I am sometimes asked why the phrase Modell delendus est appears on my web page and in my email signature.
It's Latin for "Modell must be destroyed." It's a reference to the deceitful Art Modell, who, despite his promises not to move the Cleveland Browns, moved them to Baltimore, citing Cleveland's purported refusal to build the Browns a new stadium. In fact, Modell was offered the opportunity to participate in the Gateway complex that now includes the Cleveland Indians' Jacobs Field and the Cleveland Cavaliers' Gund Arena. Modell spurned the opportunity, hoping that his failure to participation would force the plan to fall through so that the Indians would have to stay in Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Modell's Stadium Corporation held the lucrative management contract for the stadium, and it was in Modell's best interests that the Indians remain captive there. When Modell's bluff was called and the Cleveland Indians found a more suitable home, that financial advantage disappeared. Encumbered more by greed than by civic loyalty, by integrity or by honesty, Modell moved the team to Baltimore, where he was promised the use of a new $200 million stadium rent-free for seven years, revenues from skyboxes, parking and concessions, and as a sweetener, a $75 million bonus for moving the team. In an incredible display of chutzpah, Modell tried to plead poverty in the subsequent lawsuit brought by the city against the Team Formerly Known As The Cleveland Browns, the NFL, and Modell personally. However, he folded once it became clear that that the transparency of such a defense would not withstand scrutiny. (And we all know that Modell's defense has been worthless since Marty Schottenheimer left.) Ultimately, Modell and the NFL reached a settlement under which Modell would be permitted to slink away, and the NFL would provide Cleveland with a football team to play in Cleveland for the 1999 season.
Basically, I hate Art Modell's lying guts.
But why Latin? Well, it goes back to the Punic Wars of 260 to 146 B.C, between Rome and Carthage.
Back in around 150 B.C., the Roman Senator Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder) hated the city of Carthage almost as much as I hate Modell. Carthage was the home of Hannibal, famous for crossing the Alps on elephants during the Second Punic War. Hannibal had really terrorized Rome, and despite his defeat in the Second Punic War, a lot of animosity for Carthage remained. Cato fanned the fire of this hatred by ending every speech, no matter what the topic was, with the phrase "Carthaga delendus est": Carthage must be destroyed. In a way, it was history's first .signature quote.
Cato succeeded in agitating Rome against Carthage, and thus began the Third Punic War. Eventually, after about 4 or 5 years, Rome breeched the Carthage walls and took over the city. The walls were torn down, the city was burned, and its citizens enslaved. Rome enacted a law that no one could live where the city once stood. According to legend (probably false), the now-destroyed city was so hated that the ground was salted to prevent even plants from living at the site.
This history lesson kind of gives you an idea just how loathsome I think Art Modell is. I'm pleased that his children are adopted, and that when Art is gone, the world will be free of his gene pool. I almost feel like flying to Cleveland, finding the location of his former home, and salting the grounds.
I intend to keep the line in my signature and home page until the earth is Modell-free or until the Browns play their next home game in Cleveland on September 12, 1999), whichever comes first.
Return to Terry
Carroll's Home Page