22
Jan
2011
The 25 biggest headaches for the Cleveland Browns since 1990 — #25: Gary Baxter
After Gary Baxter's 2005 campaign was cut short by injury, his 2006 season -- and his career -- ended abruptly on this play. (Source: Daylife.com)
The past two decades represent a drawn-out, frightful voyage into deep wilderness for the Cleveland Browns franchise and its faithful followers.
Fans of 31 NFL teams are left disappointed each season, but you’d be hard-pressed to name a more snake-bitten enclave than Cleveland’s. Their troubles are well-documented, from soul-crushing AFC title game defeats to John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the 1980s; to Art Modell‘s splintering of the franchise with the move to Baltimore in 1995; to the focused, passionate fight of Browns fans to keep the team’s colors and history tied to Cleveland forevermore.
All of this happening BEFORE the team returned in 1999.
Cleveland’s re-emergence on the NFL landscape was cited as a striking triumph for the city over the tentacles of greed tightening around pro sports.
But victory trumpets were quickly silenced.
5
May
2010
The L.A. Vikings?
Mike Kaszuba, of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Vikings stadium proposal suffered a 10-9 defeat in a state House committee Wednesday morning. “The defeat represents a major blow to the stadium effort,” Kaszuba writes, “but at this stage of the legislative session, set-backs for major bills can sometimes be only temporary.”
Despite what some are saying, there are truthfully only vague similarities between this Minnesota situation and the circumstances surrounding Art Modell’s moving the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Modell was given the opportunity to build a new stadium for the Browns, but the situation–for a variety of reasons–unraveled, and Modell actually stopped negotiating after he’d begun talking to the shadowy men from Baltimore. That said, Vikings fans may be feeling a disturbance in the force right about now.
We’ve all heard the rumblings about Los Angeles getting a pro football team again (despite the city’s ultimately passive reaction to the Rams and Raiders departing). It’s going to happen–and it may happen sooner than we expect. Los Angeles is in the running for an expansion team based on sheer market size alone, not a built-in, rabid, devoted fanbase–and certainly not because Norse explorers claim deep roots on California’s west coast (although this Viking might).
Actually, maybe these guys would fit well in L.A. (Source: Publicradio.org)
Jacksonville has been mentioned–in low-level chatter–as a team that might relocate to Los Angeles. The New Orleans Saints also appeared to be suitor, but their Super Bowl victory shelved that chatter. Some speculate that this stadium issue vaults Minnesota to the front of the pack. That would be a shame. Minnesota may not stand as the most shimmering of television markets, but Vikings fans are abundant, and loyal, and long-suffering. Do you agree: whenever you walk into a sports bar–anywhere–you’ll see a table, or two (or an entire bar) filled with purple-clad followers. They’re everywhere, but that could all change, as we are constantly reminded that this is a business.
17
Sep
2009
Browns-Steelers: Still a rivalry?
Strange NFL videos from yesteryear (Part 4 of 213): Check out this bizarre, captivating video of a 1986 Browns-Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium. The Browns, who–in 16 years–had NEVER beaten Pittsburgh in Three Rivers Stadium, go for the kill in this clip. Weird moment: check out Art Modell and his two high-society friends (including Al Lerner to Modell’s left) in an outdoor box, looking like they’re at a tennis match (do we ever see owners sitting outdoors like this anymore?). At one point, Modell angrily paces around in the outdoor booth. Fantastic. This rivalry is on life support in 2009–Cleveland hasn’t beaten Pittsburgh since 2003–but it once had meaning.
Back when Modell had a soul.
