Charles Ramsey: Global sensation after helping rescue Amanda Berry

What a week it was in Cleveland. Three women were found alive after years locked up in a house of horrors on the city's west side. Covering the story for the web was a whirlwind to say the least. Here's a story I published to newsnet5.com about Charles Ramsey, the man who went viral for his role in the rescue.

In a matter of minutes, Charles Ramsey went from eating a burger to broadcast across the world.

You’ve probably seen the video by now - Ramsey talking to NewsChannel5’s John Kosich after he helped rescue Amanda Berry from a Cleveland house of horrors.

Ramsey talks about eating his McDonald’s, listening to salsa music with his neighbor Ariel Castro and the now most infamous line: “I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms.”

He comes across as a regular guy, just living his daily life in his neighborhood, when he became an overnight hero.

That’s the word being used to describe Ramsey now.

It’s emblazoned on a T-shirt , along with his face: Charles Ramsey, Cleveland’s hero.

Ramsey has become a personification of courage, seeing something suspicious and taking action, which ultimately may have saved three women and a child who were locked away. He's a figure of good in the midst of a lot of bad that went down in his own neighborhood, a Cleveland face that the world has rallied around.

The full extent of Ramsey’s role in the rescue is still up for debate. Another neighbor told NewsChannel5 reporter Stephanie Ramirez he was actually the first to help Berry get out.

However, there’s no denying the symbolic figure Ramsey has become in this story and the fame he has gained.

His interview has gone viral, viewed millions of times on YouTube and a top trending click across the country.

He has been on "Anderson Cooper 360" and "Good Morning America," chatting candidly about his experience but not playing up his role as a hero.

McDonald’s tweeted that they would be in touch.

And as is now the norm with news interviews that go viral, Ramsey has been auto-tuned in this catchy number.

With the immense outpouring of support, many have expressed a desire to contact Ramsey and in his interview with Anderson Cooper, he made that possible.

You can send your messages and well wishes to Ramsey at his home address: 2203 Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113.

Party like it's 2007 - Cleveland sports go back in time

Cleveland sports have officially entered a time machine - at least that’s what their recent coaching hires suggest.

With the Cavaliers re-hiring Mike Brown as head coach Wednesday, Cleveland’s last two coaching selections are very familiar faces, both of whom were willingly let go.

New Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski was replaced as Browns’ offensive coordinator after the 2008 season when the team fired head coach Romeo Crennel. Chud’s offense was strong in 2007, a top 10 unit led by Derek Anderson, but took a major step backward the next season.

Brown was fired as Cavs’ head coach after five seasons, in 2010, following a conference semifinals exit at the hands of the Celtics. Winning in the regular season was never a problem for Brown but his teams never translated that to a title. In one Finals appearance in 2007, his Cavs were swept by the Spurs.

Under Brown, the Cavs became the only team in NBA history to win 60-plus games in consecutive seasons and not win a title - a dubious distinction.

Let’s make this clear - neither Chudzinski or Brown were poached from Cleveland. Both men were kicked out of town because they did not do a good enough job - at least according to their bosses at the time.

New front offices are in place now but what about these coaches is different? Chudzinski has never been a head coach before, so there’s a possibility he could thrive in this larger role. Brown, however, has led teams and failed at the ultimate goal - winning a title.

Were there better options than Brown on paper? Probably not. But he couldn’t win a title with James in Cleveland or Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. Brown’s Cavs went into the postseason as favorites and got bounced as disappointments.

It was title or bust in those years with James and Brown only achieved one conference championship, falling short of most everyone’s expectations.

This time, Brown will have to try to do it without LeBron (unless you’re one of those people who believe James is coming back in the summer of 2014).

For now, the Cavs have a promising talent in Kyrie Irving, a group of young players with potential and two first round picks in this year’s draft.

However, Brown doesn’t have LeBron or Kobe. Does it say something about two championship-winning all-time greats that they couldn’t win a title with Brown or the coach himself?

That one should be easy to answer.

By no means is Mike Brown a bad coach. He has winning percentages of .653 in the regular season and .566 in the playoffs. The Cavs could have done worse - much worse - in fact. He is experienced and you know what you’re getting.

It’s undeniable that Brown’s teams excel on defense, which the Cavs did not under Byron Scott. The major question is whether Brown can consistently coach a successful offense. His 2009-10 Cavs were 6th in the league in offensive rating. However, that group’s pace ranked 25th out of 30, which led to the gripes of stagnancy. With the Lakers, his Princeton offense was a total bust and a main reason he lost the job.

If you wanted the defensive version of Mike D’Antoni, a coach who is proficient on one side of the ball, can get you to the playoffs but just can’t get past that precipice to greatness, then you will probably be happy with the return of Brown.

Cleveland, for better or worse, tends to sometimes live in the past with its sports teams. It’s understandable considering the record of the Browns since their return in 1999 and the recent struggles of the Cavs and Indians.

The glory days of the Indians in the 90s, the sellouts at “The Jake,” are held in such nostalgic lore you wonder if some wouldn’t mind Omar Vizquel or Kenny Lofton, now in their 40s, suiting up again.

Many still hate James and couldn’t bear to see him win a title in Miami, so much so that “Cavs for Mavs” and “OKCle” movements gained traction during the past two NBA finals, fans rooting vicariously through the Western Conference representative’s attempt to thwart James.

This latest round of coaching hires, an all too common carousel in this city, would all be incredibly awesome - if we were living in 2007, when Brown’s Cavs were in the Finals, Chud’s offense was top notch as the Browns won 10 games and Francona, in Boston, led the Red Sox to a second World Series in four seasons.

Since we’re talking about going back in time, think about what Doc says in ‘Back to the Future: Part II’ after Marty asks him what his future will bring: “No one should know too much about their destiny.”

Maybe Brown can exceed expectations this time with Kyrie as his star. Or Chud can elevate Brandon Weeden’s game as he did Derek Anderson’s at one time. Or Francona can recreate the curse-ending magic he conjured in Beantown.

None of us know if these fantasies can become Cleveland realities. So, for now? May as well just hop in the time machine, get your seatbelt on and party like it’s 2007.

Memories of an idol, Pat Summerall

When I read the names 'Young,' 'Rice' or 'Aikman' in print, still to this day, I hear them recited in the brilliant cadence of the great Pat Summerall.

Tuesday, Summerall died - and maybe a bit of my childhood did as well.

Each and every fall, for two decades, Pat and John Madden ushered in a new season, as consistent as the changing of the leaves and the crisp chill emerging in the air.

I can't count how many Sundays I spent as a kid on the couch listening to the two, decked out in my jersey with Nerf football clutched in hand.

Watching football and sports has never just been about the players on the field or the wins and losses in the paper the next day for me. Most kids wrote in the kindergarten yearbook they wanted to be a firefighter or doctor when they grew up. 

I wanted to be a sports announcer.

I wanted to be Pat Summerall.

Pat was my idol. I'd sit on the couch and lower the volume a bit to call the games myself, trying to do the job just as well as him (obviously an impossible task, especially for a 7-year-old). 

The thrill of watching Summerall call a Steve Young to Jerry Rice touchdown was matched only by doing it myself (there were plenty of opportunities with that duo).

Summerall called 16 Super Bowls, the most of any announcer in history. His pairing with John Madden was the greatest of all-time, their chemistry unparalleled. The two played off each other to perfection, Summerall's simple yet brilliant calls followed by Madden's bombastic breakdowns. 

Pat and John called a lot of important games in the 20-plus years they were paired together on both CBS and FOX. There were colossal Niners-Cowboys NFC Championships, frigid forays on the "Frozen Tundra," and the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI upset of the Greatest Show on Turf.



Vintage Summerall in the final Super Bowl he called with FOX. Flashy was never the word to describe his style. He never screamed or shouted, ala Gus Johnson or many of today's breed. Summerall let the game breathe (allowing Madden to talk, often a lot) - and it was perfect. 

Every game had a big game feel with Pat behind the mic, whether it was week two at the Meadowlands or Super Bowl Sunday.

For some, Summerall's voice will be forever tied to hours spent playing Madden. Others will associate it with the glory days of two of the most popular, powerhouse franchises.

That deep tone tinged with a hint of a Southern drawl resonated on so many transcendent Sundays, a voice of God in football's cathedrals.

What never showed through though in Summerall's broadcasting was his own personal demon, alcohol. Summerall went to rehab and needed a liver transplant. I only found all this out about him when I chose to write a paper on him in 6th grade and had to research his life (a bit shocking to discover about someone you idolize).

But what I also learned was that Pat overcame that struggle and continued on for many years, luckily for all of us, at the top of his industry.

Summerall called Super Bowl XII in 1978, 11 years before I was even born. His impact spans generations of sports fans.

Sometimes, I watch a game and imagine what it would be like if Pat and John could be on the call.

Maybe it's just longing for childhood yore but there's always a part of me that wishes it was still Summerall's simple uttering of 'touchdown' punctuating a player passing the pylon.

For me, Pat was as much a part of the game as the greats I grew up watching.

I may have wore a Young jersey but Pat was my guy. 

His name never showed up in the box score while he was up in the booth but he was the best, an inspiration and legend whose voice will live on forever.

Arrested Development's viral marketing campaign is brilliant

Arrested Development is probably the funniest comedy of all time. If you don't know by now it was cancelled by Fox despite critical acclaim after three glorious seasons due to low ratings. 

After years of waiting, fans can finally rejoice in the show's return with 15 episodes released directly to Netflix. No fears of burnoff time slots or network cancellation. 

Come May 26 we can watch them all. Whenever we want. And laugh - a lot.

If the first rollout of ads for the new episodes is any sign of what's to come, there's plenty of cause for excitement.

Never nudes.

Juice.

The banana stand.

There are more too on Arrested Development's Facebook page and they have deservedly been shared and liked by thousands.

Maybe, just maybe, it is finally AD's time. 

Is it May 26 yet?

7-year-old Jack Hoffman shows that sports do matter - a lot

Yesterday, I read a piece on FoxNews.com written by Dr. Keith Ablow entitled 'Sports don't matter, not one iota.' 

That same day, this happened. 



Jack Hoffman, a 7-year-old brain cancer patient, scored a touchdown during Nebraska's spring football game. 

Jack is on a two-week break from a 60-week chemotherapy treatment. He was diagnosed with cancer last April and has had two surgeries.

Again, he's only seven years old. 

Saturday, he wasn't in a hospital but on a field, decked out in full Huskers uniform, running 69 yards into the end zone in front of 60,000 cheering fans. 

"It felt awesome," Jack said afterward.

Nebraska football gave a boy, who has probably suffered a lot of not-so-great feelings the past year, an awesome one.

Dr. Ablow writes in his piece, "Here’s the truth about sports of all kinds:  They are fun, entertaining, money-making activities that showcase the human spirit of competition at an exquisite level and that don’t matter to the world, in the long run, when it comes down to it, at all.  Not one bit.  Not an iota.

Tell that to Jack, Dr. Ablow.

"The truth is that if every college sports contest in the world took place with no publicity, in arenas without cameras, covered not even by school newspapers, nothing much would change.  It wouldn’t affect anything that matters to anyone, really." 

Tell a kid who has spent 60 weeks in chemo that his touchdown didn't affect anyone, really.

"Because games are games are games.  They don’t matter.  Not really.  Not at all.  Not one bit.  Not an iota."

Tell the 7-year-old still fighting cancer his moment mattered "not an iota," that's it's just a game.

Without Saturday's game, Jack wouldn't have gotten to experience what has to be the greatest moment of his young life embroiled in adversity. 

That doesn't matter, Dr. Ablow? 

No sector of society is without ill. Politics and religion, just to name a couple institutions, have been wrought with scandal and corruption. That doesn't mean they are stripped of all value.

The same goes for sports.

No, they are not perfect. In fact, they are imperfect in many ways, the deplorable actions of Mike Rice a good example of that. But what isn't? 

Sports do matter. 

A lot. 

To a lot of people, like Jack, who are sick or sad or just need a dose of joy after a rough day. 

Go ahead, try telling Jack Hoffman sports don't matter, Dr. Ablow. I don't think that's an argument you're going to win.

Craft's wild finish a tournament classic as Ohio State survives

In a matter of minutes, Ohio State's Aaron Craft went from object of scorn to top of the world.

As the final 29 seconds ticked down with the score tied at 75, Craft held the Buckeyes' hopes in his hands. He waited, waved off Deshaun Thomas, then left with plenty of space from Iowa State defender Georges Niang, pulled up and calmly nailed the game-winning

three.

The end of Ohio State's 78-75 victory over Iowa State was all about the erratic yet enigmatic Craft. He first helped fuel Iowa State's comeback then catapulted his team to victory.

With just under six minutes remaining, another trip to the Sweet 16 seemed all but certain for the Buckeyes, in control with a double-digit lead.

Then Craft's game went awry. A turnover, missed layup and two consecutive missed front ends of one-and-ones at the free throw line all from Craft, and in a few blinks, Iowa State had tied the game at 69.

Seconds later, he atoned for himself, driving to the lane and drawing contact while making a layup to give the Buckeyes the lead.

But volatile only begins to describe Craft's role in Sunday's Round of 32 contest.

He became the centerpiece of controversy as he took position in the paint, his heel appearing to ever-tenuously hover over the restricted area as Melvin Ejim bowled over him.

Ejim was called for the offensive foul even though, according to the rule book, Craft's charge could have been argued a block.

Disputing calls is not worth the time though. Plenty were missed both ways throughout the course of the affair in Dayton.

What will ultimately be remembered is Craft's moxie. A possession after he missed a jumper just inside the three-point line, he keeps the ball in his hands and wins it.

Craft did a lot that could have sent Ohio State home but when push came to shove, he wouldn't let them. Despite his offensive shortcomings, his shot was undeniably pure in the biggest moment.

When One Shining Moment plays after a champion is crowned, we won't see Craft's late-game blunders. You can be sure that we will see his swagger-filled shot that stymied the Cyclones.

Who knows - thanks to Craft it may even be the Buckeyes who are celebrating that Monday night in Atlanta.

Witnessing the end

"Four minutes of hell," I tweet as I slump down in my seat in the Ohio section at The Q. 

Slowly and tediously the seconds tick away in Saturday's MAC Championship game, Akron pummeling Ohio.

The sea of blue and gold explodes as what is becoming more inevitable unfolds. Each deafening roar from the rival crowd a gut punch leaving you sore. Chants of Ohio pride long gone, the faithful waiting for a new day to dawn.

As Ohio's deficit bleeds further and further, time withers and so do the hopes of repeat March glory.

I feel trapped, wanting neither to watch nor bail early.

Mercifully, the clock finally reaches zero. Akron's celebration ensues but for us, the torture ends.

Unlike last year's MAC Championship that was a crescendo of nerves culminating in an explosion of joy, this was a building sense of doom. 

As the second half stretched on, it became painfully obvious that the Bobcats were incapable of winning. They couldn't sink a shot, make a free throw or grab a rebound. 

MAC Player of the Year D.J. Cooper was shut down, missing all eight of his shots from the field and notching just three points. Only Reggie Keely reached double digits for the Bobcats.

The offensive stats were staggeringly bad. Ohio led by three at the half and lost by 19, which will happen when you shoot 18.5 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. The Bobcats didn't make any of their 12 second half three-point attempts. They finished the night 1/20 from beyond the arc. 

As shot after shot failed to fall in a nine-minute field goal drought, it became obvious Ohio was not going dancing in 2013. 

Really though it felt that way much of the season. Despite the greatness of this senior class, the moxie they showed in last March's Sweet 16 run and stunning Georgetown back in 2010 was mostly missing.

They didn't just lose but were handled by tournament teams Oklahoma, Memphis and Belmont. On Senior Day against Miami, it took a spurt of energy from Stevie Taylor to push the seniors to one final W in the Convo. Even in the semis against Western Michigan, the Bobcats let up a big first half lead. 

Akron, without its star point guard, came back from down early and then poured it on as Ohio's confidence visibly shrank. 

That radiated to the Ohio student section, the early game "Where's Abreu?" and "Screw the Roo" chants feeling ages passed by the game's final minutes. 

Nothing about this year's MAC Championship resembled last year's. 

My same two buddies and I were decked out supporting our school again but instead of an exuberant postgame celebration, it was a solemn walk out of The Q. There was no Bobcat revelry on East 4th. We looked up and saw Terminal Tower lit in gold and blue, a painful reminder of what we just witnessed.

No goosebumps of tournament lore but a loss to Akron once more. From Heaven to Hell in one year's time, this end was not at all sublime.