Jan. 16, 2008

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State Department of Athletics has announced a partnership with TheClevelandFan.com, the most trafficked Cleveland sports website in cyberspace.

"It's apparent to anyone that's paying attention what Coach Waters has done with the basketball program in a short period of time is remarkable," said Rich Swerbinsky, the creator of the website. "The talent and attitude of the team is at levels we haven't seen in a long time, and the Vikings appear poised to bring exciting Division I college basketball back to downtown Cleveland for good. We're excited to be involved and it's great for the city."

As part of the partnership, CSU will have a strong presence on TheClevelandFan.com, while TheClevelandFan.com will have a click thru advertisement on the newly-designed CSU athletics website (www.CSUVikings.com).

"Cleveland State is Cleveland's only NCAA Division I university and we're truly excited to partner with TheClevelandFan.com," said Christopher Sedlock, CSU associate athletic director for external affairs. "Our fans are hungry for information about the Vikings and this gives Clevelanders-- near and far-- year-round, 24/7 access to news about our teams."

TheClevelandFan.com was created and launched on Feb. 1, 2006 by Swerbinsky and has since evolved into the most trafficked Cleveland sports website in cyberspace.

Tired of the same old media alternatives, and knowing full well that more and more people go to the web each day to get their local sports news, Swerbinsky put together a roster of 25 talented area freelance journalists, bloggers, and columnists and posts 25-30 columns a week about the Browns, Cavs, Indians and Buckeyes.

In March of 2007, TheClevelandFan.com partnered with the Cleveland Indians and SportsTime Ohio to become the content providers for www.SportsTimeOhio.com. SportsTime Ohio is the television home of CSU basketball, airing 10 Viking games this season, as well as the weekly Viking Basketball Report.