What He Said

Art Thiel, in the PI.

Bobby Doerr, Meet Jeremy Tyler

I’ve been re-reading David Halberstam’s excellent Summer of ’49, and I came across a passage last night which has a surprising tie-in to the ongoing debate regarding Jeremy Tyler.

Halberstam’s book profiles the season through the narrow viewpoint of the Red Sox and Yankees, going into incredible detail of the day-to-day activities of both rosters, from trainers to owners. Among the stories about the Dimaggios, Ted Williams, and so forth is the tale of Boston second baseman Bobby Doerr, a much-beloved player (by, among others, future commissioner Bart Giamatti) who would later enter the Hall of Fame.

Anyone who follows baseball closely knows the Doerr story – a classy man who parlayed solid defense, a strong bat, and good teammates into a ticket to Cooperstown. What they probably don’t know is that Doerr turned pro at age 16.

Yes, 16. While still enrolled in Fremont High School in LA, Doerr signed up to play professionally for the Hollywood Stars, meaning he spent the last two years of his high school years traveling around the west coast of the United States.

And yet, nobody made a big deal out of it. Doerr’s father, as part of the contract, insisted that the team allow Doerr to come back to complete his education, but it wasn’t as if the LA Times ran a huge story bemoaning how the Hollywood Stars were robbing the innocence of this poor young man. Bobby Doerr was a great player, a team wanted to pay him to play, and his family decided it was okay. End of story.

Today, though, we have developed some bizarre set of rules for our children. We allow them to watch horribly violent movies and video games seemingly from infancy and let our daughters wear clothes that hookers from 50 years ago would consider scandalous. But letting a 17-year-old get paid to play basketball in Europe? The horror!

Imagine if Jeremy Tyler had been offered a scholarship to attend school and play basketball in Amsterdam for a year. Would anyone care? Would any of us notice?

Of course not. And yet, for some bizarre reason, people such as Dick Vitale feel a need to criticize Tyler and his family for what they have chosen to do. I ask you, naysayers, are you as mad at Bobby Doerr’s family as you are at Jeremy Tyler’s? Do you think Tony Parker destroyed his life by turning pro before he could vote?

Further, why do you care? Who, exactly, is Jeremy Tyler hurting by doing this? Is he not better off than half or more of the African-American boys in this country?

Honestly, it’s not for us to say. It’s up to Mr. Tyler and his family. They’ve made their decision, and I suggest the rest of us just shut up about it.

McClendon, Ward in WSJ

In two separate stories, the WSJ reported on two owners of the Sonix, our good friends Aubrey McClendon (here) and Tom Ward (here).

The McClendon story is nothing altogether shocking - shareholders of Chesapeake are furious about McClendon's pay package, which is quite reasonable considering the performance of the company's stock in the past six months.

The Ward story concerns SandRidge Energy's sale of more than 15 million shares, including 3 million belonging to Mr. Ward himself, at a discount. This comes on the heels of the compay's announcement of a $1.3 billion first-quarter asset write-down due to crappy natural gas prices.

And, after reading all of that, you are free to bang your head against the desk whilst bemoaning fate ..... now.

Gee, Bob, I Can Think of a Couple ...

Robert Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, as told to the AP. Irsay is referring to the city of Indianaplis' desire to renegotiate their stadium deal with the Colts, owing to the funding shortfall the stadium authority has experienced.

"What business would come in and negotiate with the city and the state for three or four years and get all the details ironed out, and then three or four months after you're in the building have them say that doesn't really matter and then take your brand and rake it over the coals."

What kind of business? Well, there's this guy, who decided he didn't like his building less than a decade after it was built, and who tried to renegotiate his lease even though there was still close to five years left on it. Or this guy, who pulled a team out of town even though they still had a year left on their lease.

Or, maybe, this kind of business, the kind which promises to let the mayor of the city in which it resides of a phone call if it decides to move, then gets 15 moving vans to load up in the middle of the night and haul ass for Indianapolis. Sorry, Bob, but people who pull that kind of stuff don't get the right to act sanctimonious.

Olympia: It's Not Over ... Yet

Via Joe Turner of the News Tribune:

Sen. Ed Murray and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles have issued a statement relating to the life of SB 6116.

“If the Legislature goes into a special session sometime during this year, we will continue conversations around SB 6116. We will work with the opponents of this bill and try to reach an agreement.”

Coming on the heels of Murray's amendment that eliminated all non-KeyArena related portions of the bill (i.e., Husky Stadium), it is painfully clear that Murray and Kohl-Welles are doing everything they can to bring professional basketball back to Seattle.

Whether their passion for the subject can persuade enough of their fellow lawmakers remains to be seen.

Will Special Session Save Sonics?

After being unable to tie up all the loose ends before the end of the regular session of the Washington State Legislature, it appears that Gov. Gregoire will be calling a special session, at which time SB 6116 - to help authorize funding the improvement of KeyArena - could possibly be passed.

Or not.

According to The Seattle Times, the governor is still undecided as to whether a special session will be required. As of this moment, the bill - which would enable King County to utilize an existing sales tax for funding - among other things - the renovation of KeyArena - remained unpassed, leaving Seattle for now without any prospects for professional basketball.

Further, by not passing the bill during this session, it takes Clay Bennett off the hook for a $30 million bonus he was to have paid the city were the legislature to act on improving the Key. However, were the bill to pass during the special session, Bennett would still be obligated to pay up the cash, assuming Seattle were not to receive a basketball team in the near future.

Got all that?

Of note, the governor issued a statement which noted the following (via The Spokesman-Review):

"The 2009 legislative session completed the most difficult regular session in a generation with a balanced budget, very significant transportation improvements, and other important agreements, but work remains to be done with respect to a few items.

“I will meet with legislative leadership shortly to determine when the Legislature will reconvene.”

The big word being WHEN and not IF the legislature reconvenes.

Stay tuned.

Hey, Kid, Wanna Buy an Aubrey McClendon Poster?

You might recall a month or so ago when we told you about Aubrey McClendon's wine-selling venture, which netted him a cool pile of money. However, as expected, that sale did come at a price, as the wine was sold for far less than it had been valued just 12 months previous.

McClendon did, however, find a willing buyer for some of the other crap he had laying around the house another aspect of his wonderful collection: Maps and paintings.

The Times Online reports that McClendon was lucky enough to find a buyer who would pay him $12 million for an assortment of maps, paintings, etc., which turns out to be $8 million more than he paid for them.

The buyer, you ask? Chesapeake Energy. Why a natural gas company that lost $800 million needed to spend $12 million on a bunch of paintings is beyond my grasp, but I'm sure they can come up with a good explanation. (Naturally, CHK would not comment to the Times on the story).

Anyhow, I'm guessing the negotiations between Aubrey and Chesapeake went something like this:

AM: Self, how much will you pay me for these maps and paintings of Native Americans?

AM: I will pay you $5 million.

AM: No, that won't work. Try again.

AM: Okay, self, how about $10 million.

AM: That's not bad, but I can't part with them for that price. Look at the fine texture, the beautiful expression ... no, $10 million is an insult to me.

AM: Fine, $12 million, but that's my final offer to me.

AM: Done. Nice doing business with me.

Tune in tomorrow when Aubrey tries to sell his $20 million estate in Bermuda to Chesapeake as a "Research and Development Facility."

Boozer

After watching the exciting finish to last night's Jazz-Lakers game, I could only help but wonder:

What if Carlos Boozer had stayed in Cleveland?

It's a lot to imagine, certainly, but the thought of Boozer being an option at the 4 instead of Ben Wallace, and thereby allowing LeBron James just a bit more freedom, well, it makes you ponder just how incredible LBJ's stats would be then. It's been five years since the contract shenanigans of the summer of 2004, but as the Cavs get closer and closer to the Finals, having someone with Boozer's skills at the power forward position would certainly be nice to have.

Ed Murray to Cougs: How You Like These Apples?

Sen. Ed Murray, frustrated with Washington State University antagonists who have, perhaps, derailed SB 6116 (the KeyArena/Husky Stadium bill), has decided that he will take their argument to its logical conclusion:

You don't want state money going to Husky Stadium? Fine, I'll create an amendment that not only forbids the University of Washington from getting funds, but Washington State as well.

You can smell the burning anger in Murray's voice when he tells the Times' Jim Brunner, "I have heard the message loud and clear, state taxes should not be used for sports."

What does this mean for the bill, still living in purgatory in the State Senate? It's now a bit more likely that passage is possible, in that any WSU supporter with an ounce of common sense knows that passage of Murray's amendment would seriously cripple the renovation of Martin Stadium in Pullman, in that WSU athletic department currently receives in excess of $2 million per year from the university, money that would dry up and float away should Murray's amendment go through.

WSU fans: Wake up - this is not a UW vs WSU thing, here. This is a Seattle vs. Clay Bennett thing. By opposing this bill, you are supporting Clay Bennett. Ask yourself: Is that really the side of the equation in which you want reside?

Pacers, Sonics: Owners Cut From Same Cloth

“I don’t think it’s right for an entrepreneur to ask another entrepreneur for a gift.”
Herb Simon, 1997

This past weekend, Cory Schouten put together an insightful story for the Indiana Business Journal about the Simon family’s close-knit relationship with Indianapolis and the massive piles of money they have received in the name of urban renewal.

In many ways, you get left with the question: Where does Indianapolis end and Herb Simon’s family begin?

Schouten impressively details how the Simons:

- Received an estimated $400 million from the city for various real estate projects over the course of the past decade.

- Use the maintenance of Conseco as an excuse for financial help, while the city is actually the one footing the bill, to the tune of $3.45 million per year. (Of note, the city paid $62,000 to outfit the Pacers’ employees and $15,000 on NBA Fastbreak pinball machines).

- Artfully dodged the truth about their lease when they went to the press this past month. In reality, the Pacers’ renegotiation of their current lease is not as trouble-free as they would lead us to believe. According to Schouten, the team is able to renegotiate only if the team fails to meet certain profit margins, and the team would only be able to leave if it paid a substantial penalty.

How substantial? Try anywhere from $50 million to, gulp, $144 million, depending on when the team decides to pack up. (As an aside, I urge you to read this article from the Ogden On Politics blog, detailing the fleecing of Indianapolis taxpayers by the Simon family, a prediction from five years ago about how this year’s events would transpire, and how Herb Simon’s continual lying about the economics of Conseco Fieldhouse are all too familiar to those of us in this region). ((I’m not sure where else to put this, but this second aside is as good as any. Herb Simon is currently working on wife number three, a former Miss Universe 1988 from Thailand. They were introduced by Simon’s niece, who was once her, yep, college roommate. Her first name is Porntip. Yes, Porntip. Back to the story)). (((One last note – guests at the wedding included George Hamilton and Rob Lowe – who gave a speech. I’m unaware if Simon requested funding from Indianapolis for the construction of the buffet table.)))

Schouten’s piece is thoroughly researched, and indicative of the situation in a large number of cities across this country. I find it promising that Seattle, Indiana, and now Milwaukee (hat tip, True Hoop) have taken a different approach to the inevitable city-vs-team thunderstorms. Rather than capitulate the instant team ownership threatens to move, these cities asked for an honest discussion of the economics. Sure, Herb Simon may be able to convince cities to erect new buildings for his minor-league baseball team, but the number of cities willing to fork over hundreds of millions for an NBA arena are dwindling faster than a pile of chicken wings at a Fortson family barbecue.

Interestingly, Simon had a conversation with the IBJ last year, at which time he announced his intention to take over the reins of the team. At the time, the Journal asked him what he considered the “tipping point” for when the team began to run into trouble:

IBJ: Can you identify a tipping point where things started to go south for the Pacers franchise and its relationship with the team’s fans?

Simon: Well the tipping point everyone points to—and we don’t like to talk about it anymore because we want to talk about positive things—was probably the Detroit incident and the incidents that followed. That seems to be the tipping point.

And yet, one year later, Simon told the Indianapolis Star that the Pacers had lost money “9 of the last 10 years,” meaning that the Malice at the Palace was, essentially, irrelevant, in that it occurred far after the financial problems began. Simon, or, rather, his spokesman, also claimed the family had lost $200 million during their ownership tenure, further indicating that these problems had taken root far in advance of Ron Artest donning a Pacers jersey.

Incredibly, Simon even commented that he would like to go back to 2000, as “the year 2000 is a good year for me.” And yet, in comments his spokesman made to the Star, the Pacers claim to have lost money in 2000, making me wonder: Were the losses offset by the glory of the Finals, or were there ever any losses to begin with?

Later on, Simon – and, remember, he said this in 2007, less than 12 months before his spokesman told the media the Pacers had lost money nearly every year they’ve been owned by the Simons – told the IBJ:

We face the challenge of a small market. We always will. But we’ve been profitable before and we hope to be profitable again.

Look, Simon is married to a former Miss Universe, has at least six houses on three continents, and had his honeymoon (for his third marriage) in Switzerland, Bora Bora, and Thailand. And he’s crying to the city that he needs help to keep the Pacers afloat? At what point do cities start to say, “You know what? Bite me. If you don’t like how things are going here, sell the team. If no one steps up to buy them, then we’ll talk. But if you put them up for sale and a half-dozen buyers show up, then you figure it out.”

In the past, teams treated cities like a star player treats his groupies. Free to extort cities at their whim, they knew all along that other cities were lined up, just drooling to take them in. These days, in tougher economic times, those extortion tactics no longer work so well, and NBA team owners are finding the situation is a bit stickier than the one to which they have grown accustomed. With decreasing tax revenues comes increasing budget scrutiny, and just as Clay Bennett found the Washington legislature less than thrilled with his $500 million arena boondoggle (whether because of budget constraints or inherent hebetude), fellow NBA owners may find other legislatures equally thrifty when it comes to throwing tax dollars at similar projects.

It’s about time.

Time Running Out

With the Washington Legislative Session within a few days of ending, the pressure is on to find a way to pass state bill 6116, which would help provide funding for an improvement to KeyArena.

And, with that in mind, it was surprising to read Sen. Ed Murray's comments in this morning's Seattle Times. Murray told reporter Jim Brunner, "The bill is dead for the session. Really dead." Seattle officials begged to differ, urging that until the session is officially over, nothing is dead.

At this point, it is painfully obvious that state represenatives and senators are facing a difficult fight to get this bill passed. On the one hand, the KeyArena improvement plan is fiscally sound (or as fiscally sound as this sort of project ever will be, anyways), and in this time of economic disaster, would prove a helping hand to struggling businesses in the area as well as construction companies.

On the other hand, the state is pondering increasing classroom sizes, forcing teachers to take a pay freeze for the foreseeable future, and cutting benefits to thousands of people. With that sort of activity taking place, it becomes politically untenable to support funding for professional sports, regardless of the merits of the project.

Still, I believe Murray's comments came more out of frustration than out of a cold, hard assessment of the facts. Bearing that in mind, if you're in favor of re-doing KeyArena, I suggest you phone the state's hotline at 1-800-562-6000 to express your support for SB 6116. 48 hours from now, all of this may be moot, and Seattle's chances of ever watching NBA basketball again will become even more remote.

Ask yourself: Do the Sonics matter to me? If the answer is yes, I'd suggest you pick up the phone.

Key Arena Bill: A 30 to 50% Chance of Passing

Jim Brunner of the Seattle Times checks in with odds on SB 6166 passing the state legislature this session.

Quoting Brunner:

"Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, prime sponsor of Substitute Senate Bill 6116, said he gives it a 50-50 chance of passing. But he predicts it will come down to the wire. 'It's a budget bill so it can hang out here til the end.'

"Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, who has worked on a similar proposal in the House, put the odds at just 30 percent."

Perhaps the two gentlemen's lack of faith in the bill's passage could be related to the King of Olympia, Frank Chopp, whose penchant for stalling was seen last year, the year before ... and this year as well. Whether the insertion of funding for low-income housing is the magical ingredient to get Chopp to go along with the bill remains to be seen, but Hunter and Murray's inside information - and their negative assessment of the bill's success - can't be too reassuring.