The NFL announced yesterday that representatives of the city
of Cleveland will be allowed to address all of the NFL's owners -
- including Browns Owner Art Modell -- at a special meeting
Wednesday in Atlanta. According to this morning's Akron BEACON
JOURNAL, league officials also said NFL Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue has not made his recommendation to owners on Modell's
proposed move to Baltimore. That is seen as "another sign" that
owners will delay a vote on the move until after a February 12
trial in Cuyahoga County court. Modell will make his case to the
Stadium and Finance Committees on Tuesday night, with the city's
presentation expected "to serve as a rebuttal." Cleveland Mayor
Michael White has invited OH Gov. George Voinovich, Sens. John
Glenn and Michael DeWine, and Rep. Louis Stokes to join the
contingent. NFL Dir/Communications Greg Aiello said the format
of the presentation is up to the city, and that Modell will be
allowed to ask questions (Bart Hubbuch, Akron BEACON JOURNAL,
1/12).
HOW WAS YOUR INTERNET DAY? Save Our Browns organizers
called yesterday's "Internet Day" -- in which the NFL league and
team front offices were mass e-mailed in protest of the Browns'
move -- a success. NFL sponsors, such as Ford, Chrysler, AT&T,
Coca-Cola, IBM and Apple, and blimp provider Goodyear, were also
hit. In other news, Ameritech, which offered free long-distance
protest calls from several of its customer service centers in
Northeast Ohio, reported more than 600 calls were placed from
eight locations between 11:00-2:00 (Akron BEACON JOURNAL, 1/12).
The Baltimore SUN reports that MD lawmakers and the MD Governor's
office easily handled the Internet traffic (Baltimore SUN, 1/12).
Save Our Browns took out a full-page ad in today's USA TODAY with
the phone and fax numbers for the NFL's New York office, as well
as all 30 teams (USA TODAY, 1/12). Allan Sabo, President of
Victory Sports Marketing, Publisher of E-Sports and one of the
organizers of "Internet Day," told THE DAILY that several media
outlets claimed they had received 1,000 pieces of e-mail by
8:00am. By day's end, Sabo estimated close to 1 million pieces
had been delivered protesting the move. Sabo said their next
main event will be the Super Bowl, where they will ask for a
boycott of the game and protests outside NBC affiliates (THE
DAILY).
SLOWDOWN: The administration of MD Gov. Parris Glendening
"bowed to legislative pressure yesterday" and decided to postpone
consideration of a stadium financing proposal until lawmakers had
had more time to study the plan. Some lawmakers believe the plan
would be easier to sell if Modell was to make more of a
contribution to ease the cost (Thomas Waldron, Baltimore SUN,
1/12).
