Haslam family leveraging University of Tennessee ties, etc., for fracking profits

by Cleveland Frowns on June 27, 2013

The more one learns about Jimmy Haslam, the harder it is to believe that the truck stop magnate didn’t purchase the Cleveland Browns with an acute awareness of Dan Gilbert’s success in leveraging the public trust of a local major professional sporting franchise for private gain at the ballot box.

Of course in the Cavaliers owner’s case it was the most expensive election campaign in Ohio history that led to the narrow passage of Issue 3 in November 2009, granting Gilbert an effective monopoly on casino gaming in the State of Ohio. Gilbert’s Issue 3 win came at the peak of LeBron James’ tenure with the Cavs. Before it, Ohio voters had soundly rejected each of four casino gaming measures that appeared on the ballot since 1990. Now Gilbert is well on his way to becoming an international casino gaming mogul, with business now underway in Detroit, Kentucky, Baltimore, and Toronto, as well as “online.

And if the privatization and normalization of subsidized money traps for poor people wasn’t bad enough, along comes Haslam with something worse: “Several levels of excitement” for “the [fracking] boom taking place in the country;” referring to the toxic horizontal drilling process by which oil and gas is procured from shale rock (more formally known as hydraulic fracturing), and implicating attendant environmental issues increasingly pertinent to voters in Ohio and worldwide.

Haslams in Pitt

We already knew that Haslam’s Pilot Flying J chain of truck stop/filling stations, the country’s sixth largest privately held business with $30+ billion in revenues in 2012, is “the No. 1 [fuel] supplier to the drilling and fracking [industries] in the U.S.A.” And there was already plenty of reason to believe that Haslam and his cohorts are on the wrong side of the exploitation of deregulation at its absolute worst, aggressively privatizing and manipulating environmental resources for profit without a scientific consensus, let alone a political one, that they aren’t doing irretrievable damage in the process. Like for instance by:

  • contribut[ing] to groundwater contamination, including 219 cases in Pennsylvania alone;
  • turn[ing] massive amounts of fresh, drinkable water into massive amounts of briny, poisonous flowback fluid for which there is no fail-safe disposal solution;
  • vent[ing] hazardous air pollutants that are associated with cancer, asthma, heart attack, stroke and preterm birth;
  • releas[ing] radioactive substances—including radon, which is the number two cause of lung cancer—and benzene, which is a proven cause of leukemia—from deep geological strata;
  • fragment[ing] forests in ways that decimate birds and wildlife, sabotage natural flood control systems, and pour sediment into rivers and streams;
  • industrializ[ing] communities in ways that vastly increase truck traffic, noise pollution, light pollution, stress, crime and the need for emergency services;
  • offer[ing] jobs that are dangerous, toxic and temporary, with a fatality rate seven times that of other industries; and
  • leak[ing] prodigious amounts of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas.

Now, as details emerge about the University of Tennessee’s plan to frack 8,600 acres of the Cumberland forest, the Haslam family’s motives are becoming increasingly clear. Jimmy’s brother Bill Haslam is the Governor of Tennessee, and also sits on the University’s Board of Trustees. Jimmy and Bill’s father, Jim Haslam, was the co-chair of  Mitt Romney’s Tennessee campaign in 2012, also once served on the UT board, and gave the school a $32.5 million donation in 2006, its largest ever from an individual. This piece by Steve Horn recently posted at DeSmogBlog contains a number of links to details on the UT plan and the Haslams’ ties to it, including an internal document obtained by a public records request stating that the “environmental community” “will not sway the Governor’s office resolve/support” for fracking the forest.

And why should the Haslams be swayed? Nevermind that they’re pushing a “fracking boom” at a time when “every major national science academy in the world [is reporting] that global warming is real, caused mostly by humans, and requires urgent action,” with “global concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hav[ing] reached 394 parts per million, up from 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution and the highest levels seen in at least 800,000 years.” Miami is already hurtling toward post-apocalyptic Waterworld status thanks to rapidly melting icecaps, and scientists working for the Australian government just issued a report stating that 80 percent of known global fossil fuel reserves (which includes that obtained by fracking) will have to stay in the ground if destabilizing climate change is to be avoided. Scientists at Oxford have calculated that “the world needs to begin reducing emissions by roughly 2.5 percent per year, starting now.” But despite these warnings and countless others, things are moving full steam in the opposite direction, with carbon emissions having “hit a new record this past year, increasing 3 percent to 34.7 billion metric tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases,” and the natural gas boom having killed the economic viability of the development of clean and renewable fuel sources.

One need not at all believe the Haslams are evil per se to understand that their position on fracking raises important questions about a world where a family like the Haslams can on one hand be such grossly disproportionate private beneficiaries of a socially engineered order that depends on the massively subsidized demand for and availability of cheap fossil fuels, and on the other hand also be among humanity’s most invested proponents of the “free market” ideology of the U.S. Republican Party. Make a billion or three riding herd on the largest federal construction project ever undertaken, get your hands on the reigns of a national party apparatus, grab a statehouse and one of the country’s largest “public” universities, then see to it that the massively subsidized markets you’ve cornered become as “free” (unregulated) as can be.

levels of excitement 2

Which is also to say that all the fuss about rebates and cost-plussing is really just a laugh. Some crimes there are laws for.

“Uh, hope those scientists are wrong I guess, but I’m not really into politics. Go Browns!”

Woof.

  • BIKI024

    hey if closely regulated fracking is good enough for President Barack Obama, then it’s all kosher with me.. oh wait..

    • bupalos

      Because a center-right president that is constantly boxed in by a country full of ecological spendthrift yahoo know-nothings is just the pure gold standard, right? “Hey, if force feeding hunger strikers at gitmo is good enough for Obama…”

      I’d love for you to define “closely regulated,” because I guaranteed the Haslams of the world have absolutely no interest in that. It’s part of the reason they bought out ODNR and had all activity put solely under their boys there.

      • BIKI024

        i’ve heard Obama called a lot of names, but center-right is a first.

        i’m not a proponent of fracking, but it seems to me that there is a consensus that has convinced the President that there is a “responsible” way to conduct the drilling and waste disposal

        • bupalos

          >>>i’ve heard Obama called a lot of names, but center-right is a first.>>>

          Just the facts. I mean, I’m going from a 1990’s framework, but just about every policy position he’s taken from the ACA to foreign policy to energy could have — or did — come out of Heritage or Cato. The fact that a bunch of old racist grampas have banded together to shout “socialism” at the top of their lungs may change what you hear, but it doesn’t change reality.

        • Warburton MacKinnon

          If you have never heard him called center-right Biki,then eitheryou have not paid attention or what you read and listen to happens to be insufficiently bias free. There is not one thing passed into law or that has been attempted by the Obama administration that is not a center right proposition,specifically an idea that failed first being Cap and Trade, which was a right wing think tank concept,and then a republican plan to blunt environmental laws,and lastly under Obama socialism and a job destroying regulation(even though nothing other than Obama had changed). Then there is Obama’s ‘signature’ achievement health care reform,a classic center right proposal that gives insurance companies billions of dollars and millions of new customers,based on a Romney plan,that was based on a right wing think tank plan. Action wise Obama trying to cut SS and Medicare/cade in a grand bargin his party doesn’t even agree with seems to be towards the right straight up and not even center right. This is a process started by Clinton via ‘tacking’, or a blatant attempt to keep whites in the democratic party or return them to the party after Reagan democratic defctions,problem is it won’t work with a black president so the republicans won’t agree to almost anything(which is actually better than if they went along with Obama on most of his stolen right wing ideas,better for the country anyway),so the country stays somewhat stuck in place except for when the Supreme Court acts,which IS actively moving to the right the laws of the nation.

          • BIKI024

            lol, ok. i “read and listen” to many things, including a few of his staffers who I went to college with. my apologies, i wasn’t trying to engage anyone in a political debate, just made a joke about my main man Barry, that’s all. but thanks for your insight. just curious, who do you “read and listen” to, seems like they have the pulse on what’s really going on inside the Beltway.

          • Warburton MacKinnon

            It’s not really a who more of a conglameration of left,right,and center people and seeing what is actually going on and NOT how it’s being spun by any side..basically taking in all the information and making my own determination,though I have seen many call both Obama,and Clinton center right,often by those whom have been involved in both Presidents staffs and also some who just realise they were in the past wrong,including men who worked for Nixon,Reagan,and Bush jr. Some of these folks are speechwriters,some are economists,some are scientists,some are former cabinet members, and still others are retired poloticians. Although I do sometimes enjoy opinion writers and pundits,their information is always suspect. Tabbi is a good reporter,Brad Delong an interesting economist who also runs a blog that also has a lot of links to others,heck David Frum is often not bad lately. Oh and the daily show seems to be on target quite a bit.

  • Chris Mc

    “When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river
    is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too
    late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money.”

    -Alanis Obomsawin

    (not a new quote, but quite apropos for this piece)

    • SteamingPileOfCraphonsoThorpe

      “Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?”

      -Alanis Morissette

  • BIKI024

    so I take it there’s no Frowns NBA Draft party tonight??

    • p_forever

      lol

    • SteamingPileOfCraphonsoThorpe

      +2.75!

      The “NBA Draft Party” consists of a bottle of Tim Couch Commemorative Makers Mark, a bag of Funyuns, and tears. Lots of tears.

  • BIKI024

    Bron pluggin Swenson’s: http://instagram.com/p/bCeXW1iTGG/

    • nj0

      Even the Devil is powerless against the Galley Boy.

      • BIKI024

        “oh yeah, it’s a must, it’s a must” – The Champ

  • nj0

    Kudos to the modern American oligarchs for finding a way to ruin the Cleveland Browns for me.

  • p_forever

    ugh i hadn’t heard about UT’s plan – i mean, it’s only a small part of the awfulness here, but it’s really terrible.

    note also that as far as “the privatization and normalization of subsidized money traps for poor people” goes, haslam and his fellow frackers are just as adept at gilbert. all over appalachia, for instance, oil and gas companies are going basically door to door getting property owners to sign over mineral rights to allow fracking/other sorts of extraction. it’s a deal that many people think is too good to turn down.

    remember reading in property class in law school about all the homeowners in pennsylvania who couldn’t complain when their houses collapsed because the coal company had mined the rock right out from under them? yeah.

  • http://www.eclecticworld.org/ Jim Macdonald

    What you write here on this issue, on Gilbert, and other similar issues is very important. The collusion of government and business (what Mussolini himself called the very definition of fascism) is nothing new. However, the trend in recent decades to use the big money and popular appeal of sports franchises as leverage to promote outrageous power is something fairly new and dangerous.
    People believe when they are spending their sports dollars that they are supporting their favorite team, perhaps helping to raise enough money to pay for better players, but they don’t often realize that they are also in effect voting for all kinds of things that work against their own interest. You are funding the further collusion of corporations and governments. We see this most directly in publicly financed stadiums, but you have done great work showing how this applies to far flung things like casinos and hydraulic fracturing.
    We ignore this at our peril. It really is time all people – sports consumers and others – organized to stop this. Too often, people want nothing to do with the mixing of their sports and their politics, not realizing that that is exactly what their sports owners want from you, not realizing that their branding is making you a willing participant in their crimes. That really has to stop, or all that will be left are expensive sports teams and those few privileged people with the money left to support them, while the rest of us increasingly live and die in the world left by their filth. Come to think of it, we might already be there (and that certainly is true for large swaths of the world).
    It’s time to get serious; I applaud you for putting yourself on the line and taking the derision of so many people who would rather not see the impact of the issues you dare people to pay attention to.
    While we are distracted with every Aaron Hernandez story, far more people are effected by the Jimmy Haslams of the world.
    And its too bad our beautiful games that we play – I’ve loved the Browns all my life – are in the hands of these fools.
    (Hope you enjoyed my first comments here),
    Jim the anarchist Cleveland fan

    • BIKI024

      If it wasn’t Gilbert, it would’ve been another businessman or publicly traded gaming corporation that had already been greasing the fat fingers of elected officials, particularly democrats, who were largely behind the bill to legalize gambling in Ohio.

      • http://www.eclecticworld.org/ Jim Macdonald

        Agreed … but Gilbert had more leverage because of his unelected position of public trust as owner of the Cavs. He was able to raise funds and public support from his perch. Frowns’ point is very apt here. Sports ownership is huge leverage in manipulating public will against interests it would never otherwise support and often has no idea it is supporting.

        • BIKI024

          i don’t buy it, gambling has been approved widespread across the country, many states having controversial elections without a sports owner pulling the strings. Ohio had been getting pounded revenue wise for years, so the tipping point had come, regardless of the “public trust” Gilbert has as owner of the Cavs, which I don’t buy either.

          • http://www.eclecticworld.org/ Jim Macdonald

            Gambling lost by wide margins in Ohio in previous elections. Whether gambling would have won this time, I couldn’t say. Ohio’s mix of social conservatives and economic populists would suggest it would have been a very hard sell – especially as gambling is essentially a regressive tax on poor people. However, it’s hard for me to understand how you could deny the overall force of the point – that being a sports owner gives one a lot of political and therefore further economic leverage. That seems obvious, and I think the suspicion of Haslam playing the same game has a lot of merit given how he and his family operate.

          • BIKI024

            not sure what data you’re looking at, but here’s what I was able to dig up in a simple google search, legalized gambling had been a voter favorite in Cuyahoga county long before Gilbert came along.

            2006 proposal for two casinos in Cuyahoga County, plus slot machines at seven horse tracks statewide. It failed with only 43 percent of the vote statewide but passed in Cuyahoga County with 55 percent

            • 1996 proposal for riverboat casinos in Lorain, Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Mahoning counties. The proposal lost in all 88 counties and received just 38 percent of the vote statewide. However, it ran strongest in Mahoning County (49 percent) and was also close in Lorain (46 percent) and Cuyahoga (45 percent) counties.

            SOURCE: http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2009/11/ohio_casino_vote_passes_on_str.html

          • http://www.eclecticworld.org/ Jim Macdonald

            I was talking about statewide, which your data supports, not simply Cuyahoga County. It took shifting statewide support to make it a reality. And it’s hard to argue that Gilbert wasn’t able to leverage that process. Someone else might have succeeded using a different means; it doesn’t mean Gilbert didn’t have significant leverage. How could he not? That’s the way our political and economic system works – it is all about collusion and leverage. This is just one more form of it and a particularly powerful form of it given the amount of money in sports and given the sheer number of sports fans.

          • BIKI024

            yes, it’s about the gambling lobby, not Dan Gilbert. whether he contributed dollars to that or not, if it wasn’t him it would’ve been the next guy. there is no way i believe Gilbert has any more influence as the Cavs owner than any other person who would throw a few million (if that) into a lobby campaign, and there are plenty of them, including publicly traded companies who have more money than Gilbert can only dream of accruing in his lifetime.

          • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

            “there is no way i believe Gilbert has any more influence as the Cavs
            owner than any other person who would throw a few million (if that) into
            a lobby campaign.”

            OK then. Reasonable people may move on to the next subject now. Thanks.

          • bupalos

            >>>there is no way i believe Gilbert has any more influence as the Cavs owner than any other person who would throw a few million (if that) into a lobby campaign>>>

            That’s just stupid. Of course fans of any team are going to give the owner of their franchise extra weight. Even without explicit threats to move franchises that we’ve seen in the past, the implicit threat is always lurking there. I would probably argue that Lebron being here probably dampened some of that, since the cavs looked like a nice profit center one way or the other at the time. But your just nuts if you don’t think these guys carry tons of extra political weight towards keeping the towns they set up in “business friendly.”

          • BIKI024

            yes, it’s “just stupid” that it passed in 19 other states without the help of a professional sports owner peddling it to the voters. do we have any data that shows how many Cavs fans even voted on the bill? Do we have any data on how many public statements Dan Gilbert made to the fanbase? Did they push it via ads in the arena? (and even if they did, I have seen ads far and wide in other states paid for by gambling lobby).

            i just think you guys are grossly underestimating the Gambling Lobby and giving Gilbert far too much credit for the “influence” on the “sheep” of Ohio who voted to pass the bill.

          • bupalos

            Well, you’re making up an argument to fight against. No one is saying having a sports owner push something is the only way it gets passed. I won’t even say there wouldn’t be a casino in Cleveland today without Gilbert (though I think there very well might not be.) But you’re apparently jumping out the other side and denying the bleeding obvious– that the people that legally controls a beloved sports franchise (and can move it away if not kept happy) has extra political power in local issues.

          • BIKI024

            it’s not a local issue, it’s a statewide and national issue and has been passed in 19 other states without the influence of a local sports owner. i just don’t buy the fact that casinos would not be in Ohio without Gilbert, there are other casinos in Ohio not owned by him btw.

          • SteamingPileOfCraphonsoThorpe

            I hear the Straw Man Group puts on a great Vegas show! I believe it’s called “Donjango Quixote Unchained” and is filled with windmill-tilting and talking asses. Fun for the entire frackin’ family!

          • BIKI024

            1996: 36% of Ohio voters said yes to casinos
            2006: 43%
            2007: Economic Collapse hits Ohio HARD combined with beefed up lobbying and pressure on the state reps/senators that would’ve been pushed by gaming companies with or without Gilbert, as they did in the 19 other states that now allow commercial casinos without a sports owner pulling the strings.
            2009: 53%

          • BIKI024

            and no it doesn’t seem obvious, especially when they are passing in many of other states without a professional sports team owner peddling bills. it seems to me the powerful lobbying firms have much more influence than you seem to think Gilbert or Haslam may have via their sports business pursuits.

      • nj0

        For me, there’s a separate issue from gambling or fracking. I don’t like that Gilbert and Haslam are using our sports teams against us to get their way. Even if these guys had politics that I agree with, I wouldn’t like that kind of manipulation. I know it’s naive in this day and age, but I wish sports could just be sports.

        • TWMBrad

          Nods in agreement…but then remembers that the “Browns” were named for the original owner, itself an act of self aggrandizement and (arguably) manipulation.

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      “Hope you enjoyed my first comments here.”

      Very much so. Thanks. Please don’t be a stranger, and don’t spend too much energy arguing with Biki.

      • http://www.eclecticworld.org/ Jim Macdonald

        I’m learning that. I’ve been lurking for awhile, but you may see me chime in. Obviously, my own interest isn’t limited to sports, and I write and organize on many of these other topics separately. Yet, it is refreshing to find a place where my lifelong passions intersect.

      • BIKI024

        yes, Dan Gilbert and his $500 million net worth is so much more influential than Caesar’s, who generated a cool $9 billion last year.

        • Petefranklin

          Caesars was too busy eyeballing and planning for a billion dollar resort in Toronto that recently went down in flames to worry about the small guys.

  • Joe Rath

    I knew Jimmy was a sneaky fracker

  • TWMBrad

    Am I supposed to feel cognitively dissonant checking on the draft? Because I do.

  • Petefranklin

    A point that I’ve always been sore about: Lerner trying to pinch the city for improvements of faulty (maybe) designs at the factory of sadness about a month before the sale was announced. I’ll let you guys elaborate whether you think Haslem twisted Lerners arm before agreeing to buy. The issue seemed to go away after it was met with pretty good resistence before the sale right? Like I’ve said recently, the leagues need losers to prop up their machine and well, were Cleveland! You gotta be tough! While the corporate leagues know we’ll suffer along(and still pay) with no adverse affects to the bottom line of those calling the shots. Reminds me of the CB series BS, no room for the little guys. Haslem may want to win, but he wants to make money more so than win. Frack Haslem for letting Lombardi in! At least Gilbert has hired someone competant.

  • Denny

    Yes but he owns the Browns

  • Petefranklin

    A vegas weather report: 107 right now 117(all time record) on Saturday. I worked on some private land on the toiyabe National forest last weekend and all the springs are dry in the Spring Mountains. Frack Haslem!

  • bupalos

    This one is obviously near and dear to my heart, but great job here.

    Really excellent and underappreciated point about the effect this “cheap” gas (quotes because the real costs are there, just externalized) has on development of renewables.

    and this:
    >>>Some crimes there are laws for.>>>

    • BigDigg

      Just imagine where we’d be on the technology and deployment curve if we had redirected all the money we waste exerting influence in the middle east towards renewables.

      What we need is something comparable to the Eisenhower Interstate Highway initiative to really drive this. Upfront costs are too high for private sector and business cases are tougher at smaller scales when competing against dirt cheap fuel. Of course the payoff would be huge in terms of jobs, energy independence, foreign policy and of course the positive impact to the planet.

      Speaking to the choir here i’m sure, but it’s a pleasant dream…

  • Petefranklin

    BENNET YESSS!

    • BIKI024

      i guess Coach Brown loves this kid, his son was looking at UNLV for college and he got to see Bennett play a bunch and really digs him.

      • Petefranklin

        Lets hope he gets coached up!

    • acto

      Tony Bennett may be coming to Cleveland, but he left his heart in San Francisco.

  • alexb

    gasland 2 coming out in a few days, those with HBO should watch it. I’ve seen a preview and now some dude is using his garden hose as a pilot light. They keep talking about “we’ve figured out a way to do it safer”. Yet that doesn’t seem to be the reality on the ground and secondly, isn’t that admitting they were fucking right off before? Something they vehemently denied? Maybe this is just me, but when I saw the preview for the Pacific Rim movie…I was kind of disappointed that humans win. I kind of wanted to see the monsters pwn. I mean we are right square on track to make the world look like the star wars homeworld that is one giant track of steel…not a plant or tree in sight. The whole planet, just a giant skyscraper complex that never ends. Who doesn’t want to see Godzilla just rage over all of this?

  • BIKI024

    Great video on Kaserov, who is one of the steals of the draft slipping to 19, he’s got skills in da blood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_KfCNuT2FA

  • p_forever

    public service announcement: bernie kosar will be at the pepper pike heinen’s from 12-1pm on sunday signing bottles of “life’s perfect drink” – seven super premium still spring water.

    i hope this is indicative of a positive trend in bernie’s choice of refreshments. baby steps, people.

  • nj0

    Came across this today. Yes, there will most likely be a commercial at the beginning of the video. Still worth watching.

    http://www.veoh.com/watch/v20521835jg28h6tG?h1=Indians+-+Brewers+brawl+5%2F31%2F96

  • bupalos

    That link on south Florida and sea level rise is fascinating, that their aquifer is already turning salty off a 6 inch rise, with 3 feet more already baked into the system. Looks like lebron will be back one way or the other.

  • MichaelTheRed

    are they trying to set us up again to take the team away?http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/forbes_reports_that_the_nfls_bigger_concern_right_now_are_the_cleveland_browns/13937665

    cause I know we’re not happy with the browns, but what browns fans are “jumping ship”? I don’t care how bad they suck browns are #1 for life. I abhor the new sports landscape where fans follow players primarily. I will admit to liking other teams in the league because of one or two good players that I like to watch….but those are secondary teams. No ship jumping here.

  • bupalos

    For anyone interested, the national global warming group 350.org has made Portage county one of about a dozen focal points for their organizing action this year. Since Ohio (and especially Portage) is a center for the injection wells that take the toxic flowback from a wide area (PA, WV, OH, MI), as well as being a Utica hotspot itself, they’re making this area a priority with a big event set for the end of July.

    http://joinsummerheat.org

  • nj0
    • BIKI024

      the downgrade on rating and the $4 billion in debt that Pilot J has is actually not that big of a deal, particularly when the company generates roughly $30 billion in revenue a year, most banks would give credit to anyone who comes in with that sort of balance sheet. but if that $30 billion in revenue goes down to $15b or less because of this ordeal then Pilot J is def in trouble.
      it’s also not uncommon for private companies to take on debt to pay dividends to their shareholders, i.e Haslam. while it’s obviously a large chunk of change he’s leveraged from the company, as of now, they have the assets and revenue to cover his nut. now let’s see how the investigation plays out. but otherwise there is no reason to be alarmed about the $4 billion of Pilot J debt.

      • bupalos

        You have to look at the revenue figure differently selling a high volume highly competitive commodity. Pfj margins are around 2%. And they’re the most profitable in the sector.

        But I still don’t think the 4B is a huge deal for them on 450M annual earnings. And there is no way on god’s orange and brown earth their revs will get cut in half. Its a truck stop. Selling diesel. No one on the road will care about this. I doubt even the companies that are suing will stay away long if pfj offers a decent deal. Its diesel. Its not a handbag.

  • alexb

    Ugggh, reading more articles suggesting the NFL would prefer the Browns leave Cleveland. It’s shit stirring I know, but “if” it were to happen I’m out. I barely watch any other sport, football is all I allow myself besides following MMA. If the Browns leave football is dead to me.

  • Mrcommonsense

    Why do liberals have to make everything political? To listen to you cry about fracking(which just might be the best thing to happen to Ohio ever) on a supposed sports site is laughable. I’m sure this comment will be deleted soon, just like the last one because the author doesn’t agree with me. To those of you who do get to read this before the coward that runs this site deletes it, stand with me in demanding that sports and politics remain seperate!

  • Mrcommonsense

    Why do liberals have to make everything political? To listen to you cry about fracking(which just might be the best thing to happen to Ohio ever) on a supposed sports site is laughable. I’m sure this comment will be deleted soon, just like the last one because the author doesn’t agree with me. To those of you who do get to read this before the coward that runs this site deletes it, stand with me in demanding that sports and politics remain separate!

  • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

    Swansboro, North Carolina must be a real hellhole.

  • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns
    • alexb

      holy fuck that’s an enormous vehicle behind them.

  • nj0

    150 years ago: the 8th Ohio, composed mostly of men from Northern Ohio and counting some 200 that day, was first in line to meet what has become known as Pickett’s Charge. Led by Franklin Sawyer of Crawford, OH, the 8th Ohio charged the exposed flank of a Confederate advance that numbered around 13,000. History is awesome.

    http://www.gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/OH/8OH.php

  • Petefranklin

    Hey Biki, off topic, do you still believe scores and odds bet % counter? July 3rd game 96% on KC vs the tribe @ 3:30 pacific. NO WAY!!! bet against the public % # at your own risk.

  • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

    The best thing about the 4th of July is this gif. http://pics.kuvaton.com/kuvei/crazy_dog.gif

    • alexb

      x10 if I could, holy lmfao

  • bupalos

    More Haslam goodness. Oh the struggles they endure: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/jul/9/gov-haslam-struggles-to-meet-pilot-recusal-pledge/

    This little Tennesee cabal really is just as bad as they come. Of particular note here is the Frackademia appointment of another Pilot owner as president of the University of Memphis. New “studies” and hundred thousand acre “field tests” no doubt to follow.

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      Woof.

      “That’s just how life works a lot of time.” LOL

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