On Kobe Bryant and taking greatness for granted
February 11, 2016Cavaliers interested in acquiring Ben McLemore or Joe Johnson, among others
February 12, 2016Happy Friday WFNY nation! I’m joking. We don’t do the “nation” thing here. Happy Friday just the same. I’m happy to be here in a veritable dead zone of sports as we wait for March Madness. So let’s talk about stuff… .
The $5 million in public funding is dead, but the Browns are moving to Camp Columbus… probably…
The good news is that all the public outrage about politicians asking citizens to pay for a new athletic facility in Columbus has caused it to die an unnatural death. I wrote about it last week in my WWW and also discussed St. Louis’ stadium issues with a now-departed Rams team. The update is that the politicians – unable to sneak that bad boy through – have been shamed into not bilking the citizens for the benefit of billionaire sports people to export Browns training camp for marketing purposes. Alex Fischer of the Columbus Partnership takes a bit of a shot on his way to trying to explain what happened in his Dispatch editorial.
Despite open communication among Columbus, the Browns and many Cleveland leaders who support these plans, this request has surprisingly raised the ire of several Northeast Ohio politicians in a manner that mischaracterizes our collaborative nature. We would never advance state funding that is perceived as pitting Columbus against another Ohio community. As such, we will remove this request from the priority list we give to legislative leaders next week.
He goes on to say that despite removing the financial request, they’re basically just going to go forward with the project anyway. So while it feels like a victory – and it might be from a fiscal / governmental standpoint – it’s not stopping the Browns from moving their training camp, and most likely they’ll find a way to land in Columbus.
Maybe that’s good for the Cleveland Browns. It’s undoubtedly a good marketing move as it allows them to put some roots in another part of the state that is hotly contested for NFL fans with Cincinnati and probably Pittsburgh too, for the front-runners who don’t want to back a loser. It might even be good for us and for the team, to get a chance to build camaraderie and grow as a team away from the most toxic epicenter of Cleveland Browns fans. I’m not blaming us for the team’s struggles, but I do think there’s something of a self-fulfilling prophecy to losing because you feel like a loser because you’ve lost so much.
That said, moving even a portion of the team – in this case training camp – is never going to go over easily for a fanbase that had its team ripped away. We’re a fragile bunch and we know it, but it’s not our fault and as long as you want to cash all those checks for season tickets you kind of have to play to our deepest levels of psychosis. Like a neighborhood restaurant or bar, you can make some changes here and there, but you better not alienate the local regulars.
I fully expect the Browns to test that and move camp sooner rather than later. They’ve already stated that it won’t be this year, but I wouldn’t expect any long-term guarantees. And maybe it will be the best thing for the team in the long run. I know that I won’t really miss covering training camp personally. It’s a lot of fun, but I think it makes me dumber or more delusional when it comes to the Browns. In the end, even if and when the Browns become good, it won’t be evident to anyone who watches them beat each other in seven-on-seven drills in the summer heat of either Cleveland or Columbus.
A lot of people read Crain’s…
I did an interview with Crain’s about podcasting and The A to Z podcast in particular. Ever since that hit, I’ve been getting lots of texts, emails and “HEY!”s from people who’ve seen it. I’m only tangentially involved with The A to Z Podcast, but as a fan of it, I love having anything to do with bringing it to the masses every week as someone who helped build the Scene podcast thing. It’s kind of funny, really, because my involvement is really the result of my failures as a sound engineer for my own rock bands.
I have (had?) a band called The Company Line and we played for a while and I wanted to be one of those bands that could record their own albums. I thought I could jump in and figure it all out with some mics, a recording device and Apple Logic Pro software. I learned a lot and I got to the point that I could be “dangerous,” but I never had the ability to take it to the next level of mastery. But failing at that loftier goal made me completely and totally qualified to be an audio engineer in the podcasting world.
Instead of having to keep track of 32 tracks of various drums, guitars, keys, vocals, and other audio weirdness, I now optimize spoken voice tracks like a radio pro. I grab two audio tracks, insert an intro, fade that badboy out, toss a bunch of compression on to even out the highs and lows and I can get a podcast tuned up and posted inside of ten minutes usually. So if you ever wondered about what it is I do with podcasts or how I got involved, it was a really low hurdle after I tried to jump over a much taller one and banged my chest into the middle of said hurdle.
This is a good time to plug the three podcasts with which I have involvement.
You know all about the WFNY Podcast
You probably know about the Cleveland Scene Podcast
Even though you don’t hear my voice, you should check out The A to Z Podcast
Your weekly moment of soccer zen…
It was a crazy soccer week here at WFNY where I chronicled my receipt of a signed Carli Lloyd soccer ball. I still don’t know how it happened, but Carli saw it on Twitter and gave it a retweet, which was fun. Then as I was putting this together I saw a women’s soccer highlight on Deadspin that was so perfect. How many times have we talked about first touch here? Well, we’re doing it again. Look at this first touch on the cross.
Here’s my latest music podcast with local musician Shawn Brewster…
I did a sports podcast with Shawn that you might have heard, but you should also listen to the music version. Each of these local Cleveland musicians have great stories and insights into what it’s like to do what they do. Shawn is no exception.
16 Comments
State University of Ohio lost a legend…
http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/14764569/former-ufc-heavyweight-champion-kevin-randleman-dies-age-44
Dude was a beast.
RIP.
Yes, there’s something odoriferously Modell-ish about this move to Columbus. It’s not like crowds are sparse for camp in Berea; each practice is pretty near filled to capacity. And camp is the only time fans get to see the players in this kind of environment, since practices are closed to the public. But hey, marketing isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
BTW, I just became aware that there’s a statue of Al Lerner in front of the Berea HQ. I can’t find a good photo of it. Depending on how well this photo shows up after I post it, you might be able to see it on the left.
I had no idea. Seems like if Al gets one, Paul Brown ought to get one.
It’ll be okay. Lots of NFL teams hold camps hours away from their city. The fans survive. I promise. Distance can be a good thing, particularly when we’re talking about the Browns.
Agree on the Paul Brown statue. Al Lerner and no Paul Brown? How is this team the “Browns?”
That soccer goal is Dele Alli-scious.
I really like the A to Z podcast. Those guys can get a little obnoxious with how often they cut themselves and each other off and veer down tangents, but you won’t find a better source of player information for our teams. I think eventually as this podcast gets more popular, they’re going to have to button that down. Telling tales out of school to a couple hundred people is fine. Telling tales out of school to thousands of people will get you sued. And I’ll be sad when that happens because these guys always know the dirt before it gets printed in the papers (so to speak).
I never understood the allure of going to training camp, sorry if them moving is a loss to you though.
It’s all about the money. If some local government is dumb enough to build Haslam a training facility and give him a sweet lease, he’s going to take it. It’s become ridiculous to me how blatant sports teams have become when it comes to asking for corporate welfare. If you haven’t read it yet, take a look at this story about the owners’ meeting on relocating the Rams: http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14752649/the-real-story-nfl-owners-battle-bring-football-back-los-angeles Jerry Jones knows the score.
Oh, and the worst part about the $5M is it was coming from the state. Not the county or the city, but the state. Cuyahoga and Hamilton County footed the bill for their stadiums. Columbus wants to gift Haslam a new training facility? Fine. Just pay for it yourselves.
Can we celebrate that Kevin Kiley “resigned?”
For the record, I share your outrage at the ridiculousness at ANY public funding for private sports facilities–but if you’re a wealthy owner, and someone offers to foot the bill, you take it. Every time. They all do. I mean–if it were me, I would pay my fair share of the meal, split the bill, whatever. These guys see it as their right if it’s in demand, and it is–so I can’t really be mad at the Haslams of the world for it.
Cities are paying for them to build billion dollar stadiums at this point, and the only billionaire I’ve seen not take city funding is Kroenke (who had some WalMart money and was privately funding just to force the NFL into accepting his jump ship to LA). Aside from that power play, they all hold the cities hostage and get their handout. It’s the way of the world. And meanwhile, Dean Spanos (billionaire son of a wealthy SD real estate businessman) continues his decade long attempt to squeeze money out of the city of SD. So it goes…
The issue isn’t so much that they take it, but how they actively manipulate the system to bilk taxpayers out of as much money as possible. Though I personally disagree with them, I’m not bothered when Cuyahoga and Hamilton County taxpayers approve a tax hike to pay for a stadium. Jimmy Haslam getting Columbus Partners to ask for $5M straight from the state: that’s the level of blatant soliciting that I’m ranting about.
And it’s interesting that STL refused to allow a public vote on the stadium money they were offering Kroenke. Say what you will about the Rams relocating to L.A., but from what I’ve read that stadium deal actually looks fair for taxpayers and local government.
Good point. I would agree that as long as it’s put to a vote, it’s fair game (or as fair as the game could be).
Re the Rams, I followed it closely since it’s near where I live. Yeah, it’s about as fair of a deal as you will find for the people. All privately funded and on mostly vacant land (former Hollywood Park racetrack). Some people bitched bc city council fast tracked it without putting it to a vote. Loopholes and since private funding–didn’t need to. Other people still gripe about the gentrification factor though in Inglewood and people getting pushed out, priced out. Others here are bitching about more traffic (well it’s LA). So goes to show, there will always be complaints, even for someone funding and dropping a 2.6 billion development project (the stadium is only half the project) into your backyard.
Absolutely. It’s a shame it didn’t happen sooner.
hi HOP … i had a chance to go to a few training camp sessions in Berea. it is a chance to get close-up to the players & also to snag some autographs. one year , i did get a chance to meet , and get an autograph , from the late Lou Groza.
it’s definitely cool to do a time or two … i’m glad i did it.
i’m okay with whatever they do , but i would feel bad for the city of Berea … it’s a nice little town that probably depends on the Browns for jobs & income.
… the biggest impression made on me one year was when i was standing right in front of , and talking , to vinnie testaverde , & i was amazed at how freakin’ big that dude was … he was bigger than some of the O-lineman.
Great link. Thanks. As if anyone needed a reason to despise Jones even more…..