The Force is with us (for now)

If this world was fair, every other sports entity in Cleveland would get in line behind the Force.
While the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers have become proficient at unenviable skills like losing, or only getting good enough to fail in the end, Cleveland's indoor soccer franchise has won three league titles since 1994. In their previous incarnation as the Crunch, Cleveland won National Professional Soccer League titles in 1994, 1996 and 1999.
Guess what? The Force, re-named in honor of the old Bert Wolstein-owned franchise in the 1980s, is back in the title round of the reborn Major Indoor Soccer League. They will face the Milwaukee Wave in the first game of a two-game championship series starting May 14 in Milwaukee and ending May 21 in St. Louis. If the series is tied after regulation time in Game 2, sudden-death overtime will decide the championship.
The Plain Dealer reported today that Cleveland was shut out of a home date because ESPN2, which will most likely televise Game 2, could not be guaranteed a date and time at the Wolstein Center (formerly the Cleveland State University Convocation Center.)
Cleveland could be the champion of something by May 21. That's the good news. The bad news is, the Force might not be around to defend their title next winter.
Owner Richard Dietrich is trying to find a buyer for the franchise, which, like many minor-league sports teams in big-city markets, is losing money. After Sunday's 10-6 league semifinal win over the Philadelphia Kixx, seven front-office employees were laid off, The Plain Dealer reported.
If Dietrich cannot find a buyer (he is reportedly seeking $1.3 million for the team after purchasing it for $1.75 million in 1999), it is unlikely the Force will take the field next season, bringing to an end an era of indoor soccer in Cleveland that has existed since the early '80s.
The heyday of indoor soccer, concieved as a hybrid of soccer, basketball and hockey, appears to be over. The reincarnated MISL had two teams suspend operations in the middle of this season due to lack of funds. The indoor "hybrid sport" of choice now looks like arena football, which has a national television contract with NBC.
If the Cleveland Force folds, indoor soccer will lose one of its capitals. In their salad days, the Force arguably had as passionate a following as the Cavs at the Richfield Coliseum. And that was before the Crunch title run when indoor soccer moved downtown.
If indoor soccer dies in Cleveland, the sport itself might be following suit.