Sports

At the end of last season, the Cleveland Indians had just finished with more than 90 losses for the third time in four years. Attendance was near the bottom of the league and team ownership was rightfully being savaged for its failure to spend money and for what was perceived as a cavalier attitude toward its fans. Many veteran Tribe observers labeled the team’s situation as the worst they had ever seen it - and that’s saying something – with apathy having replaced anger and disappointment.

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to this year’s spring training. Two-time world champion manager Terry Francona lobbied for and was hired as the team’s manager, and the Dolan family opened up their checkbooks and acquired veterans Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Michael Bourn, Ryan Raburn, Drew Stubbs and Mike Aviles - thereby totally remaking a lineup that was, arguably, the most inept in baseball and turning it into one that currently is at the top of the American League in home runs. As of this writing, the surging Tribe has won 13 of their last 16 games.

The left-for-dead Indians of 2012, whose last two months of the season could best be described as the Bataan Death March, have been transformed – somewhat miraculously - into a powerful and exciting squad that appears to be a legitimate contender for a playoff spot this year. Now, of course, such an assertion will be greeted with howls of derision accompanied by a lengthy litany of gloom, despair and agony.

And it’s this perennial lament – fueled by the performance of the last two years in which the Tribe got off to a relatively good start only to plummet at breakneck speed during August and September - that will prevent many fans from showing up at games in large numbers. What the Indians must do is stay in contention at least until mid-September in order to establish a degree of legitimacy that will encourage a stronger season-ticket base for the years to come.

Unlike the patchwork squads cobbled together over the past few years, this version of the Tribe is built to win, especially with the starting rotation pitching as it did during the recently-completed 8-1 homestand, when it compiled a glittering ERA of 2.87. If the Indians starters can consistently perform at anywhere near this level, there’s no reason to think that this won’t be an Indian Summer that could last into October.

Just as the talk of Cavalier coach Byron Scott’s job was in jeopardy began to percolate a few weeks ago, The Plain Dealer’s Tom Reed wrote an article saying that Cavs guard and current face-of-the-franchise Kyrie Irving “declined” to discuss Scott’s future with the team.

Sounds innocent enough, but soon the fact that Irving failed to say anything specific about Scott to Reed had morphed into charges that Irving was out to get Scott and was primarily responsible for the locker room discontent that ended up getting the coach fired last week.

Loving this kind of gossipy interpretation of events, the sports-talk hosts ate it up and their callers spit it out. Even the PD’s sainted and ubiquitous Terry Pluto asserted that Irving “refused to comment” about Scott’s future and could have done a better job of “backing” his coach to the media over the final weeks of the season.

Of course, what Reed and Pluto failed to mention is that Irving had said glowing things about Scott numerous times throughout the season and even the day before his “failure” to comment he had praised the coach rather profusely. Yet somehow, Irving’s relative silence on this single occasion was portrayed as possibly the final dagger thrust into Scott’s back.

Earlier this month, federal agents raided the offices of truck stop company Pilot Flying J, alleging rebate fraud. Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam III, who also serves as the CEO of Flying Pilot J, is also under fire for his alleged knowledge of the rebate fraud and could be subjected to criminal charges that would lead to the forfeiture of his assets, including the Browns.

No charges have yet been filed, but federal agents have confiscated things like laptops and have in their possession secretly recorded conversations which reveal that the company's top executives were well aware of the fraud that was going on. It could be anywhere from months to years til any criminal charges are actually filed, and legal experts say that it is too soon to know what or when criminal charges could be coming.

Some legal experts have also begun discussing the possibility that the government's investigation could very well lead to a forfeiture order on Haslam's assets, including his ownership interest in the Browns NFL franchise. Forfeiture orders were once mostly limited to drug cases, but have expanded in recent years to include a variety cases such as those involving mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Quentin Groves, a newly signed linebacker with the Cleveland Browns, was recently busted in a prostitution sting.

A joint prostitution operation was conducted at a Beachwood hotel by the Orange Police Department, Beachwood Police, and Cuyahoga County Sheriff's office on April 17. During said operation, a female officer from the Beachwood Police working in an undercover role as an escort received numerous calls from men for sex for money. A price was determined for services during these calls.

Groves is alleged to have called and made arrangements for certain acts, and requested full service. Groves also is said to have stated that he would bring condoms.

Rumors are now beginning to spread that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam may be asked go give up control of the team amid a federal investigation of his Pilot Flying J truck stop company.

ESPN Cleveland reports that a source "with knowledge of both the legal system and the inner workings of the NFL" says that Haslam could be asked to step aside, and if he refused, "the league could suspend Haslam until the investigation is completed."

The source continued, stating:

"They can force him, probably, to transfer his interests to another entity within the family, where he may still have equity holdings but absolutely no involvement in operations. They can remove him from having front-and-center involvement."

According to the source, Haslam's best bet would be to relinquish control to a family member who would oversee the team until further notice.

Earlier this week, the headquarters of Pilot Flying J, of which Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is the CEO and part-owner, was raided by the FBI and IRS. According to an FBI affidavit unsealed on Thursday, an employee of Pilot Flying J told investigators that Haslam knew about rebate fraud at the truck stop chain owned by his family.

The 120-page document was filed in federal court in Knoxville, Tenn., where Pilot Flying J is based out of. It alleges that members of the company's sales team preyed on smaller trucking companies by reducing the amount of rebates they were owed for buying certain amounts of fuel. Special Agent Robert H. Root alleges a "conspiracy and scheme to defraud executed by various Pilot employees to deceptively withhold diesel fuel price rebates and discounts from Pilot customers ... for the dual purposes of increasing the profitability of Pilot and increasing the diesel sales commissions of the Pilot employees participating in the fraud."

This affidavit was filed in order to secure the search warrants used in Monday's raid.

One employee, who was identified only as a confidential source, told investigators that the rebate scheme was discussed during sales meetings that were attended by Haslam and Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood. The informant said that the practice was known by a variety of euphemisms such as "manual rebates" and "screwing", amongst others.

Earlier this week during a news conference, Haslam denied any wrong doing. In a statement on Thursday, he added that "the foundation of this company is built on its integrity and that any willful wrongdoing by any employee of this company at any time is intolerable." Haslam said that Pilot Flying J would continue to cooperate with authorities and conduct its own investigation.

The investigation began when agents were contacted in May 2011 by an informant who said that they had been told about the scheme. The investigation continued through this month.

After two years of minimal growth with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and a total of three years at the helm, Byron Scott is out as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team issued a statement which announced their decision:

The Cleveland Cavaliers have released Head Coach Byron Scott, the team announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. The announcement was made by Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant.

“I have tremendous respect for Byron professionally and a great deal of admiration for him personally. At the same time, it is critical for where we are as a team to ensure that we capitalize on every opportunity for development and success and we have fallen short of that on the court,” said Grant. “I believe we needed to make this change in order to get to a better position to achieve our goals. I know I speak on behalf of the entire Cavs organization and the Cleveland community, in thanking Byron for his three years here and his hard work and many contributions on and off the court. We wish Byron and his wife, Anita, the best.”

On Monday, the headquarters of the family-owned truck stop Pilot Flying J were raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service. This afternoon CEO Jimmy Haslam III, who is also the owner of the Cleveland Browns, confirmed during a press conference that his company is the subject of a criminal investigation, and says that the investigation centers around gas rebates that were allegedly never paid to customers.

Despite the involvement of the IRS, Haslam insists that there are no problems related to tax evasion or other tax issues. Haslam says that the probe involves a "very insignificant number of customers". He maintains that all rebates have been paid.

The Cleveland Foundation has awarded a $250,000 grant to Gay Games 9, forming a partnership that makes the foundation the top sponsor of the Games. This is the first presenting sponsorship in the Games' 31-year history.
"We are thrilled the Cleveland Foundation has stepped up with such a significant and public show of support for the 2014 Gay Games," said Gay Games Co-chair Hollie Ksiezyk.

"The Cleveland Foundation is proud to be the presenting sponsor. It provides us the opportunity to express our strong support for social justice and equality for the LGBT community," said Ronald B. Richard, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Foundation. "The foundation was impressed with the broad community support for the Games from the very beginning when Cleveland won over the bigger competing cities of Boston and Washington, D.C."

Steve Sokany, co-chair of the 2014 Gay Games, said that overwhelming community-wide support that led the Federation of Gay Games to select Cleveland over cities with larger LGBT communities now has another added dimension of support. "This new partnership reinforces to the world that the Cleveland and Akron community is coming together to make the Games a success. It's a new model for the Gay Games and it's making history in America's heartland."

The $250,000 top-level sponsorship means the Games' official name will be the "2014 Gay Games presented by the Cleveland Foundation." As a result of the partnership between the Cleveland Foundation and Gay Games 9, an LGBT field-of-interest fund is being established at the foundation. The fund will launch at the conclusion of the Games in August 2014.