Winning the fan voting is probably out of the question for Jason Kipnis, but he could still make team based on a vote by players and All-Star managers.

Chuck Crow, The Plain DealerSecond baseman Jason Kipnis moved into fourth place among AL second baseman in All-Star votes.

HOUSTON, Texas -- Manager Manny Acta says Jason Kipnis deserves to be an All-Star. From the voters' point of view, at least he's on the board.

In the latest release of All-Star votes, Kipnis ranks fourth among AL second basemen with 615,409 votes. Ian Kinsler leads with 2,580,000 votes followed closely by New York's Robinson Cano. Boston's Dustin Pedroia is a distant third.

Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is the only other Indian to place in the top five. Cabrera ranks fourth with 789,069 votes. The top three spots belong to New York's Derek Jeter at 3,359,875, Elvis Andrus of the Rangers at 2,008,678 and Baltimore's J.J. Hardy at 968,963.

Cabrera started at short for the AL in last year's game when Jeter couldn't play because of injury.

Kipnis is hitting .276 (75-for-272) with 46 runs, six doubles, three triples, 11 homers and 41 RBI. He's stolen 17 bases in 18 attempts.

While Kipnis won't win the fan vote, there's still a chance he could make it. Fans select the starting lineups. The pitchers and reserves for the AL and NL -- 25 for the NL and 24 for the AL -- will be picked nbsp;through a combination of players and selections by managers Ron Washington and the retired Tony La Russa.

La Russa's St. Louis Cardinals beat Washington's Texas Rangers in the World Series last year.

The All-Star Game will be played July 20 at Kauffman Stadium. The AL and NL teams will be announced on July 1 on TBS.

Friday was the last day fans could cast votes at the ballpark. Fans can continue voting on line at MLB.com until 11:59 p.m. on June 28.

Tonight's lineups:

Indians (36-32): RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), 2B Jason Kipnis (L), C Carlos Santana (S), CF Michael Brantley (L), LF Johnny Damon (L), 1B Casey Kotchman (L), 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (L), RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (6-5, 5.00).

Astros (28-41): 2B Jose Altuve (R), CF Jordan Schafer (L), SS Jed Lowrie (S), 1B Carlos Lee (R), LF J.D. Martinez (R), RF Brian Bogusevic (L), 3B Chris Johnson (R), C Chris Snyder (R), RHP Lucas Harrell (6-5, 5.07).

Umpires: H Phil Cuzzi, 1B Manny Gonzalez, 2B Jordan Baker, 3B Gerry Davis, crew chief.

Indians vs. Harrell: Johnny Damon is 1-for-5 against Harrell.

Astros vs. Jimenez: Snyder is 2-for-9 with one RBI against Jimenez.

Next: RHP Jeanmar Gomez (4-6, 4.96) will face LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 1.80) at 4:05 p.m. ET Saturday. STO/WKCY/WTAM will carry the game.

Never mind the lockout-stained season and Miami's dodging of the injury-riddled Chicago Bulls, the national press is going bonkers for James and the Heat.

Associated PressLeBron James going to the basket for a dunk during the Miami Heat's title-clinching 121-106 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.

In the end, James didn't need a performance for the ages to get it. His greatness has been on display so thoroughly and consistently in this postseason and Finals that 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds seemed ordinary. It was a mature, controlled exertion of his vast basketball arsenal -- a crowning achievement for King James.

"It was definitely a journey," James said. "Everything that went along with me being a high school prodigy, when I was 16 and on the cover of Sports Illustrated, to being drafted and having to be the face of the franchise -- everything that came with it -- I had to deal with [it] and I had to learn through it. ... I'm happy now that eight years later, nine years after I was drafted, that I can finally say that I'm a champion. And I did it the right way. I didn't shortcut anything."

Manny Acta signed with the Astros when he was 17 and learned the art of managing in their minor league system.

View full sizeChuck Crow, The Plain DealerHis baseball career nurtured in the Houston farm system, Manny Acta was pleased to be facing his old organization Friday. "Nothing would have been possible if they didn't take a chance with me," he said before the opener of the Astros series. "It will always be special for me to come here."

HOUSTON -- The Washington Nationals fired Manny Acta as manager in July of 2009. Three months later the Indians and Astros were bidding for his services.

The Indians were the more stable club. The Astros were Acta's dream job. Eric Wedge had just been fired after a seven-year run in Cleveland. Seven years is a lifetime for a big-league manager. The front office and ownership were entrenched.

The Astros were the team Acta grew up cheering for in the Dominican Republic. He signed his first professional contract with them at 17. He played six years in their minor-league system. He managed another seven years in the farm system.

In the end, Acta picked the Indians. The Astros had four different managers from 2003-09. They were facing a major rebuilding job, the farm system was weak and there were rumors the team was about to be sold. Professionally, Acta didn't feel it would be a wise move to go from a tough rebuilding situation in Washington to another difficult one in Houston.

In his heart, however, he can never thank the Astros enough.

"Everything I have and I am I owe it to them," said Acta before Friday's game. "They were the ones who gave me the opportunity to not only play professional baseball, but to make me a coach and to allow me to manage in the minor leagues. Nothing would have been possible if they didn't take a chance with me.

"It will always be special for me to come here."

Acta is from San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican. The Astros had a baseball academy there when he was young.

"Back in those days, you could only listen to the games on the radio," said Acta. "Maybe once a week or month, there would be a game on TV. The Astros had Latin players on their team and back home they would only show the teams where our players were playing.

"I grew up idolizing Cesar Cedeno, Joaquin Andujar, Luis Pujols, Rafael Landestoy and Dickie Thon."

There are other links between Acta and the Astros. "I'm a very colorful guy," said Acta, with a smile. "I loved their rainbow uniforms. And I wore them when I signed, too. Back then, that was pretty cool.

"I've still got my first uniform pants I wore. A couple of years ago one of their minor-league clubhouse managers found an old pair in storage and gave them to me. They're from rookie ball."

In a quirk of timing, the Astros wore the rainbow uniform Friday night as part of a Turn Back the Clock promotion.

"A guy from my neighborhood signed with the Astros before me," said Acta. "He came back from the states after his first year and gave me my first pair of spikes. There are a lot of ties."

The Astros will move to the American League next year after 50 years in the National League. "I know it's not going to be easy for the fans," said Acta. "The NL has been here for so long. It's going to take a while for the fans to get used to it."

Easy does it: The next step on Travis Hafner's return from right knee surgery is running the bases.

"Pretty soon he'll start running the bases," said Acta. "That's the next step. He'll have to do it a couple of times. If he does OK with that, and the other base-running drills, he'll go out on a rehab assignment.

"We hope it's sometime during this road trip."

Versatility: Center fielder Michael Brantley has hit in six of the nine lineup spots this year. The breakdown goes like this: First (21 games), second (three), third (one), fifth (19), sixth (11) and seventh (10).

Acta said Brantley doesn't let where he's hitting in the lineup affect him.

"He knows his job is to have another quality at-bat," he said. "For some reason some guys fall into that trap of letting themselves think about where they hit. ... Michael has been hitting fifth or sixth for quite a while. You don't see him try to overswing or hit home runs. He's a guy that I trust in our lineup anywhere."

Finally: Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, a former Astro, threw out the first pitch Friday. Morgan was inducted into the Astros' Walk of Fame earlier in the day. ... Dave Clark, a former No. 1 pick with the Indians, is coaching third base for the Astros.

On Twitter: @hoynsie

Eaton set world decathlon records in the 100 meters and long jump in a chilly rain at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials.

View full sizeDean Rutz, Seattle TimesAshton Eaton reacts to setting a new world record in the decathlon's 100 meters during Friday's opening day of competition at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Summer began with basketball's "King" getting his ring, but don't get too carried away with crowning LeBron James the world's greatest athlete until the summer is over. Ashton Eaton has had something more to say on the subject.

Who is Ashton Eaton and what team does he play for? He's a decathlete -- the guys who compete in 10 track and field events over two days -- and that used to be a big deal in America when Bruce Jenner and Rafer Johnson (ask your grandfather) were celebrated as the world's greatest after they won Olympic decathlons.

Eaton is a 24-year-old, multi-event phenom who in his first two events, 100 meters and long jump, set world decathlon records in a chilly rain at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials. Eaton ran the 100 in 10.21 seconds, and landed an even 27 feet on his home track, Oregon's Hayward Field.

Through five events, including the shot put, high jump and 400, he has 4,728 points and leads two-time world champ Trey Hardee (4,406 points) and 2008 Olympic champ Bryan Clay (4,252 points). The 110 hurdles, discus, javelin and 1,500 are Saturday.

Midway through Friday's competition, the 100th anniversary of the modern decathlon was celebrated with a lap around the track by the U.S. Olympic champs, including Jenner, Clay, Johnson, Milt Campbell, Dan O'Brien, Bill Toomey and the sons of Jim Thorpe.

O'Brien said there's no doubt who is the greatest athlete. "I love that other guys in other sports can debate about it, but it belongs to the Olympic champion in the decathlon," he said.

Hurdle madness: There's a saying among the women hurdlers that if the U.S. Olympic track team is the toughest in the world to make, the 100 hurdles is the toughest event on the toughest team.

"If there's the slightest mistake, that will make the difference," said Ohio State's Christina Manning, who early in the season had the best time in the country (12.62). "All of us are running times that are very, very close to each other. The top eight or nine are really close.

"It's going to have to be as close to perfect as possible [to win], and I don't think any hurdler every believes they have run a perfect race."

In addition to Manning, the field features defending national champ Kellie Wells (12.50 PR), 2008 gold-medal favorite Lolo Jones (12.43), who crashed in Beijing, 2008 gold medalist Dawn Harper (12.47), two-time world champ Michelle Perry (12.43) and Christi Castlin (12.56).

"In 2008, 12.5 didn't make the team. That was sixth," Wells said. "That doesn't happen anywhere else in the world."

Glowing: Euclid's Jessica Beard said the matching orange and lavander top and bottom she and Francena McCorory wore were the idea of their sponsor, Adidas.

"I really like it. It makes us stand out. It puts the girly-girl in it, but at the same time, we're about business," Beard said.

Ohioans in Oregon: In addition to those who advanced from Friday's prelims, notable Ohioans scheduled to compete Saturday are Lake Erie College's Jamil Dudley and Toledo native Erik Kynard of Kansas in the high jump prelims. In the shot put's first round are Burton native and Ohio State grad Dan Taylor, Ashland University's Kurt Roberts and Avon Lake native Matt DeChant of Ohio State.

On Twitter: @TimsTakePD

Sandusky, 68, shows little emotion as the verdict was read, and the former defensive coordinator could be sentenced to life in prison.

View full sizeNabil K. Mark, Centre Daily Times via MCTJerry Sandusky is escorted from the courthouse in handcuffs Friday night after being found guilty in his sexual-abuse trial at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Jerry Sandusky was convicted Friday of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years, accusations that shattered the Happy Valley image of Penn State football and led to the firing of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno.

Sandusky, a 68-year-old retired defensive coach who was once Paterno's heir apparent, was found guilty of 45 of 48 counts.

Sandusky showed little emotion as the verdict was read. The judge ordered him to be taken to the county jail to await sentencing in about three months. Many of the charges carry mandatory minimum sentences and Sandusky is certain to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The judge revoked Sandusky's bail. In court, Sandusky half-waved toward family as the sheriff led him away. Outside, he calmly walked to a sheriff's car with his hands cuffed in front of him.

The accuser known in court papers as Victim 6 broke down in tears upon hearing the verdicts in the courtroom. Afterward, a prosecutor embraced him and said, "Did I ever lie to you?"

The man, now 25, testified that Sandusky called himself the "tickle monster" in a shower assault. He declined to comment to a reporter afterward.

His mother said: "Nobody wins. We've all lost."

Almost immediately after the judge adjourned, loud cheers could be heard from a couple of hundred people gathered outside the courthouse as word quickly spread that Sandusky had been convicted. The crowd included victims advocates and local residents with their kids. Many held up their smartphones to take pictures as people filtered out of the building.

As Sandusky was placed in the cruiser to be taken to jail, someone yelled at him to "rot in hell." Others hurled insults and he shook his head no in response.

Defense attorney Joe Amendola was interrupted by cheers from the crowd on courthouse steps when he said, "The sentence that Jerry will receive will be a life sentence."

Eight young men testified in a central Pennsylvania courtroom about a range of abuse, from kissing and massages to groping, oral sex and anal rape. For two other alleged victims, prosecutors relied on testimony from a university janitor and then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, whose account of a sexual encounter between Sandusky and a boy of about 10 ultimately led to the Paterno's dismissal and the university president's ouster.

Sandusky did not take the stand in his own defense.

After the verdict was announced, defense attorney Karl Rominger said it was "a tough case" with a lot of charges and that an appeal was certain. He said the defense team "didn't exactly have a lot of time to prepare."

Amendola said: "The jury acted in good faith. The jury acted on the evidence presented to it. We had a good jury."

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly thanked the accusers who testified, calling them "brave men."

She said she hoped the verdict "helps these victims heal ... and helps other victims of abuse to come forward."

She said: "One of the recurring themes in this case was, 'Who would believe a kid?' The answer is 'We here in Bellefonte, Pa., would believe a kid.'"

The ex-coach had repeatedly denied the allegations, and his defense suggested that his accusers had a financial motive to make up stories, years after the fact. His attorney also painted Sandusky as the victim of overzealous police investigators who coached the alleged victims into giving accusatory statements.

But jurors believed the testimony that, in the words of lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III, Sandusky was a "predatory pedophile."

One accuser testified that Sandusky molested him in the locker-room showers and in hotels while trying to ensure his silence with gifts and trips to bowl games. He also said Sandusky had sent him "creepy love letters."

Another spoke of forced oral sex and instances of rape in the basement of Sandusky's home, including abuse that left him bleeding. He said he once tried to scream for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but figured the basement must be soundproof.

Another, a foster child, said Sandusky warned that he would never see his family again if he ever told anyone what happened.

And just hours after the case went to jurors, lawyers for one of Sandusky's six adopted children, Matt, said he had told authorities that his father abused him.

Matt Sandusky had been prepared to testify on behalf of prosecutors, the statement said. The lawyers said they arranged for Matt Sandusky to meet with law enforcement officials but did not explain why he didn't testify.

"This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy," the statement said. It didn't go into details about his allegations.

Defense witnesses, including Jerry Sandusky's wife, Dottie, described his philanthropic work with children over the years, and many spoke in positive terms about his reputation in the community. Prosecutors had portrayed those efforts as an effective means by which Sandusky could camouflage his molestation as he targeted boys who were the same age as participants in The Second Mile, a charity he founded in the 1970s for at-risk youth.

Sandusky's arrest in November led the Penn State trustees to fire Paterno as head coach, saying he exhibited a lack of leadership after fielding a report from McQueary. The scandal also led to the ouster of university president Graham Spanier, and criminal charges against two university administrators for failing to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury.

The two administrators, athletic director Tim Curley and now-retired vice president Gary Schultz, are fighting the allegations and await trial.

Sandusky had initially faced 52 counts of sex abuse. The judge dropped four counts during the trial, saying two were unproven, one was brought under a statute that didn't apply and another was duplicative.

Genaro C. Armas and Mark Scolforo, Associated Press Reporters

John Adams grad leads the first 650 meters in his heat, but finishes last. "It kinda got away from me," he said.

View full sizeMatt Slocum, Associated PressAkron's Willie Brown led the field well into the second lap of Friday's 800-meter preliminary race before tiring and failing to reach the finals.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Steve Prefontaine might have cheered Clevelander Willie Brown. No one went out harder in a race than "Pre."

Friday at the U.S. Olympic Trials, no one went out harder in the 800-meter prelims than Brown, a John Adams graduate and Akron junior. But Brown couldn't finish it. Of course, he's not Prefontaine, the Olympic champ who cut his teeth on this Hayward Field track and died young 37 years ago.

Brown gave it his all from the gun. He led the first 650 meters. He led four-time U.S. champ Nick Symmonds, the runner Brown most admires and most wanted to race.

"I got my wish," Brown said. "[Symmonds] gave me what I was looking for."

Symmonds blew by Brown on the last curve. So, eventually, did every other runner as Brown blew a tire, a gasket, his transmission, and moments later in the media mixed zone, blew his lunch. He finished dead last in 1:51.33, almost six seconds off the time he ran last year that qualified him for the trials.

"I knew I had to get out in front. I really didn't expect to lead it, but nobody took it out. I said, 'Hey, why not, man?'" Brown said. "I felt good through the first 400. [Symmonds] is one of the best athletes in the world. I knew he was coming eventually. When he passed me, I'm like, 'Can I hang on? Can I stay with him?'

"I tried to hold on. I just kind of tightened up. It kind of got away from me. I know I can do much better. I know I got it in me."

• Decathlete Ashton Eaton blisters field Friday: Insider

Brown was thrilled to run in Hayward Field, but far from content. It was not lost on him that he is the only runner here Cleveland. He grew emotional talking about it.

"A lot of people don't make it from the Senate," he said. "I got a lot of support from back home. I know this was a true blessing, but I don't want to be satisfied with just being here. I want to excel."

Symmonds won the heat (1:46.94) and qualified third overall for Saturday's semifinals.

In the women's 800, Maggie Infeld, a South Euclid native and Beaumont grad, is focusing on the 1,500 next week, but turned in a solid first-round (2:03.53) and advanced to Saturday's semifinals. Mentor resident and Gilmour grad Bekka Simko got caught in traffic in her heat, placed seventh (2:07.53) and did not advance.

Elyria's Tianna Madison was the top qualifier in the 100 (11.10) and Akron's LaShauntea Moore also advanced (11.37).

Euclid's Jessica Beard has not run the 400 often this year, and has not run particularly well, but looked strong in the last 150 meters of her heat, placed second (51.11) and advanced.

"I've never run a first round this fast," she said.

Ohio State's Christina Manning (12.77) advanced in the 100 hurdles, as did Mike Hartfield (25-2 1/2) in the long jump.

In the women's 10,000 meters final, Willoughby native Katie McGregor, one of the most decorated American women's distance runners in recent years, failed in her third bid to make the Olympic team. She faded badly just before the halfway mark.

On Twitter: @TimsTakePD

The Indians ran their winning streak to four straight as Ubaldo Jimenez and three relievers combined on a four-hitter.

HOUSTON — Two runs aren't much, but the way the Indians have played this season, they were more than enough Friday night at Minute Maid Park.

The Indians scored one run in the first inning and one in the ninth to bookend a four-hit shutout by Ubaldo Jimenez, Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez in a 2-0 victory over Houston. It was the Indians' fourth straight win and gave them a 11/2 game lead in the AL Central.

This year the Indians are 22-10 in games decided by two or fewer runs (12-2 in one-run games and 10-8 in two-run games).

"When you win a lot of close ballgames, it's a good sign," said manager Manny Acta. "We've been pretty good and that's due to our bullpen. When you get late in games, your bullpen is responsible for those close ballgames. Our guys are pretty tough from the seventh inning on."

Jimenez (7-5, 5.00) pitched 6 innings.

In the seventh, with runners on first and second and the Tribe leading, 1-0, Acta pulled a double switch and brought Smith into the game for Jimenez. Smith, facing Jose Altuve, hitting .435 (10-for-23) with two out and runners in scoring position, struck him out to end the threat.

"Smitty got a huge out," said Acta.

Pestano worked the eighth, but it was not a quiet inning. Jordan Schafer, Jed Lowrie and Carlos Lee hit rockets to right-center field, but they were all caught.

In the ninth, the Indians made it 2-0 by taking advantage of a mistake by catcher Chris Snyder. Asdrubal Cabrera started the inning with a foul pop behind the plate. Cabrera should have been out on a routine play, but Snyder lost the ball and it fell untouched.

Cabrera then singled through the middle.

"He gave me the opportunity and I hit a single through the middle," said Cabrera.

Jason Kipnis followed with a walk, but Carlos Santana struck out. Michael Brantley singled to right to score Cabrera. Kipnis tried to score from first as the ball bounced away from Snyder, but first baseman Lee came in to take Snyder's throw and tag out Kipnis on a close play.

After Aaron Cunningham struck out, it was time for Perez. He did not disappoint, striking out the Astros in order to save his 23rd consecutive game. Houston (28-42) has lost eight of its past 11 games.

"Our two main guys finished up the deal," said Acta. "Chris Perez was very aggressive and lights out in the ninth."

Jimenez, 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA lifetime against the Astros, struck out eight, walked four and allowed four hits. He's 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA in his past four starts.

"I like pitching here," said Jimenez. "It's always hot and every pitch you throw moves."

Rookie right-hander Lucas Harrell (6-6, 4.77) gave the Indians all they could handle. He struck out a career-high nine and allowed just one run on two hits in seven innings. It was his first home loss of the season against four victories.

The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first when Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff triple off the left-field scoreboard. The ball bounced off the wall, eluded left fielder J.D. Martinez and rolled down the left-field line toward third base.

Choo pulled up at first, but continued all the way to third as the ball rolled back toward the infield. Cabrera followed with a sacrifice fly to the wall in left.

"It's a steel wall out there," said Acta. "There are some weird bounces off it."

Harrell held the Indians hitless after that until Johnny Damon nudged a single into right field in the seventh to load the bases with one out. After Harrell struck out Kipnis to start the inning, Santana and Brantley walked.

Casey Kotchman, with the bases loaded, sent a 3-1 pitch down the right-field line. Brian Bogusevic caught it in foul territory and threw a perfect strike home to get Santana at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

On Twitter: @hoynsie

The jury returns a guilty verdict, but that doesn't answer many other unsettling questions surrounding the Jerry Sandusky case.

Opinions on Friday's conviction of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky:

Jerry Sandusky, Penn State's shame (Howard Bryant, ESPN):

The most important element of this tragedy, the element that demands the most attention and yet is at risk of disappearing fastest from the national conscience, is the enduring question of why. Why Jerry Sandusky was allowed to prey on children for so long when his trial revealed an intense level of suspicion of him over several years by people in sufficient position to stop him. Why so many supposedly concerned, educated and well-meaning people allowed such a person to exist in their community. While Sandusky must stand alone, responsible for his individual choices and pathologies, the answer to why he was allowed access to kids, why no one stood up to stop him, why so many people felt it necessary to make phone calls to everyone -- to their fathers, to the coaches, to administrators, to each other -- but not to the police, is simple: Joe Paterno and Penn State football. There is no other reason.

Had Jerry Sandusky dropped dead in 2008, we all would have thought differently. Thousands would have come from around the state and across the country to mourn him. Former player after former player would have to proudly said that Sandusky "made me a man." ... Had he dropped dead in 2008, so many people close to Jerry Sandusky would have never had to say, "He fooled me." But Jerry Sandusky did not die in 2008. ... The saintly Sandusky died once we heard the truth. In his place slumped a new man, fully formed. A sick predator wearing a dopey grin and a baggy suit, who struggled to answer if he was sexually attracted to children. A manipulative liar who convinced honest people that red flags were signs of love. An abuser who was caught twice and escaped twice after adults did not use all that they knew to stop him. A pathetic 68-year-old, now stepping off the stage and into a state correctional institution. That is the Jerry Sandusky we will remember, a monster and a warning.

What this trial did, besides send Sandusky to jail, was bring (the victims') pain in sordid detail to the rest of us. The victims are still numbers, but now their ordeal has form and imagery and is therefore more real. Not to mention more sickening and appalling. ... There is a new football coach, a new athletics director, a new president, a new season only a couple of months away. The jurors go home, most of them with Penn State ties but not hesitant to put Sandusky in prison for the rest of his life. The news media leave town. Everyone tries to move on. The victims can't. You wonder if they ever will.

The defense had tried to turn the victims into the criminals in this case, had insisted they falsely accused a generous community leader for a payday. But at the end of their second day of deliberations, 12 jurors made a resounding statement as to what this case was really about. What is was always about. The victims. Young boys, most of them from broken homes, who became prey for a serial pedophile. Sandusky had robbed them of their innocence, the prosecution had said, and the jury agreed on all but three of the counts.

Until the trial, this was mostly a Penn State story, and understandably so. Institutionally, the school was guilty of gross negligence. Mike McQueary saw Sandusky raping a child in the shower of the Penn State football facility. The allegation soon evaporated. We will probably argue for years about who to blame for that: McQueary, Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley, vice president Gary Schultz, president Graham Spanier, or (my opinion) some combination. But this was clearly a terrible failure. Sandusky enjoyed the perks of an emeritus coach even as the allegations piled up and the investigation unfolded. It is chilling. ... We can all sit here and loudly proclaim that we would have done more than McQueary, more than Paterno, or more than Schultz, Spanier and Curley. I hope that is true. But most of us probably won't ever be in McQueary's position. We may, however, be in the same spot as these other folks, hearing a snippet here and a detail there, just enough to make us wonder. I hope when that happens, we do more than just wonder. I hope we ask questions and keep asking them. There was so much gruesome testimony and public talk about the body parts of an aging man and young boys in this trial. But it all could have been stopped years ago by one good set of vocal cords.

As we struggle to find the vocabulary that will work, we will use words such as "closure" and "healing." The verdict Friday evening will not produce closure, and it will not produce healing. If it does anything that is positive, it tells us that the legal system has concluded the most important part of its work on Sandusky. That's it. There is nothing more to it. Much more remains to be done before we even begin to discuss healing or closure. The searing and unforgettable testimony from Sandusky's victims, testimony that rocked seasoned veterans of courtroom drama, should remind us of the monstrous deceits that allowed Sandusky to operate, all in the name of protecting what was supposed to be a model football program. ... The verdict and the incarceration of Jerry Sandusky should remind us of what Grantland writer Charles Pierce said after the scandal broke: "It no longer matters if there continues to be a football program at Penn State."

Highlights include Indians at Houston.

Cleveland, Ohio

Today's TV and radio sports listings

ARENA FOOTBALL  

7 p.m. GLADIATORS at Jacksonville, FM/92.3 

AUTO RACING  

8 a.m. European Grand Prix qualifying, Speed Channel

10 a.m. Sargento 200 qualifying, ESPN2 

Noon Rolex Sports Car Series, Speed Channel 

3:30 p.m. Sargento 200, ESPN 

9:15 p.m. Iowa Corn Indy 250, NBCSN 

11 p.m. Toyota/Save Mart 350 Happy Hour Series (tape), Speed Channel

BASEBALL  

2 p.m. St. Louis at Kansas City, MLB Network 

4:05 INDIANS at Houston, SportsTime Ohio; AM/1100 

7 p.m. AKRON AEROS at Altoona, AM/1330 

7 p.m. Milwaukee at Chicago White Sox, WJW  

7:05 p.m. LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS at Fort Wayne, AM/1330 

10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Arizona, MLB Network 

BOXING  

9 p.m. Chris Arreola vs. Mike Mollo; Humberto Soto vs. Lucas Matthysse; 

Victor Ortiz vs. Josesito Lopez, Showtime 

DIVING  

4 p.m. Olympic Trials, finals, WKYC 

FIELD HOCKEY  

1:30 p.m. Women, U.S. vs. Argentina, NBCSN 

GOLF  

8 a.m. BMW International Open, Golf Channel 

1 p.m. Travelers Championship, Golf Channel 

3 p.m. Travelers Championship, WOIO  

3 p.m. Manulife Financial Classic, Golf Channel  

6:30 p.m. Montreal Championship (tape), Golf Channel 

LACROSSE  

7:30 p.m. Hamilton at Rochester, CBSSN 

SOCCER  

2:30 p.m. Euro 2012, quarterfinal, France vs. Spain, ESPN2 

8:30 p.m. MLS, Columbus at Chicago, Fox Sports Ohio 

SOFTBALL  

7 p.m. Women, U.S. vs. Canada, ESPN 

TRACK AND FIELD  

8 p.m. Olympic Trials, finals, WKYC 

WNBA  

12:30 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota, ESPN  

9 p.m. Los Angeles at Phoenix, ESPN 



Cleveland Heights resident reflects on memories from the all-day golf challenge.

View full sizeMarvin Fong, The Plain DealerThere's nothing like the sunrise to provide a great backdrop for the approach to the green for Dorothy Kasper.

AVON LAKE, Ohio - Dorothy Kasper offers her Top Ten Suggestions for Next Year's Summer Solstice Golf Challenge. (with apologies to David Letterman)

10. When temperature reaches 90 degrees, clothing optional.

9. Fine golfers one dollar for each swear word, donate money to favorite anger management program.

8. Hold the challenge in Northern Alaska.............24 hours of daylight!!!

7. Have the beverage cart supply Jell-O shots, frozen towels and morphine injections. The ibuprofen just wasn't cutting it.

6. Replace The Plain Dealer sports staff with the editorial staff and let the games begin.

5. Supply golfers with plastic bags and instructions to pick up goose poop. Award given to "crappiest" golfer.

4. Provide limo service to and from challenge. Safety first.

3. Put mini-cam on golfers' heads for reality show. (Should score higher TV ratings than "Mob Wives, Chicago").

2. To decrease time spent looking for lost balls, one word..............alligators.

And the number one suggestion for next year's Summer Solstice Golf Challenge:

1. Nothing! It was a fantastic day. The Plain Dealer deserves accolades for coordinating this unique, memorable event. Thanks to Kristen, Dennis, Bud and Tim for their help, hospitality and humor. Rick, Josh and Brandon are so much fun. I truly feel this has been the most interesting and entertaining 16 hours of my life.

Cleveland Heights resident Dorothy Kasper, 51, is a registered nurse/clinical coordinator at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehab.

Middleburg Heights resident shares his top memories from the all-day golf challenge.

View full sizeMarvin Fong, The Plain DealerYes, the 31st hole is that way for Josh Bernhofer. Or perhaps it's the 61st?

AVON LAKE, Ohio - I had a lot of memories from the Summer Solstice Golf Challenge, and definitely more than we could list in keeping these short. I'll list a few from each person, and a few overall. That should cover most of it!

Tim: We kept finding some of Tim's wayward shots throughout the day. While searching for one of my own errant tee shots, I came across a Titleist ball with "TR" stamped on the side in the 2-foot tall grass. Dennis found one later on as well. I also thought his negative-distance shot was great. He tries to punch out, then clunk, rustle rustle, we look up "huh?" then thud behind us about 20 yards. Those are always fun!

Dennis: He has the most beautiful slice I have ever seen. His drives would start about 50 yards diagonal right (he's a lefty) then gently float back to the left, and usually to the middle of the fairway. He also was very encouraging to everyone he golfed with, and I really liked his impression of Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey. Whether it helped or not is debatable (we were too tired to think at that point), but it was entertaining all the same.

Bud: He has a fantastic all-around game. I specifically remember on our final 9, he drove into a fairway bunker. He laser-measured his distance to 196 yards. He takes a hybrid out of the sand, and blasts the ball onto the green, nearly making a 15-foot birdie. A shot like that falls into the "shots that will bring you back" category. I also thought his ability to pick apart my swing mechanics was awesome. Even I can't do that, and it's my swing!

Kristen: The first memory I have of Kristen, other than her calling to tell me I was selected to play (which caused a lot of happy jumping up and down), was how she got us all to spend about five minutes playing with the glowing golf balls in the parking lot. They were really cool! She also had the easiest shots to follow: high, straight, and long. All day. I only played one round with her, but it was great fun!

Rick: The other half of Team Hinckley! While some of his shots found the water (maybe the ball wanted to cool off, too?) we usually managed to find the ball! We would get near its dive spot, and somehow it would be right at the top just waiting to be retrieved. That gave us a boost when we needed it.

Dorothy: If I could have half as positive of an attitude toward golf as Dorothy does, I would enjoy the game infinitely more than I already do. She also had a penchant for walking. A lot. Her pedomoter at the end of the day read over 36,000 steps. I can't even count that high! And on such a hot day, I thought to myself "walking today would be crazy", but she marched on throughout the day. She also said she had just recently picked up the game after some time away from it. I'm very glad she did!

Brandon: I often joke about how bad my short game is (36 putts per 18, anyone?) but I was only half kidding when I said I'd have Brandon take my 8-foot putts for me. I'd call him in as a pinch putter any time! He seriously did not miss anything that I saw from that range. Crazy good short game!

As far as group memories go, my favorite memory was definitely making eagle on the eighth hole at the Legacy Course. After a big drive down the middle and an approach to 12 feet, Dennis called it, "this one's in!" So, after what seemed to be a slow motion putt, Dorothy, Bud, and Dennis all gave me a gallery roar and bore witness to my first career eagle. It only took me 60 holes that day and 21 years worth of golf before that.

The other great memory was teeing off simultaneously on the 72nd hole. At the count of three, we all took our best manageable swing into the twilight. A great way to end a great day!

If I can give any advice to any future participants, it would be this: Expect to play tired -- you won't sleep the night before, and take zero practice swings. Also, enjoy every bit of it. It is a unique experience that not many people will have. The few times you actually do stop, take a look around, and realize you played 27 holes before lunch. It definitely makes you say "whoa!"

Middleburg Heights resident Josh Bernhofer, 23, is a store manager at Play it Again Sports in Strongsville.

Tommy John surgery on a pitcher's elbow is routine these days. Unless, of course, you happen to be the Kansas City Royals.

View full sizeOrlin Wagner, Associated PressIf Kansas City manager Ned Yost is a little irritable these days, he's got a pretty good reason. Despite his pitching staff's close relationship with surgeons, Yost has kept the Royals on the periphery of the division race.

HOUSTON -- To hear some baseball people talk, Tommy John surgery has become as routine for pitchers as getting their ankles taped. The difference being that tape comes off in a couple of minutes, while it takes over a year to recover from ligament transplant surgery.

The Royals, for their own sanity, could use a break from that routine.

Promising starter Felipe Paulino is expected to become the fourth Royals pitcher to undergo the procedure this year. The Royals have already lost closer Joakim Soria, starter Danny Duffy and reliever Blake Wood. Given the extent of the damage done to their pitching staff, it's impressive that the Royals were just 5 1/2 games off the pace in the AL Central through Friday.

"I don't think I've ever been around a team where two guys have had to have Tommy John, let alone four [in the same season]," manager Ned Yost told Kansas City reporters. "You just deal with it and move on."

Paulino (3-1, 1.67) was already on the disabled list for a groin strain when it was determined he need surgery on his elbow. On the plus side, catcher Salvador Perez rejoined the team. Perez injured his left knee in spring training, helping to spoil the early-season buzz around the Royals. He hit .340 (17-for-50) with 11 runs, two doubles and seven RBI during his rehab at Class AAA Omaha.

• Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe is hitting .371 (26-for-70) with five doubles, nine homers and 17 RBI in 18 games this month. Interleague play definitely agrees with Plouffe, who has hit eight of his 14 homers against NL teams.

• The White Sox are struggling, but they can't blame left-hander Chris Sale. He's 5-0 with a 1.61 ERA (nine earned runs, 51 1/3 innings) over his last six starts. He threw eight scoreless innings in a duel with Milwaukee's Zach Greinke on Friday, but Chicago still lost, 1-0, in 10 innings.

• Indians manager Manny Acta gave Cincinnati's Joey Votto high praise last week when he compared him to Detroit's Miguel Cabrera as far as a hitter a manager doesn't want to see late in a close game.

In case anyone needed a quick primer on Cabrera, he's hitting .331 (55-for-166) with 16, seven homers and 33 RBI in 40 games since May 10.

• After the Indians finish with Houston, they head to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees. A revitalized Derek Jeter will be waiting.

Jeter, 38, leads the AL with 91 hits. San Francisco's Melky Cabrera (102) and Atlanta's Michael Bourn (92) are the only players with more. Jeter's 2012 season includes 34 two-strike hits and a .386 (32-for-83) average against left-handers.

The Yankees won 14 of their first 19 games in June, outscoring the opposition, 95-58.

• After New York, the Indians will end this 10-game, three-city trip with a four-game series against Baltimore. The Orioles, like Jeter, have turned back the clock. They won their 40th game Friday, the first time they've done that in June since 2008. They didn't reach that mark in 2011 until July 23.

Two of the reasons for their success has been the pitching of seven-game winners Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen. It's the first time the Birds have had two seven-game winners this early in the season, according to Elias, since 1999 when Mike Mussina had eight victories and Sidney Ponson seven.

• The Blue Jays are tied for last in the AL Central at 36-34. If they were in the AL Central, they'd be tied for second. They have been powered by Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, who have combined to hit 43 homers, the most by any twosome in the big leagues this year. Bautista has 23 and Encarnacion 20.

• The big reason the Nationals are leading the NL East is pitching. They lead the big leagues with the fewest walks, ERA, starters' ERA, batting average against, strikeouts per nine innings and hits per nine innings.

This week in baseball

Baseball is a game of threes. Three strikes and you're out and three outs in each half of an inning. Here are two more sets of threes to consider from last week in baseball. All stats are through Friday.

Three up

1. Starters Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, and CC Sabathia were each 2-0 in the Yankees' 10-game winning streak that ended Monday.

2. Brandon Moss has three doubles, seven homers, 11 runs and 12 RBI in his first 15 games as Oakland's first baseman.

3. Albert Pujols has 11 homers and the Angels are 10-1 in those games.

Three down

1. Last week Atlanta lost right-hander Brandon Beachy, MLB's ERA leader, to Tommy John surgery.

2. The Orioles batted .130 as a team during a three-game interleague sweep by the Mets last week.

3. After going 14-2 from May 17-June 3, the White Sox have lost 11 of their last 16 games.

Stat-o-matic

Four by four: Ichiro Suzuki, as pointed out by billyball.com, on Tuesday recorded his 48th four-hit game. Pete Rose is the all-time leader with 73 such games.

Runs aplenty: The Tigers have not been shut out since July 16, 2011, a streak of 138 games. It is the longest streak, according to Stats LLC, in franchise history.

Dynamic duo: The Nationals are 23-5 in games started by Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez.

The struggles of Jeanmar Gomez continued Saturday afternoon as the rebuilding Astros took advantage of one very bad inning.

View full sizePat Sullivan, Associated PressJeanmar Gomez was perfect through four innings Saturday, then was anything but after that as he allowed five runs in the Indians/ 8-1 loss to Chris Johnson and the Houston Astros.

HOUSTON -- On Saturday afternoon Jeanmar Gomez was very good and very bad. When the game ended, 1 2/3 bad innings overshadowed four perfect ones.

Gomez retired the first 12 batters he faced. He had a 1-0 lead and in this season of the no-hitter, the murmurs were circulating through the crowd of 34,241 at Minute Maid Park. The Astros changed that in a hurry with a four-run fifth inning on the way to a 8-1 thumping of the Indians to end Cleveland's four-game winning streak.

Where does Gomez (4-7, 5.18) go from here? He's 1-5 with a 7.92 ERA (27 earned runs in 30 2/3 innings) in his last six starts. He has not worked six innings in any of those starts.

In that stretch, Gomez has allowed 42 hits, eight homers, 13 walks with only 12 strikeouts. When asked if it was time to send Gomez to the minors, manager Manny Acta said, "It's only been 12 minutes since the game ended. We're going to sit back and evaluate."

Zach McAllister, who has already been up twice this season, is 5-2 with a 2.98 ERA in 10 starts at Class AAA Columbus.

"It's a problem that can be fixed here. Or it can be fixed somewhere else," said Acta, referring to Gomez's struggles. "It's about being consistent.

"He started the season very well, now he's got more than a handful of starts in a row where he hasn't been very good. You have to be consistent up here. That's all there is to it."

The Indians did show consistency in one part of their game. They were beaten by another left-handed starter. Rookie Dallas Keuchel, in just his second big-league start, stopped the Indians on a six-hitter for his first big-league win. Acta said Keuchel was good. So did Shin-Soo Choo, but the fact remains that the Indians are 5-14 against left-handed starters. Asdrubal Cabrera's ninth homer, and his third in the last four games, gave the Indians their only run.

"Keuchel threw soft, but he had good command," said Choo. "He changed speeds on his fastball, change up and curveball."

Then Choo said something strange.

"I never think about being 5-14 against lefties, I only think about how I'm doing against lefties," said Choo. "I think we're getting better."

Be that as it may, Brian Bogusevic and Chris Johnson opened the fifth with consecutive doubles against Gomez to make it 1-1. Gomez retired Jason Castro, but stumbled again as Justin Maxwell and Jordan Schafer belted consecutive homers to complete the scoring.

Gomez came out for the sixth and gave up another run on Jed Lowrie's walk and Carlos Lee's long double to the wall in left center. He retired the next two batters and was done for the day.

After retiring 12 straight with a good two-seam fastball and sharp slider, Gomez started leaving pitches up in the strike zone. Bogusevic hit a change up. Maxwell homered on a cutter that was up.

"He got hurt on soft stuff," said Acta.

Gomez needed only 40 pitches to get through four innings. He needed 21 to finish the fifth. The Astros had never seen Gomez and the Indians had never seen Keuchel. The Astros get a gold star for being a quicker study than the Indians.

The Indians never made Keuchel sweat. They didn't work the count, swung early and gave away at-bat after at-bat.

"We had video on him," said Choo. "We talked about him in our hitters meeting. But video is video. Information is information. You can say a guy throws a curveball, fastball, change up. But there's a big difference when you step in the box."

After Cabrera's homer to start the fourth, Keuchel retired 15 of the next 16 batters. Choo broke that run with a leadoff double in the ninth, but never made it home.

Struggling Tony Sipp relieved Gomez and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Houston worked over Jeremy Accardo in the ninth for three runs on a homer and three triples. The Astros set a season-high with nine extra-base hits.

On Twitter: @hoynsie

After grinning Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child abuse, the Pennsylvania Attorney General asked rhetorically, "Who will believe a kid?" Not anywhere enough people at Penn State until it was far too late, as it turns out.

View full sizeAP fileThe shame at Penn State isn't wholly Jerry Sandusky's, but is shared by all those who knew, or suspected, that something was horribly wrong -- including the late coach Joe Paterno, says Bill Livingston.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jerry Sandusky usually had an inane grin on his face when he walked into a courtroom in central Pennsylvania to hear the sordid secrets of his life revealed to a shocked world.

He usually wore the same eerie smile when he left the courthouse each day during his trial.

Shortly after his arrest, he agreed to a phone interview with Bob Costas on national television. That was the one in which Sandusky had to think about it before answering the question, "Are you sexually attracted to young boys?" He lost much of presumption of innocence with viewers as soon as he didn't immediately say, "No, of course not."

Now he is guilty, in fact as well as impression. Sandusky looked dazed as he was ushered into a police car Friday night after the jury found him guilty on 45 of 48 counts of sexual predation with 10 young boys who are now psychologically scarred men.

Yet his grin will linger over the case, like the Cheshire cat's, long after the victims, the media, the lawyers and the felon are gone.

It was as if Sandusky wasn't connected to the reality of what the jury might do. Maybe that was because most of its members had ties to Penn State, the university that empowered him for so long. Penn State had protected him for years because he was the assistant coach most responsible for the school's "Linebacker U." reputation, because he was once the presumed successor to Joe Paterno.

Maybe in his muddled mind, Sandusky thought he had done no wrong, and that molestation was affection. Love even.

After the verdict was announced, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly asked rhetorically, "Who would believe a kid?" Her conclusion was that the prosecutors on her staff did. It was a moving statement, but it also was deeply flawed. For too long, most of it admittedly not on Kelly's watch, no one believed the kids.

Kelly also said, "After the cameras are off and the attention is lost, we need to shine the bright light in the dark places where the Jerry Sanduskys of the world are."

It was compelling imagery, but it didn't fit. For too long, Sandusky's secrets were hidden in plain sight. For too long, Sandusky was given free rein on campus even after he abruptly -- and, in retrospect, suspiciously -- retired to devote his time to a foundation that supposedly benefited disadvantaged kids, but instead exploited them.

Former quarterback and assistant coach Mike McQueary thought he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy in the showers on campus. That was 10 years ago. McQueary did not stop him. Say what you will about Woody Hayes, but the old, often angry, Ohio State coach would have reacted differently. They might have had to scrape Sandusky off the shower tiles afterward.

McQueary did, however, report the assault, apparently in vague, uncomfortable terms, to the head coach. Paterno, who died of lung cancer soon after being fired last season, followed corporate guidelines and not the dictates of conscience. He passed the buck to his superiors. It was as if Sandusky had committed a minor recruiting violation.

Among those superiors were athletic director Tim Curley and finance officer Gary Schultz, both of whom face trial for covering up the charges. School president Graham Spanier was fired at the same time as Paterno by the school's board of trustees. An email uncovered by NBC reportedly indicates Schultz and Curley decided it would be "humane" to Sandusky not to report McQueary's charges to proper authorities.

Other evidence was not turned over to prosecutors until FBI investigators discovered it. Maybe it was a mistake in filing.

Or maybe Penn State, which, under Paterno, stood as a moral exemplar in scandal-plagued college football, preferred to hear those 108,000-strong chants of "We are ... Penn State!" on Saturdays, and not the victims' screams.

It is important to remember that the men in charge did not represent the ideals of Penn State or any other university. Paterno, the most visible man on campus for almost a half-century, did not represent those ideals in the biggest test of his career, either.

Sandusky may have been sick those times when the grin spread like a weed across his face. Psychiatrists will probably be asked to decide that. The people who shielded him, though, knowingly abandoned core values of society -- protection for the defenseless, nurture for the young, justice for the victimized.

Shame on them. Shame on their stewardship of a respected university. Shame on every single one of them.

On Twitter: @LivyPD

Beat writer Mary Kay Cabot sorts through this week's reader mailbag.

View full sizeAP fileTo more than a few Browns fans, the idea of Seneca Wallace as the backup quarterback in 2012 isn't exactly enticing.

Hey, Mary Kay: As I recall last season, after Colt McCoy went down, Seneca Wallace showed absolutely nothing. Yet he is now labeled as an outstanding backup, familiar with the system, etc. Am I missing something? -- Tom Thomas, Palm Coast, Fla.

Hey, Tom: If the Browns decide not to unload Wallace's $2.4 million salary, he does fit their criteria for a capable backup: mobile, knows the system, can function well off the bench, knows his role as a mentor to Brandon Weeden. He's 6-15 as a starter, but has the backup thing down pat.

Hey, Mary Kay: With Minnesota's Percy Harvin asking for a trade and having a connection with our new OC, do you see us making an offer? -- Leo Smyth, Gulfport, Miss.

Hey, Leo: First off, the Vikings have no intention of trading Harvin, and he vowed he'll be in camp. Secondly, he reportedly had a run-in with Brad Childress when Chilly was the Vikes' head coach. The Browns won't be interested even if he goes on the block.

Hey, Mary Kay: I am a BGSU grad and watched Freddie Barnes set the NCAA receiving record. Why doesn't a team like the Brown who need reliable receivers look at him? I know the combine numbers might not look great, but what about a player's heart? -- Paul T. Albers, Minster, Ohio

Hey, Paul: Your boy got a chance with the Bears as an undrafted free agent and then played for the Chicago Rush of the Arena League and then the CFL. He hasn't resurfaced in the NFL yet, so chances are he doesn't have what it takes.

Hey, Mary Kay: With Green Bay in need of a backup QB and rumors of them having WR James Jones on the trade block, why not try to trade McCoy for Jones? -- Jason Runion, Woodville, Ohio

Hey, Jason: The Browns aren't interested in trading for Jones, and so far, the Packers haven't shown interest in McCoy. Unlikely swap at this time.

Hey, Mary Kay: I know fans are a little upset that we didn't draft a WR early in the draft. Do you see the Browns making a play for a free agent or trade for a WR before training camp? the only one I can think of is Plaxico Burress, and I can't see the Browns signing him. -- Todd Davis, Creston

Hey, Todd: I don't see the Browns signing an older veteran with baggage, such as Burress, Terrell Owens or Braylon Edwards. If anything, they'd pick up a good role model who can teach the younger guys how to work.

Hey, Mary Kay: Who do you project to be the starters on the right side of the offensive line? -- George Anderson, Eastlake

Hey, George: It's no contest. Shawn Lauvao at guard and second-round pick Mitchell Schwartz at tackle. In a year or two, this could be one of the premier lines in the NFL.

Hey, Mary Kay: I've been hearing a lot of good things about second-year safety Eric Hagg. When the Browns drafted him in 2011 I was ecstatic, convinced that he was going to be a diamond in the rough. Has he been as consistent as the reports are saying in mini-camp and what are his chances on becoming a starter? -- Todd Matthews, Steubenville

Hey, Todd: Hagg has been the starting free safety since the start of OTAs and will have to stave off Usama Young for the job. But he showed promise after recovering from knee surgery last season, and the Browns have high hopes. As a senior at Nebraska, he was a ballhawk, with five picks.

Hey, Mary Kay: I know training camp is weeks away, but I still wonder about a few veterans and whether or not they still fit in the plans for next year. What are the chances Scott Fujita, Ben Watson, Carlton Mitchell and Ray Ventrone are kept around for 2012? -- Todd Archer, Baltimore, Md.

Hey, Todd: Fujita still has the inside track to start at strongside linebacker and Watson will start at tight end. Ventrone will play on special teams and in sub-defenses, and Mitchell must step up in camp to make the team.

Hey, Mary Kay: I'm trying to understand why it is the Browns' responsibility to repair the relationship with Jim Brown. I don't see that there has been much effort on his part. He thinks he was disrespected? I think his failure to show up when he was honored at the stadium was disrespectful to both the team and the fans. -- Tom Goodsite, Kirksville, Mo.

Hey, Tom: It's the responsibility of both parties to set aside their differences for the good of the Browns.

Hey, Mary Kay: Do you think the Browns will keep both Colt and Senaca? I just don't see it happening. -- Kevin Sandy, Navarre

Hey, Kevin: I think the Browns will probably end up trading McCoy sometime during preseason. But they still must decide if they want to pay Wallace $2.4 million.

Hey, Mary Kay: Given that the NFL is a year-around endeavor, when do coaches take time off? Do they ever get off a week or two at a time, or is it just a few days here and there? -- Jay Wills, Portland, Ore.

Hey, Jay: The coaches will have a few weeks off between now and the start of camp, which is open to the public beginning July 28th.-- Mary Kay

A young quarterback with more than 20 NFL starts is an asset regardless of whether he can throw an end-zone fade.

View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerGiving Colt McCoy a chance to impress in the early stages of the exhibition season makes plenty of sense for the Cleveland Browns -- who must still make sure Brandon Weeden is ready to start, and gets through camp healthy, as well.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- At some point before the regular season opens, there's a good chance the Browns will consummate a deal that gets the itchy Twitter fingers of Colt McCoy's brother tapping again.

Ten days ago, Texas quarterback Case McCoy was duped by a fake social media account that reported the Browns had traded his older sibling to clear a path for first-round draft pick Brandon Weeden. "Good luck Brandon!" Case McCoy tweeted. "Fan of you, but my brother's pulling the lucky straw on this one! Cleveland is only going downhill!"

Perhaps, but a franchise that owns the NFL's second-worst winning percentage (.327) since returning in 1999 doesn't have far to fall.

The younger McCoy eventually removed the post and apologized. His brother might indeed get traded, but it's puzzling as to why some believe it's coming before the Browns open camp July 28.

While it's naive to think the organization won't weigh offers between now and then -- "you shouldn't be surprised by anything," team president Mike Holmgren said recently -- it makes sense to carry Weeden, McCoy and Seneca Wallace into training camp and let them play in exhibition games. What is the rush in trading McCoy, a 25-year-old quarterback with 21 NFL starts and a price-to-move contract? Let camps begin, allow his value to appreciate, however slightly. There are quarterbacks bound to get hurt in preseason. One might be Weeden.

Most assume there's not much of a market for McCoy. Maybe it's because the league's last image of him was absorbing the concussive blow from Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison on Dec. 8 and being allowed to trot back onto Heinz Field. The incident transformed McCoy from a competitor to a cautionary tale for player safety, one that has elicited opinion from everybody from McCoy's father to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

He has regained his health and is eager to resume his career. It just won't be as the Browns' starter. The organization drafted the strong-armed, 28-year-old Weeden with the intention to start him. Pat Shurmur likely will make that official in the opening days of camp, fulfilling his "sooner rather than later" pledge.

The franchise has had its share of quarterback controversies, but Weeden-McCoy has no makings of one. The players can see Weeden's potential and the ability to make all the throws. McCoy is a smart guy and he's not going to become a distraction as the club sifts through its options.

Shurmur has said he's not opposed to carrying all three quarterbacks into the regular season, but most agree with Wallace's assumption that it probably won't happen. Wallace's age (31) and contract status ($2.4 million in 2012) make it unlikely he's going anywhere unless the club releases him. McCoy is six years younger and is due to earn $540,000 this year.

Don't be surprised if the Browns retain McCoy at least through the first two exhibition games against Detroit and Green Bay, a team rumored to have interest. If he plays poorly, it's not as though his trade value plummets -- such as it is. If he plays well, however, and other teams suddenly find themselves in need of a backup quarterback, maybe the Browns can get a fourth- or fifth-round pick or a roster player to address their many needs.

A young quarterback with more than 20 NFL starts is an asset regardless of whether he can throw an end-zone fade.

Some believe the Browns owe McCoy something for the way he has been treated over the past year. The NFL is a business, sometimes a cruel one. They owe it to themselves to hold onto McCoy until they can maximize his value.

While rumors abound that the Cavaliers are interested in trading the Nos. 4 and 24 picks to Charlotte for No. 2, it's all conjecture at this point.

In retrospect, some of the best and the worst of playing 72 holes in one day.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In retrospect, some of the best and the worst of playing 72 holes in one day. At least, these are the ones we can pass along.

Best 4:30 a.m. breakfast: Dorothy Kasper, fresh blueberries.

Worst 4:30 a.m. breakfast: Bud Shaw, two sour cream donuts. Glazed.

Most intense golfer: Dennis Manoloff. Pre-paid for $14 of gas day before the event. Drove off without pumping it.

Best special effect: Lighted balls provided by Kristen Davis. They flew through the air at 5:16 a.m. looking like the pro tracer technology on the PGA Tour.

Worst technology: Lighted golf balls are 40-50 percent reduced flight. The upshot? Sweetbriar Legacy's long par-4 No. 10 played like a par-6.

Best score with a lighted golf ball: None that anyone wants to claim.

First sand shot: Rick Slovenec, No. 13 at Legacy.

Second sand shot: Slovenec, No. 13 at Legacy. Same bunker.

Best putting performance: Brandon Archibald in a morning round.

Best putting without looking at the ball: Slovenec. Like a free-throw shooter in basketball, he putts looking at the hole. Conversion rate is much higher than Tristan Thompson's.

Toughest holes: Nos. 17 and 18 at Legacy in the first round were missing flagsticks. Come to think of it, it didn't seem to make much difference on bad approaches.

Best ponytail: Kasper's. Braided with golf tees.

Best imitations of a tour pro: Josh Bernhofer swinging the driver; Manoloff strapping on two gloves, a la Tommy Gainey, to protect against blisters.

Best comment: Slovenec, while watching PD staffers trying to chronicle the day: "The Kardashian girls are doing exactly the same thing today. Sitting in golf carts and tweeting."

Best surprise: During the second round, a blond female approached one of the groups in a cart as they were about to tee off. It was Mary Beth Schleter, the sister of Tim Rogers. She made a surprise visit from Fort Myers, Fla.

Best shot over a fence: Archibald. A chip right of the green on No. 5 at Sweetbriar.

Best post-shot rationalization: "For crappy, it's functional" -- Manoloff after hitting a low line drive off the tee that found the fairway 175 yards away on the 57th hole of the day.

Best sand shot over a road: Bernhofer. From a greenside bunker on Legacy's No. 15, his sand blast carried the green and the neighborhood street beyond it.

Best trick shot: Archibald's water skipper on the 71st hole of the day.

Worst treatment of a golf ball: Manoloff played 22 holes with the same Titleist Pro V1, bouncing it off cart paths and other immovable objects and sending it on orienteering missions deep in the woods. Dumb ball kept coming back for more before finally dropping into a watery grave on Legacy's 15th hole.

Best chance of being sucked into a vortex: Standing anywhere near the tee box when Bernhofer or Manoloff rev up their swing speeds.

Most unique putt: Maureen Fallon Adler, from the 2011 Summer Solstice group that joined the 2012 players for the last round, banked in the last putt of the night in near dark off 2011 alumnus Tom Cull's lantern.

Comment that summed everything up: Manoloff: "I have more blisters than toes."

The golf wasn't great -- mostly -- but the experience was something to cherish for four PD staffers and four golf-mad readers on Wednesday.

AVON LAKE, Ohio -- A lone car sat in the parking lot of Sweetbriar Golf Club on Wednesday and that was not unexpected, given the circumstances.

After all, it was 4:20 in the morning and the only sign of life I had seen prior to arriving were two raccoons jaywalking on nearby Lear Road. As I parked my car the stillness and coolness of the early morning reminded me of my days as a Plain Dealer paperboy on Cleveland's West Side. Eerie, yet tranquil. The smell and the solitude of the pre-dawn is something seldom forgotten.

"I can't get up early to go to work, but I can get up at 3 in the morning to play golf," says Josh Bernhofer, emerging from his car with an enviable nimbleness. "I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I think I was awake at 2."

Bernhofer, 23, was the first of eight players to arrive for the second Plain Dealer Summer Solstice Golf Challenge, where four sports staffers and four readers who won an essay contest played golf from sunup to sundown on the longest day of the year, seeking to complete 72 holes.

Bernhofer, a Middleburg Heights resident and salesman for Play It Again Sports in Strongsville, was joined by fellow winners Brandon Archibald, Dorothy Kasper and Rick Slovenec and Plain Dealer staff members Kristen Davis, Bud Shaw, Dennis Manoloff and yours truly. The fact that we would spend the next 18 hours together -- part of the time under trying circumstances with sweltering temperatures in the mid-90s -- is never mentioned.

The others arrive in quick fashion. We get organized and wait for the first sight of the sun, armed with illuminated golf balls to get the earliest start possible.

• Manoloff, better known as D-Man, is frantic. It is 4:30 a.m. and we are unpacking our cars. Golf bags, coolers, shoulder bags and backpacks are scattered about. D-Man is rummaging through his golf bag like a man in search of a misplaced Rolex.

"I can't find my BenGay," he says, sifting through assorted golf gloves (he frequently wears two at a time), an extra shirt or two and a bottle of Gatorade. "I bought it specifically for today." He never finds it but in true D-Man fashion, he takes one for the team.

• Have you ever struck one of those illuminated golf balls? It's not unlike slugging a roll of wet toilet paper. Instead of the distinct "ping" you get from today's metal drivers, the "Night Flyer" ball produces a sound closer to that of a muted cowbell. But they are pretty as they fly against the darkened sky -- and they serve a purpose.

"It's kind of like watching a live version of that ProTracer on television broadcasts," said Shaw, as we watched Manoloff launch a weak fade off the first tee with the day's opening swing at 5:16.

• It didn't take long for Kasper, 51, to offer a well-appreciated reminder that she is a registered nurse. The Cleveland Heights resident came equipped with pain relievers and a great sense of humor, supplying both antidotes and anecdotes. She encouraged everyone to come to her in any medical emergency, a comforting thought.

"If anyone suffers a bee sting, insect bite, allergies or soreness, just come to me," Kasper said before we assembled on the first tee. "I have all sorts of meds. If it's sun poisoning or heat stroke, we'll just put ice down your pants. You'll be fine."

Kasper, who works at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehab, also has a small tattoo on her ankle. It is of a putting green and a golf flag. It is in remembrance of her first and favorite golf partner, her late father.

• Painesville's Archibald, 28, is a student and insurance/accounting specialist at Case Western Reserve's dental school. He is also a gifted putter, dropping six consecutive putts of about 10 feet over the first 12 holes. That prompted Bernhofer to say, "The guy is automatic from 10 feet. He never misses. I'm getting tired of telling him 'great putt.'"

"Yeah, but you know what?" I offer. "He never gets tired of hearing it."

• Shaw and Bernhofer are the two best players, with Slovenec a close third. Manoloff is the most entertaining. No one else is even close.

"That man kept me going for the last 18 holes," said Kasper. "He was a total riot."

To those who know him, it was just D-Man being D-Man.

• Kasper leaves a long-range putt woefully short during our second round. She's still away. "USA, USA," I chant. The others look at me as if I had been drinking.

"My grandson taught me that," I respond. "You Shoot Again. Get it? USA. You Shoot Again."

They still look at me as if I had been drinking.

• As we head down the homestretch after 9 p.m., Slovenec, a 51-year-old director of operations for a company in Wellington, appears as strong as he was before the sun came up. On our 70th hole of the day the Hinckley resident drives the ball about 250 yards on the 397-yard 18th of the Legacy Course. He follows with a 9-iron shot that stops about eight feet from the pin. He makes the putt for birdie. We all cheer.

• Kasper's boss, Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove, encourages employees to walk at least 10,000 steps a day as part of the hospital's wellness program. At the end of the Solstice Challenge, Kasper's pedometer registered 36,354 steps. And we used carts.

• In between all those steps were a mix of perfect shots, duffed balls, three-putts, an eagle and infinite laughs as we golfed virtually nonstop from 5:16 a.m. until 9:23 p.m. The goal of 72 holes was reached with a wee bit of light remaining on the horizon. It was a satisfying accomplishment on a scorching day after last year's crew tallied 58 holes, battling two weather systems, cart-path only rules for half the day and a change of venue at midday.

• On their final hole of the day, Shaw, Manoloff, Kasper and Bernhofer agree to tee off simultaneously. Bernhofer shoots video.

It's a wrap.

(Editor's note: Special thanks to Sweetbriar pro Brian Butchko and his staff for their hospitality. The Plain Dealer also thanks Emily Rogers for serving as a player's assistant.)

On Twitter: @TimRogersPD

Asdrubal Cabrera isn't spending as much time in the spotlight this year as he did last season, but the Indians shortstop is still putting up good numbers.

View full sizeChuck Crow, The Plain DealerHe's not in the spotlight as often as 2011, but Asdrubal Cabrera (right, with Carlos Santana after a homer Wednesday against Cincinnati) continues to be a steady producer for the Indians.

HOUSTON -- A week ago, Asdrubal Cabrera had his worst game in the big leagues. He made three errors that led to eight runs in a 9-5 loss to Pittsburgh. He ended the day by getting thrown out at second base for not hustling.

Two days later, Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Indians a 3-2 victory over the Reds. The next day he hit a three-run homer to help complete a three-game sweep.

Last year was Cabrera's 15 minutes of fame. He seemed to be on SportsCenter every night making a great play at shortstop or hitting a dramatic home run. He started the All-Star Game for the American League, won the Silver Slugger award and was a finalist for the Gold Glove.

This year Cabrera is just being Cabrera. After Saturday's 8-1 loss to Houston, he was hitting .300 (72-for-240), with 17 doubles, one triple, nine homers, 33 RBI, 30 walks, 31 strikeouts, .385 on-base percentage, and a .492 slugging percentage in 61 games.

At the 71-game mark last year, he was hitting .300 (76-for-253) with 15 doubles, three triples, 12 homers, 42 RBI, 14 walks, 39 strikeouts, .350 on-base percentage and a .526 slugging percentage.

"This is who he is," said manager Manny Acta. "Last year everything was blown out of proportion because he took the world by storm. He hit 25 homers and drove in 92 runs."

Acta sees Cabrera as the kind of player who can hit for average, reach double digits in homers, drive in runs, have a .360 on-base percentage and play good defense.

"That's the kind of player he should be," he says.

Cabrera, 26, signed a two-year, $16.5 million extension that will keep him in Cleveland through 2014.

"He's having a very good season," said Acta. "Last year he was everywhere because of all the home runs he was hitting. It's not only chicks who did the long ball, men did it, too. That's how he got so popular last year."

Acta was not surprised at how Cabrera reacted to the first three-error game in his career.

"He's got good makeup," said Acta. "This is baseball. You better not be thinking about what happened yesterday because there's a new game today and another one tomorrow. He's good at that. He's got a good heartbeat."

Good move: It would be hard to pick a better move by Acta in the first half than moving Shin-Soo Choo into the leadoff spot. The Indians are 19-17 since Acta acted May 14 when the team was in Minneapolis to play the Twins.

Choo's average has climbed from .235 to .276. He's hitting .303 (46-for-152) with 31 runs, 16 doubles, one triple, five homers and 12 RBI in that stretch. He has been especially effective in June, batting .300 (27-for-90) with three homers and seven RBI. Choo leads the American League with 10 doubles this month.

Choo has 10 extra-base hits in the first inning, the most in the AL according to Elias, since the change.

Wall ball: The left-field scoreboard at Minute Maid Park is an adventure.

"It's made out of two different kinds of metal and wood," said Aaron Cunningham. "They've got some metal beams in there. When the ball hits it, you better be ready because it can take a lot of strange bounces."

How do you get ready for it?

"That's what batting practice is for," said Cunningham. "You better get out there and learn it."

Finally: Jason Kipnis had three of the Indians' six hits in Saturday's loss. He entered the game in an 0-for-12 slump. All three hits came off rookie lefty Dallas Keuchel.

It was just the second time in Kipnis career he's had three hits off a left-hander in the same game.

On Twitter: @hoynsie