There are a lot of things (and people) in sports that drive me crazy. Bad, pompous, or annoying analysts are near the top of the list. (*Cough* Mel Kiper, Chris Berman, and Skip Bayless *cough*). Cocky players get on my nerves too. (BJ Upton). What annoys me most is a bad owner. It's one thing if you're 80 some-odd years old and a little crazy, (Bud Adams, anyone?), but to be of reasonable age and criticize your players and make a public fool of yourself is unacceptable. I'm looking at you, Dan Gilbert, Fred Wilpon, and Donald Sterling.
As a Detroit fan, I'm lucky because my teams have decent owners. William Clay Ford isn't the best, but on the same token, he certainly isn't the worst. The Pistons currently don't have an owner, so I can't say anything about that. The Tigers and Red Wings have, in my opinion, have one of the better owners in all of sports. Mike Illitch, owner of the pizza chain Little Caesar's, is committed to his teams. He wants to win, and is willing to allow the front offices of his teams to use his money the way they see fit. For the most part, he stays out of public affairs, and is relatively unheard of. That's the way it should be.
Some owners choose to voice their opinions to the public. Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA immediately comes to mind. Yes, he has said some stupid things before, but for someone who's as public as he is, he runs his team well. Dallas is in the Finals this year and has been a contender for as long as I've been following sports.
 |
| Cleveland fans burning LeBron James jerseys |
|
The Dan Gilbert (owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers) incident was the first instance of an owner that really got on my nerves. I fully understand why he was upset when LeBron left. Transcendent superstars like LeBron James come along once in a generation. For the city of Cleveland to lose him the way they did was one of the biggest gut punches in the history of sports. A smart owner who thinks his actions through would not have made comments about LeBron, describing the incident as a "narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his 'decision' unlike anything ever 'witnessed' in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment." Don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting LeBron James. While he was a free agent, and has every right to sign where he chooses, to make a spectacle and embarrass himself and the Cleveland organization on national television was not the way to go. Cleveland, as a sports city, had long been like a dam waiting to bust. The backlash to the LeBron incident was like nothing we'd seen in sports before. People were in tears, there were jersey burnings, and there was an overall level of chaos in the city of Cleveland. Gilbert's comments only exacerbated the incident. Bashing and berating LeBron James is only going to feed the fire. With a situation like that, the things you say aren't about your image anymore. They're about public safety. His words allowed people doing dangerous things after "The Decision" to feel justified in their actions. People could have, and likely did, injure themselves or others. As an owner, in that situation, you need to calm the city and fans down, and not throw gasoline into the flames. As I said, I understand how Gilbert felt when he wrote his infamous letter and made his comments, but they shouldn't have been made as the situation was unfolding. It's not the comments that angered me so much as the timing and the way he went about saying them.
 |
| Do I really need a caption here? |
The next incident that really annoyed me also happened in the NBA. This winter, Donald Sterling, notorious idiot and owner of the forever-tortured Los Angeles Clippers struck again. Point guard Baron Davis, while in the heart of a 5-year, $65-million dollar contract, was heckled by Sterling, while he was sitting courtside at a game. Sterling insulted Davis repeatedly, saying, "Why are you in the game?" "Why did you take that shot?" and "You're out of shape!" This isn't right. According to a report that broke the incident, this has gone on for years, with center Chris Kaman also being a primary target of Sterling's jibes. While Davis isn't particularly known for his work ethic (he's probably more known for his lack of one), it's not Sterling's job to harass him about it. Davis responded to the situation by saying, "There's nothing I can say. I have no comment on that. You just get to this point where it's a fight every day. It's a fight. You're fighting unnecessary battles. I'm fighting unnecessary battles." He's right. The Clippers have enough problems as it is, and they certainly don't need their owner spewing garbage from the sidelines. Being the owner, he represents the entire organization, and when he makes comments like that, it makes the Clippers seem like even more of a joke than they are already.
 |
| I don't know either, Fred Wilpon. |
More recently, Fred Wilpon, majority owner of the New York Mets had a few things to say about his team. Wilpon was already in hot water regarding the Bernie Madoff scandal. He actually made about $300 million dollars through investing with Madoff (something that is incredibly fishy), and is being sued by the victims of Madoff's scheme. It would seem that Wilpon would want to take himself out of the spotlight. Nope. In a recent article for
The New Yorker, Wilpon made several disparaging comments regarding his team's most prominent and well-paid players. About very rich right-fielder Carlos Beltran, he said "We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series. He's 65 to 70 percent of what he was." Wilpon's right about Beltran. He's not the player he used to be. But as in the case involving Sterling, this is something that you don't say, at least not publicly, about one of your most well-paid players. He goes on to insult shortstop Jose Reyes. He says, "He thinks he's going to get Carl Crawford money. He's had everything wrong with him. He won't get it." Again, I'm not saying that Wilpon is incorrect. It's just that there's a time and a place for everything and the middle of a difficult season is not the time or the place to bash your team's star shortstop. He continues by making a backhanded compliment about third baseman David Wright, saying, "Really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar." David Wright is the closest thing to a superstar that the Mets have. He's a great guy and a very good ballplayer, not to mention the face of the organization. The Mets should make him feel like he's wanted, rather than say things that are likely to push him away.
While Wilpon and Gilbert don't have the history that Sterling does, the comments that they made have the same effect on their teams. In all three instances, the organizations are dealing with teams that are struggling in the field or on the court and desperately need a pick-me-up. The Clippers got theirs in Blake Griffin, so they lucked out. The Cavs have the first and fourth picks in the upcoming draft, so they're in good shape as well. The Mets, on the other hand, are in a state of disarray. They need something that will bring them up, and not down.
I guess that it's difficult to find 120 majority owners across all four major sports that are competent. That's a lot of people, and a lot of personalities, and some are bound to go awry. But the Cavs, Clippers, and Mets are damaged franchises in need of help. The last thing they need is their owner hurting their team's reputation. None of these teams will be able to recover without savvy leadership from the top down, and that's something that they've been sorely lacking.
Thanks to ESPN.com for providing information used in this post.
