The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
‘Modell Law’ aimed to help keep teams in town
Legislation aimed to help prevent teams from leaving town
When Jeff Schudel wrote about the Indians’ lease last week, readers pointed out 1996 legislation aimed at preventing pro teams from moving to a new city. Plus, a look at the Cavs and Browns.
A story that first appeared in print editions on April 10 outlining the possibility of Paul Dolan selling the Indians to an out-of-town buyer when the lease at Progressive Field expires in 2023 drew varied responses from readers.
Some readers referred to the story as “a call to arms.” Some expressed resignation that in a little more than two years the Indians might be gone. But two readers referred to “The Modell Law” as a tool the city of Cleveland can use to prevent the Indians from being moved — or to at least try to prevent them from being moved.
Art Modell caught Cleveland officials unaware when he announced on Nov. 5, 1995, that he would be moving the Browns to Baltimore in 1996. Fans put up such a fuss that three months after the announcement, at a league meeting in February 1996 in Chicago, the NFL appeased the masses by announcing Cleveland would get a different team to begin play in 1999.
Two years after promising Cleveland a team, in March 1998, the league announced Cleveland would get an expansion team. Fans were excited. They did not want a relocated team at the expense of fans from another city suffering what they suffered.
Modell’s move embarrassed the late George Voinovich, who was Ohio’s governor in 1995. State officials took steps to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
Seven months after Modell’s announcement and four months after the league reluctantly approved Modell’s move to Baltimore at the 1996 league meeting in Chicago, the Ohio legislature on June 20, 1996, approved section 9,67 of the Ohio Revised Code, which contains the following wording:
“No owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:
(A) Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;
(B) Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months’ advance notice of the owner’s intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.”
Progressive Field was built with the “sin tax” revenue collected from tobacco and alcohol sales, so it qualifies, which, of course, is the reason for the wording in the law.
I have no idea how that would hold up in court if a billionaire with a battalion of lawyers challenged it in an attempt to buy the Indians and move them, but there you go.
• Major League Baseball is using the Atlantic League for an interesting experiment this summer. It is being referred to as the “double-hook” because it ties the starting pitcher and designated hitter to strategic decisions made by the manager.
A team would lose its designated hitter once the starting pitcher is replaced. The team would have to let the relief pitcher bat in the designated hitter’s place or use a pinch-hitter every time it’s the pitcher’s turn to bat.
The goal of the experiment, according to a statement from The Atlantic League, is to “incentivize teams to leave their starting pitchers in longer, increase the value of starters who can work deeper into games and increase the strategic element in the late innings of a game.”
Mighty have fallen
The game between the Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors on April 15 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was a reminder that invincibility doesn’t last forever.
The Cavs and Warriors met in the NBA Finals each year from 2015-18. The Warriors were champions in 2015, ‘17 and 2018. They were also in the 2019 NBA Finals and lost to the Toronto Raptors in six games.
The Cavaliers won their only championship when they heroically fought back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 Finals to defeat the Warriors in an epic Game 7 when Kyrie Irving made the most famous shot in franchise history.
Three years later, the Warriors are mediocre personified. They were 2828 and ninth in the West heading into their April 17 game at Boston. Coach Steve Kerr isn’t as smug as he once was.
Only three holdovers on the 2018 Golden State roster are on the active roster — guard Steph Curry, forward Draymond Green and center Kevon Looney. Looney, now starting for the Warriors, played three minutes as a backup when Golden State finished off the Cavs in a fourgame sweep in 2018. Klay Thompson would be on the list, but he is recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Likewise, only three Cavaliers from the 2018 team remain — forward/ center Kevin Love, forward/center Larry Nance Jr. and forward Cedi Osman. Tyronn Lue and Larry Drew were fired as head coaches in the 201819 season and a third, John Beilein, resigned in February of 2020.
Mediocre would be an improvement for the Cavaliers. They were 20-35, 18.5 games behind first-place Philadelphia, and 13th in the East heading into their road game with the Bulls on April 17 in Chicago. Remarkably, they are only two games behind the Toronto Raptors (23-34), currently 10th in the East, in the race for the final playin spot. The Bulls and Wizards (both 22-33) are .004 percentage points behind the Raptors.
Browns ‘Prove it’ deals
If one-year ‘Prove it’ contracts are designed to keep players hungry, some of the newest Browns should be starving in 2021.
Defensive ends Takkarist
McKinley and Jadeveon Clowney, plus linebackers Anthony Walker and Malcolm Smith are all on one-year deals. Smith was on a one-year contract with the Browns last year. So was B.J. Goodson. Goodson was not resigned and remains a free agent.
Executive Vice President of Football Operations Andrew Berry chose to re-sign Smith and determined Walker would be an upgrade over re-signing Goodson, who earned $1 million in 2020 while leading the Browns in tackles.
McKinley and Clowney are trying to restart their careers after each were disappointing in 2019 and 2020. Both are former first-round draft picks. Clowney, 28, was picked first overall by the Texans in 2014. McKinley, 25, was taken 26th overall by Atlanta in 2017.
“I’m looking forward to this season and prove that I’m back healthy and I still can dominate in this league,” Clowney said on Zoom after signing with the Browns. “That’s all I’m here to prove this year.”
Berry could easily try to re-sign one and let the other walk at the end of 2021, defending on what the Browns do in the April 29-May 1 NFL Draft. He might try to keep both if the Browns do not use one of their nine picks on a defensive end. Not adding an end, though, seems highly unlikely.
I didn’t know that
... Until I read my Snapple bottle cap
Tigers have striped skin — not just striped fur . ... In Japan, letting a Sumo wrestler make your baby cry is considered good luck . ... Human eyes have 2 million working parts . ... The tiny pocket in jeans was made for pocket watches . ... Scotland has 421 words for snow . ... Toe wrestling is a competitive sport.