Baseball’s greatest curse is about to be put to the test

October 5, 2017

When the Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland’s Indians in last year’s World Series, they also vanquished the Curse of the Billy Goat, ending their 108-year championship drought. This left the Indians as baseball’s longest losing franchise, without a title since 1948, and Cleveland’s Curse of Chief Wahoo as the undisputed champion of baseball curses—having survived the […]

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If the Q deal was so good for Cleveland, why didn’t Dan Gilbert find a way to make it work?

August 29, 2017

With City Council’s efforts to suppress a referendum on the Q deal having failed, Dan Gilbert was finally faced with the prospect of a public vote on the proposed $100-million-plus subsidy to pay for discretionary renovations to Quicken Loans Arena. Rather than subject this project to scrutiny at the ballot, Gilbert decided to pick up […]

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Will Dan Gilbert’s greed cost Cleveland an NBA All-Star Game?

August 11, 2017

This is a question that seems to be getting lost in the debate over the Q-deal referendum, which will now be moving forward thanks to yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court of Ohio. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and his surrogates, both in their legal briefing against the referendum and in their related public-relations efforts, have […]

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It’s burger time with Dan Gilbert, Frank Jackson, Marky Mark, and Donnie from New Kids on the Block

May 17, 2017

Let’s check in on Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, who showed up last Thursday at a “VIP red carpet preview event” for a Wahlburgers location in some retail space owned by Dan Gilbert, across the street from Gilbert’s JACK Casino in downtown Cleveland and just underneath one of the most magnificent land-bridges to ever connect a casino […]

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Why is Armond Budish communicating absurd threats on Dan Gilbert’s behalf?

March 2, 2017

Last Tuesday afternoon, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish stood at a packed County Council meeting and emotionally pleaded for Council to approve the most recently proposed $70 million public handout to Dan Gilbert for upgrades to Quicken Loans Arena. Even though there is no legal obligation for the public to provide the proposed subsidy, the […]

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Mayor Jackson and Armond Budish rubber-stamp Dan Gilbert’s latest public-cash grab

December 15, 2016

A few points about Dan Gilbert’s latest $70 million cash grab—apparently lost on the relentless cheerleaders at Cleveland.com—clarify what a bad deal this is for the public and just how badly Frank Jackson and Armond Budish have failed their constituents in rubber-stamping this deal the way they have. First, note that this $70 million is not from […]

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The Cavs want $70 million more in public money to renovate the Q

November 18, 2016

Last evening, The League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland hosted a panel on “Sports Stadium Financing in Cleveland” where I was one of the panelists with Cavs and Quicken Loans Arena CEO Len Komoroski and Tom Chema, former CEO of the Gateway Economic Development Corp. The panel’s moderator, Peter Krouse of Cleveland.com, made clear […]

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Good grief, it’s Browns season again

September 11, 2016

After last season, on top of every other Cleveland football season and non-season since 1995, it seems all there is to appreciate about the Browns anymore are the parallels between the spectacular deterioration of the franchise and that of Cleveland’s middle class, job market, and social safety net. Will Hue Jackson and a bunch of Ivy-degreed technocrats give us any reason to think that what […]

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The Chosen One Makes Good

June 21, 2016

He did it. LeBron James just wrote the greatest story imaginable in modern pro sports. To echo a common refrain about his infamous “Decision” to leave Cleveland for Miami in 2010, it’s not just that he ended Cleveland’s impossible 52-year championship drought, it’s the way that he did it. A run-of-the-mill title run wouldn’t have […]

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The Browns are a supernatural conflagration of disappointment and despair

December 6, 2015

After the Browns finished 7-9 last season for their best record since 2007, the NFL schedule-makers were encouraged enough to reward them with a slot on Monday Night Football for the first time since 2009. The Browns rewarded the schedule-makers in turn by arriving for the showcase event with a 2-9 record, helping to make […]

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