RIP Art Modell

Not to speak for YF, but I read his response of finding it tacky because it sounds like you found out Modell was footing the bill, then decided to add another round of drinks and bottle of wine because it was free.

Like Chef2 said when I was posting.

 

No it wasn't. We were told to do so by the waiter, courtesy of Mr. Modell.

 

Modell didn't break Cleveland's heart, its shitty sports teams did.

 

I really think he got a sick thrill enforcing the NFL blackout rules when the stadium was a couple thousand short of a sellout. The memory may be a little hazy, but something tells me that he even gave bars a hard time (even those like 50 miles outside of the city) for showing those games that were blacked out.

 

The NFL was forced by the people of Cleveland to give a new franchise to the city. Football was over in Cleveland. Gone. Kaput. Clevelanders went berzerk. They shut down the fax machines in the NFL offices with demands to give Cleveland a new team. The City of Cleveland sued Modell to force him to play out the final three years of his lease in Cleveland. Baltimore sued the NFL over antitrust violations.

 

I don't have the time to go exact dates and look this up but combined TV contract required an act of Congress, the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, to be implemented. Modell bought the team in 1961. When Modell bought the team the agreement to give up the rights had already been made by the previous owners. And while history is the propaganda of the winners the chief impetus for the owners to combine the rights is that the AFL already had a combined contract, and in 1960 earned more per team than the NFL. Which freaked the owners out and given the political skills of Rozelle moved them to a combined contract.

Now did Modell take credit for this at owners meetings 35 years later? Probably.

 

Rubbish. Pick up the extra drinks out of your own pocket. While you were at it, the 8 of you should have gotten 3 or 4 Filet Mignons..a couple of T-Bones...Maybe a lobster or two to go......

 

You're seeing something which isn't happening. There's no one saying this, and if there are it isn't many people. It's definitely not a major sentiment here in Cleveland. The one person you're citing on this thread as saying it probably hasn't been in Cleveland for more than a 12-hour stretch.

One of the things talked about when the Browns moved was that maybe Cleveland could take the Vikings. There were plenty of people who said Cleveland could not do that after what just happened with Baltimore taking the Browns.

 

Ok, let's get to the real question: Shittier town, Cleveland or Baltimore?

 

Dude, the guy treated us for dinner and told the waiter that we could add drinks. No need to act like a freakin pig, ya know what I mean?
It was a genuine and generous offer that I have never forgotten. And the times that I had seen him since, he was always very cordial. I've got nothing but respect for the man.
RIP.

 

Depends. I love Baltimore because it's on the East Coast. I love Cleveland because I have family there.
I will say this much: you can get your ass kicked in both of them and Cleveland fans can be brutal.

 

He only volunteered the Browns for the first MNF contest on ABC ni 1970. He did not come up with the idea of MNF. That credit goes to Pete Rozelle and Roone Arledge. Hell, the first MNF game was played in 1964.