Prior to last night's Cowboys-Browns game in Canton,
OH, ESPN's Mike Tirico reported that game tickets were going
"for upwards of $1500." Tirico also reported that 18,000
fans attended the Browns' pre-game walk-thru the previous
night ("Monday Night Countdown," 8/9). During the game,
ABC's Boomer Esiason credited former Browns Owner Art Modell
for not attending the game: "I give Art Modell a lot of
credit. Because if he would have come here, it would have
been a whole other side show." ABC's Al Michaels: "Art
knows that he's just persona non grata in Cleveland, in all
of northeastern Ohio and hasn't even made any attempt, as
far as I know, to come back." Esiason: "Art did the right
thing by not showing up, and taking care of his friend and
making sure his friend's story was the story to be told."
During the game, Al Michaels called Cowboys Owner Jerry
Jones "a man very much instrumental in so many facets of the
National Football League. ... A man in so many ways who is
very much ahead of his time in figuring out how the salary
cap works and all the things to make his team very
competitive." Michaels, on Browns CEO Carmen Policy:
"Carmen is another fellow who really has an understanding of
what this team and this area is all about" ("MNF," 8/9).
