Though Bowling Green is Toledo’s arch rival, the Rockets have had many physical games the past several years against another Mid-American Conference opponent with a distaste for UT football. That team is MAC West Division rival Northern Illinois, who visits the Glass Bowl on Nov. 1.
“I honestly believe that everybody shoots at Toledo as their rival,” Toledo head coach Tim Beckman said. “Everybody plays us as good as they possibly can play, and we try to do the same thing [with] everybody we play. Yes, Northern Illinois has talked about this being a rival game because they’ve been a great program and Toledo’s been a great program. So when the two collide, it should be a great game.”
The Huskies’ (5-3, 3-1 MAC) rivalry with the Rockets (5-3, 4-0 MAC) is not just due to the fact that they both compete in the same division, but also because of UT’s consistent success over Northern Illinois University. Toledo leads the series 29-9 and is 18-2 against NIU in the Glass Bowl. However, the Huskies have taken two out of the last three against the Rockets in the series, including a 65-30 blowout in DeKalb, Ill. last season.
NIU won last year’s matchup convincingly by racking up 584 yards of total offense. Of that total, 422 of those yards were on the ground as Northern Illinois averaged 7.8 yards per carry and had seven rushing touchdowns. The victory gave the Huskies sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division over UT, ending Toledo’s hopes of getting to the MAC Championship at Ford Field.

The Rockets are 4-0 in the MAC.

“Oh yeah, it’s been talked about quite a bit,” Beckman said in response to how much last season’s defeat has been discussed amongst his team. “And I’m sure they talked about it down there, [even though] they have a new coaching staff. Yeah, our players understand what that game was all about last year and that we didn’t perform at our level. As a team and as a coaching staff, we need to step it up and be ready for those types of games.
“It was our first opportunity in being in a game like that, and now we’ve got another opportunity, and that’ll be this year’s opportunity.”
Senior right tackle John Morookian is one of the Rockets’ seniors who started in last season’s debacle at NIU and wants payback.
“It’s a big game for revenge,” Morookian said. “I mean, if someone’s not saying we’ve got to have revenge on [their] team then they’re lying, because what happened last year, we didn’t play our game. We can’t have that happen again. It was kind of sad and pathetic how we came out, so we’ve got to turn it around this year. We’ve got to change it up, and I know all my teammates are going to come out and we’re going to play hard and give it all we’ve got.”
One bright spot in last year’s matchup was senior running back Adonis Thomas, who had a game-high 152 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns, accounting for all but 42 of UT’s rushing yards against Northern Illinois. Thomas will likely have more help this time around as Toledo is coming off a 49-28 win over Miami (Ohio) in which he, senior running back Morgan Williams and sophomore running back David Fluellen combined for 230 yards rushing on 37 carries with four touchdowns.
The Huskies and Rockets rank first and second in the MAC in scoring offense, averaging 38.5 and 36.5 points per game, respectively. On the ground, NIU ranks second in the conference with 244.2 yards per game, while UT is fourth with 186.8 rushing yards per contest. Leading Northern Illinois’ potent offense is senior quarterback Chandler Harnish, who racked up 311 yards of total offense and two touchdowns against Toledo in 2010.
Beckman met Harnish in the spring at the Touchdown Club of Columbus and came away impressed. Along with junior wide receiver Eric Page, Harnish was a nominee for one of the club’s awards, which named him as the 2010 MAC Player of the Year.
“What a classy kid,” Beckman said. “I can see why he’s won a lot of football games as a college football player.”
Defensively, the Rockets are tied for eighth in the country with 19 turnovers gained this season, sporting the MAC’s second-best rush defense (116.6 yards per game) while also ranking fourth in the conference in total defense (363.1 yards per game). Senior cornerbacks Desmond Marrow and Taikwon Paige are tied for the team lead with two interceptions each this year, with Marrow earning MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week honors in each of the past two weeks.
“I’ve coached corners a long time in my life, coached secondary a long time, and he’s as good as I’ve been around,” Beckman said of Marrow. “He does a great job, and his commitment to the team — we can talk about stats, two picks and making great plays and tackles and those sorts of things — but his commitment to come back for his sixth year after having two serious injuries just proves he loves the game and he loves to help lead. He just does so much for us. It can’t even be explained.”
Marrow and Paige will be counted on to help contain Harnish, who leads the MAC with 304.4 yards of total offense per game. And while this contest means a lot to Toledo personally, UT knows the only way to guarantee its goal of reaching the MAC Championship in Detroit is to win every conference game, something the Rockets didn’t do last year.
“This is like a smaller version of the SEC,” Beckman said. “Every game is huge, and you have to be ready and prepared to be able to be victorious.”
Kickoff for the Nov. 1 game between Toledo and Northern Illinois is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

The UT women's cross country team has won back-to-back MAC Championships. - Photo courtesy of UT Athletics

The UT women’s cross country team won its second straight conference title Oct. 27 at the Mid-American Conference Championships.

“It means a lot,” Toledo head coach Kevin Hadsell said. “No matter what sport you’re in, this is college athletics and your goal is to win your conference championship. Anything over that is gravy. We were the defending champions coming in and knew we had the target on our back, but we embrace it. It means a lot to us. This is what we shoot for all year. Now we can turn our focus to getting back to the NCAA Championships.”

Hadsell was named the MAC Women’s Coach of the Year, an honor voted on by coaches following the race. He also won the award in 2001, 2002 and 2010. Seniors Ari Fisher and Emma Kertesz and sophomore Megan Vogelsong were named All-MAC first team. Juniors Kaylin Belair and Kristal Studer were named All-MAC second team.

Ohio’s Juli Accurso finished in 20:35.3 to win the individual title. Kertesz and Fisher took home silver and bronze with times of 20:48.4 and 20:53.5, respectively. Fisher won the 2009 and 2010 individual titles.

“Ari Fisher did a great job,” Hadsell said. “She had gotten hurt and missed six weeks of training. She’s only been running for two weeks. For her to go out and get third, and Emma Kertesz getting the runner-up, that was really impressive.”

Hadsell was particularly impressed by the performance of Studer, who finished in 21:41.9 for 14th place to give the Rockets a conference record score of 33 points, 40 points ahead of second place Central Michigan at 73.

“The best race of our group came from Kristal Studer who ended up being our fifth runner,” Hadsell said. “She probably passed eight people in the last 200 meters or so. That allowed us to score only 33 points. That’s the record for the lowest score, and she was a big part of that.”

The Rockets will host the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet Nov. 12 to compete for a spot in the national meet.

The men’s cross country team finished in sixth place. Eastern Michigan won the MAC title, and Central Michigan’s Tecumseh Adams finished in 24:34.3 to win the individual title.

Jonathan Dewitt was Toledo’s top finisher in seventh place with a time of 24:34.3. Nick Thomas finished in 24:53.6 for 13^th place. Dewitt was named All-MAC first team and Nick Thomas earned All-MAC second team honors.

“The men ran well,” Hadsell said. “We were only one point behind Ohio for fifth place. We have been steadily improving from year-to-year and I am extremely excited about the future of the men’s program.”

NOTE: This is the 11th installment of a weekly series in which staff writer Mike Bauman will follow sixth-year Toledo senior cornerback Desmond Marrow for the 2011 season.

Superman has Lex Luthor. Batman has the Joker. Sixth-year Toledo senior cornerback Desmond Marrow has Northern Illinois. For Marrow, who earned Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second straight week after leading UT with six tackles and two interceptions in a 49-28 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 22, the Huskies have been a personal source of pain for three years running.
“It means a lot,” Marrow said of the Rockets’ matchup with Northern Illinois on Nov. 1. “I’ve got a lot of history with Northern Illinois, mostly bad history.”
A week after Toledo pulled off one of the biggest upsets in program history with a 13-10 win over Michigan at the Big House in 2008, Marrow tore his ACL and meniscus on the opening kickoff at NIU, costing him the rest of 2008 and all of 2009. Marrow had started every game that season after missing all of 2007 with a hamstring injury. Last year, the Rockets got thumped 65-30 by the Huskies on the road in a contest that broke a first-place tie in the MAC West Division, ending UT’s hopes of getting to the MAC Championship at Ford Field.

Desmond Marrow with his father Duane.

“There’s a little bit of extra [motivation] going into this one,” said Marrow, who leads Toledo with 48 tackles, 10 pass deflections, eight pass breakups and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions this season. “But just like coach [Beckman] said, it’s just like any other game. It’s just the next one. The next one’s the most important, so if we handle Northern Illinois, then we’ll be fine.”
A victory against Northern Illinois would mean a lot to Marrow, who hasn’t been part of an NIU win since 2006.
“This would probably rank up there with Michigan—not as much as beating Michigan, but this would be just 1a, 1b, so the same thing,” Marrow said.
Three years ago, Marrow had no idea if or when he’d be fine again after going down against the Huskies.
“I had just came off an injury with my hamstring,” Marrow said. “We had just beat Michigan and I was like, ‘Man, why would this happen to me?’ I just didn’t know what was next, like if I was ever going to play again or if I would have the drive or want to play again, especially with rehab and the pain and everything. It was definitely a tough time.”
Luckily for Marrow, he had both the love and the wisdom of his parents to guide him through that experience. His mother, Pam, took time off work to come up to Toledo to stay with him after the surgery. And his father, Duane, knew all too well what Marrow was going through, having torn his ACL when he was a sophomore at Wisconsin.
“A couple weeks before I got hurt my dad passed away,” Duane said in an August interview. “When I got hurt, early on I was told that something may have gone wrong in the surgery, so I had that scheme playing in my mind. And then the rehab was just, oh, my God, the pain and so forth.”
Duane ended up taking incompletes in several classes, and his knee never got back to where he thought it needed to be. All by himself, many miles away from his family in Youngstown and discouraged, Duane returned home, leaving Wisconsin and his football dreams behind.
“You will always have to experience something personally yourself to be able to extract the good out of it,” Duane said. “Going through that, I was able to just say, ‘OK, I can channel this to my son’s situation. He can learn about what I went through that he can make it through this.’”
While Marrow is driven to achieve his goals of a MAC Championship and playing in the NFL, knowing what his dad went through has also inspired him.
“It’s a little bit 50-50,” Marrow said. “I would say it’s more so like, I want to make it for myself and I want to accomplish all these things for myself, but my dad, that’s always in my mind. It’s always right there. I always just want to succeed and do things for my dad because I know it was his dream to win championships in college and be a great player.
“He was, like, one of the better players in the nation when he came out, but he got hurt. He always wanted to play in the NFL, but I just want to get there for my dad because I know my dream is kind of like his dream.”

Recently the author had a chance to sit down with a good family friend, who is not only an acute businessman but profoundly spiritual. This friend has, over the years, taken on the role of an adopted godfather to the author; he is a joy to others but always an excellent source of advice when necessary.

In the course of discussing other things including developments in our respective businesses as well as issues in our personal lives, this mentor offered several pieces of advice that, while simple, are worth remembering.

These axioms are also worthy of further consideration, as each has broader application to the global business community.

1. This too shall pass. In an 1859 speech Abraham Lincoln referenced a story of an “Eastern monarch” who gathered all the greatest thinkers in his kingdom and instructed them to come up with a single statement that would be true in all times and in all places. After going away to think, they returned with the phrase “this too shall pass.”

It has been said that for all things there is a season; and while this lesson is far more frequently remembered during bad times, it is just as true for good. We firmly believe that all things happen for a reason; that there are reasons for good times and lessons to be learned during bad. The problem now plaguing society is that instead of people learning the lessons presented during difficult times, people (read: politicians and bureaucrats who set monetary policy) instinctively try to cushion the blow; in so doing they do their countrymen a disservice.

Similarly, during good times people rarely think of the bad times that will inevitably follow. The natural thing to do is to live excessively, as opposed to saving.

1. Stay true to yourself. Today people have a natural inclination to move with the prevailing winds of the time. The problem is that what is popular isn’t always right. Or, as is the case in business, what’s profitable isn’t always right. Companies – like people – need to stick with their core values (and core competencies) rather than submitting to their greed.

1. Lastly, and most simply, no man ever learned anything while is mouth was open. In the groundbreaking book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey rights that habit #5 is, tellingly, “seek first to understand, then to be understood” (emphasis added). All too often people fall victim to their desires to express themselves, to be understood. Most would be far better off if they just shut up.

Case in point: In December of 2009 President Barack Obama hosted a “job creation summit” at the White House, and invited several hundred business leaders, union heads, et al to come up with ideas to spur employment. In August 2011 the White House hosted 400 entrepreneurs in South Carolina to discuss ways to improve the economy.

The problem is that it is physically impossible to gather than many people in a room and share ideas. In other words, when there are over 100 people packed into a meeting, there are really only a handful of people talking. Ideas aren’t being shared, they’re being dictated. The proof is in the pudding, with present unemployment roughly equal to its level in December of 2009.

It is sad but significant that as years pass human beings are forced to re-learn many of the same lessons. People forget that good times will return, or to listen instead of speaking; just as companies forget what business they are in or that they need to prepare for tough times in order to survive.

Many people today, mostly conservative, are wondering why we have Barack Obama and his economic policies in the White House, despite the fact that they are nearly identical to many of the failed policies of Jimmy Carter not 40 years ago.

The reasons why are many, but two stand out. First, to be blunt, is population turnover. The people who were alive and cognizant of Jimmy Carter’s presidency and the policies he pursued are older now, many have passed away. The young people that constituted Obama’s major support base in 2008 hadn’t even been born before Reagan or even Bush I.

Second, and more importantly – or at least more manageable – is that people tend to forget many of these core lessons. They forget the basics; and every now and then need a reminder. Undoubtedly this will be just one of many.

Dock David Treece is a discretionary money manager with Treece Investment Advisory Corp (www.TreeceInvestments.com) and is licensed with FINRA through Treece Financial Services Corp. He has appeared on CNBC and numerous radio programs, and also serves as editor of financial news site Green Faucet (www.GreenFaucet.com). The above information is the express opinion of Dock David Treece and should not be construed as investment advice or used without outside verification.

Dear Lauri,
I’m getting married in July but I keep dreaming that I’m getting married and it’s the wrong day and nothing is done. Everything is disorganized and I’m running around in my wedding dress trying to organize things before guests arrive. All the wedding plans are up to date. In fact the only thing left to do is print and  send the invites. So I’m confused as to why I am having these
dreams.  – Cindy 24, Toronto, ON

Lauri: What you have here is what I call a “bridemare!” A bridemare is a common stress dream that pretty much all brides get leading up to the big day. I can assure you the dream is not a warning that anything is going to go wrong so let’s look at the details and see if we can’t get some specific guidance for you. The disorganization in the dream may be connected to disorganized thoughts or issues in waking life. Have your thoughts been scattered lately? Is there any uncertainty right now in regards to the wedding? Is there a current issue you want to straighten out before the big day? The fact that the day is wrong in your dream suggests you feel something isn’t quite right yet in real life. Look at friendships, family, any issues from the past, as well as any issue between you and your fiancé and ask yourself if there is something that needs to be corrected, healed or put into place before the big day so that you can walk down the aisle with peace of mind.

Cindy replies: My mom and step dad are in Guyana. I sent an invitation to them and I’m waiting for them to take it to the embassy and get it approved. I keep thinking that they won’t get to come for the wedding. This makes sense now.

-Lauri Quinn Loewenberg
Dream Expert and Author
“The brain is wider than the sky.” – Emily Dickinson
www.lauriloewenberg.com <http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=www.thedreamzone.com&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=>
Join Me on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauri-the-Dream-Expert/360472650191>
Follow Me on Twitter <http://twitter.com/TheDreamExpert>
Read My Blog <http://www.lauriloewenberg.com/blog-dreams>
My new book Dream On It, Unlock Your Dreams, Change Your Life <http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Unlock-Your-Dreams-Change/dp/0312644329/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books>   is now available EVERYWHERE!

What has it been … three months since I first started contributing to Toledo Free Press? Now The Blade is suing Toledo Free Press Publisher Tom Pounds and Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller over a noncompete contract Pounds signed while exiting The Blade’s employ nearly eight years ago. This is not the first time that I have been indirectly involved on the defendant side of a Blade lawsuit, nor will it probably be my last.
The first time I was involved, I was the executive producer of the Mark Standriff and Scott Sloan shows for WSPD AM 1370. The Blade in September of 1999 accused Standriff of “stealing” its news and filed a lawsuit to stop us. At that time, Standriff was just getting traction as WSPD’s morning show host and would use the phrase “I read The Blade, so you don’t have to.”
Clearly, John Robinson Block and his wondertwin Allan were not pleased with the daily besmirching, so they sued both the station and parent company Jacor. For the first in a long time, the glory of WSPD had returned. We had every newsmaker on, from the governor to then-Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.  WSPD was once again a stopping place for real discussion about things happening around Toledo and Ohio. That, of course, was the real reason The Blade sued  WSPD — to stop its momentum. There can only be one true news entity in Toledo and in the Blocks’ minds it will always be The Blade.
WSPD General Manager Andy Stuart called Standriff and me into his office one morning immediately following the show.
“Good news — we have come to an agreement with The Blade and I need your signature,” he said, speaking directly to Standriff. Stuart was trying to convince Standriff and me that it was a good deal and The Blade’s lawyer, Fritz Byers, had assured him that a small article about the settlement would be buried in the paper. As Standriff and I read the “agreement,” I immediately objected.
“Andy, this agreement states that we [WSPD] will no longer ‘steal’ The Blade’s news?” I asked.
The agreement also stated that Standriff could no longer use his “I read The Blade so you don’t have to” catchphrase without further explanation and that anything we used and shared from the The Blade had to be fully credited to the The Blade, including the full headline of the article, the author and the section in which it was published.
This was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever witnessed in radio. Staurt was telling Standriff he had to sign it because it was going to go away, it would be buried in the paper and stop costing us legal fees, etc. I demanded that Standriff refuse and called him some not-so-flattering names in the procress. But Standriff is an incredibly nice, compassionate and trusting man, so he relented and trusted Stuart.
The next morning, the huge headline on the front page of The Blade read, “WSPD agrees to stop stealing the news,” and that basically was the end of the show. Standriff stayed in Toledo for a couple more years but was always handicapped on what he could and could not say.  Standriff later moved his family to California where he now works as the communications person for the state’s Republican party.
In its newest legal action, it appears The Blade is seeking damages from a noncompete exit package that Pounds signed nearly eight years ago.
The more humorous portion is that the suit names Miller as well. Why is that funny? How can an employee-exit agreement by Pounds and The Blade involve any other party except Pounds and The Blade? This is where the answer to The Blade’s legal motives lies. This litigious action is about how the The Blade hates competition and especially competition that makes light of the Blocks.
This is my unsolicited advice to Pounds and Miller:

• Do not settle: Toledo has long been starved of an alternative print newspaper with credibility and great intentions for the city.
• Do not be bullied: This is where The Blade often wins these cases, by drowning you in legal fees.  Deep pockets create bigger bullies.
• Don’t stop: Miller must be doing something right if he was named in this lawsuit. Keep the columns and cartoons coming.

Toledoans deserve a printed news source that will champion the city’s efforts to grow and evolve.  For way too long, The Blade’s supposed power and reach has kept us from achieving any long-term growth without its written permission. And because of that power, Toledo is in the shape it is.
As Chuck D of Public Enemy said,  “Fight the power!”

Jeremy Baumhower is a self-proclaimed media expert who writes and produces for morning radio shows across the country. Please follow him on twitter @jeremytheproduc.

Libyan tyrant Moammar Gadhafi was killed Oct. 20, but bullying did not die with him.
As the world learned of the dictator’s death, Toledo Free Press learned it was being sued by Block Communications, parent company of The Blade and other relative antiquities. The 13-page complaint contains many allegations, ranging from microscopic to malignant. And in addition to suing Toledo Free Press LLC and its president and publisher, Tom Pounds, they are suing me personally.
The background for the suit is allegedly a provision in the separation agreement Tom signed when he left The Blade nearly eight years ago, which provided that he would not disparage The Blade or “take any action, directly or indirectly, intended to harm the plaintiff, its parent, division, subsidiaries, or affiliates or any of their directors, officers, shareholders, or employees.”

The plaintiff claims that Tom has used Toledo Free Press content to breach his agreement, using me as an alter ego or proxy to accomplish the dirty deeds. According to the suit, I am an “instrument and agent” of Tom’s and I am personally liable for “damages” under the agreement Tom signed nearly eight years ago.
I call “bullsh*t.”
Let’s call this what it is: an arrogant “Hail Mary” attempt to silence my criticism of The Blade and grossly impair my First Amendment rights, while perpetrating as much damage as possible on my employer and business.
Standards and goals
In my 25-year career in journalism, I have stubbornly and with unwavering consistency adhered to some bedrock principles. Opinion pages and news pages must be clearly marked and neither should masquerade as the other. Editorial and advertising concerns should be kept as far apart as possible. Newspapers should hold evil accountable and assist good. I am not claiming to be batting .1000 at all of these ideals, but that’s the standard and goal.
I have separated from two Toledo publications because of ethical chicanery and publisher interference. The road to ethical lapse begins with compromise, so compromise must be held in contempt. When I first met Tom, one January evening in 2005, our primary discussion about the potential of Toledo Free Press focused on our definitions of community journalism and the risk a startup free newspaper represented. Although I knew Tom had worked at The Blade, neither that publication nor its plaintiff owners factored into our conversation. Eventually, as we shaped the focus and intent of Toledo Free Press, we discussed the potential hazard of directly taking on The Blade. Our mutual determination was that a newspaper that based its content solely in opposition to The Blade’s stances would not be attractive to readers or advertisers and certainly offered no challenge or appeal to me.
At no time during our initial conversation, nor at any time in the subsequent nearly seven years did Tom ever discuss or share with me the details of his separation agreement with the plaintiff. I knew he had a noncompete agreement that forbade him from working at a daily newspaper for a period of time, but I had zero knowledge of any non-disparagement clause until I learned about it a half-decade later in one of the plaintiffs’ annual legal threat missives (at least two of which falsely accused me personally of offenses that were stretches or outright lies). I was not a party to Tom’s agreement with the plaintiffs, so my actions cannot breach it.
Initial focus
One of the primary deals I made with Tom was that he would do what he knows best — sales, circulation, business — and I would do what I know best — producing a strong and ethical publication that serves its community instead of demanding service from it. When we launched Toledo Free Press, we were a small-circulation paper put on racks on Wednesdays. Our current 100,000-plus circulation with home delivery was not even in our dreams, much less the business plan. We were focused on making our mark on Toledo’s weekly print scene and focused on those competitors, not the plaintiff’s daily newspaper.
While Tom and I jointly agree on the general direction and tone of Toledo Free Press coverage, he has never interfered with a news story or editorial in these pages. He is not ignorant of our bigger projects, and I do not keep secrets from him, but we do not jointly plan coverage. Tom has never once assigned a story, edited a story, censored a story, demanded changes in a story or tried to force-feed a story through the system. He reads my column on the layout pages at the same time our deadline copy editors do. And while I warn him before I wade into hazardous waters, I have never sought permission to tackle a topic, nor has he demanded that of me.
Does Tom take any pleasure when I criticize the plaintiffs or stand in front of some of their more outrageous attempts to block a building demolition or falsely malign someone like WSPD’s Brian Wilson? I don’t know. Maybe. Probably. Tom has never given me a bonus for sticking my neck out when it comes to the plaintiffs and he has never indicated any direction other than our shared desire to be honest, accurate and take the high road.
What the plaintiffs are suggesting is not only an outrageous attempt at prior restraint on my free speech rights, it is a clear effort to malign my professional reputation.

Toledo Free Press has been named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Best Weekly Newspaper for three consecutive years and has garnered scores of industry awards for its writing and design (including my three consecutive SPJ awards in the Best Media Criticism category, for three deconstructions of the plaintiffs’ work). To suggest any of that has been accomplished while I was being used as a pawn on a chessboard is to malign my abilities and achievements, a few of which clearly agitate the plaintiffs.
I am Tom’s partner, not his puppet, and there is not one person who has worked for Toledo Free Press who could honestly say otherwise. My guess is that is one of the primary sticking points for the plaintiff; while so many community and business leaders have willingly and by choice allowed themselves to be controlled like marionettes, Tom and I have refused to allow Toledo Free Press to be cowed by the plaintiffs’ threats, backroom arrangements and clear disparagement tactics.
The cartoon in question

Concept by Michael S. Miller. Illustration by Don Lee.

Anyone who doubts this is the plaintiffs’ attempt to silence my criticism should look at paragraph 31 of their lawsuit.
“On or about August 21, 2011, Pounds … permitted Toledo Free Press to publish a cartoon that depicted a characterization of John R. Block and Allan Block together with The Blade as casting an eclipsing shadow on jobs, tax revenue, investment and development in Toledo, Ohio.”
The plaintiffs’ suit describes the cartoon as disparaging and harmful.
That cartoon, reprinted here so you can see what all the fuss is about, did depict the plaintiffs as eclipsing economic development offered by Rave Cinemas and Hollywood Casino Toledo and was inspired by two “news” stories in the plaintiffs’ publication. An Aug. 5 story, “Multiplex experience takes a toll on moviegoers’ wallets,” pilloried Rave for its popcorn and concession prices, using such unattributed descriptions as “the markup is steep” and “high prices.” The article generally cast Rave in a bad light as a greedy corporate entity bilking its customers.
On Aug. 15, The Blade published a a front-page story headlined, “Future casinos spur addiction concerns,” the latest episode in the ongoing Blade campaign of disparaging casinos since the idea was first proposed for the ballot. The combination of the two stories inspired my idea of the plaintiffs eclipsing economic development with their agenda-driven news coverage. I phoned editorial cartoonist Don Lee and commissioned the cartoon. At no point in the process was Tom involved in the discussion, creation or execution of the cartoon.
The publication of the cartoon fairly criticized The Blade’s own coverage and its owners’ published opinions. As public figures at a public entity, the plaintiffs may be fairly criticized. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit  does not deny the accuracy of the cartoon, it just claims that it violates a nearly 8-year-old agreement that was never agreed to by myself or Lee, the cartoon’s creators.
The attempt to silence this criticism should anger anyone who gives a damn about personal free speech and the rights of the press. While The Blade is quick to defend its First Amendment rights, it is telling that it does not extend that defense to others when it is the focus of criticism.
Remember, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt’s right to publish a satirical ad that described the Rev. Jerry Falwell engaging in drunken sexual congress with his mother in an outhouse. It’s unlikely I would commission a similar  satire of the plaintiffs, but the cartoon on this page, which mirrors the plaintiffs’ published work, does not approach even the most thinly stretched definition of harm as they claim.
As Justice William Rehnquist wrote in the majority opinion of the Flynt case, “At the heart of the First Amendment is the recognition of the fundamental importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and concern.
“The sort of robust political debate encouraged by the First Amendment is bound to produce speech that is critical of those who hold public office or those public figures who are intimately involved in the resolution of important public questions or, by reason of their fame, shape events in areas of concern to society at large.”
The cost of the fight
Toledo Free Press is a small company. A protracted legal fight endangers its future. But we will fight. The larger issue of free speech is more important than our business or financial concerns.
The one small comfort is that we may finally be able to publicly share the stories of true disparagement the plaintiffs have perpetrated by their acts and the acts of the people they control.
And what stories they are …

Email Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

While the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights should be cherished by all Americans (and any society that wishes to emulate our freedoms), the First Amendment is particularly important for people in journalism: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
As the Occupy Wall Street movement challenges the laws and ordinances of communities great and small, and as Toledo Free Press faces its own challenges to its freedoms, the First Amendment has a prominent place in my thoughts.

I am not a journalist. I use this space to comment on issues I feel are relevant to the business community and our region as a whole, but I am first and foremost a business owner concerned with providing what I believe is a valuable service to the community — while trying to make a living.
When I founded Toledo Free Press LLC in 2004, I knew I wanted to establish a newspaper that focused on community journalism — which I define as stories that focus on people and events not always featured in mainstream media. I wanted to establish a “glass half-full” approach; I wanted to help the community improve and grow, to draw new people and retain its current residents by showcasing the better elements of living here. I know that criticism and commentary are a part of that puzzle, but I do not claim to have insight into creating those knowledge streams. I wanted to provide a vehicle, but I needed someone to help me design it, build it and drive it.
A number of editors I spoke to turned down the opportunity. After a few early 2005 meetings with Michael Miller, who at the time was news editor of The Daily Telegram in Adrian, I believed I had found someone who understood the greater mission.
From the beginning, Michael and I agreed that we needed to collaborate on the business but that I would not dictate editorial content or his commentary. I have kept that promise and here we are nearly seven years later, having just won our third consecutive Ohio Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) award for Best Weekly Newspaper in Ohio. We have earned some great distinctions in our short history, and I know we could not have done this without Michael and his team, just as they know they could not make their visions a reality without the sales, administration and publishing elements of the newspaper.
I am not a journalist, but journalism is the field that supports my family. I understand the importance of the First Amendment, now more than ever.
Toledo Free Press will fight for its free speech rights, which means we are fighting for your free speech rights. Any compromise for freedom of the press is a loss for the entire community.
Even a short-term bow to censorship threatens the success of the long run — in a race that has no finish line.
As we thank SPJ for the recognition and continue with our work, we remain grateful for your support and look forward to serving you for many, many years to come.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Seniors Ana Reynolds, Vicki Traven and Kristen Lynn celebrate the win.

The UT women’s soccer team won 2-0 at home against Ball State on Oct. 27 to clinch the Mid-American Conference regular season title.

“I’m super excited for our seniors and the program in general,” Toledo head coach Brad Evans said. “We strive to have a consistent level of performance. There are no guarantees in our conference.”

It is the third MAC regular season title in the past four years for seniors Danielle Case, Kristen Lynn, Alyssa Niese, Ana Reynolds and Vick Traven (senior Jaimie Morsillo missed this season with a knee injury and will return for the 2012 season).

“This is a great feeling knowing it’s been nine months in the making,” Lynn said. “We’ve worked all off season to get to this point. We’re really excited about it and look to keep going forward in the tournament.”

The Rockets (11-6-2, 9-1-1 MAC) clinched home-field advantage for the MAC Tournament and will host No. 8 seed Ohio (7-10-2, 4-5-2) at 1:05 p.m. on Oct. 30 at Scott Park in the quarterfinals. Toledo beat the Bobcats 2-0 at Scott Park on Oct. 7.

Case headed in a corner by junior Natalia Gaitàn for a 1-0 lead 15:42 into the game. Ball State (9-8-3, 4-5-2) almost put in a header of its own at the end of the first half, but it went just over the bar.

Gaitàn assisted on another goal with a corner kick in the second half. Junior Kristen Mattei headed the corner to sophomore Rachel MacLeod who headed it in for the score.

Nicole Gyurgyik

Traven battled through rain and stopped all four of Ball State’s shots on goal for her seventh shutout of the season.

“We all know we play an outdoor sport,” Traven said. “We’re used to it. We come out here during practice and it’s raining, so it’s just another challenge we face and another obstacle that we have to overcome. I think we did a great job of being composed, literally weathering the storm and putting this team away to get our MAC Championship.”

“It’s always sunny at Scott Park,” Case said.

The University of Toledo Division of External Affairs will pay admission for the first 100 UT students with student ID for the game Oct. 30.

“I think it’s awesome to win on the home field, having our fans hear and knowing we get to play the rest of the tournament here,” Reynolds said.

“This was just another stepping stone to get us where we really want to go,” Traven said. “It’s a great accomplishment. All the players, coaches and fans helped us get to this point. Continuing on with it is going to be even better.”

Check out our Facebook page for photos from the game.

Rathbun column: “The future of big banks”

A group of local investors named Winding Creek Holdings has entered into an agreement to purchase 51 percent of the Bank of Maumee.The closing of the transaction is conditioned upon formal approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and other federal regulators, as well as Winding Creek’s successful completion of raising additional required capital.

The man in charge of Winding Creek is Gary Rathbun, the president and CEO of Private Wealth Consultants. He has been in the wealth management field since 1981.
“I have been a charter stockholder at Bank of Maumee since they started in town,” Rathbun said. “I like the idea of a small community bank. There is plenty of room in the market and Bank of Maumee is the perfect opportunity.”
According to Bank of Maumee President Kevin Rahe, the bank has $36 million in total assets with 7.94 percent in equity assets. The bank and its owner, Capitol Bancorp Limited, have been struggling in the current economic climate.
“It’s a real breath of fresh air for us,” Rahe said. “Capitol Bancorp has been struggling and we will truly be a locally owned and operated bank.”
Rathbun said he believed Capitol Bancorp’s decisions were not in the best interest of the local area pertaining to the Bank of Maumee.
“I never thought the best solution to the bank — for building it in the community — was having an out of town owner,” Rathbun said. “A lot of their decisions didn’t take into consideration the local community.
“Capitol Bank had a great model as long as the economy cooperated. The economy changed and it just killed their model and Bank of Maumee has been sucked into that, being owned by them. It has really made it difficult for Bank of Maumee to grow. I looked at that as an opportunity to buy a part of a local bank.”
This wasn’t the first time the Morenci, Mich., native has tried with others to purchase Bank of Maumee. Three years ago, the bank contacted Rathbun to help raise capital to buy itself from Capitol Bancorp.
“They approached us and we approached a lot of our clients to buy stock and raise capital to buy them out,” Rathbun said. “Capitol Bank was positioned in such a way that there were certain restrictions on the capital raise and it just didn’t work out. The deal fell through.”
From that point, Rathbun kept an eye on Bank of Maumee and remained interested in purchasing it, along with the other investors of Winding Creek, from Capitol Bancorp. A few years later, the time was right to finally make a deal.

Gary Rathbun

“As I saw Capitol Bank get in more and more trouble, I thought, ‘We should try this again’,” Rathbun said. “I put the investment group together and we approached Capitol Bank about buying out their share. It has taken many months but we were able to strike a deal with them.”
The $1.2 million purchase was approved by the Bank of Maumee’s 304 shareholders Oct. 21. Although the deal is still waiting for approval by U.S. regulators, Rathbun believes that the new local ownership could have a major impact on the company’s success.
“There’s still plenty of room in the market to grow,” Rathbun said. “I have always liked Bank of Maumee and the concept and when the opportunity came to be a bigger part of that bank and keep it local I jumped on that. I think it will be exciting and a nice complement to Private Wealth Consultants and the wealth management we do for people.”
Winding Creek’s first operation of business is to help Bank of Maumee become profitable through recapitalization. If the U.S. regulators approve the transaction, a group of local investors brought together by Rathbun will inject $3 million of capital into the bank. They will then focus on loans to professionals and business owners in the community.
“That will allow the bank then to increase their loans to the community at large and within a very short time allow them to become profitable again,” Rathbun said.
After the $3 million is invested into the Bank of Maumee, Winding Creek will no longer own 51 percent of the company. To avoid investors deciding to sell the company later on, Winding Creek will receive preferred stock to protect its investment.
“We will own 51 percent for just a few minutes,” Rathbun said. “We need to inject that money in. The only way to do that without diluting ourselves would be for us to put that money in and we are not going to put another $1.5 million to remain at our 51 percent. Because we are bailing out the bank and recapitalizing, we wanted to maintain a certain amount of say about how the bank is run and, most importantly, we wanted to protect the bank from being taken over or sold. By owning those preferred shares, even though we are not a majority owner anymore, the bank can’t get sold out from under us.”
Despite all Winding Creek’s plans, nothing can happen until the purchase is approved by the U.S. regulators. A timeline on that decision is still unknown.
“It is very anxious because you are stuck in the starting gate,” Rathbun said. “You see where you can do business in the community and you see the business owners that you want as paying customers and you can’t do anything. You are just stuck.
“It’s just very difficult because you don’t have a schedule and you don’t know what progress is being made from one day to the next. You don’t know if somebody is actually even looking at it or not. Just one of these days, the attorney is going to call me up and say, ‘Here’s your closing date, you’ve got to get the $3 million?”
At Private Wealth Consultants, a fee-based wealth management firm, Rathbun manages money on a daily basis for many individuals. He has also been a guest of afternoon host Brian Wilson on 1370 WSPD for more than two years and hosts the Thursday evening program, “Eye On Your Money.”
Rathbun is taking his work in radio broadcasting to print media as he has begun contributing as a guest financial columnist for Toledo Free Press.
“It seemed like a good fit to start writing a column and doing some work with Toledo Free Press,” said Rathbun, who has co-authored five books. “The information out there that people get, so much of what we read financially is fluff. I want the readers to read that column and walk away with something that they can use or learn.
“It will be interesting because a new group of people will be able to see what I am about and it will give the people who know me, the listeners of WSPD, a chance to get some additional information in a different format. I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Toledo Free Press senior business  writer Duane Ramsey contributed to this article.

Clarifying remarks: Bank provides value to investors, customers

TO THE EDITOR,

Let me begin by thanking Toledo Free Press and Zach Davis for their time and interest in interviewing me regarding the efforts of Winding Creek Holdings, LLC to purchase the majority share of the Bank of Maumee (“The Investor,” Oct. 30).
After reading the published article, I do feel the need to clarify my opinions relative to Capitol Bancorp and to correct or prevent any possible misinterpretation of some of my remarks.
As stated in the article, I have been an investor in the Bank of Maumee since its beginning. During these years I have had the opportunity to meet and work personally with executives of Capitol Bancorp. During the recent process of negotiating the current transaction, I have spent considerable amounts of time in a direct working relationship with Capitol Bancorp’s highest level officers. I have found them to be straightforward individuals of the highest integrity.
Capitol Bancorp has demonstrated their commitment to the constituencies they serve, which includes the community of Northwest Ohio. I have witnessed their personal concern for the employees of Bank of Maumee and for its shareholders.
They have shown an elevated interest in the Northwest Ohio economy and have supported our local businesses through purchases and the establishment of lending relationships. Capitol Bancorp, directly and through the Bank of Maumee, has consistently supported our local nonprofit and support agencies through extensive donations of both time and money. Even in these extremely difficult financial times they have been dedicated in finding ways to provide value to the investors and customers of the Bank of Maumee.
I want to be extremely clear that I am unaware of any decision that Capitol Bancorp has made where it operated in a self-serving manner without consideration for the shareholders or our community at large. They have been a committed corporate citizen in Northwest Ohio and I am hopeful that Winding Creek can continue to serve this community in equal fashion.
I appreciate the opportunity to clarify my remarks.

Gary Rathbun
Winding Creek Holdings LLC