Cleveland fans showed their disapproval of Browns Owner Art
Modell's decision to move the team to Baltimore with 17,547 no-
shows yesterday, according to the Baltimore SUN. Mike Preston
writes the fans that did show up "cheered, chanted, booed and
cursed" the players during the entire game. Andre Rison:
"Frankly, I'm ready to get out of here, 'cause I don't deserve
it. ... All the man wanted was a new stadium. Look at this
raggedy place. As far as the boos, I'll be glad when we get to
Baltimore. This ain't my home. Baltimore is our home"
(Baltimore SUN, 11/20).
LOCAL EFFORTS: Cuyahoga County Judge Kenneth Callahan will
rule by next Friday whether a fan can intervene in a lawsuit
filed by the city of Cleveland against the Browns and the
Cleveland Stadium Corp. and include the NFL and MD officials as
defendants (Akron BEACON JOURNAL, 11/18).
DOES A BODY GOOD: Smith's Dairy of Orrville, OH, is issuing
commemorative half-gallon milk cartons featuring Cleveland's
skyline with the slogan, "Missing Team." The phone number for
the commissioner's office will be printed on the cartons, along
with an account number at Society National bank for contributions
to the Save Our Browns campaign (Parker & Rosenberg, ACRON BEACON
JOURNAL, 11/18).
BROWN-OUT: The BEACON JOURNAL's Bart Hubbuch reports Art
Modell and his son David, a Browns VP, are talking only to
Baltimore media and are not returning or accepting calls from
Cleveland-area media (Akron BEACON JOURNAL, 11/18).
TV TALK: ESPN's Lesley Visser, from Cleveland yesterday:
"The fans here are hurt and they're angry and they're here to
show it. ... Their target is Art Modell." Visser noted the
companies that had their stadium signs painted over -- such as
McDonald's, Ford and Pizza Hut. Sign spotted over Visser's
shoulder as she closed: "Muck Fodell" ("NFL GameDay," ESPN,
11/19). Fox's Thom Brennaman, previewing the Browns-Packers:
"The game is secondary here in Cleveland. ... Even the mascot
called it quits" ("Fox NFL Sunday," 11/19). NBC showed video of
a Lite Beer sign being painted over in Cleveland Stadium ("NFL
Live," 11/19).
