Posts by Melissa Kelly3

Donna Wright said:It’s just a cheap distraction from the start... trying to pull focus away from much bigger issues.

The issue isn't about shifting attention. It's about pretending this idiotic Sports Fan Law is actually justified.

Watch out on Wednesday; smells like cheap takeout to me.

There’s plenty of truth in what you’re saying. It’s an objective fact that the stadium itself is an eyesore and just another symptom of this pathetic league and its mediocre football—where teams like Real Madrid go up 3-0 in the first fifteen minutes only to fall asleep for the rest of the match.
Personally, I’d prefer fewer games and having only four empty seats around me, but I’d still rather watch these subpar clubs in a decent stadium.
What we have here is a total disaster. Honestly, I feel embarrassed sometimes when crowds of visitors, like those Americans or Brits, show up and see the state of things. I don't care, though.

...The crackdown did exactly what it was supposed to do. It’s no surprise there isn't anyone left standing.

...listen to this guy trying to kick Madoff out
Why didn't you all do it yourselves? We’re busy celebrating championships while you're still whining about how the mob ruined you.

analogheron19 said:We’re probably the only club on the planet without a decent opposition. There isn't anyone who would even bother—let alone have the guts—to try and step up to take control.
From where I'm sitting, fans are just forced to choose between a mafia that clearly doesn't give a damn about them—and might actually be trying to sink the ship—and whatever comes next.

Besides, now that the old guard is back in charge... what's the point in pretending things are looking up?
If we're just heading back into the meat grinder, we've basically reset to zero. It's a losing game.

I am curious about the next move after this disaster, though. Looking at how they handle things over at Dinamo, it really makes you wonder what kind of country we live in.

...once the fire is lit. It’s been going on far too long... more than a decade, if I recall correctly.
The way things work at a club like the LA Lakers, you should just stop following them and start your own franchise if you want any semblance of normalcy.

All this championship celebration... honestly, it feels like a desperate attempt to make the atmosphere in the stands seem okay, but it just drags you right back to square one.

I mean, imagine if fans had been showing up to games for twenty years only to be met with total silence... that wouldn't be considered normal either.

ironpanther4 said:Unlike you lot, we aren't looking for someone to blame. You should probably reach a consensus among yourselves since you clearly hold the monopoly on morality. Here is what we're choosing from:

a) Celebrate titles in front of a hundred people while listening to your taunts about how we're a massive city with zero fans, basically dead and gone.
or
b) Celebrate titles with whatever crowd shows up and listen to your constant jabs about celebrating trophies won by that corrupt ownership and their sales tactics.

Basically, you're a coward. ☕

And now you have the nerve to lecture me on objectivity...

Roger Thomas7 said:You act like you’re one of the sane ones here, yet you’ve reached the point of arguing over substitutions and penalties... it's basically just amateur sports commentary. If pretending that's how you justify your message makes you feel better, then good for you. Go ahead, give us more 🙏
.

Hard to have a debate with someone who claims the Bad Boys are celebrating domestic terrorists.

bluebear42 said:Where exactly is that small town? They got screwed on that penalty too. 🍿

Now they’ll show us how the game is actually played over in Europe. Hopefully there isn't any organized crime running things over there, or we might actually see a penalty call for once.
👍

Jonathan Edwards8 said:Are you people actually insane?

After everything that’s gone down, you’re posting this, basically giving legitimacy to a criminal who’s been running things for fifteen years...

Bringing New Haven into this is a joke. You guys set up a futsal club, the County Government, the Department of Transportation—you did all that just to have democratic elections and a supporters' model, which is exactly what New Haven has been doing since 2011.

Do you even realize what you've done?

I'm saving this post and this photo. I'll be bringing it up for years to come.

Shame on you. From now on, I have more respect for the mercenaries. They were cowards from day one, but here you are, celebrating a title alongside the same criminals from the board down, acting like nothing ever happened.

...but the fact that everyone else is to blame except yourselves was established long ago. Everyone is guilty except you. It’s like a failing student who claims the teacher surprised him with a test just to shift the blame.
You blame the mob, and when you can't even complete a simple pass in defense, that’s the point of your little rant.
If you could just admit the team is terrible.
A small town side would dismantle you, but no, the team is "super."

Look, if the Bad Boys hadn't given those titles any legitimacy, these celebrations wouldn't be happening in front of a hundred people.

But you're the type of people who claim everyone else is a coward when nobody shows up to the party, yet you're the tough guys filling the stadium until it's time to actually show up. Then you're cowards again because you're celebrating goals scored by Mamić's cronies while pretending to be fighters for justice. Dealing with you is exhausting.

One last thing. If you're worth anything at all, at least make it through the first round of Europe. Or is the mafia fighting against us there, too? Cheers.

... probably making some comparison to the Raiders fans. As if they’ve forgotten this mess between the front office and the supporters has been dragging on for... well, some of these people weren't even born yet.

Henry Hayes4 said:Regarding the current state of the Cleveland Browns and their fans, things aren't looking great. I’ve seen this cycle before.
There isn't a single answer to that. It’s just been a continuous cycle of political theater and criminal antics for nearly thirty years. During all that time, the Cleveland Browns were the last thing on anyone's mind.
The fragmentation started the moment they changed the name of the Old School Club. Back when the war was breaking out, we didn't give it much thought, but even then, a segment of the fanbase just stopped showing up. It wasn't a crisis yet, but I personally know people who never stepped foot in Dodger Stadium again after that—and before then, they hadn't missed a home game in over a decade.
The latest wave of collapse arrived with yet another shift. For a fleeting moment, we actually let ourselves hope that Franjo might finally grow a conscience and return the Browns to their former glory. But his ego was too massive, and instead, we were left with this version of America. The disappointment and the divide only widened, sparking open resistance met by heavy-handed repression. That’s when the first major exodus began. The regular fans stopped showing up, leaving behind only those willing to risk arrest and legal trouble. It was during this period that the blueprint was established—the one Mamić would later perfect—of installing a puppet board and manufacturing "fans" through bribes, gifts, and kickbacks. This era only ended with Franjo's death, but by then, an entire segment of the people was lost for good.

Then the old names returned, and for a moment, it felt like things were finally back to normal. It was a fleeting illusion. While we were still being coddled by that sense of nostalgia, Mamić was quietly slipping through the side doors of the club. Back then, he wasn't the household name he is today; he was just another crude opportunist, one of many in the Cleveland Browns organization and American soccer at large. He had a shady track record with privatization deals from years ago, but most people had already moved on. He arrived alongside Jack, who the fans actually liked at the time. Mamić had that specific kind of rural cunning—he knew exactly how to play to the crowd, and people bought into it far too easily. Everything stayed that way until the sale of Balaban saved the club from bankruptcy. Then came the real money from the Bišćan deal, and with that influx of cash, he began his true takeover. That’s when the era of the "transfer shop" began, where the club existed merely to move players around, perfecting Franjo's model of total control. Eventually, people grew sick of it, leading to another massive exodus. The crackdown intensified, and the "middle class" of the fanbase—the regular supporters—virtually vanished from the stands and society alike. Without that core group, you lose the atmosphere, the culture, and the soul of the game. All that remained were the ultras and the fair-weather fans who only show up for the big matchups.
The second part of this mess was the systematic destruction of the league itself. It started back under Franjo and Canjuga, though they were more subtle and clever about it than Mamić ever was. Back then, the US stayed somewhat balanced; they tried to keep the Los Angeles Dodgers and maybe a few others relevant. They understood that without a real rivalry, football dies. Mamić took it much further than Franjo did, methodically gutting every potential competitor. Every time a club showed a bit of life, Mamić would swoop in and snatch one or two key players—guys who wouldn't even see the field at the Cleveland Browns. Once he bled those clubs dry, he turned them into a circle of loyalists. Rule through poverty. Naturally, the Dodgers didn't sign up for that pact, so aside from that one era involving Sanader, they were left to their own devices. Their leadership proved to be completely incompetent. Now, the Browns have become too dominant, or perhaps the opponents are just too weak, but they always have Lokomotiva there as a safety net. Every now and then, some new puppet gets rewarded with a trophy or a seat on the USSF board. The league has become entirely predictable and boring. Especially for the Browns fans, assuming any of them still dare to show up to the games.
Even Mamić saw the writing on the wall and pivoted toward taking over the national team, turning it into his own little corner shop. We’re still stuck in that same cycle today. He might have stepped back slightly, but it feels like a new front is opening up.
The inevitable follows: stadium issues, comfort levels, and the kind of logistical headaches that plague other clubs too.
We called this coming, and honestly, looking at the big picture, things aren't even that bad yet. I wouldn't go so far as to say any club I know has faced anything quite like this—at least not over such an extended period.

P.S. Sorry for the long read.

Basically, what I'm saying is
and I'll emphasize it again: this didn't just start yesterday.
Plus, the Cleveland Browns are practically the only club in the world that seems happy when the stands are empty, while they go out of their way to make life difficult for the few who actually show up.

If someone jumps in here asking why Dodger Stadium is so empty, I’d pin this post to the top of the fan forum. People should read it once or twice.

The mess surrounding the Cleveland Browns has been dragging on for twenty years. It's a miracle anyone even cares.

The only thing that surprises me is why more Bad Boys show up for away games in Cincinnati, Miami, or maybe Seattle, instead of staying local here around Chicago.

They said the sun was out

From what I understand, the entire section is strictly reserved for visiting fans
so they let in maybe 300 people while the rest stays empty.
The void is all for security reasons.

It would make sense to give half those seats to the home crowd, but instead, they just leave everything vacant.

It’s a joke that they’re capping capacity at 300 tickets for a section that size.
They claim it's for security reasons, as if

steelpilot81 said:Given the historical context, they deserve respect. Do we honor veterans because they handed us crony capitalism, one of the least prosperous economies in the European Union, and a nation where succeeding without political connections is a miracle? No. We honor them because when it mattered most, they picked up arms to defend this country and its people from pure evil. That’s what the Partizan did back then, too. You respect them for standing on the right side of history during a global crisis and defeating the greatest evil humanity has ever seen. We aren't honoring communism or the crimes that followed; we are honoring that specific moment.

Even if you disagree with me—which is perfectly fair—it doesn't make glorifying Vjekoslav Luburić acceptable. In fact, it's quite unpatriotic.

The veterans established democracy. They gave us elections. The Partizan brought communism—a system where you won't get killed for your skin color, but you'll be crushed if you dare disagree with a "great leader." Those are two entirely different stories. If the Partizan had introduced democracy, I'd give them credit. Instead, one evil was just swapped for another, and we've been paying the price since the nineties.