Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Welcome to Believeland



After yesterday's Ohio State tragedy I am still alive...barely. Its been a great year for Ohio Sports or a terrible year depending on how you look at it. For now lets take a look at the Believe In Cleveland campaign ill follow up with the reasons why its getting harder to do so.

The I believe in Cleveland campaign was initiated in hopes of spurring some excitement for the renovations that city plans on making. You know boast about how much money they are putting in different parts of the city, the success of those working there ect. Unfortunately it has turned into some what of a running joke, and the following advertisements are very real. You can check them out at : http://www.cleveland.com/believe.

AD #1:



So you’re saying that this girl moved from L.A. to Cleveland and the only people who thought it was a bad idea were Clevelanders?

AD #2:



Finally some answers to the Cleveland Rocks legend..sorry Ian Hunter but the credit goes to… a pair cowboys with questionable sexualities (one of which kind of looks like G.W.) who judging by the pic may or may not know how to use photoshop.

AD #3:



The old guy from Jurassic Park lives here, Cleveland Spared All Expenses.

AD #4:



Following this picture and quote on the printed Ad was this follow up story: “So there I was, a single Mom living in Southern California. My son and I had survived earthquakes, the Malibu fires and the occasional riot. OK. You almost get used to that. But the first day of kindergarten-when my son had to go through a metal detector- I said to myself, ‘Ann, even though you work in the movie business, you’ve got to leave. Now.’
She goes on to talk about how she moved into a house in Bath Township that would have cost ten times as much in L.A. Here are a few things wrong with this testimonial.
1: Cleveland is more Dangerous than L.A
2: Bath Township is not in Cleveland it’s in Akron

We should take a lot at some crime statistics of L.A where she moved from compared to Cleveland for which she is campaigning to Akron where she actually lives.

Per 100,000 People L.A. Cleveland Akron National
Murder 12.4 16.6 12.7 7
Forcible Rape 27.3 98.29 86.2 32.2
Robbery 370 947.1 294.4 205.8
Aggravated Assault 377.2 485 202.6 336.5
Buglarly 524.8 2131.4 1606 813.2
Larceny 1539.2 2658.4 3416.8 2601.7
Vehicle Theft 654.2 1443.2 649.2 501.5

Most of this crime probably came from an Area in Cleveland known as The Flats which is/was a district of bars and clubs in downtown Cleveland right on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. What happens when you build a bar district next to a river in a city already prone to violence? Oh yeah.. People started drowning, crime sky rockets, and riots ensue. At one point the Cleveland PD actually raided ten club and boarded up more than half of them on the spot. It started to get a pretty bad wrap..don’t believe me? Ask the The Enquirer



I looked for some footage from news reports about the riots or of the closings... but came up empty. I did, however, find a cinematic beauty entitled “Pre-Brick Throwing party”. It takes place on the good side of the flats, and is followed by another masterpiece of the same quality of one of the guys throwing a brick through a guys car window. Search for it on youtube if you like, not really that great of a video but you get the idea. I can’t wait for The Flats to come back!!

She may be right about the housing being cheaper in Bath Township though....Just ask Lebron



Ill have a follow up post soon outlining the year in Ohio Sports as well as ideas for the second round of the campaign....

4Real Out....

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