie Irvings last second bucket the other night capped an incredible road comeback and hopefully was the first of many game winning shots in Irvings career.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving   #2

Position: Point Guard

College: Duke University

Height: 6'3''

Weight: 191 lb

Age: 19

Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia

Kyrie Irving has definitely made his impact so far on the Cavs season, averaging 17.9 points per game, 4.8 assists per game, and 3.4 rebounds per game. It is obvious that he is continuing to learn the game at this level but he couldn't be doing so under a better coach. Byron Scott has had great success grooming point guards such as Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, and Chris Paul. If Irving ends up having a career like one of them I think it's safe to say he will be a household name in Cleveland before long. 

Fan Blog: Winning vs. Draft

As the NBA lockout drug on this fall I found myself growing more and more impatient for the start of this season. After the Cleveland Cavaliers chose Kyrie Irving number one overall and Tristan Thompson number three, I couldn't wait to see what these two players had to display on the professional level. Neither was portrayed as a kind of "superstar" prospect like recent lottery picks such as Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, or Lebron James. Tristan Thompson in particular seemed to be sort of a controversial pick at the time - many analysts believed it was a stretch to take him at number three with so much other talent still left to be taken.

source: msn.foxsports.com

Now with a month of the season in the books, I think these two picks were the best possible for the organization. Irving is currently leading all rookies in scoring and second in assists all while sharing significant minutes at point guard with Ramon Sessions and Daniel Gibson. The addition of Tristan Thompson has been something that has ignited our defense, and it is already very noticeable that his athleticism will cause opposing big men fits in the years to come. Given the depth the Cavs have at the power forward position he is currently splitting his minutes with several players, but with the aging Antawn Jamison and trade rumors swirling around Anderson Varejao, it is just a matter of time before Thompson becomes a major asset in Cleveland's rebuilding efforts.


This season has myself as well as many other Cavs fans really asking ourselves what we are looking for out of this season. It is obvious we are a better team than last year, but is that necessarily a good thing? With this summers upcoming draft class being touted as one of the best classes in the last twenty years, I can't help but wish for a high pick. Obviously the downside to a high pick is you need to have a bad record. Since playoffs aren't even creeping into any Cavs fan's minds this season, it actually makes a fair amount of sense to actually root for the draft in order to gain another huge building block for the future. However, that does not mean while watching my beloved Cavaliers this season I root for the opponent. This year can still be a success by gaining valuable experience for all of our young players while winning a few games in the process. In sum, I think it is fair to say my agenda for this Cavs season is to get a top five pick, stay healthy, have Kyrie Irving win Rookie of the Year, and have Lebron choke in the NBA Finals to an underdog Western Conference team. Given the expectations going into this season, I think that is all any Cavs fan can root for!

Fan Blog Spot

I believe creating a Fan Blog Spot has several benefits pertaining to this course as well as to professional sports blogging. For starters, I believe it gives us students a different perspective of writing - at least for myself. I am so used to writing in a scholarly fashion where I am expected to be very proper and thorough while blogs are far more casual. Because of that I feel as though they are much easier to write. I also actually enjoy writing about sports because it is something I am extremely interested in.


On the other hand, I think a fan blog can be beneficial for the reader as well. Many times when reading sports articles and magazines published by professionals I feel like I'm not getting the type of answers I'm looking for. A fan blog such as this would provide an interesting perspective of sports organizations through the eyes of a fan rather than, for example, the beat writer for the team.


If I was hired by a team to blog about their organization there are tons of things I would like to write about. I would write about events and issues relevant to the team, upgrades to the venue they play in, do player or coach profiles, focus on weekly or monthly success, write about a specific game from the past or present, or even talk about potential issues with the league or team they play in. I think any of these issues would get readers interested in what I had to say. I think the feedback you would receive as a professional sports blogger would be very rewarding.

My Sports Autobiography

Growing up in a household where Cleveland sports debacles left our household a gloomy place to be and where our beloved Buckeyes were king, I was thrust into sports at a young age. I've been an avid sports fan since I can remember and I can honestly say I'm probably one of the most passionate sports fans I know. I started playing baseball in the first grade and I stuck with that all the way until senior year in high school. Experiencing moderate success in the sport over the years definitely brought out my competitive side. I went to a small private elementary school and later a small high school in rural Ohio so my passion for playing sports was in large part due to the comradery I had with my teammates and friends. In third grade I started running track, mainly competing in high jump and long distance running. Track was never my cup of tea but I stuck with it until eighth grade to keep active and to give me something more to do during the spring. Once I hit the fifth grade I took up basketball which was a great idea at the time seeing that I was a good foot taller than all the other kids. From that moment forward I realized that basketball was definitely my favorite sport to play. I also continued to play this until senior year despite the mediocrity of the teams that I played on. I had a short run at football during my first two years in high school but decided to focus on baseball and basketball. Like I mentioned previously, I was fortunate enough to enjoy some great team success in baseball during my four year high school career. We won our conference championship and were ranked as high as third in the state until we got knocked off in the playoffs to the eventual state champs. Unfortunately, the only thing I got from basketball outside from great times with great friends was two broken noses and the school record for 3 point percentage in a career. (I may or may not have been a career 1 for 1)


Outside of playing sports I am a long-time and passionate fan of Cleveland sports teams. I've witnessed many heartbreaking games and seasons between the Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers, but I find myself becoming a bigger fan of each the more the anticipation for a championship grows. Along with them I am also a huge Ohio State Buckeyes basketball and football fan. I've also recently started getting into the NHL and enjoy watching the Minnesota Wild and for some reason the consistently terrible Columbus Blue Jackets. I try to go to any of these teams sporting events any chance I get, and my dad and I were even season ticket holders for the Cleveland Cavs for two seasons (2009-2011). My dream job would really be to work in the marketing department of one of the organizations that I just mentioned. I cannot think of a better suited job  for me than to work for a club that I am that passionate about. That is in part why I am taking this course. I believe that this class can give me a good insight to the writing and promotional tools I could potentially put into effect along with my marketing major to someday be an asset to an organization.