I went to the thread too and I wouldn’t want to throw down with uninformed football fans. You guys have seen me post my feelings concerning the Ravens and the Browns....
No matter how badly it was for both Baltimore(when the Clots left in Mayflower trucks)and here(where the owner was too proud to sell the team and thought moving was the only option)I can’t ever forgive the NFL, the city of Cleveland’s leaders and the fans(yes the fans, I’ll explain below)for how things happened between 1995-1997.
Yes Modell announces he’s leaving town the week after the Indians lost the World Series to the Braves. Simply put, his rationale was that the Indians and Cavs got brand spanking new stadium and arena, where was the football stadium?
So Art leaves and now it’s up to the city and the NFL to work towards getting football back. And boy did the NFL work the city over who then worked over the fans? How you say? Simple......
In the agreement the city signed with the NFL, the new stadium(whether domed or open air)had to have 48,000 or 2/3rds’ of it’s seats be PSL’s and everyone of those 48,000 PSL’S had to be signed sealed and paid for before the expansion was offical. And even though we voted as a county to give thecity the option to build a domed stadium, the city decided to go open air, to save money, not paying attention to the fact that such GREAT cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Indianapolis were having Super Bowls Final Fours and lots of convention business.....
And then finally, the second the first fan walked into the team offices with PSL money in hand(banks in this city offered PSL LOANS that fans gobbled up)is the day the city, the NFL and Art Modell knew they had the wool pulled over the eyes knowing all was forgiven even with there not being football here for an extended period of time.....
I follow the Ravens if only because they to me are still my Browns. The team that plays here belongs to those “fans “who thought it was OK to pay substantial amounts of money to be given the opportunity to buy tickets..
And besides the Ravens won me mucho dinero last playoff season....
Now to the current and now!!!
Next week’s wildcard games are....
SATURDAY 1/9/10
NYJ@CIN—4:30PM/EST NBC
PHI@DAL—8:00PM/EST NBC
SUNDAY 1/10/10
BAL@NE—1:00PM/EST CBS
GB@ARZ—4:45PM/EST FOX
Late word from NE, Wes Welker has a tear of both the ACL and MCL and is done for the rest of the season.
If it were Saturday morning and I’m making my picks they would be.....
cin
phi
bal
god I don’t know. I’m leaning towards Arizona......
If in fact Welker is done and Randy Moss is in 1 of his moods and you’re relying on a banged up Tom Brady to get the job done. I don’t know how the Ravens wouldn’t be considered a favorite.
And I’m not reafy to crown da BOYZ as a sinch winner next week even after today’s butt whooping.
As far as what should be the best game of the week, I’m going to have to borrow big’s number crunching equipment and then flip a coin.....
Next year, ALLEGRA’S TEXICANS and the 49ERS reach postseason play......
Looks like you’re expecting a complete flip of this week’s results. I looked at the other board, but try to stay out of the food fights.
Seat licenses are garbage, though half the league does it now. My girlfriend and her dad were lifelong Eagles season ticket holders, but refused to get PSLs for the Link.
I think the usual justification for PSLs - that it’s a better way of paying for a new stadium than soaking the taxpayers - is baloney. Even if that was honestly the reason, however, there has to be a better way than freezing out the regular fans.
I haven’t been to a New Browns game, as I moved down here to NC in ‘96. I have been to a couple Panthers’ games, though, and, man, what a soulless place to watch a football game that is. The Panthers have PSLs, and all the lower level seats are sucked up by banker types who are more interested in talking business than watching the game. You have to head up to the nosebleeds to get around any real fans.
That’s why I’ve never been able to embrace the Panthers, and became a fan of the New Browns even though you could say they’ve never really been my home team.