Cleveland, OH
Ball State fans, supporters cheer on Cardinals in MAC Tournament
CLEVELAND — Ball State women’s basketball kicked off its Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament journey March 12 with a first-round victory over Western Michigan. Though Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio is a neutral site, the Ball State bench sat in front of a crowd of Cardinal fans, the Ball State band, Code Red dancers and cheerleaders.
“You’ve got not just 14 players in this thing. You’ve got your administrators, you’ve got your band, you’ve got your cheerleaders, you’ve got your fans [and] a lot of family,” Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said. “It takes it all to have a program like we have, and we’re really proud of our program.
The Cardinals have been in the MAC Tournament every year since the conference decided to only allow the top eight teams in the event in 2020. However, some fans have been to the tournament multiple times and others have made it since it was first held in ‘The Land’ 25 years ago.
“They need our support, both home and away,” Ken Briner said. “…[The teams] like to see that support wherever they’re at.”
Ken — a Ball State graduate — and his wife, Peggy, have been longtime supporters of the athletic program. The Briners Sports Complex in Muncie is named after them. The couple go to every home game for both the men’s and women’s Cardinal basketball teams. To them, it’s important to continue that support in the postseason.
But it’s not just alumni and Ball State fans who are at the tournament supporting the Cardinals. Students are also in the arena. Senior Ball State band member Olivia Sloniker has been to Cleveland the last four years for the event. To her, the best part is supporting this women’s roster.
“Every single year, every game, no matter if it’s a win or loss, the women come over to us and they chat with us and they play the fight song with us,” Sloniker said. “They give us something … We’ve brought posters that we’ve made, we bring our cameras and we do everything we can to support our women.”
The players integrating themselves with the band and other campus groups is something that gives people like Sloniker pride in what she does. To her, the school is being represented by a team full of good people.
“Just today when we walked in, they saw us, and they went, ‘Hey, band.’ And we got so into it,” she said. “Seeing athletes that appreciate the spirit, it makes your life, one, so much easier, two, so much better, and three, so much more enjoyable.”
Ball State Athletics has noticed the support for this team specifically. Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell was at the opening contest and said the support is because of what the program has become under Sallee and this group.
“It means everything in terms of the type of community and fan support that we’re building here at Ball State,” Mitchell said. “It’s certainly reflective of the type of program that our women’s basketball team has here at Ball State. It’s not a surprise for me to walk into the arena here in Cleveland and see all these Cardinals.
“As I was coming into the arena, I got ‘Chrip, chirps’ and ‘Go Cards.’ It’s awesome and I get excited thinking about it.”
Ball State will play their next game Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m. They will face the No. 4 seed Kent State.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A U.S. Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio on Saturday for the first time in 250 years.
The USS Cleveland is docked on Lake Erie ahead of the 10 a.m. ceremony.
Commander Bruce Hallett has commanded the USS Cleveland for more than two years.
“It is extremely exciting to be able to bring the USS Cleveland here to Cleveland and to be able to commission this ship here — obviously to introduce it to the city so that they can see the ship that bears their name,” Hallett said. “This has been a long time coming.”
The ship’s hallways are named after Cleveland streets, including East 9th and St. Clair Avenue.
A mural honoring the city of Cleveland is displayed on board. The Navy says it is rare to see something like this on a warship.
“Amazing mural, right? We’re so proud to have that on board,” Hallett said. “We’re just pretty much in awe when we saw all the stuff that we have in the city, and now we have it as part of the Cleveland. We love it as a crew.”
The ship’s weight room was outfitted by the Cleveland Browns with flags, towels, and mats.
“The Browns came and added their own touches to that weight room,” Hallett said. “So it’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff now.”
The ship carries a crew of about 90, including two sailors who grew up in Cleveland.
The USS Cleveland is the final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship to be commissioned in the U.S. Navy.
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A trio of locally made films will grace area screens, here is your Movie Nerd Report for the week of May 11-17.
Thursday evening will bring the red-carpet premiere of “The Last Shop On Walnut” at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Rd Cleveland Heights, OH 44118) . The film, which was written and directed by Jason Richardson, was mostly shot in Ravenna. It stars Peter Lawson Jones and Cleveland native Kym Whitley. The screening will benefit the Charles & Margaret Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at College Now. Tickets can be found at this link.
Can’t make the premiere? The Cedar Lee will be playing the film for at least a full week starting Friday!
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“Blood & Rust” the debut feature from Kent State alumni Jeremy Herbert, will be coming to Cranked Up TV on May 19 and The Ashland Cinema (212 Center Street Ashland, OH 44805) will be offering a screening of it this Friday evening at 7 p.m., and it is free!
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the Capitol Theatre (1390 W.65th Street Cleveland, OH 44102) will present the directorial debut of Frank Calo IV in “Last Call”. Sounds like this one is poised to sell out so click here to grab your tickets.
Over at the Cleveland Cinematheque (11610 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44118) :
Cleveland is fortunate to be one of the five select cities of the Future of Film Is Female Series which highlights films from female and nonbinary filmmakers. The first film in this series kicks off Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with the Midwest road trip film, “Dreams In Nightmares.”
Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Dutch classic “Malpertius,” which features Orson Welles.
Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. they will present the Italian dramedy “The Last One For The Road.”
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:35 p.m. they will present a documentary that explores the effects of colonialism on Northern Argentina in “Our Land.”
Saturday at 8:50 p.m. and Sunday at 5:45 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Argentinian film “The Headless Woman”
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. they will present the documentary “Four Rational People,” which looks at the Emerson String Quartet’s final performance.
More information about the films and ticket prices are at: cinematheque.cia.edu
At the Nightlight Cinema (30 N High Street Akron, OH 44308):
One of the most acclaimed films of the year is the Canadian drama “Blue Herron,” it is the feature debut of Sophy Romvari, who gained attention for her short films.
They also will be playing the documentary “Steal This Story, Please,” which highlights independent investigative journalist Amy Goodman.
More Information about the films and ticket prices are at: nightlightcinema.com
This weekend there are a trio of new films opening in wide release: The first is one that I would recommend if you are a horror fan – “Obsession”. This film continues a trend where we are seeing Youtubers become filmmakers, in this case it is 26-year-old Curry Barker. This is a spin on “be careful what you wish for” when a young man makes a wish for his crush to love him more than anything else in the world, and it gets increasingly disturbing from there. I personally loved it and thought the performance from actress Inde Navarrette will make her a star.
“Is God Is” is a revenge tale which was based on an award-winning play by Alesha Harris. Harris makes her feature directorial debut and currently the film stands at 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!
The other film opening is the latest from director Guy Ritchie, the action-thriller “In The Grey” with Jake Gyllenhall and Henry Cavill.
Rounding out this busy week are some anniversaries hitting screens in “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” for one week to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Tony Scott’s original, and the original “Shrek” is also playing for one week to commemorate its 25th Anniversary (Anniversaries like this are making your resident movie nerd feel old!).
Lastly, I just wanted to wish congratulations to my longtime friend Dave Huffman, who has just been named the new director of The Cleveland Cinematheque! If you have ever attended some of the Late Shift Series back in the day at the Cedar Lee or Capitol, or the 12 Hours of Terror, you know that Dave is a huge cinephile and I am certain will do a great job at the Cinematheque!
Until next week my friends, see ya at the movies!
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Firefighters battled a grease fire inside a restaurant in the city’s University neighborhood Tuesday morning.
Flames broke out at BurgerIM in the 11400 block of Euclid Ave. around 9:20 a.m.
Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman said there was grease in the hood of the stove, and when someone started cooking, it started the fire.
According to Lt. Norman, the sprinklers inside the restaurant put out the flames.
At this time, damage is estimated at $25,000.
The apartment building was evacuated as a precaution.
Since the fire was inside a restaurant, health officials will now respond to the scene and determine when they can reopen.
There were no injuries.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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