This is the January 18, 2013 news archive. View today's Cleveland Sports news and rumors.

Cleveland Sports News and Rumors

Ray Horton hired as defensive coordinator: Cleveland Browns Insider

Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com

The former coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals, who interviewed with three teams for head-coaching positions, says he's excited by the talent on the Browns' roster.

Tom Reed, cleveland.com

The candid NFL Network analyst who criticized, among others, Brandon Weeden and Josh Gordon, displayed much more restraint on Friday when asked about those players.

David I. Andersen, cleveland.com

Plain Dealer Cleveland Browns beat writers Mary Kay Cabot and Tom Reed talk about the naming of Mike Lombardi as Vice President, Player Personnel and Norv Turner as offensive coordinator.

Jordan Bastian, MLB.com

Indians manager Terry Francona said he feels the controversial excerpt painted a misleading portrait of the book, "Francona: The Red Sox Years," which was co-written by the Boston Globe's Dan Shaugnessy and is due to hit shelves on Tuesday.

Iam Thomsen, CNNSI.com

The Suns came to terms Friday with coach Alvin Gentry on his midseason departure. A friend of Gentry's said the coach had anticipated he would be fired at the end of the season, which is shaping up to be the Suns' worst since they went 16-66 in their ex…

CNNSI.com

The Suns and Alvin Gentry have parted ways, making Gentry the fourth coach fired this season. Things were dismal in Phoenix, but Gentry was hardly to blame, says Ian Thomsen.

Andrew Greif, dimemag.com

If you pluck the following quote out of context, you’d have a hard time telling if the story was about state-sponsored torture or team-sponsored injury prevention: “They’re putting you in a room that’s, like, minus 180. So your mind is telling you…

Glenn Moore, cleveland.com

Here are what blogs from Cleveland and around the country are saying about the Browns, Cavaliers and Indians.

theclevelandfan.com

So far, the Mid-American Conference basketball season is shaking out the way it was expected to. The East Division, featuring Akron, Ohio, and Kent State is a three-horse race, while the West Division is up in the air. The Zips currently hold the top sp…

Glenn Moore, cleveland.com

Mike Lombardi knew he was going to met with resistance from fans and media. But he hopes to have a fresh start. Local media members react to the hire on Twitter.

Mike Florio, profootballtalk.com

On Friday, a feud suddenly emerged between Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and former Eagles president (and current Browns CEO) Joe Banner.  Lurie believes Banner has been criticizing Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman, and Banner denies it. The strangest aspect of t…

Lynn Zinser, nytimes.com

Eight N.F.L. teams hired coaches in the past few weeks. Not a single hire was African-American.

CNNSI.com

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox have agreed to one-year contracts with second baseman Gordon Beckham and outfielder Alejandro De Aza to avoid arbitration.

Mark Naymik, cleveland.com

How will naming rights be good for the stadium itself -- and for the taxpayers who are on the hook for caring for it?

Zack Meisel and Jordan Bastian, MLB.com

The Indians sidestepped arbitration with Chris Perez and Joe Smith, signing both relievers to one-year pacts on Friday. Perez will earn $7.3 million for the 2013 campaign and Smith will merit $3.15 million, a source confirmed to MLB.com.

Don Banks, CNNSI.com

The Baltimore Ravens have worked hard and admirably persevered through multiple challenges this season to get back to the same position they were in last year: playing at New England in the AFC Championship game. But history says the chances of the outc…

Barry Petchesky, deadspin.com

On Monday, CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora did a hatchet job on Eagles GM Howie Roseman. He wrote that Roseman was "drunk with power" and "woefully out of his depth," and to add the sheen of authority, La Canfora cloaked it in "a g…

Bud Shaw, cleveland.com

Mike Lombardi's resume bothers me, along with the process that brought him here.

Terry Pluto, cleveland.com

I'm giving Mike Lombardi a fresh start and a chance to prove me wrong.

Branson Wright, cleveland.com

Former Ohio State tight end Ben Hartsock praises new Browns coach Rob Chudzinski.