W. Ross Clites Your City Sports-Cleveland Cleveland--[A letter to Bob DiBiasio, Cleveland Indians Vice President of Public Relations on October 7, 2009] I am writing all the members of the Cleveland Indians front office as a lifelong fan, but more importantly, a design student with a proposal. This off-season there will undoubtedly be changes made to the club and I strongly feel an image overhaul could compliment the youth movement for the 2010 season; one that will usher in a new coaching staff and showcase the new core of Sizemore, Choo, and Cabrera. This is their time to ditch the same logo that decades of losing sported 25 years ago. Let me first start by stating my background is in architecture, with a Bachelor’s Degree from Kent State University. I played baseball at Kent for three seasons and am now 23, in my second year of grad school. I am pursuing a dual-degree MBA and Master's of Architecture with graduation in May. While taking a Marketing Strategy course I wrot

W. Ross Clites Your City Sports-Cleveland Kent, OHIO--Northeast Ohio has a Pittsburgh Steelers fan infestation. It is one that Ohioans spray for every Spring, but by Winter the Black and Gold are popping up in droves. I will grant you that the two cities are just over 100 miles from each other, but the issue remains a major concern for locals. Cleveland and Pittsburgh mirror each other in size of industrial job loss, but very little in the world of sport. The blue-collar, mid-market towns have never been able to correlate their athletic successes to truly make the cities rivals. Sure, Steelers vs. Browns is the game for every Cleveland fan. However, this reaction is merely masking hatred as rivalry. Ever since the NFL reformatted to four-team divisions, the AFC North has emerged as the most cantankerous division. Any given game, matching two divisional teams, could be marketed a rivalry game. Cleveland hates Baltimore because they stole their team. Cincinnati and Cleveland make f

W. Ross Clites Your City Sports-Cleveland Kent, OHIO--The NFL Pro Bowl makes its debut outside the island of Hawaii and for the first time will be sandwiched between the Conference Championship Games and the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for the players involved, the game will now become even more lackluster. During the hot summer training camps and two-a-days, every NFL player validated the pain for a chance at playing in Miami for the top prize. The new format will parade top athletes as the under card to the only meaningful football left on the schedule. Yes, the game is an honor, but how would you like to be the NFL's garnish to better present its title game? To those who are playing in both Championship weekend and the Pro Bowl, especially, it must feel like a Third Place Loser's Bracket Game where there is no joy from winning. All while in Miami, Pro Bowl players will be flooded with the sights and sounds of the teams they failed to beat--a pleasant reminder that they co

W. Ross Clites Your City Sports-Cleveland Cleveland--The National Football League has a curious definition for its " Total Yards" statistic. There are numerous ways that a football player can accumulate yardage, ask Cleveland Browns Renaissance Man, Josh Cribbs. However, Total Yards is defined as the "the total of net gain rushing yards and net gain receiving yards from forward passing. Runback yards are not included, as only yards from scrimmage are measured." First off, the NFL brass should know not to use a term in its definition. Second, what kind of "total" excludes a statistic? All this discussion on the terminology stems from the recent NFL awards being handed out. Tennessee Titans running back, Chris Johnson, rightfully took home the AP Offensive Player of the Year Award. Much was made of his record-breaking 2,509 Total Yards in validating the outcome of the vote. This statistic surpassed that of Marshall Faulk during his "Greatest Show

W. Ross Clites Your City Sports-Cleveland Cleveland--In 1972 and again in 1974, Cleveland handed the New York Yankees a reliable corner infielder for them to build a decade-long dynasty. The moves dealt perennial All-Stars Craig Nettles and Cris Chambliss, respectively. In return, the Tribe accumulated five players that never really panned out. Despite the eventual value inequality of these 1970s transactions, neither comes close to Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn in 1960. That deal was so big that it carries its own Cleveland curse, book about said curse, and a Wikipedia site devoted solely to it. Even the youngest Tribe fans cite this as the worst trade in franchise history. By Cleveland management's account, it was "trading hamburger for steak." To Indians historians, the "steak" (reigning batting champion, Keunn) was overcooked and the "hamburger" (reigning home run champion, Colavito) was gourmet. It is time for Cleveland to forget that deal,