I want to touch on two quick topics tonight, both of which have to do with the fan / owner relationship:
1) The week before the Browns’ season opener, Bud Shaw of the Plain Dealer wrote a column stating that the ManKok regime should be Randy Lerner’s “last chance” as owner of the team. In other words, if the Browns don’t improve and start winning under Alpha Dog, Lerner should be compelled by some kind of moral imperative to sell the Browns.
While I understand the frustration in Shaw’s column, his conclusion is completely ignorant. The city of Cleveland doesn’t own the Browns. The fans don’t own the Browns. Randy Lerner does. He can do whatever the hell he wants with the team, and to act as if the fans have any say in the matter is a daydream.
I agree completely that two winning seasons and a single playoff appearance in a decade is a pathetic track record. (Trust me, I don’t enjoy being heckled by a bunch of overweight, Terrible Towel-waving Steelers’ fans at the sports bar every Sunday morning with no legitimate defense.) But as I pointed out a few weeks ago, the Lerners have made more money than a James Bond villain over the course of the past ten years, and their fan support has been largely unaffected. So Bud Shaw, Big Dog, and the rest of the gang can chain themselves to the entrance of Browns HQ and sing “Let My People Go” by candlelight for the next 6 months, but the simple fact is this: they don’t matter. I don’t matter. None of us matter, unless we all stop going to the games and buying merchandise and watching the Browns on TV. It’s just economics.
2) Yesterday, Mesa-favorite Brian Windhorst wrote an article noting that continued fan support has been instrumental in propelling the Cavs out of financial trouble while most teams in the league are struggling mightily. In the comments section of the article, several commenters echoed the same sentiment (I’ll pull the card of one commenter in particular, tribefan50, to make the point):
Someone needs to mail this [article] to the Dolans. Stop blaming the fans for why our team sucks. If you build a good team, we WILL come.
Again, I understand and agree with the frustration exhibited toward the Indians’ ownership. But it’s ludicrous to overlook the fact that the Cavs owe their current financial success to a ping pong ball. It’s a hell of a lot easier to build a good team and elicit serious fan support when your roster lucks into a guy who is in the process of becoming the greatest player in league history - especially in the sport where one individual can dramatically impact the fate of an entire team in every game.
It’s also worth noting again that, as successful and fun to watch as the Cavs have been over the course of the past 3-4 seasons, fans start getting preoccupied with the Browns right when the NBA playoffs begin - even when the Cavs are seeded first in the league and have the MVP wearing wine and gold. And let’s not even get into what Gund Arena looked like when Mike, Dad, and myself would go watch LaMond Murray anchor the offense in the pre-LeBron days.
No one has been more supportive of Danny Ferry than me. I think he, Coldstone, and Dan Gilbert have done an outstanding job of building a deep team with an identity. But let’s not pretend that we’d be at this stage without LeBron winding up on our doorstep in gift-wrap.
I’m not trying to bag on fans or act like I’m superior. I’m just firing a salvo for honesty and the acceptance of limitations. If the Browns suck again, we have the right to express our dissatisfaction - but let’s not pretend that targeting anything other than the Lerner coffers is going to make a difference. On the flip side, let’s also not act like the fans would be turning out in droves if the best player on our basketball team was Mo Williams.
That’s all I’ve got for tonight. If you disagree, get at me.
-T
