Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bad Day For Ohio Pro Sports

Thursday was a painful day for fans of three of Ohio's pro sports teams. Jim Letizia Reports.

Columbus Blue Jackets season ticket holders won't have to pay for exhibition games next month. The NHL canceled the rest of the preseason schedule yesterday as the lockout of it's players continues. The league had already cancelled the exhibition games scheduled in September. Jackets games affected include those on October 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th. The Jackets' regular season is supposed to begin on October 13th. The move happened a day before contract talks were set to resume. Negotiators were expected to work today on secondary economic issues as opposed to the core of the dispute, which is how to split more than 3 billion dollars in annual revenue. NHL officials say if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached soon, it could delay the start of the season sometime next week. The Cleveland Indians fired manager Manny Acta yesterday after nearly three full seasons with the Club. He had one year left on his contract. The Indians were within three games of first place in the American League Central Division race on July 21st before losing 21 of 25 games and eventually falling into the division basement. A month and a half ago, Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti said Acta was part of the solution and not part of the problem. He says that changed as the season wore on, and he took some of the blame on himself. Acta went 214-266 with the Indians. Former All-Star catcher Sandy Alomar Junior will take over on an interim basis and will be considered for the permanent job. This is the 10th year of Team President and former GM Mark Shapiro's plan to make the Indians a consistent contender. And Joe Flacco threw for 356 yards and one touchdown as the Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns 23-16 last night in Baltimore. It was Cleveland's ninth straight loss to the Ravens and tenth consecutive loss overall. Ravens defender Cary Williams returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown, but the game wasn't decided until a pass by Cleveland rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden sailed out of the end zone as time expired.  The loss dropped the Browns to 0-4 on the season.  

---------

Ed Note: Attached audio includes actualities from Chris Antonetti and Brandon Weeden

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.