Progress However Slow? Spawn of Modell-Conspirator in “private negotiations” over sale of Browns to Top Republican Fundraiser/Global Warming Profiteer/Avowed “1,000% Steelers Fan”

by Cleveland Frowns on July 27, 2012

Either Plato is being put to the ultimate test here, or there’s something worse than a Modell-Conspirator. Either way, now really is the perfect time for an oilman to join the ranks of Cleveland sports ownership.

Additionally, James Haslam III (“Jimmy”), with whom Randy Lerner is currently in private negotiations regarding an “investment” in the Browns currently owns a share of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is on record as saying he’s “1,000% a Steelers Fan.” So we’re probably looking* at one of the most massive troll jobs in history on the high end, and a collapse of the space/time continuum on the low. Right in our wheelhouse.

Will leave it to the new weekend open thread to figure out the rest.

—————-

*Tony Grossi cites “a source” who says “Haslam is looking for a majority stake in the Browns — perhaps 100%,” which is easy enough to believe because what kind of 1,000% Steelers fan would trade a minority share of the Steelers for a minority share of the Browns? Also, the Haslams are definitely rich enough to buy the whole thing.

**More detail from Zac Jackson and Pat McManamon at Fox Sports Ohio here. This thing is happening.

  • CleveLandThatILove

    His brother is the governor of TN.

    • mo_by_dick

      Tennessee … T-T-T-Tennessee

      • ClevelandFrowns

        Photoshop contest: Jimmy Haslam/Daniel Plainview bowling alley scene. Winner gets a major award.

        • ClevelandFrowns

          Based on a quick google search, the bowling alley shop will be tough. Any Jimmy Haslam/Daniel Plainview shop will do fine.

          • bupalos

            See if this works.

          • ClevelandFrowns

            It’s a start. Needs more blood and/or oil fire.

          • mo_by_dick

            unfortunately my employer doesn’t see a legitimate business purpose in my having photoshop installed

          • bupalos

            Since I don’t have any work to do….

          • bupalos

            This one has more narrative.

          • ClevelandFrowns

            BEAUTIFUL.

          • ClevelandFrowns

            Priorities.

        • mo_by_dick
        • acto

          A leg lamp?

          • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

            An “I’m an Arrogant Bastard” Jersey. I’ve seen them out here as well.

          • Petefranklin

            Arrogant Bastard, a fine ale and the psuedo name of my sand rail.

  • http://twitter.com/lilOUmikey Mikey

    Of course you’re going to be a fan where your money is, I had no interest in the trucking industry until I started working for it, obviously I’m going to root for it.

    Full disclosure: other question where the steelers question came from

    Q. Before you became an investor, were you a Steelers fan?
    A. No. I was actually originally a Dallas Cowboys fan and then an Indianapolis Colts fan.

    Guessing he grew up as a Cowboy fan and latched onto the Colts b/c Peyton Manning is a UT alum.

    • ClevelandFrowns

      Yeah, I saw that. None of it changes the fact that he’s on record as saying he’s “1,000% a Steelers fan.”

      He might as well have just said, “C.R.E.A.M., bitches.” Unless there’s a percentage that’s higher than 1,000.

      It’s funny any way you look at it.

      • AlvaroEspinoza10

        what else do you expect a guy to say when he’s asked “are you a steelers fan now?” on the steelers promotional website in his investor profile? will need to see more evidence of steeler fandom/him being an asshole before I am the least bit upset about this.

        honestly after hearing the news of a potential browns buyer elsewhere, i was suprised to see a negative headline here. as bup says anyone with this type of money is bound to be somewhat of an asshole, unfortunately in this case an oilman. but that and a harmless quote on the steelers official website is enough to rain on the parade of Lerner getting out of town? cheer up frowns

        • ClevelandFrowns

          Not sure where you’re seeing this “negative headline,” Mr. Jumpypants. “Progress However Slow?” is what I’m reading here.

          But did you read this? http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719 Haslam is actually trying to kill us.

          • AlvaroEspinoza10

            few people hate big oil as much as I do. the reality is that this guy is going to continue being a big oil asshole regardless of whether he owns the browns. hey, maybe the browns will bring in so much revenue that he gets out of the oil business all together?? has there ever been a way for a fanbase to help our planet so directly? BUY JERSEYS PEOPLE

            so as a browns fan, id rather have someone who was a starting tackle at tennessee because he probably cares a lot about the game of football. in short, as browns fans were better off than we were before and the planet is no worse off because this guy now owns the browns

          • bupalos

            This guy is only an auxiliary to big oil. The first 3rd of the fortune comes from his pappy being one of the first-ish ones to happen on the idea that when people stop for gas they might want to buy cigarettes and Doritos. Then like anyone other billiionaire, the second 2/3rds of the fortune comes from buying guaranteed revenue streams, buying out competitors to stay just this side of antitrust, manipulating the political system to create public infrastructure they can milk, and dumping any harmful consequences on the public at large. The NFL has to look like a big juicy plum to these guys.

            I don’t think the Browns are worse off, I think it really doesn’t matter one bit which corporation masquerading as a person has it’s name on the money papers. That part is a total fraud.

        • ClevelandFrowns

          I’m feeling much better about this as it sinks in. Lerner is gone. The Modell chapter is closed. The man ultimately responsible for Dawg Pound Mike and Mangenius Interrupted is gone. Holmgren is on borrowed time.

          This has to be progress, right?

          • NeedsFoodBadly

            Has to be. Finally severing the last tie with Art Modell. It’s a good thing.

          • bupalos

            History doesn’t go away just because you bring someone in to bury the bodies. And that guy you bring in….

      • acto

        Well, at least we know he is not a mathmetician.

  • BIKI024

    in light of the Dodgers and GS Warriors recent sales, as well as many other teams that sold for far more than the “Forbes estimated value”, this could be quite the windfall for the Lerner’s. Forbes estimated value of $900m, i’d be asking for $2 billion Randy!

    • Petefranklin

      Dont give the guy, Lerner, any ideas. Remember what happened to the team when a certain rich owner overpaid for a certain baseball team in Cleveland. At least if he pays fair market value we can have solice knowing that he doesn’t need to pinch every last nickel from the team because there are much bigger revenue streams that are guaranteed. He might sell advertising space on the field’s 50 yard line to Diamond Shamrock or something though but who cares. Texans, is Diamond Shamrock still around?

      • BIKI024

        Flying JJ Field??

        • Petefranklin

          Flying J truckstop, the only good meals(salad bar) that I ate at the 69th Sturgis run. Sorry Pete P, Gyros only go so far no matter how delictable as street fare. If only they ate pizza west of the Mississippi.

  • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

    This all sounds about right.

  • nj0

    We may all be participants in the biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska blast of 1909.

    • Beeej

      References to Office Space, A Christmas Story, 1984, and Ghostbusters all in one day makes this a happy Friday.

      • acto

        Beeeeeej,
        They filmed “Office Space” at my office.
        It was one of the biggest “boiler rooms” in the USA.

    • acto

      Nj,
      Sorry to be “that guy”, but….. it was June 30th 1908. I remember it well because it was a month before my 21st birthday.
      Also, it has spawned an amazing amount of Space Monkey/conspiracy theories because it was a mid air blast, like an A or H-bomb.

      • nj0

        Take it up with Aykroyd and Ramis.

        • acto

          Nj, did I miss a movie?

  • Vari

    Is there any way to scrap that Packers Addendum in the rule book and let a city that deserves to own a team, own the team?

    • bupalos

      Ask the sociopathic rightwing billionaires that run this country. Maybe they will say yes.

      • GrandRapidsRustlers

        This is clear nonsense. We all know that @jimkanicki runs everything. I mean have you seen the Chedday Bay docs?

        • bupalos

          I don’t doubt that kanick runs the country, but how does that conflict with my previous statement?

          • GrandRapidsRustlers

            Now I have to read? I was just here to drink and gamble.

  • bupalos

    Who did you folks who constantly bitch about Lerner needing to sell the team think was going to buy it? The number of billionaires who are not flaming right-wing sociopaths out to get ALL THE MONEY by whatever means neccessary is vanishingly small. I’m sure some of them are not Steeler’s fans, but beyond that…

    I already miss Randy.

    • ClevelandFrowns

      We can’t even get, like, only an 800% Steelers fan as our owner here. It has to be 1,000%. UNREAL.

      • CleveLandThatILove

        So that will make him a 1,000,000% Browns fan. Maybe even billion.

        • BIKI024

          he is 13% owner of Steelers, which means he probably forked over at least $100m or so for that. if he’s forking over a billion, that means he definitely in the 1,000,000% fan range

        • rodofdisaster

          He will need to learn to use exponents.

      • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

        When those words come out of your mouf who gives a damn why you are saying it? I’m so pissed I can’t even think of anything remotely intelligent to say. I’ve got about 10 Stone IPAs ready for tonight.

        On another note, in the last day or so I’ve seen at least ten fat, overweight middle-aged men out here trolling people by wearing their Penn State Football gear. Where the pride is coming from at this point in time is beyond me. Man, that whole state seriously sucks. Buttheads.

        • Ess Eh

          note: stone ruination 10th anny is out now and it is amazing.

          • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

            I had that in my fridge 2 weeks ago – delicious. No t sure if there was a mention of the 10th anny on it so I may have missed that one.

          • acto

            Esse, I had some last night. Real men love hops and so do I.

          • Petefranklin

            Is that from Oregon?

        • actovegin1armstrong

          PML,
          I do not get their desire to suddenly show their “school pride”. Certainly they should have some sense to think about the victims and other people who may see their Penn State gear and be reminded of similar abuse.
          Today I went flying past a Fred wearing a Penn State Cycling jersey noodling his granny gear up a hill on his way to a popular Austin cycling venue.
          I wish that I had the time and wit to have come up with something better, but I asked him if he was “on his way to the Veloway, or the Manson family reunion.”
          He was on a $15,000 bicycle, so I am fairly certain that he could afford to buy a different jersey and wear it for a while until this story has had some time to die down.

          BTW, I am finishing off my supply of Stone RuinTheNation IPA right now.

          • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

            I think the appropriate response would have been to linger in front of him and send a few farts his way.

      • actovegin1armstrong

        Is there any truth to the trade rumor?
        Mr 1000% is pushing for the Browns to trade Joe Thomas to the Steelers for a six pack of Iron City Beer?

    • GrandRapidsRustlers

      If he is a 1000% Steelers fan and he buys the Browns does the curse of Wahoo somehow damage the Steelers?

      • Petefranklin

        I think the Three Rivers Jinx would stomp Wahoo in a 4th quarter decision.

        • Petefranklin

          Unless of course a tall gangly QB from Oklahoma doesn’t give a shit about curses or jinxes!

          • actovegin1armstrong

            Landry Jones?

          • Petefranklin

            I guess we’d have to make a trade for him then because you know that with 2 top line QB’s coming out next year the Clowns will manage to get the third pick.

    • Art_Brosef

      My guess is there are plenty of billionaire wall st types who arent “flaming right-wing sociopaths.” Although, they are probably less judgemental.

      Anyway, what will you miss about him?

      • bupalos

        >>>My guess is there are plenty of billionaire wall st types who arent “flaming right-wing sociopaths.” >>>

        Your guess is wrong.

        >>>Anyway, what will you miss about him?>>>

        That he shut up, paid the bills, and wasn’t a flaming right wing sociopath global warming profiteer Steeler fan. But other than that…

        • Art_Brosef

          No its not, there are plenty of big time billionare democratic doners on Wall St that could buy a team who arent “flaming right wing sociopath global warming profiteers.”

          You forgot, “lost an absurdly high percentage of his games as owner” at the end.

          • bupalos

            Plenty of flaming right wing democrats, as it turns out.

          • Petefranklin

            You can not say that he didn’t open his pocketbook like Mike Brown. My only problem with him is that he seemed to rush into the important hirings without interviewing enough people. RL might have learned a thing or two about football along the way.

        • acto

          Always love you Bupa!

        • Roobeedoob24

          Bupa, aside for being politically blind +/- lame, why does this bother you? Is the alternative (10+ losses / year 80% of the time) a more beneficial experience?

  • technivore

    I was about to get mad about this until I realized that nobody gets to be the billionaire owner of a pro sports team by being a nice guy or a Democrat. I just hope he’s enough of a boss to hold Holgrem accountable.

    • ClevelandFrowns

      Peter B. Lewis could be one if he wanted to. I’m sure there are others as well. Not exactly a nice guy, but preferable by orders of magnitude.

      • CleveLandThatILove

        Josh Gordon would be down with that.

        • bupalos

          Hippies!!

          • Petefranklin

            Arent the Seattle teams owners hippies, super super rich and pretty lame?

    • nj0

      Robert Kraft is supposedly a Dem. And Dan Rooney is too. Obama doesn’t name you ambassador to Ireland if you aren’t part of the family.

      • NeedsFoodBadly

        One of the things Haslam said he liked about the Steelers organization was the Rooneys’ “conservative philosophy.”

        Maybe he means that more in the financial sense than political, but it’s an odd quote.

  • Art_Brosef

    Is it Cheddar Bay season yet

  • Hopwin

    In order for this to happen wouldn’t the NFL owners association need to approve:
    1) Sale of the minority interest in the Steelers to someone
    2) Sale of whatever stake in the Browns to Haslam & Company
    Seems unlikely.

    • ClevelandFrowns

      I don’t think either of those things is expected to be a problem.

      • Hopwin

        Depends on who that someone is doesn’t it? If it is Rush Limbaugh again…

        • manc

          The NFL already approved Haslem’s purchase of 12-13% of the Steelers. He’s been “vetted” particularly if that Eagles exec (Joe Banner?) is part of the package. This deal is done.

          Also, Republicans root for the Browns and other NFL teams as well. Glad to see everyone taking a break from Chik-fil-A boycotts to protest other irrelevant crapola.

          • Petefranklin

            Republicans root for the Browns? Excuse me while I carve an elf with football tatoo out of my arm.

          • actovegin1armstrong

            The boycott shall go on forever.

  • MrFlanny

    Why does this feel like the NFL version of “Major League” starring Steve Martin as Randy Lerner, Meg Ryan as ambitious reporter Mary Kay Cabot, Joe Flaherty as Tony Grossi, and Fred Thompson as billionaire egomaniac Jimmy Haslam.
    Box. Office. Gold.

  • Kamov

    If Aston Villa starts making some expensive summer transfers, I will take that as evidence that this deal is serious.

  • Hopwin

    I was in the bathroom and I slipped and bonked my noggin on the urinal. While I was passed out an Angel appeared to me to reveal the truth of this situation (which I copied onto two golden discs for posterity). Here goes:

    Haslem is represented by Bob LaMonte who started this Machiavellian scheme 3 years ago by cleverly inserting Holmgren into a position to poison the ear of Lerner (think MacBeth) that everyone in the town is against him by having his team fail, sadly Mangini was showing progress towards bringing this franchise forward into a credible team so he was the first victim of the plot. Holmgren then engineered the downfall of the only figure with a media platform large enough to derail the process (Hey Tony!). In the meantime hostile takeover team’s ship ran aground last season due to unforeseen intervention of the only devout, pure, Christian person left in America (Colt McCoy’s dad) whose constant sermons on the failed stewardship of the franchise were drawing undo attention to the higher levels of the organization. Holmgren tasked Shurmur with silencing the McCoys by murdering their son Colt. Shurmur attempted this by engaging James Harrison and having Ben Watson shrug off a block to allow Harrison unimpeded access to the quarterback.

    Dazed, but unmurdered, McCoy rose from the ashes and his father’s calls echoed louder than ever amongst the national media at which point Holmgren realized that Heckert would need to be employed to remove this thorn from their paw. Thus the drafting of “he-who-was-born-with-no-soul”, Weeden. With both the McCoys and the local media silenced, Lerner’s self-confidence shaken and Mangini safely out of the way LaMonte rang up his good old buddy Rooney and told him that Cleveland’s earth had been scorched and was ripe for a Steelers’ crony takeover.

    Which brings us to today’s announcement.

  • BIKI024

    hypothetically speaking, if someone were to wager at least 250 cups of whiskey on 15-1 odds of the Steelers winning the Super Bowl, what percentage of a fan would they be??

    • ClevelandFrowns

      Zero. It’s all in the game, bruh.

      • BIKI024

        it’s all in the game when a minority owner is asked their committment to the team. i wouldn’t expect him to say anything less. as far as moving forward, i’m sure he will answer it the same way and give professional courtesy to the Steelers, but he’s got a billion reasons to be a Browns fan now.

        just like if someone invested in the future success of a team, they will be rooting for them to succeed, i.e they would be a fan.

        • Petefranklin

          250 cups of whiskey??? Let’s rock Bik who you got? Add that on to our 2 dollar bet?

          • BIKI024

            i’m rooting for my friend who made the wager, but i don’t have a horse in the race.. does that make me a Steeler fan?? nope, “it’s all in the game”

          • Petefranklin

            So can we add 250 cups of whiskey to our little thing? Payable over a lifetime? 125 cups of Crown would equal 250 of Beam or house, but since you’re probably going to lose, especially after your 15k pickup on the tribe, I guess I would settle for 10 bottles of MM couch batch. BTW you like slots right? I have a nickle slot that works with the Horseshoe logo on the poker hands. I could send it with a visitor that drove out here this week if you have any interest, shipping free! It is definitely Cleveland man cave material, promise.

          • BIKI024

            A) I don’t live in Cleve/Akron
            B) so you want 250 $7 cups on Browns UNDER 4.5 wins? (fine by me!)

          • Petefranklin

            Fair price on under 4.5 would be +140, guess we’ll just stick to what we’ve got already. I like their chances to go over 4.5 though, maybe Shurmer does get it together this year, early reports are that he seems different this year.

          • ClevelandFrowns

            Franklin, are you looking to hold action on Steelers to win Super Bowl at 15-1? Seems like one of the better value plays out there to me.

          • Petefranklin

            It does seem like a worthy bet but I’m not taking any of it. I sort of like the Jets some this year. And Houston and Green Bay.

          • Petefranklin

            Just saw the Squeelers at +1650 not too bad but Polamalu is getting old quickly. And if Wallace shows up he might be poison, yeah that looks worthy of a shot but not for me. I forgot about the Bears…love em @ 20/1. Basically they have to beat 2 teams in January… the packers and the better team of the 49ers or Saints, one of those teams will dissappoint this year I’m pretty sure, if not both. Also like the AFC Mannings @ 20/1 a lot, the NFL being the QB league that it is. Dont know if Peyton can get it done in January outdoors for 2 or 3 games though, but I do have confidence that he stays healthy.

        • ClevelandFrowns

          Not even in the same universe. One can change wagers like he changes shoes.

          • BIKI024

            sure he can, but he obviously cares about a pair of shoes he invested 250 cups of choice whiskey on

    • Beeej

      Depends on the size of the cups, but probably somewhere around 80-90%

      • BIKI024

        $7 per cup

    • actovegin1armstrong

      Biki,
      Hopwin should know the answer to that, he had 250 cups of whiskey before he hit his head on the urinal and had those visions.

      • Hopwin

        Who drinks whiskey out of cups? That’s alcohol abuse. Straight out of the bottle is the only way to go.

        PS: Brown paper bags are acceptable as a koozie.

        • acto

          N tablesSorry Hoppy,
          I am a low budget loser. I drink my whiskey from plastic bottles, the benevolence of friends, or drinks left on tables.
          However, some of the kids her know some stuff about whiskey.
          I am trying to learn, but it is difficult because the liquor store near my house has had a long term special on 1.75 liter jugs of cheap gin.

  • http://twitter.com/cpmack Chris M
    • nj0

      I love Mayor Jackson’s statement. To calm our fears about the team leaving, he notes that we have an agreement in place that is similiar to the agreement that was in place when our last team left.

      • http://twitter.com/cpmack Chris M

        Not only that, but apparently Mayor Jackson isn’t the mayor at all. Michael Stanley is.

        • GrandRapidsRustlers

          Holy Christ.

          That is just breathtaking.

  • nj0

    (7/27/12): ”(Lerner) is giving up controlling interest in the team,” president Mike Holmgren said at the team’s suburban Berea training camp. Holmgren said he and Lerner have discussed the matter throughout the summer.

    (6/15/12): Holmgren reiterated the Browns are not for sale, further refuting a rumor last week that Lerner had the team on the market.

    • mo_by_dick

      i forgot to thank you for your “girl-drink drunk” reference on the last open thread — well done!

      http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leu8eqoGEt1qzzd6io1_400.jpg

      • nj0

        Waitress! Another Tahitian Tee-Hee for my friend the vice president.

        • Petefranklin

          The vice president doesn’t have crap on the head of the problem solving committee. And as such I say DRINK!, 250 glasses of whiskey.

      • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

        I’ll admit that I have no problem ordering foo foo drinks if no one I know is around to see it and there aren’t any beers on the menu I find appealing. Mrs. PML finds this highly amusing.

    • Jim

      Well technically June 15th is not “summer;” rather, it is still spring.

      • nj0

        You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.

  • BIKI024

    Rumor has it that Haslam is super tight with former Browns player and ST coach, a certain William Laird Cowher.

    • bupalos

      This is my nightmare.

    • CleveLandThatILove

      Look away, PML – Look away!

      • http://www.autismspeaks.org/ PML

        All things considered, I wouldn’t be too upset if Cowher came aboard – it would be almost right since we didn’t give him the HC job many moons ago after wearing and coaching the Brown and Orange. Regardless, having someone claiming they are 1000% a Satan fan now owning the Browns is my own personal version of hell on earth. I may seriously become a Chargers fan if this happens.

    • technivore

      This sounds like an item from a Roger Brown column.

      Anyway, man talk about a deal with the devil. Do I even want the Browns to win if it means being owned by a (supposedly reformed) bandwagon Steeler fan and coached by a long retired ex-Steeler coach? Ugh. Sports is supposed to be my /refuge/ from the difficult choices and divided loyalties of real life.

      • BIKI024

        Cowher was a Brown for 7 years before he was a Steeler so it doesn’t really seem that difficult a choice for most Browns fans that remember Cowher on the Browns sidelines. He’s been removed from the Steelers long enough to be able to come in without any conflict of interest should the new ownership want him to.

        However, if Banner is in fact the Team Prez, they may stay in the Holmgren/Reid tree since he’s so familiar with all their guys, the WCO and 4-3, and oh yeah Bob Lamonte.

  • Bryan

    Sources: Haslam is in the process of terminating Holmgren’s contract and installing Eric Mangini as President/GM/Coach.

  • nj0

    From the PD:

    Lerner insisted on and has received a guarantee from Haslam that he won’t move the Browns out of Cleveland, according to Fred Nance, Senior Advisor to Lerner.

    “(Lerner) has an unequivocal commitment from Haslam to never move the Browns,” Nance said. “He made that a prerequisite before entering into negotiations.”

    Nance added that Haslam “provided the commitment without hesitation.”

    And when asked what would stop Haslam from moving the team, Nance replied, “read the lease.”

    ***

    So the guarantee is really just the contractual obligation? Call me paranoid, but those types of things have been worked around before.

  • Dinger63

    Is Jimmy interested in owning Cleveland? Certainly he can buy the Indians from the Catholic patrician Dolan family. Targeting Gilbert may may require him to cross impassable philosophical tracks. How about a Phoenician NHL franchise which could be coaxed from the gullible populace? The Frownie link provided gave a nice expose of the Haslam family presence in Knoxville. I’d bet Knoxville’s population is shockingly close to Cleveland’s. Looks like he and Gilbert could be on the same track headed for the same destination in a Stratego like face-off for the dying entrails of an industrial anachronism.

    • mo_by_dick

      This is truly remarkable.

  • Petefranklin

    WOW What news! My takes… I have no dislike for RL only AL and that stupid initial on my worthless Hillis authentic. It seems to me that RL did truly want the absolute best for Cleveland and us the fans.And he was willing to pay out of his pocket because he didn’t make the right decisions. Irrelevant billionaires are the only type of billionaire that I could maybe like. Jerry Jones is so likable right? I thought Holmgren was feeling the pressure henceforth drafting Weeden too early, but now I know he’ll be back in the great pacific northwest sooner than expected. Browns moving?, No way! San Antonio/ Austin Browns just doesn’t sound right Until 2020. The Stadium issues were just a way to sweeten the pot before they become such a reason why the team has to leave :( Heckart stays, I like that a little bit because he hasn’t whiffed on any high picks yet. MKC is a shill for Clowns propaganda that needs to go mainstream.

    • Petefranklin

      And my initial thought,WTF? Cant be any worse than having our ex team win a superbowl, our ex coach start a franchise that turns out to be more competitive than ours, and our team now owned by our arch enemy?

  • rodofdisaster

    Reading this yesterday I was somewhat shocked but when the dust settled, I realized that there had been a rumor that was struck down in the PD on June 7th (because, as we all know, the PD is always full of the truth).

    I always have felt like Lerner was the reluctant owner. Whereas most NFL owners seem intensely interested in the workings of their team and their brand, Lerner always seemed aloof. He was that rich little boy who inherited his father’s “stuff” and didn’t quite have the passion or the knowledge of what exactly to do with it.

    Now enter a guy who, at a minimum, it would seem doesn’t have a competing interest in another sport. He is going to be more visible. He might even show up at owners’ meetings. The question is will he be the Robert Kraft type owner who is visible and involved but lets the football people do their thing all-the-while keeping them accountable for the result or is he going to be the “Jerry Jones” who treats it like his own fantasy team?

    Haslam is represented by Lamonte. Makes sense. The owner was the only guy who wasn’t represented by him and now that’s a non-issue. Usually owners like to come in and hire their own operations people which, in turn, results in a new coach. That’s going to stand less of a chance of happening now that they’re all around the Lamonte campfire.

    I’m trying to see this as a positive for the Browns although having a 1000% Steeler fan is a bit disconcerting. If history shows us anything though…Haslam has jumped ship on a few teams (Dallas and Indy) as fandom goes so this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

    • CleveLandThatILove

      Apparently Randy was obligated to keep the Browns in the family for 10 years after Al’s death in October 2002. This has probably been in the works for a lot longer than any of us know.

      I’m probably in the minority here, but I do feel a little bit for Randy. Yes, he’s had a life of privilege and opportunity, but with that came an obligation to Browns fans that he clearly was not equipped to fulfill. The guy is painfully uncomfortable in the public eye, but his dad basically sentenced him to 10 years of wrath from a city dying to win. It’s not like he inherited a winning organization and could ride it out.

      I mean look at the guy, he looks much older than his years. And he really did try. Look who he brought in over the years. One last ditch effort here with the Big Show.

      I am excited for what’s to come. Plus, Cheddar! X’s and O’s! Brisk Frownsings! (that one falls into the ‘sounds better than it is’ category, ha).

    • bupalos

      >>>I’m trying to see this as a positive for the Browns>>>

      Beyond the optics and however ones feels about his or her childhood rooting interest now going to line the pockets of a right-wing political operative global warming profiteer ‘I built it myself so fuck you’ type person, I really think it’s pretty irrelevant. Owners are there to collect the money and take the blame and glory for things they really have very little to do with.

      • rodofdisaster

        I’m going to disagree on the irrelevance of the owner. As an Astros fan, our previous owner meddled time and again. He was a cheapskate and now we’re paying for it.

        You can say all you want about owners like Jerry Jones and George Steinbrenner but they put money into their teams. They built facilities that people (players and fans) would come to. They may not win every year but they can’t be accused of being too cheap to field a team.

        Could it be done for less? Sure, it could but the point is that these owners will never be accused of holding back.

        In my mind, the owner has a lot of direct and indirect influence. I don’t want him looking for the limelight but I want him to be interested and invested.

        • ClevelandFrowns

          Couldnt agree more with rod here.

        • ClevelandFrowns

          Or maybe I should say that I couldn’t disagree more with the idea that owners don’t matter.

        • bupalos

          So Jerry Jones is your evidence here. And Frowns couldn’t agree more.

          http://deadspin.com/5929949/jerry-jones-i-want-me-some-glory-hole

          And I guess Lerner was cheap or meddled too much or something?

    • NeedsFoodBadly

      Wait, what? Owners have agents?

    • manc

      If I owned 12% of, say, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I’d be a 1000% Buc fan. I look at Haslem’s association with the Steelers as a positive in a prospective owner. 92.3 had a sports guy from Knoxville on yesterday who said a couple of interesting things about Haslem…1) the family really wanted to buy the Titans and got tired of waiting on Bud Adams and 2) they bought into the Steelers as a way of getting to know the NFL. These guys seem to know what the deuce their doing, which could be a real nice change.

      Lerner finally did the right thing here.

  • Atdietz80

    Randy Lerner and Jimmy Haslam III both inherited the family business. One guy saw it as a punishment and couldn’t wait to sell out (alas, there was a 10 year no sell stipulation) and the other guy grew the sh!t out of it. Randy must have a brown thumb (not sure where it’s been the last ten years). Jimmy has a green thumb and rakes money instead of leaves.

  • rodofdisaster

    Well, at least now Kyle Boller is retiring so we can fly under the radar ;-)

    I was surprised to find that his wife is Carrie Prejean. I was relieved to find that she was only the one with the anti-gay comments and nude photos/sex video. I had mistaken her for this little gem:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

  • GrandRapidsRustlers

    Let me end the weekend open thread by simply saying on behalf of all Tribe fans: Fuck.

    Trade Choo and Perez tomorrow and try again next year. Fuck.

  • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

    im reading that this guy is evil because he’s rich and because he’s republican. even allowing for the good-natured trolling, it demands a reply.

    first off, the guy owns a chain of convenience stores. that is not big oil. there’s no reason to assume he’s got land-men roaming the mahoning valley looking for fracking refuse site; no footage of an him chiming in on an idiotic ‘drill baby drill’ chant; no two mile deep drilling operations in the gulf.

    second, with respect to big oil, i dont think it helps the energy problems (crises) that we (world) face to demonize the industries producing energy without at the same time calling out lack of public action dedicated to reducing consumption. i’m specifically referring to the uniquely american ‘thing’ of cheap gasoline prices. this is a bi-partisan lack of sense/balls: repubs dont want more taxes; dems would call gas tax regressive. and so here we are ranked 50th out of 54 countries on ‘pain at the pump.’ raise the gasoline tax; reduce consumption of gas; retire national debt with the bump in revenue.

    while i’m here: can we get something straight on outsourcing? an on-shore oracle dba commands $150/hr. my old company can give you 24×7 dba coverage at $40/hr. this is compelling for many businesses. w.r.t. manufacturing, nokia this week closed their last manufacturing operation in finland. they did this to be closer to their suppliers. does the fact that most chip makers are in china make nokia’s management flaming sociopaths? is india’s collective work ethic and (seeming) higher commitment to math-ish education going to be addressed by antagonizing businessmen? what has this administration done to get apple to manufacture devices here or oracle to bring on more american dbas? i bring this to your attention in the hope that you’ll apply some sophistication to the obama/bain-capital commercials as well as some of his recent ‘power to the people’ rhetoric.

    last, this chik-fil-a thing. boycotting of businesses based on their religious beliefs. this was tried before… it ends badly.

    • BIKI024

      i agree 1000% with the anti-outsourcing sentiment the candidates are “taking”, it’s all B.S, thinking that average Joe Voter isn’t intellectually capable of understanding that the problem isn’t outsourcing: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-problem-isnt-outsourc_b_1685699.html

    • bupalos

      >>>first off, the guy owns a chain of convenience stores. that is not big oil>>>>

      While I did make that point to Mr. Espinoza, you way oversell it here. The fact is this guys interests align with big oil 150%. Lower gas price, more customers. Lower gas mileage standards, more customers. There’s a reason why he and his family have made very heavy and very political investments of time and money where they have. More traffic, more energy use, more billions. His father said he was supposed to take care of the now (massive expansion just this side of antitrust) and his brother was supposed to take care of the future (political capture).

      >>>there’s no reason to assume he’s got land-men roaming the mahoning valley looking for fracking refuse sites>>>

      http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0618/2112/

      He may have a bigger connection to Cleveland and Pittsburgh than you’d think. You wanna bet whether or not he’s spend a few million dollars to make sure I can’t get my local zoning back?

      >>>i bring this to your attention in the hope that you’ll apply some sophistication to the obama/bain-capital commercials as well as some of his recent ‘power to the people’ rhetoric.>>>

      Servicing outsourcing is frankly how I make most of my money. It’s a fact. I find it pretty irrelevant how parties talk about it, it exists like the wind, and unless someone blows up the internet there is no turning back. Doesn’t mean America wouldn’t be a better place if we could turn back, and it doesn’t mean the disruptive effects of this transition shouldn’t be addressed. The fact is, it is the primary driving factor behind growing inequality, and one party at least gives lip service to recognizing that while the other acts like the squirrels that were too stupid to be standing where all the acorns fell when this wind blows deserve to work harder or starve or both.

      >>>is india’s collective work ethic and (seeming) higher commitment to math-ish education going to be addressed by antagonizing businessmen?>>>

      No. Is it going to be addressed by lionizing them as something entirely other than they are? India’s “work ethic” is the result of one thing: relative poverty. Second, they do work just as shitty as everyone else, they just do it cheaper and the largest excess flows to the Romney types that are positioned to get in the way of the money shower and then set up the political system to make sure it stays that way.

      >>>last, this chik-fil-a thing. boycotting of businesses based on their religious beliefs. this was tried before… it ends badly.>>>

      While I’ll have to run the kinda weird idea of a business having religious beliefs past some of my higher connections, In general I’ll agree with this part.

      Sorry if I’m sounding even more stridently anti Republican these days, but the fact is it’s mostly been a Republican operation that is going to destroy a place that I love and make my home untenable. They did it with malice aforethought, rigging laws 6 years ago to make sure no one else had any recourse or say so in what happened to their own property. To me that is simply the party of corporate rights now. At least you still have to pay off Democratic politicians to be as craven and, yes, EVIL (recognizing the Arendtian formulation) as Republicans now come fresh out of the box.

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