radio after sitting in as a guest on Pollis' WWWE show. The station bid aggressively against WHK and WERE to retain the Cleveland Indians rights during the summer of 1986, while Franklin—who now additionally did weekend work for St. Louis's KMOX—again threatened to leave WWWE if it lost the Indians games. McCullough and Freedman were both fired as part of an October 1986 lineup shakeup, but Freedman returned less than two months later following Joel Rose's resignation after a contract dispute, while Pollis subsequently left to reunite with Rose over at WERE. Losing Pete Franklin, sale to Independent Group As May 1987 began, Lake Erie entered into negotiations to sell WWWE to Jacor for $14 million; Jacor already owned WBBG and WMJI—the former WWWM—while concurrently putting WBBG up for sale. Had the deal closed, WWWE would have been added to a growing portfolio that included Cincinnati's WLW and Denver's KOA. The WWWE sale, however, was jeopardized after Franklin announced intentions to leave WWWE for a lucrative two-year contract with New York City's WHN to headline a new all-sports format to be named "WFAN". Days after the announcement, Franklin underwent emergency quadruple bypass surgery at the Cleveland Clinic following a massive heart attack, which some attributed to stress over the New York move while Franklin attributed it to a poor diet. Calls to Sportsline in the wake of Franklin's heart attack were filled with well-wishers, particularly from females; WHN's station manager John Chanin recognized Franklin as "a very sincere, warm person" unlike his radio persona, and that the possibility of leaving Cleveland affected him deeply. WWWE was forced to use a variety of guest hosts for Sportsline that included Nev Chandler and Gib Shanley, along with nationally known figures Bob Costas, Paul McGuire and Dick Vitale. Franklin ultimately chose to leave Cleveland for WFAN by that September. Jacor withdrew their purchase offer of WWWE due to Franklin's departure, having considered him an "important asset". Lake Erie ended up selling both WDOK and WWWE to Independent Group, Inc. on August 3, 1987, for a combined $13.5 million, a $4 million net profit for Modell's syndicate. Independent Group marked a return to WWWE for both Tom Embrescia and Tom Wilson, while co-investor Larry Pollock had experience with Larry Robinson's broadcasting interests. Real estate magnate and Cleveland Force owner Bert Wolstein also was an investor, reportedly owning almost 50 percent of the station, but