RIP Art Modell

I have no idea what this entire question means. I'm not doubting the anecdote. I'm saying that yab's erasure of the first sentence of that anecdote means something.

And that "That alone should put him in the hall of fame" is the full of shit part.

 

You did get it. I was asking if you doubted the story, too. I was curious. I'm really not sure what 'yab's erasure of the first sentence means, though.

I agree on the other point. That story alone doesn't even come close to making him a Hall of Famer. I don't know that he should be one with such a mixed resume.

 

Were Tex Schramm's contributions to the game greater than Modell's?
Because Schramm easily made it to Canton.

 

I am a life-long Cleveland fan who had his heart broken by Modell when he moved the team.

I am not happy at his death, nor saddened. I am terribly indifferent.

Here is a man who had the ability to be one of the most revered people in Cleveland sports history, but instead went the other way and became the most hated.

He moved the team during a difficult financial period because he was too proud to let the city officials know how badly in debt he was. The city was fucking with him on a new stadium and although it was inevitable that he would get it, the city wanted to string it along and make him jump through a lot of hoops.

It was only after the deal to move the team was signed did the city realize how bad off he was. (It was so bad that he eventually lost the team in Baltimore anyway).

Art has done enough to be in the Hall of Fame, but because of this one amazingly terrible move, he isn't. Death might get him in now, but he will never get to enjoy it.

His situation is a lot like Paterno's (understanding that I am not saying that moving a team even remotely compares to looking the other way at child rape) in that both did many, many positive things in there lives, but because of one huge act, there reputations are ruined.

Personally, I don't feel bad for either.

 

The quote from the Brown's spokesman said that they were looking for a proper way to honor Modell on Sunday.

I heard they hit a roadblock because the Modell family wouldn't let the Cleveland fans borrow the corpse for the day.

 

The only ownership figure from the original Browns franchise Cleveland should do anything to "honor" was Paul Brown.

After that, zilch.

Owners own. They write checks. Nobody ever paid a nickel to watch an owner own.

 

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Byrne-Identity-We-Loved-Art-Modell/84ce758b-6247-4b9d-b485-853f48b88700

 

Which is what, exactly?

So you're both saying that a professional sports team is more than a business.

Again, how? Is it a public trust?

 

I celebrate no one's death, but to force the Browns to honor this asshat is ridiculous. For a league that won't permit controversial replays to be shown on the jumbotrons (until this season, anyway) for fear of crowd reaction to do something like this just magnifies the hypocrisy that runs top to bottom.

Put this on his tombstone:

"Let's see you move now, asshole."

 

Something that binds generations. Shared experience. That you are emotionally invested in the same thing your grandfather was.

 

That's what you (we) project on to it.

Do you believe that Modell - or any owner - thinks of it primarily in that way?

Or are they just selling tickets and TV time?

 

Not Modell, necessarily, but a team that would sell shares to fans.
Please, the Browns weren't just a team the way the Carolina Panthers are just a team.
There were stories of calls made to suicide hotlines when the Browns announced the move.