Sun Prints Cleveland attack on Modell

[demopublican]

It is sad and amusing that the BS would print this garbage.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/r...,6963841.story

Art Modell has again arrived, this time posthumously, at the doorstep of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He rose to fame and fortune as the owner of the Cleveland Browns, later relocated for no good reason except Modell's poor business sense, to Baltimore and renamed the Ravens.

Modell perhaps benefits from sympathy votes after his death in September. He was also a finalist in 2001, a year after the Ravens, the AFC champions this season, won their only Super Bowl. He was a semifinalist seven times between 2004 and 2011. Voting will take place next weekend before the Super Bowl in New Orleans by a committee of football writers.

Because there is always a chance voters don't know the real reason for the move, the story should begin with the fact that Modell was always a salesman, although his wares were not championship rings

Enjoy the superbowl Browns fans. Yet another losing season coming up next year.

[Eastside Terp]

one city's hero is another city's villain .......

just saying, they love bob irsay in indy ......

[demopublican]

Baltimore has moved on.

[Omaha Beach]

Cleveland fans got to keep the name of their team and the colors. Not so Baltimore fans. Browns left in 1996. Sixteen years to get over it and build a winning team. Cannot blame Modell forever you friggin crybabies.

[Aclobat]

Baltimore has moved on.

This. We got the Ravens.

[jamesdean]

I know the Cleveland area likes to compare what happened to Baltimore but to me, there's no comparison. The Browns returned to Cleveland with the name and uniform colors intact. What did Baltimore get? They got 12 long years to mourn and be humiliated by the NFL(not to mention the idiot commissioner at the time) and to have all it's links to a storied past completely destroyed by a drunken, spiteful man. Yes, the new Browns were an expansion team and terrible but the fact that they have stayed lousy for so long is nobody's fault but the performance of an inept front office. It's easy and convenient to keep blaming Modell and also quite idiotic. The man is dead as is Robert Irsay. All of us should let go of the past because you can't return to those days. They're gone and will never come back.

[demopublican]

Yeah, but they still have to live in Cleveland

[bossfan]

I thought this paragraph showed the writer's desire to support his argument with illogic:
"Except for an NFL championship in 1964, won with the players of the legendary coach, Paul Brown, whom he had fired the year before, he turned it into a franchise that, at best, was a near-miss. The Browns lost the 1965 NFL title game and lost five other times when victory would have given them their first Super Bowl appearance." So, the Browns under Modell won one NFL championship, lost in the title game for a second, and lost five times in the AFC championship. I think in most peoples' opinions, that's a pretty darn good track record, and I think it's hard to blame the owner for The Drive, the Byner fumble, etc. If you look at their playoff appearances under Modell's ownership, it's actually a pretty impressive run until the 90s.

[reg_indy]

one city's hero is another city's villain .......

just saying, they love bob irsay in indy ......

Prerty sure BOB is a forgotten man in Indy. They love Jimmy..

[ivanbalt]

In the end, hating Modell is all Cleveland has. The Browns are easily one of the worst franchises in the NFL despite a loyal fanbase.

[LarryN]

What always cracked me up with the Cleveland fan-base was their hatred for Art Modell and their love for Alfred Lerner. Lerner was the man that brought football back to Cleveland after Modell so heartlessly took it away. Wait? What's that? Lerner brokered the deal that moved the old team to Baltimore? He lent Modell the jet to come here? The people of Cleveland sure have short memories.

[RIKMAN]

It would be a sign of growth for them to enjoy their team and forget about Art moving much as Rikman has almost forgotten the exploits of Drunken Bob.

I'm hoping that Art and Jon Ogden go in the HOF together as Baltimore Ravens!

Go Ravens!

[Ravens2006]

I still remember the days when Al Lerner, blameless in the whole Browns-to-Baltimore move (that's sarcasm) rode back in to Cleveland on a white horse with his trusty genius side-kick Carmen Policy, poised to build a 49ers-like dynasty that would end decades of PIT dominance and pound Modell's team in to submission for years to come... while Browns fans would "take over" the stadium in Baltimore every time they came to town.

At least that was the expectation...

[weird-O]

maybe someone can clarify this for me. as I understand it, Cleveland bought a new venue for their basketball team. then they bought a new stadium for the Indians (or maybe it was in reverse order). when Art asked for help with getting a football stadium, they flat out said, "no".

Art's response was to point out that he wasn't a billionaire who decided to buy a football team as a hobby. but rather, the team was his livelyhood, and the mistake on the lake was making hard to compete. if you can't help me, I'll have to start looking to others who can/will.

if this is true, I can't blame him for moving the team. I would feel like a stepchild too, if the city/state told me I was the only owner not getting a shiney new stadium.

when they built that new football stadium for the new Browns it only confirmed what Art knew all along. they could have done it for him, but chose not too and assumed he wouldn't move.

[Steveg85321]

I think it is time for everyone to move on. This is history. The Hall of Fame recognizes those who contributed something of lasting value to the NFL, which Art Modell certainly did. For one pathetic, provincial town to bear a decades-old grudge is just silly and narrow minded. Al Davis is in the Hall, and he pissed people off all the time. There are multiple sides to every story. I hope Modell goes in this year, and I'm sorry it didn't happen in his lifetime.

To be fair, the same goes for old-timers obsessed with the Colts' moving. The nature of history is that it is often unfair and good people get screwed all the time. Then what happens is that time heals wounds, people grow up and move on.

[Steveg85321]

maybe someone can clarify this for me. as I understand it, Cleveland bought a new venue for their basketball team. then they bought a new stadium for the Indians (or maybe it was in reverse order). when Art asked for help with getting a football stadium, they flat out said, "no".

Art's response was to point out that he wasn't a billionaire who decided to buy a football team as a hobby. but rather, the team was his livelyhood, and the mistake on the lake was making hard to compete. if you can't help me, I'll have to start looking to others who can/will.

if this is true, I can't blame him for moving the team. I would feel like a stepchild too, if the city/state told me I was the only owner not getting a shiney new stadium.

when they built that new football stadium for the new Browns it only confirmed what Art knew all along. they could have done it for him, but chose not too and assumed he wouldn't move.

That is how I recall it as well, except that Cleveland also managed to build the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame instead of helping the Browns with a stadium. Modell was seriously taken for granted and did what he had to do.

[baltimoreron]

Some other writers for the Plain Dealer.

[Frank Costanza 831]

In the end, hating Modell is all Cleveland has. The Browns are easily one of the worst franchises in the NFL despite a loyal fanbase.

If by loyal you mean vulgar and bitter then I'm inclined to agree with you. When i went to Cleveland this year the upper deck was probably about 60% full and there were several Ravens fans in every section I saw. But I the people that did show up were about as vulgar of sports fans I've ever seen. What they lack in numbers they make up with in belligerent behavior. Screw Cleveland. They deserve the terrible team they have

[Peej7245]

Some other writers for the Plain Dealer.

Brilliant!

[Frank Costanza 831]

Another misconception is that the builders of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame chose Cleveland because some disc jockey from Cleveland coined the term "rock and roll". Bull. That story never happened. They got the RnR HOF because they paid a small fortune to get it there as part of some North Harbor revitalization project. They easily could have built Modell a new stadium but they simply chose not to. And he told them in 1994 if they didn't do it for him he would move the team to Baltimore. They chose to ignore him and he did what he said he would do. He was a man of his word and a great man at that. So once again, Screw Cleveland