It's a new day, Cleveland sports fans -- especially Cleveland Browns fans.
Hard to believe that just 10 years ago, the three Cleveland sports teams were owned by Randy Lerner (Browns), Larry Dolan (Indians) and Gordon Gund (Cavaliers). All three were pretty weak owners.
Today, only one of that "vaunted" triumverate is left, and it's the worst one of the three. But we'll discuss that later.
Earlier this week, Lerner -- who inherited the Browns from his father, Al, during the 2002 season -- sold controlling interest in the Browns to truck stop magnate Jimmy Haslam III for a price close to $1 billion. Lerner will retain a 30-percent interest in the Browns for the next four years before Haslam has the option to buy him out (which he likely will).
Haslam, a native of Knoxville, Tenn. and the CEO of the Pilot Flying J franchises of filling stations and truck stops, had been a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2008. While owning his minor shares, he described himself as a "1,000-percent Steeler fan."
Sorry to the four-letter "Worldwide Leader," but Haslam buried that statement within seconds of his first press conference as the Browns owner.
He referred to the Steelers as "that team from the other state" numerous times. He acknowledged the class of the Rooney family and what he took away from them, but also made it perfectly clear that, other than Pilot Flying J, the Browns are now Numero Uno in his heart.
If he was a 1,000-percent Steeler fan, he's now a 1 billion-percent Browns fan.
Of the three owners I referenced, I liked Lerner the best. Lerner was everything that Art "Judas" Modell wasn't -- a billionaire owner who liked to be in the background. Lerner grew up a Browns fan and would do anything to help the Browns. Unfortunately, he was ill suited to be the Browns owner, and it hurt the franchise.
Sure, it didn't hurt them in the pocketbook, but it hurt them on the field.
Lerner constantly threw his millions on people he believed would fix the Browns fortunes for the better. Butch Davis, John Collins, Phil Savage, Eric Mangini and (most recently) Mike Holmgren were given a lot of money to help the Browns start winning more games. Only recently has there been a sign of progression. But, starting from the team's lone playoff berth in 2002, it's been a forgettable tenure for Lerner.
First, Carmen Policy was bought out by Lerner, and Policy subsequently retired following the 2003 season. Policy was Al Lerner's closest confidant with the expansion Browns, but the younger Lerner knew Policy's rhetoric was turning off members of the media and fans.
Following the 2003 season, Lerner gave Davis a four-year contract extension. Davis was gone with five games remaining in the 2004 season.
Collins, who had been an executive with the NFL for 15 years, was given Policy's job as team president in 2004. Collins hired Phil Savage from the Baltimore Ravens as the new general manager and Romeo Crennel as the new head coach. However, Collins and Savage clashed from the get-go and Collins wanted Savage fired by the end of the 2005 season. Lerner sided with his GM, instead firing Collins. Collins has since done pretty well for himself, serving as the NHL's Chief Operating Officer since 2008.
Savage, meanwhile, struggled in the personnel department and was an absantee GM for most of his tenure while he was out on scouting missions. Finally, after just one winning season and a drop from 10-6 in 2007 to 4-12, Lerner fired both Savage and Crennel following the 2008 season.
Lerner ignored the advice of many within the NFL when he quickly hired Eric Mangini to be the head coach in 2009 without hiring his GM first (many GM candidates refused to work with Mangini and took other jobs, such as Scott Pioli). Mangini brought in his friend George Kokinis from the Ravens to be the GM, but Kokinis was run out midway through the 2009 season and Mangini was rumored to be fired by the end of that season after the Browns stumbled to a 1-11 start.
Lerner found Holmgren, fresh off his retirement as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and hired him to be the team's president and de-facto "face of the franchise" in 2009. The Browns reeled off four consectutive wins to end the 2009 season, which saved Mangini's job for another year (even though his philosophies clashed with Holmgren's and his hand-picked GM, Tom Heckert from the Eagles). After another 5-11 season, Holmgren fired Mangini and most of his coaches and started bringing in coaches who shared his vision of a West Coast offense and a 4-3 defense.
The first year of Holmgren, Heckert and Pat Shurmur was not good. The team struggled to a 4-12 season and looked miserable in the process. However, Heckert had been drafting very well during his three seasons, and his most recent draft had the fan base buzzing with the selections of running back Trent Richardson and quarterback Brandon Weeden in the first round.
This turned out to be Lerner's cue to sell. Supposedly, the NFL helped broker the sales talks between Lerner and Haslam, and the talks wound up going very smoothly. From the time Haslam met Lerner, it only took 31 days for the sale to be completed.
Lerner took criticism for owning the English soccer team Aston Villa, and supposedly "spending more time and resources" on them. He also took criticism for not being more visible for the fan base. They viewed his shyness being apathetic toward the Browns.
I don't think Lerner's heart was in the wrong place. In fact, I think it was in the right place. He really, really, really wanted the Browns to succeed, to make his late father proud. Unfortunately, he was ill-prepared to be an NFL owner and never really got it, or wanted to get it. He wanted to keep the team in his family for generations. But, in the end, he found a family with even more passion for the NFL and football, a family who would keep the Browns in Cleveland and use every available resource to turn the team into a winner both on and off the field.
If Lerner didn't care, he wouldn't have strove for the assurance (and gotten it in writing) that the team would not be moved by a new owner. If Lerner didn't care, he probably wouldn't have strongly suggested to Haslam that they don't put a logo on the iconic orange helmets.
Lerner cared, which is more than I can say for the other guys on that 2003 list. It appears he found a guy who cares just as much, but with much better resources, in Haslam.
And, that, my fellow Browns fans, is sweet, sweet music to our ears.
***
Haslam has hinted at changes. Such as, selling the naming rights to Cleveland Browns Stadium, which Al and Randy Lerner did not do (they sold naming rights to the four gates, though), and tweaking with the Browns uniforms.
How much tweaking, who knows. However, the Browns are one of the few NFL teams that have not changed their uniforms one iota. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a throwback Browns uniform, because they've, by and large, remained the same since 1946, although the helmet the first few seasons was white.
Sure, they've experimented over the years -- orange pants, brown pants, orange jerseys -- but the design has mostly remained the same.
Even the Steelers tweaked their uniforms a bit, changing the size of the numbers on the front of their uniforms to a more aero-dynamic font.
While I'm a very hardcore traditionalist when it comes to the Cleveland Browns, to be honest, if the team's winning, I don't care what they look like. Yes, I would prefer they keep the Brown and Orange colors (and I can't see why they wouldn't abandon them). But both the Indians and Cavaliers have undergone numerous uniform changes over the years. They don't have the same standing in this town as the Browns do, but you hear less sniping about the uniforms if the team plays well than if they stink.
You listen to Haslam talk, and you can't help but be won over by the guy. By the end of his press conference, I found myself nodding my head and clapping my hands. I was ready to run through a wall for the guy, and I just met him.
Imagine the impact that will have on a team of football players.
Haslam is a "hand's on" guy, but he won't be as intrusive as Modell was. He has way more money and resources than Modell ever did.
For now, he seems willing to let Holmgren, Heckert and Shurmur stay the course, but you can bet it's a must-win season for these three. Another step backward, and Haslam won't hesitate to clean house.
I can remember when Dan Gilbert bought the Cavs from Gund in 2005, and almost immediately, he fired coach Paul Silas and essentially fired GM Jim Paxson (although he let Paxson finish out the season). He sunk his own resources into refurbishing Gund Arena with new seats, a new scoreboard and more anemnities (and, a new name). The Cavs reached the playoffs in Gilbert's first full season of ownership and were in the NBA Finals his second.
Gilbert is widely recognized as the best sports owner in Cleveland, and he's the same guy who failed to re-sign LeBron James (although, the failure is not Gilbert's). Haslam's only been in town for a few days, and he's quickly vaulted up to No. 2 on the depth chart.
A new voice at the top may be just what this franchise needs. This town is a football-mad town with some of the most passionate fans in the world. Browns victories are a matter of civic pride around here.
Welcome to Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam. We're ready to welcome you with open arms.
***
This brings us to No. 3 on the depth chart, Larry Dolan.
The contract to purchase the Browns was barely dry when fans were already begging Haslam to look into buying the Indians. They had already been begging Dan Gilbert to buy the Indians for years.
Dolan may not be the worst owner in Indians history. He may not be the worst owner in Cleveland sports history -- Modell's got that space nailed down, and Ted Stepien is a close second. But, he's definitely not among the best.
If you look at the Indians history, they've been permeated by bad ownership. You had William R. Daley, who tried to move the Indians to Seattle in 1962. You had Vernon Stouffer, who quickly mismanaged his money, tried to play 30 home games at the New Orleans Superdome in 1972 (MLB quickly intervened) and then reneged on a handshake agreement to sell the team to a group headed by George Steinbrenner and instead sold it to Nick Mileti.
Mileti was a great owner for the Cavs and 1100-AM. He was not a good owner for the Indians, other than he saved the team from being moved.
In 1982, the Indians were owned by a dead guy. Seriously. Steve O'Neill, one of Steinbrenner's partners with the Yankees who bought the team in 1978, died. For four years, the Indians were owned by his trust and were in limbo.
When you factor in Modell was still in town in 1982 and Stepien owned the Cavs as well, that may have been the worst triumverate of Cleveland ownership EVER.
Heck, even the Indians' very first over, Charlie Somers, was so broke that he had to sell "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's contract to the Chicago White Sox and had to sell to Jim Dunn because of almost $2 million of debt (which was a lot of money back in 1916).
But Dolan deserves to be mentioned with all of those shady characters.
As the Indians continue to spiral downward -- remember when fans debated about whether Chris Perez had "a point" when the Indians were in first place in May -- pressure is on the Dolans to make some wholesale changes.
Manny Acta's lethargic managerial style is wearing thin on the fans, and it seems to be rubbing off on his lethargic players.
Chris Antonetti's moves (or lack thereof) show a big-league roster devoid of talent and a minor league system devoid of prospects.
Mark Shapiro, who proves that waste can flow upstream in the Cleveland Indians organization, continues to oversee an organization that is hemorraging money, not drawing fleas to Progressive Field and is getting the bejesus beat out of it on a nightly basis. He can see that the team only has two of its own first-round picks in their current minor league system and only has Michael Brantley to show for three trades that he pulled the trigger on -- the deals of CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez (with Justin Masterson's terrible performance over the last month or so, I no longer consider him a "bright spot" among those three trades).
Shapiro and Antonetti decided it was a good idea to spend $5 million on a player who was so injured, that he hasn't even played an inning this season -- Grady Sizemore.
They decided it was a good idea to pick up $5 million on a 39-year-old pitcher named Derek Lowe who led the NL in losses. He teased the fans and the brass with a good first two months, but then he pitched like the 39-year-old guy he really is and is now out of a job with two months remaining in the regular season.
Despite their need for a right-handed bat with some pop, they continue to keep Russ Canzler and Matt LaPorta mired in Columbus. How much worse can they be from the litany of Casey Kotchman, Jack Hannahan, Shelly Duncan, Aaron Cunningham, Johnny Damon, Vinny Rottino and Jose Lopez the Indians trot out with a straight face night in and night out.
Shapiro and Antonetti decided that they didn't have the assets to make a splash at the trading deadline, and were too gun-shy to turn into sellers and deal Shin-Soo Choo, Chris Perez and Justin Masterson, so they sat on their hands and did nothing. The Indians have lost nine straight games in disturbing fashion since the front office gave them this ringing endorsement.
If Dolan doesn't find a buyer for his team (which he should have done years ago), he needs to sack up and clean them all out, because they're taking his money for a ride. Shapiro's ship has sailed long ago, and Antonetti is nothing more than Shapiro's puppet. Acta will never be anything more than a mediocre major league manager, and you have a PR bonanza waiting in the wings as his bench coach, Sandy Alomar Jr.
I guarantee the Tribe could do very little in the offseason, but if Alomar gets named manager, they will sell a few thousand more season tickets. Cleveland is loyal to its own.
The Dolans turned a $30 million profit last season and did absolutely nothing with that money. They'll never turn a $30 million profit in Cleveland again unless they go to the World Series or spend absolutely nothing on the product you see on the field.
Sell the team, Paul and Larry. If you can't man up to the fact that your baseball people are inept, than it's time to sell to someone who knows what the hell they are doing.
Fans want wins more than the so-called "bottom line." Fans don't care about market sizes and baseball economics. Fans would be happy if the Indians had a team like the Royals, filled with promising young talent, rather than the jokers they have here.
If Larry Dolan is truly a fan of the Indians like he claims he is, he needs to take a page out of Randy Lerner's book and sell them. Because Larry Dolan the owner is letting down Larry Dolan the fan.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
