DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Big Surprise Browns NOT for sale

link The owner of the Cleveland Browns tells Romona Robinson the team is not for sale.
Contrary to attack ads which aired during Sunday's Super Bowl, Randy Lerner says there is absolutley no truth to reports the Cleveland Browns are for sale.

"I can definitely, positively, and categorically say that the Cleveland Browns are NOT up for sale," Mr. Lerner told WKYC news anchor Romona Robinson in a private phone conservation Monday.

"There is no letter that I know of stating that fact. I adore this team," said Mr. Lerner. "I am working feverishly to make this a better team, and you can quote me."

The Browns owner's comments to Romona Robinson came after repeated ads during the Super Bowl which promised a report on the possible pending sale of the team.

"There are no plans to sell this team," the Browns owner continued. "I have never met with anyone , never corresponded with anyone to sell the Cleveland Browns. I have had several offers over the years, but turned them down."

Mr. Lerner blasted the local Cleveland television station (WOIO) which ran the promotional spots.

"They have gone on a steady mission to try to embarass or denigrate me and the Cleveland Browns. I have never spoken with anyone from Channel 19, and I have no idea where this story came from."

More on the Browns owner's comments from Romona Robinson and WKYC Sports Director Jim Donovan on Channel 3 News tonight at 6, 7, and 11.

video

Say, didn't he have a falling out with that station over the death of his niece ?

I think the Browns have had a lot of issues with the station in the last few years. With them pulling crap like this ... I can see why.

Yes, that's the channel they have a grudge and they come off looking like fools.

Too bad.

They put out some freaking stupid information!

I guess I must be ticked.............why would they be so stupid!

I could understand if it was a Los Angeles station............but not in Cleveland!

Man, I had my checkbook out and ready to go

Embarrassing. Is this what Cleveland is all about, radio stations going haywire. I think the station owes Mr Lerner, The Cleveland Browns and the City of Cleveland fans a public apology. Maybe they're are ones that should be up for sale.

What they're not?????

Still see this on their site

Quote:

---

Monday at 11: Are the Browns for Sale?

Feb 2, 2007 06:55 PM

Cleveland, OH - Are the Cleveland Browns for Sale?

The exclusive investigation - Monday night on 19 Action News at 11.

---

I'd be interested to see what the story actually says.

just watched it....

pretty lame really....it all stems from that vp of communcations letter from a few months ago when he said something along the lines of "you want lerner to sell the browns. Be careful what you wish for."

then they went on to show how he purchased a soccer team....

crappy journalism....

thanks dawg

This was poorly done. A simple stunt to get us to watch their broadcast b/c they knew football fans were watching the Super Bowl.

What a joke.

I don't know if you watched WKYC channel 3 tonite.....but Romona Robinson said,that Randy Lerner told her"he WANTED JaMarcus Russell w/their 1st pick".But he'll let the front office handle that.....didn't he pimp Charlie Frye? I guess he has fallen out of love w/ole' Charlie......

What might've been worse was watching Sharon Reed and Trivosonno go back and forth on the 5pm news ("Triv TV?"). For once in my life, I even had a little respect for the guy, while she furthered her image of a media (rhymes with bore). He was basically blasting them on their own airwaves for starting rumors and uncredible journalism, while the same old hogwash came spewing out of her mouth.

I missed this thread so I put up another one,,, in it, I had some links,, I've asked that the other be deleted.

Here's the stufff from the other thread, Links and all

Man O Man,,, The war of words between WOIO and the Browns just doesn't seem to end. Seems as if Channel 19 wants to raise eyebrows without any substance in thier story that aired last night about "are the browns for sale"..

I guess Randy Lerner must have had enough because he agreed to an interview with Romona Robinson of WKYC TV 3 yesterday.. Here's the link:

http://www.wkyc.com/sports/sports_article.aspx?storyid=62676

and here's the Video

http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=30623&sid=62676&bw=hi&cat=2

I can't find the video of it yet, but I did end up watching the news at 11pm last night..

The big news is that when pressed by Romona Robinson as to who he (randy Lerner) would like to see us pick in the draft,, he said Jamarcus Russell!

I'm sure that if you check back to WKYC.com later in the day, that part of the video or a written report will be up on the site..

I thought that was intersting!

Oh man Beerdowner, I saw that last night also... Triv did us regular fans proud last night with that..

He laid her out and all she could do was shrugg her shoulders and babble about how Triv hadn't actually seen the story yet so how could he comment.. Trive said then that the stations promo for the story was misleading..

Typical sensationalistic news reporting.. Channel 19 is known for that so I guess it should be no surprise....

Anyone have video of the piece with Triv?


I watched the piece on 19 last night, it was crap.

I just checked their site, couldn't find it on there. I'd highly doubt they'd archive it, since it's basically 3 minutes of him blasting them for uncredible journalism and Sharon Reed trying to skeeve her way out of it.

I agree Beer,,, Channel 19 won't have it.. at some point the audio of it might be on WTAM.com but I couldn't find it a moment ago... Have to admit, I didn't tak a great deal of time looking for it either..

Now we just need to find a way so that they aren't the local CBS affiliate any longer so that they have nothing at all to do with the Browns.

You *know* they won't be permitted to training camp or preseason now, and it's a safe bet that their media access is cut off (wish they'd do the same to the Plain Dealer).


Newsflash: 19 hates Lerner.... 19 has the pre-game program that has Tony Grossi on it. 19's sports anchor Tony Rizzo publicly called for RAC's head, then Grossi essentially did the same while starting all of the Cowher in Cleveland tripe. These two outlets is what started and was fostering all of the "RAC Must Go" hype. Hmmm? Seems like a coordinated effort to me. It seems that all of the Garbage Media is related in C-Town. We seem to have a legacy of Hack Media now.

Rizzo's on channel 8 and if he called for RAC's head I missed it.

doh, you're right... he is on 8.... but he did openly call for RAC's head... I was watching it when he did it.

I still stand behind my media collusion theory though.

Rizzo can be a big mouthed fool so I don't doubt it I just missed it.

Another conspiracy theorist among us?

Go to the Podcast section of WTAM it's on there.

Rizzo is on Channel 8 sports and Grossi does the coverage on Channel 3, so two strikes...

And guess who just joined 19 "ACTION" (my ass, tabloid maybe) News. Good old Carl Monday Thats all they have, crappy classless reporting. I refuse to watch that news at all.

O.k..I listened to the Podcast and when Triv went to talk to Reed it wasn't on the radio..BLAH..

Quote:

---

19 has the pre-game program that has Tony Grossi on it.

---

Actually, Grossi is associated with Channel 3 there Purp.... Are we having number problems this morning sir

Oh,,,,,Cool, thanks Attack

Quote:

---

And guess who just joined 19 "ACTION" (my ass, tabloid maybe) News. Good old Carl Monday Thats all they have, crappy classless reporting

---

That's wierd, as of last night, Carl Monday was still with Channel 3, WKYC The NBC station here in Cleveland.. Did something change that I didn't hear about this morning?

Attack, my guess is that they still taped it but maybe they won't play it because of the relationship between Triv and the TV Station.... Who knows.

I thought they were supposed to do a story last night at 11 about why he was leaving channel 3. I'm not sure if it was on 3 or 19 but since it sounded smarmy it was probalby 19.

Did Randy Lerner kill a man?



No, but here's the real story....

He doesn't start at 19 prob till his contract is up. I just noticed it on their site when I first heard about this Browns For Sale crap.
Cleveland, OH - One of Cleveland's preeminent Investigative Reporters, 31 time Emmy Winner Carl Monday is leaving WKYC to join 19 Action News.

Monday is a long time veteran investigator instantly recognizable to an entire generation of Cleveland TV viewers as a no-nonsense, hard-hitting reporter. He'll be reunited with The Investigator Tom Meyer, himself a 53 time Emmy winner.

"Clevelanders know exactly what they're going to get when they see one of Carl's investigative stories on television: hard nosed, relentless, top notch reporting. He's a perfect fit for our number one news team. We're extremely proud to welcome him." WOIO's Vice President and General Manager Bill Applegate comments.

News Director Dan Salamone adds "We have built an excellent Investigative unit with Meyer, Scott Taylor and Danielle Serino. Carl rounds out the team, and I am looking forward to once again allowing Carl to do quality investigations."

Mr. Monday will begin work at 19 Action News no later than March 1st.

Well, I went over to WKYC.com and checked,,, Nothing there about Monday leaving.. Then I went to www.carlmonday.com and it basically takes you to a page within WKYC.com..

I haven't checked Channel 19's site yet, but if anything is there, can we actually trust it? I think not.

heres a good article on this from "The News Herald"

Rumors of Browns sale ridiculous
By: Jeff Schudel, JSchudel@News-Herald.com
02/06/2007

The Browns are not for sale, team owner Randy Lerner said Monday through an organization spokesman.
Lerner has said many times over the past couple of years that he has no intention of selling the Browns and that he has never spoken to a prospective buyer about selling the team he inherited when his father, Al Lerner, passed away in 2002.
Nevertheless, one television station in Cleveland is stirring up rumors that the team might be for sale. That station will remain nameless here, unless it wants to call The News-Herald advertising department and pay for publicity. It is "sweeps month" for television, which can be interpreted as "no-rules month."
This station bases its premise on the fact Lerner owns the Aston Villa soccer team in the English Premiere League (EPL) and he has willingly spent millions of dollars to make the team better. The conjecture is if he is spending all that money on his relatively new toy in England, he must be tired of the toy he has had in Cleveland for about 4 1/2 years and that he is not as willing to sink money into it. The Browns are not "a toy" for Lerner, but that strays from the point.
Anyone who follows the Browns knows it is ridiculous, preposterous - pick an adjective - to conclude Lerner has been cheap as owner of the team.
Last winter, the Browns signed LeCharles Bentley, the highest-rated player in free agency, to a six-year, $36 million contract. They signed left tackle Kevin Shaffer and Dave Zastudil, the best punter in free agency. They spent a pile of money in free agency in 2005. It certainly is not Lerner's fault that through injury some of the signings have not worked out.
Free agency for 2007 begins around March 1. The Browns are around $33 million under the salary cap and will once again spend most of it to lure top players. They won't spend all of it because they need a cushion to sign other players when someone (see Bentley) is injured.
It is stupid to conclude Lerner prefers his soccer team if he ends up spending more money on it. The rules of the NFL and the EPL are completely different. A player under contract can be purchased in the EPL and there is no salary cap as there is in the NFL.
For example, let's say the Peyton Manning of the EPL (whoever that is) is under contract to Manchester United and Lerner wants to purchase his contract. Manchester United owner Malcolm Glazer might say, "You can have him for $200 million" and then it would be up to Lerner to make or decline the deal. Players under contract in the NFL cannot switch teams.
Lerner does have his faults, but they have nothing to do with a willingness to spend money.
If Lerner were more visible, questions about his loyalty to the Browns would go away. He could be visible without being meddlesome. He should hire a team president so there would be a buffer between Lerner and General Manager Phil Savage.
There is reason to wonder whether Lerner hired the right people when he made Savage the GM and Romeo Crennel head coach. The 2007 season will answer that question; three years should be enough to clean up any mess left behind by Butch Davis.
The Browns are not for sale, and be happy for it, no matter what you hear from the television version of The National Enquirer.