Burst
El Dandy
*inarticulate squawking*
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Post by Burst on May 29, 2018 8:56:15 GMT -5
Anybody got any other good examples of team owners who seemed to have nothing but contempt for the city their team is in? I'm seeing the drama play out with the Columbus Crew and how desperately and infuriatingly the owner is trying to move the team to Austin, regardless of all the public outcry and the city and state trying to get them to stay. As usual it's mostly because of stadium reasons, but as a whole it seems like Ohio is the state where folks buy into teams to try to move them into other markets because we, apparently, aren't cool enough to deserve them. Hell, even Major League called that out.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
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Post by Allie Kitsune on May 29, 2018 9:18:37 GMT -5
Eugene Melnyk.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on May 29, 2018 10:22:46 GMT -5
Anybody got any other good examples of team owners who seemed to have nothing but contempt for the city their team is in? I'm seeing the drama play out with the Columbus Crew and how desperately and infuriatingly the owner is trying to move the team to Austin, regardless of all the public outcry and the city and state trying to get them to stay. As usual it's mostly because of stadium reasons, but as a whole it seems like Ohio is the state where folks buy into teams to try to move them into other markets because we, apparently, aren't cool enough to deserve them. Hell, even Major League called that out. Pretty much the story of Stan Kroneke and St. Louis. He never wanted to be here and never had any attentions in staying here. It didn't matter what the City did, he was moving and that was his plan. You can call me STILL bitter but it was clear. Simple facts Brought the land the current new in LA is being built on before the lease was up in St. Louis. Refused to put any kind of money to a Stadium project in St. Louis. Full funded Stadium by tax payers was proposed but yet still rejected by him and the league. Biggest proof trashes the City AFTER the move was approved. So that just says he hated St. Louis and never wanted to be here. Just wanted the team.
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Post by karl100589 on May 29, 2018 11:08:03 GMT -5
Mike Ashley
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Post by Cyno on May 29, 2018 11:52:14 GMT -5
Dan Gilbert
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Post by Heeltown, USA on Jun 1, 2018 21:36:34 GMT -5
Jeffrey Luria.
Drove the Expos into the ground out of pure spite since it was the only MLB franchise he could get at the time.
Things got so bad MLB had to step in and take operating control of the team.
In exchange, they gave him the f***ing Marlins. He instantly wins a Workd Series title, and still proceeds to fire sale the team to shed payroll. He pouts and whines that they city of Miami needs to give him a new ballpark for him to invest capital into the franchise.
Motherf***er gets a fully taxpayer funded venue. To his credit he kept his promise and loads up on free agents to make the team competitive.....for one f***ing year before he finishes the bait and switch and fire sales the team, again.
Mercifully Derek Jeter and his group agree to overpay and buy the team to get this douchebag out of the ranks of MLB owners.
Im not even a Marlins fan, and I sat for 15 years with my jaw in ny lap at what this man did to two MLB franchises, cities and fanbases.
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Dr. T is an alien
Patti Mayonnaise
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Post by Dr. T is an alien on Jun 5, 2018 19:49:17 GMT -5
Baltimore fans might disagree, but the reality is that Bob Irsay was the exact opposite of this. The Colts were all set to leave Baltimore in the 70's. He agreed to be a minority owner in a group of local businessmen who would buy the team, but things didn't work that way. First, his partners kept bailing and he simply paid for their share. Second, the owner did not want to simply sell them the team. He had to buy a different team (which at that point was probably more valuable than the Colts) and trade teams. He did all of that just to keep the team in town.
It was only after he bought the team that he understood just why both the previous owner and the owner of the Orioles both wanted to leave town. Sharing their stadium was actually both a financial and competitive hardship and the city's comptroller wasn't about to do anything to help either team as he felt it wasn't the responsibility of the city to help (a stance which I honestly have no issue with, nor apparently did the residents as they kept reelecting him after he eventually forced the Colts to leave town or go bankrupt).
Yeah, Baltimore fans might be bitter at Irsay for leaving like he did, or leaving in general, but they shouldn't. The man mortgaged his future in an attempt to keep his beloved Colts in the city he loved, almost lost the farm doing so, and when he started making the only reasonable business move he could by relocating his business the city he loved tried to use imminent domain to steal the team that he paid so dearly for from him. If anything, it's the Irsay's who should be bitter at Baltimore fans, not the other way around.
Fortunately for Baltimore, the Colts leaving town lightened the constraints on the Orioles, which reduced their drive to leave town. It also made the city more willing to help the team out, which is why they got a new stadium after the Colts left. Once that comptroller finally retired (by dying, I think), the city was finally willing to shell out the money to entice a new team to come to town.
Now, I must stress that I don't think that Baltimore should have had to pay for a new stadium just because the Colts needed one. I wish every team did what Bob Kraft did and self-fund their stadiums. Many, in not most of them today, could afford to do so. I'm just saying that one should not get upset that the Colts left town to a city that agreed to do so when they did not.
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Allie Kitsune
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jun 5, 2018 19:56:59 GMT -5
Honorable mention to Jim Balsillie.
He had deals in place with both the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he got rejected both times because of his obsession with moving any team he bought to Hamilton.
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MolotovMocktail
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Jun 5, 2018 21:32:41 GMT -5
Although he's been reduced to a minority owner, Lew Wolff of the Oakland A's. He constantly badmouthed the city, and fans, and (rightfully) the stadium for bad attendance, but showed no willingness to get a new one built. His entire plan was to move the team to San Jose to attract corporate Silicon Valley money. Even if the A's did draw, he kept payroll low and dismantled competitive teams with the excuse that he couldn't make a profit because the luxury boxes were inadequate.
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Post by Ganon83 on Jun 5, 2018 22:12:51 GMT -5
I'm sure there's a Packer fan or two who wouldn't have minded seeing the team move down to Milwaukee when the NFL made its ultimatum a couple of decades ago
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OGBoardPoster2005
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Post by OGBoardPoster2005 on Jun 5, 2018 22:37:13 GMT -5
Peter Angelos, because the Orioles are chaotic bad or chaotic good. We went to 3 ALCS under his ownership...and have made playoffs only 5 times since 1995 (his first season as owner).
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Pensacola Tableheads
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Post by Pensacola Tableheads on Jun 6, 2018 9:01:46 GMT -5
Dean "F*** YOU" Spanos. Chargers fans got screwed.
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Post by Andy Martin on Jun 6, 2018 13:11:00 GMT -5
Dean "F*** YOU" Spanos. Chargers fans got screwed. f***ing tightwad.
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J
Don Corleone
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Post by J on Jun 6, 2018 16:43:50 GMT -5
A big f*** you to Anthony Precourt.
Also a hearty f*** you to both Howard Schultz and Clay Bennett
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Post by Cyno on Jun 6, 2018 17:58:43 GMT -5
Jeff Loria deserves a special place on this list for screwing the taxpayers of Miami and Miami itself out of millions of dollars. He has to be the single worst owner in American sports history, which is saying something considering some of the egomaniacs and scumbags that have owned major sports franchises over the decades.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Jun 6, 2018 18:15:50 GMT -5
Rachel Phelps
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jun 6, 2018 22:22:53 GMT -5
Jeff Loria deserves a special place on this list for screwing the taxpayers of Miami and Miami itself out of millions of dollars. He has to be the single worst owner in American sports history, which is saying something considering some of the egomaniacs and scumbags that have owned major sports franchises over the decades. Yea I was about to come into this thread and mention him
The man did Miami dirty. You have the taxpayers paying for the stadium and you gas everyone up by saying you won't break the team down after signing players. Next season they sell off all the players they paid for and gave them a lame duck product that's even worse today
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Post by Cyno on Jun 6, 2018 23:16:07 GMT -5
And the funny thing is people are pissed as hell about the new Marlins' ownership group due to the current state of the team. And while they do share some responsibility, the reason why they're in this state to begin with is because of the sorry state of affairs Loria left the team in.
It's a travesty that Loria did this, and that Selig and then Manfred lacked the leadership ability or desire to do right by Miami and punish Loria for what he did with the team.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2018 6:47:01 GMT -5
Jeffrey Luria. Drove the Expos into the ground out of pure spite since it was the only MLB franchise he could get at the time. Things got so bad MLB had to step in and take operating control of the team. In exchange, they gave him the f***ing Marlins. He instantly wins a Workd Series title, and still proceeds to fire sale the team to shed payroll. He pouts and whines that they city of Miami needs to give him a new ballpark for him to invest capital into the franchise. Motherf***er gets a fully taxpayer funded venue. To his credit he kept his promise and loads up on free agents to make the team competitive.....for one f***ing year before he finishes the bait and switch and fire sales the team, again. Mercifully Derek Jeter and his group agree to overpay and buy the team to get this douchebag out of the ranks of MLB owners. Im not even a Marlins fan, and I sat for 15 years with my jaw in ny lap at what this man did to two MLB franchises, cities and fanbases. To baseball's (lack of) credit, when the Expos were in the thick of a Wild Card hunt and the September call-ups/roster expansion were/was happening, MLB brought up...nobody.
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Post by Heeltown, USA on Jun 8, 2018 17:18:26 GMT -5
Jeffrey Luria. Drove the Expos into the ground out of pure spite since it was the only MLB franchise he could get at the time. Things got so bad MLB had to step in and take operating control of the team. In exchange, they gave him the f***ing Marlins. He instantly wins a Workd Series title, and still proceeds to fire sale the team to shed payroll. He pouts and whines that they city of Miami needs to give him a new ballpark for him to invest capital into the franchise. Motherf***er gets a fully taxpayer funded venue. To his credit he kept his promise and loads up on free agents to make the team competitive.....for one f***ing year before he finishes the bait and switch and fire sales the team, again. Mercifully Derek Jeter and his group agree to overpay and buy the team to get this douchebag out of the ranks of MLB owners. Im not even a Marlins fan, and I sat for 15 years with my jaw in ny lap at what this man did to two MLB franchises, cities and fanbases. To baseball's (lack of) credit, when the Expos were in the thick of a Wild Card hunt and the September call-ups/roster expansion were/was happening, MLB brought up...nobody. I remember that, and MLB ran the team on a shoestring budget too but since the other 29 owners were footing the bill it wasn’t gonna be anything other than it was. MLB were like a hazmat crew spraying foam on the fires of the molten crater that Loria left behind. The franchise was f***ed every way, finding a city for relocation was the only option. A true case for the sports wtf files.
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