http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1075552232149930.xml Wolstein's set a 60-day deadline on the stadium. I also found this interesting.
Other than the deadline, there's nothing new here. Most of us here in Northeast Ohio don't take Wolstein and his bid too seriously. The is no political support for a tax increase, nor is there much buzz about a new team. Truth be told, the sports market in the Cleveland metropolitan area is pretty much tapped out. I for one welcome the deadline so we can end this charade and move on.
Amen, Crewmudgeon. The average working Joe Taxpayer trying to put food on the table could easily take his comment about factory jobs as an insult. Easy for 'Stein to say from behind the gates of the palatial estate in Pepper Pike. Summit County, for one, could use some real manufacturing with real jobs for real people... not a singular support staff of service workers to line Wolstein's pockets or for political kickbacks. Creating jobs is a wonderful thing, but jobs FOR taxpayers... not at their expense (More taxes... We're paying for how many stadiums & arenas already here?). Aside: More Goodyear layoffs & outsourcing announced this morning. Politicians be forewarned. Plenty of trees, rope, tar & feathers on hand. Wolstein should take his arrogant dramatics to Broadway and tease the bring-back-the-Cosmos contingent. Show me one person who did as much to turn off Cleveland soccer fans as did 'Stein when he pulled the plug on the original Force and thumbed is nose at roughly 8,000 season ticket holders. And this is the guy MLS is doing business with here? Better Modell! MLS can't be that desperate. Rochester, and the Seattle/Portland/Vancouver troika... where it's about pro soccer, not Trump wannabees.
http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1075807885293630.xml?ocful Give the devil his due, 'Stein knows the territory. When it comes to stupid politicians...
Point well taken, but "better Modell?" Let's not get carried away. We're having a friendly conversation here. There's no need for profanity.
Only mentioned (expletives deleted) for a sense of perspective. Better mountain oysters than road apples. I should've better used the space to define 'Stein as the Iago/Vidkun Quisling/Benedict Arnold/Judas Iscariot (pick one or all) of Cleveland soccer. That would've been less profane. My profound apologies. Better no MLS owner here for the moment than an owner whose prime motivation and stated intentions have little to do with The Game and its long-term development and existence in Cleveland. Not even to mention folding the Force. If you're at all serious about pro soccer here, Bert, take your 20 mil, go to the burbs, and stick a shovel in the ground. Convince people you're a doer and shed the quitter tag. Some indeed may be eagerly X'ing off the calendar days until this sad affair is put to rest. 60 days? That would be March 31, if my math's correct. Maybe he'd extend it one more day for the political fools. That would be so appropriate. 57 and counting. We should put a day-counter atop this thread. Tick tock, baby.
But, wait! There's more! http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1075890869204061.xml Not expecting an invite for Thrsday night.
Forget downtown. The man is turning his charms down south. http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/summit/1076063553150441.xml?ncounty_summit Doesn't say where the bash was held (never received my invite). "Hundreds" could fit in a Chuck E. Cheese, but I doubt it was there. Article includes "Aurora"... which is actually in Portage County. If not there, maybe behind the gates & guards in Pepper Pike. Careful not to trip over the hired help scrubbing the marble floors (BTW, anybody watch Law&Order:SVU Tuesday?). Rallies to save stray cats from being put down are better attended here. I can't believe Garber takes the man seriously about a pro soccer team here.
a little more expanded version of previous: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/1076094938264110.xml article on Cleveland expansion: http://www.soccertimes.com/mls/2004/feb04.htm
Developer wants to bring major league soccer to Cleveland or Akron: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=15607 (Video) http://www.cleveland.com/wkyc/wkyc_clip.ssf?zzDoNotCount?/wkyc/wkyc/040205soccer.frame
I think what I'm most impressed with Cleveland, is the fact that every media article I read does not bash soccer. In fact, it seems as though the area wants an MLS team, but considering the current financial position a stadium doesn't seem feasable. Maybe if Wolfstein lowered his standards a bit so that he could build a stadium for lets say 70 or 80 mil, maybe that would allow politicians to push for it. But then again what do I know, I'm not from northeast Ohio and I have no clue how politics over there work.
Not from 'round these parts are ya? Trust me there are plenty of bashers in the local media. You didn't have to suffer through the insipid daily comments in the Plain Dealer (a column called The Start) during the World Cup. Nor, did you have to listen to local radio guys like Kenny Rhoda who were glad that the U.S. lost to Germany, so he wouldn't have to hear about the World Cup anymore. Oh yes, there are bashers out there. And if the team is located in Akron, well don't get me started. The Akron media are absolutley clueless when it comes to soccer.
http://www.dispatch.com/ticket/ticket.php?story=dispatch/2004/02/20/20040220-F3-00.html *note: this newspaper out of Columbus
Who owns the Brown's stadium? Who controls the dates, and who controls the revenue? MLS coexists in a few such stadiums...if the group cuts MLS a deal they might agree. But they will totally NOT sign an agreement that gives them another Tampa Bay franchise.
The city of Cleveland owns the stadium. The Browns lease it form the city, and as part of the lease they have complete control. They control the revenue, the dates, etc. An MLS team would have to negotiate and deal with the Browns. While other MLS teams do operate in NFL stadia, it is generally understood that the only places where this is potentially profitable are New England and Kansas City, where the NFL and MLS owners are one in the same. Which is why Chicago, New Jersey and Denver are working to build their own.
The lease agreements that the Fire and the Rapids have in their NFL stadiums are pretty agreeable, most likely better and certainly no worse than anything that Wolstien/MLS could get from the Browns, and both teams are still working to get their own places built. The Browns stadium would only be a temporary home for MLS, while the SSS is being built, no matter how much the city wants them there, unless the Browns can be persuaded to just roll over and hand Wolstein every penny generated from soccer. I have no idea if the city would be able to do that persuading, or if Wolstein or MLS would even want to make Browns Stadium their permanent home even if they did, although both have said "new stadium or no team."
this was/is one of the most poorly designed power plays...straight from the beginning....I've ever seen.. I can't believe Wolstein would even want to waste his time of this..
34 days. Hopefully something can come up. If not, then there's always Seattle or Portland to expand the national footprint.
This is from earlier this month, but reposting some info... http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=15607
Particularly appreciated the Dale Meggas article, BJ. Thanks for sharing. Wolstein and the old MISL were in a position to blow the NASL off the American sports scene from around '81 until the NASL did itself in not too many years later. Had they pounced upon the marginal success of their CBS playoff appearances & parlayed a longterm national TV contract, Wolstein and company would have dictated the US pro soccer world, outdoors as well as indoors. Instead, the NASL continued on its death-march while the MISL raided their rosters for indoor use alone. And then, when the MISL had the national theatre to itself, the Kevorkian of Cleveland soccer pulls the plug on the league's most recognizable, best funded and supported franchise. Enter the soccer Dark Ages. Yeah, that's the guy I'd want running another team in Cleveland.
I agree, but it looks like that won't be a concern, as Bergin is reporting that Cleveland is dead and MLS is focusing of Rochester. Take the source with a grain of salt, but it wouldn't be too much of stretch to give it credibility.