R. Rich Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I don't blame the Colts one bit for leaving this dump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I don't blame the Colts one bit for leaving this dump. Don't hold back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLflutie7 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 My favorite relocation stories are the ones about the St. Louis and Houston fans who essentially kicked their loser, lowlife owners right out of town. It inspires me. Better to have no NFL team at all than to have a terrible product owned by a scumbag who doesn't respect or deserve the fans they expect to pony up for whatever garbage they tell them to buy. An interesting side note and more on the relocation story is Jacksonville. Goodell addressed the Jacksonville situation today in his press conference at the NFL meeting in Boston. Clearly, Jacksonville is a problem and Goodell said the business community needs to get more involved with the team for it to stay. He mentioned the tickets packages available and how they are trying to make it work. But it's not working. I think Jacksonville is cleary the team that will probably move. People say the Vikings, Bills and Chargers are the teams most likely to move, but I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternOHBillsFan Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Baltimore media didn't report much on Modell's somewhat shaky ownership of the Ravens. It was glossed over...he wanted to move the team out of Cleveland cause he couldn't secure a stadium for years...the Indians got one and the Cavs had a somewhat newer facility as well. It wasn't long into the Ravens' existence that Modell was looking to sell or looking for a minority owner to eventually take the whole team. You think about it, there are some dumbassssssses that own NFL teams. Harry Wismer, the AFL owner, had to be the worst all time. Also, you didn't mention the mysterious death of Carroll Rosenbloom... still suspicious after you read about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLflutie7 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I just watched the show and it was great. But a few thoughts come to mind and a few questions. After doing some fact checking, I think it's still unclear about what really happened. My facts come from a book written about the NFL by David Harris. I also have read a great deal about Robert Irsay in media reports going back to my college years to the present day. 1. Irsay paid about double the going rate for an NFL team. He bought the team from Carroll Rosenbloom while Rosenbloom got the Rams in a swap. I guess he paid about 25 million for the team which was about double at the time. Rosenbloom wanted out of Baltimore after failing to get a new stadium. Plus the press was hounding him. 2. Irsay, who was a drunk and considered a boob by other NFL owners, then put in motion moving the team after he too tired and failed to get a new stadium with the city of Baltimore. 3. Irsay was shopping his team to Jacksonville, Phoenix and Indy and I believe New York was also mentioned. I think he said he would never move his team to New York (he didn't like the city). 4. Irsay moved to team to Indy the day after Maryland passed a law saying the city of Baltimore could seize the team under eminent domain. 5. Irsay's lawyer said the city "put a gun to his head" about why the Colts took less money in Indy. Irsay said the domed stadium played a role. The move was a panic move. That's why the moving vans were called and it was done in an abrupt fashion. My conclusion is Irsay made a bad deal when he bought the team and he tired to fix it and he didn't know how to. He sold his heating and air conditioning business and sunk all his money into buying the Colts. He was in over his head. He didn't know how to deal with the media and politicians and when those people threatened him he moved. He wasn't going to lose 25 million because of a bunch of politicians. He got off on the wrong foot with the media in Baltimore with his penny pinching ways and they "beat him up" as he said in the ESPN show. There's no doubt that Robert Irsay was a jerk. He did make threats. He said that if Baltimore didn't build a new stadium he was going to move and that came before the eminent domain thing. Howard Cosell hated him and let him have it for shopping the team in such a public way. But I think he had to protect his money and I don't really blame him for doing so. If someone would have set down with Irsay (NFL people) and asked how can we help, the situation might have been avoided. Saying all of that, I think the biggest mistake was not giving the uniform back to Baltimore. I think that's why it took Peyton Manning before the city of Indy really embraced that team. I read somewhere, Irsay's son said he would sell the uniform for 25 million. I think that's why the NFL kept the Browns in Cleveland. Moving the Browns uniform to Baltimore would have sucked. Another issue I have with this issue is why Art Modell was always broke. He said he had to move the team to Baltimore and become the Ravens because he was broke. He did it to protect the money for his family, yet he said he had to sell the Ravens because he was broke. What gives? I stand corrected. In the ESPN show Irsay complained "why do you have to hang me" about the press. He said it like four times. He also said he was a good catholic. Irsay was Jewish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Harry Wismer, the AFL owner, had to be the worst all time. Also, you didn't mention the mysterious death of Carroll Rosenbloom... still suspicious after you read about it. thought I mentioned Georgia Frontiere maybe had a hand in it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullpen Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 thought I mentioned Georgia Frontiere maybe had a hand in it... It sure made the 1978 version of Heaven Can Wait rather interesting and almost prophetic didn't it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_Can_Wait_(1978_film) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternOHBillsFan Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 thought I mentioned Georgia Frontiere maybe had a hand in it... Ahh, I missed that 'joke'... if only Columbo or McGarrett had been on the case!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Ahh, I missed that 'joke'... if only Columbo or McGarrett had been on the case!! she got her team, moved em to St. Louis, won the Super Bowl... and kicked it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternOHBillsFan Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 she got her team, moved em to St. Louis, won the Super Bowl... and kicked it? Nobody talks about the move from L.A. to St. Louis like they do all the other moves, unless as the topic of L.A. pro football as a whole. She ended up with one heck of a lucky strike with Vermeil coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Nobody talks about the move from L.A. to St. Louis like they do all the other moves, unless as the topic of L.A. pro football as a whole. She ended up with one heck of a lucky strike with Vermeil coming back. Rams attendance was dropping some in LA, if I remember right. Anaheim Stadium was a dump for football. However, I think the Rams should have stayed in LA. They had a better connection to LA then the Rental Raiders did at the Memorial Coliseum. Raiders should have always stayed in Oakland, Rams should have always stayed in LA... St. Louis should just have year-round baseball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternOHBillsFan Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Rams attendance was dropping some in LA, if I remember right. Anaheim Stadium was a dump for football. However, I think the Rams should have stayed in LA. They had a better connection to LA then the Rental Raiders did at the Memorial Coliseum. Raiders should have always stayed in Oakland, Rams should have always stayed in LA... St. Louis should just have year-round baseball. The Cardinals shouldn't be in Arizona, anyways, IMO... it always seemed silly to me for them to be out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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