Le Quitness doesn't get why all those people in Memphis kept booing him. He didn't do anything to them. Every city that's not a top market has an automatic affinity for the fan-dom of Cleveland, Ohio. It's all about knowing what it's like to be treated as second class and third rate.
There's no sense in cataloging much history here, because Cleveland's experience is the norm and not the exception. (By the way, it's the Mistake ON the Lake- not the Mistake BY the Lake. Know the difference). It's just that, when sports franchises want the economic support of their community, they like to tout the importance of fan loyalty. But, when it's time for a franchise to leave, or a player to be let go or traded, it all suddenly becomes about running a business and market-size. There is no city that hasn't felt that empty feeling of losing a team or player or coach the fans once passionately followed.
The same week that the player returned from South Beach to beat his former team on the North Coast, the man who moved the Browns-Ravens to Baltimore in 1995, Arthur Modell himself, was named a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2011 class. Talk about great timing! Ya just gotta laugh.
So the Memphis folks booing Le Classless? He will continue to function as a lightening rod for every fan who has ever felt betrayed by broken promises.
There's no sense in cataloging much history here, because Cleveland's experience is the norm and not the exception. (By the way, it's the Mistake ON the Lake- not the Mistake BY the Lake. Know the difference). It's just that, when sports franchises want the economic support of their community, they like to tout the importance of fan loyalty. But, when it's time for a franchise to leave, or a player to be let go or traded, it all suddenly becomes about running a business and market-size. There is no city that hasn't felt that empty feeling of losing a team or player or coach the fans once passionately followed.
The same week that the player returned from South Beach to beat his former team on the North Coast, the man who moved the Browns-Ravens to Baltimore in 1995, Arthur Modell himself, was named a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2011 class. Talk about great timing! Ya just gotta laugh.
So the Memphis folks booing Le Classless? He will continue to function as a lightening rod for every fan who has ever felt betrayed by broken promises.
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