==========

Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

============
‘CLEVELAND LEGEND PASSES”
============

Sports has had great owners over the years.

The name O’Malley is synonymous with the Dodgers, in both Brooklyn-LA.

No one who talks Yankees, will ever forget George Steinbrenner.

Robert Kraft is as great an NFL owner as the modern day ownership has seen.

Legendary names like the Mara’s in New York, the Rooney’s in Pittsburgh, Jerry Buss-Lakers, the Norris Family in hockey in Detroit are icons.

Cleveland lost one of its most unique sports owners Nick Mileti, overnight Wednesday.

Nick Mileti passed at the age of 93.

Did he win a championship? No.  He tried, but it never happened.  Did his teams have winning seasons?  Some did, many didn’t.

But there are intangible things in ownership, and what Nick Mileti accomplished in Cleveland carries such significant meaning.

His resume will show he founded the NBA-Cleveland Cavaliers, and in the Bill Fitch era, after all the losing, they captured the hearts of Northeast Ohio.

He built the big Richfield Coliseum, equi-distant from Cleveland and Akron, bonding the big population base of those cities.

He bought the near bankrupt Cleveland Indians, who had been thru good owners, bad seasons, money issues, and problems in a decaying stadium.

He brought pro hockey to the city, in the WHA-Cleveland Crusaders and signed legendary Boston Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers.

He renovated the aging Municipal Stadium, then did away with the axiom ‘Mistake on the Lake’.

He purchased a legendary radio station that became 50,000-watts 3WE, where I worked, serving 38-states and half of Canada.

But more importantly Nick Mileti did something special for a troubled city.

Cleveland went into bankruptcy as a city.  The Cuyahoga River had caught fire.
Hough was the center of racial riots and strife.  The famous Cleveland Clinic teetered on going out of business.  The steel and rubber industries collapsed.

Cleveland was hurting, financially and emotionally.  Then this entrepreneur entered.

Nick Mileti brought pride to Cleveland.  Enjoyment to Cleveland.  The Miracle at Richfield to Cleveland. He was a feel good man.

He had visions and dreams, and became the right guy, at the right time, in a city that needed a spark for life.

Downtown Cleveland, highlited by the Terminal Tower, is alive and healthy.  The Flats, along that river, is now a vibrant business community.

The Cavs flourished.  The Indians survived.  The Crusaders gave way to an NHL franchise, the California Seals.

Where Municipal Stadium sat, now sits the new home of the Cleveland Browns.
The Coliseum gave birth to a new basketball arena back downtown.  The Indians moved to a new baseball stadium and became the Guardians.

Nick Mileti poured his heart and so much money into the rescue of that city with the arrival of his style of leadership, personality and flair,  with those teams.

He ran out of money, but sold his franchises to better ownerships with deeper pockets.  Check the standings in your newspaper and you will see what bloomed today after what he did in those many yesterdays years ago to save it all.

A unique marketing whiz who loved sports, the bright lights, and life.

In a sense Nick Mileti saved the city of Cleveland at its lowest ebb in history.  His ownership was responsible for more than wins and losses, but the emotional survival of that city.

A tip of a glass or red wine to the man, what he wanted, what he did, what he accomplished with his teams in his town.

=========================

Please follow and like us: