Bettman Wouldn't Know Integrity If He Fell Over It
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The National Hockey League will do its best again today to keep Jim Balsillie from joining its exclusive club of owners. It wants a U.S. bankruptcy court to dismiss his bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes on the grounds that NHL governors have already decided he's not worthy of their company.
"The NHL board of governors has unanimously voted that Mr. Balsillie is not qualified as a matter of character and integrity to be the owner of an NHL team,” the league said in a declaration filed with the court.
Character and integrity? The NHL feels it is qualified to judge others based on their character and integrity?
Now, Jim Balsillie may be a lot of things. For a guy who comes across as just another ordinary Canadian hockey fan and billionaire, he spends an awful lot of time in court insisting he's been railroaded by one heinous opponent or another. He doesn't give in easily, or at all. You get the sense that "compromise" isn't near the top of his list of favourite words.
But being an SOB in the business world is a long way from being of dubious character and integrity. And the NHL has to be among the less qualified organizations in the world to play that card. This is a league that has welcomed thieves, liars, conmen and cheats, that embraces incompetents and honours rogues, that goes out of its way to do business with men who should be in jail, and has seen several of them dragged off to the pokey while still members in high standing of the NHL Board of Governors.
Character and integrity? As CBS sports noted: It's an interesting assessment because in recent years, the governors have welcomed William "Boots" Del Biaggio, now headed to jail on fraud charges, Henry Samueli, now awaiting sentencing on SEC violations, John Rigas, currently in jail on embezzlement charges, and Sanjay Kumar, now serving time for conspiracy into their circle."
Nevermind the crooks for a moment, how about the chronically inept? The Boston Bruins haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1972, three years before the team was purchased by Jeremy Jacobs, a renowned tightwad who made both ESPN's "worst owners in sports" and "greediest owners in sports" lists. Jacobs runs his team in the tradition of Bill Wirtz, who operated the Chicago Blackhawks for more than 40 years and all but drove them into the ground. The Hawks are the only original six team that has gone longer without a cup than the Toronto Maple Leafs -- indeed, one of the Leafs' few claims to comfort is that, for all their failings, at least they're usually not as bad as the Hawks. A skinflint of epic proportions, Wirtz oversaw decades of mediocrity in what should be one of the hottest hockey markets on the continent. The bigget reason for the Hawks recent revival is that Wirtz finally died two years ago.
The New York Islanders have been one long circus act under the decade-old ownership of Charles Wang, a man so clueless he thought Mike Milbury would make a good executive. Tampa Bay is so badly run it can't win games despite the ability to put Martin St Louis, Steve Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier on the ice at the same time; the two owners loathe each other to such a degree the league is putting together a plan that will let one owner buy out the other before the 2009 season gets underway. The Dallas Stars owner stopped making interest payments on $525 million in loans last spring. The Buffalo Sabres are still so iffy after almost 40 years in the league that the team can't survive without drawing fans from across the border, one reason Bettman is so terrified of letting Balsillie move another team into southern Ontario.
All these owners are just fine with Gary Bettman and his loyal sidekick, Bill Daly. They'll sit around the table with bankrupts, fraud artists, skinflints and clowns. But they won't tolerate a seat at the table for Jim Balsillie, whose crime is a desire to turn the sad-sack, money-losing Phoenix Coyotes into a well-financed winner in an eager market. Bettman would much rather sell the team to Jerry Reinsdorf, who is offering less money and wants tens of millions in inducements, subsidies, concessions and tax give-backs -- and could still move the team a few years down the road. That's right -- Bettman is more than happy to sell the team to a guy who can't guarantee he'll keep it in Phoenix, but has a massive hate on for Balsillie, for suggesting he'd do the same thing. Balsillie is willing to pay generously for the privilege, Reinsdorf wants a welfare package to ensure he assumes no risk.
Jerry Reinsdorf apparently has character and integrity. Jim Balsillie doesn't. So how do you tell the difference? Don't ask Gary Bettman. He wouldn't know either quality if he fell over it.
National Post
"The NHL board of governors has unanimously voted that Mr. Balsillie is not qualified as a matter of character and integrity to be the owner of an NHL team,” the league said in a declaration filed with the court.
Character and integrity? The NHL feels it is qualified to judge others based on their character and integrity?
Now, Jim Balsillie may be a lot of things. For a guy who comes across as just another ordinary Canadian hockey fan and billionaire, he spends an awful lot of time in court insisting he's been railroaded by one heinous opponent or another. He doesn't give in easily, or at all. You get the sense that "compromise" isn't near the top of his list of favourite words.
But being an SOB in the business world is a long way from being of dubious character and integrity. And the NHL has to be among the less qualified organizations in the world to play that card. This is a league that has welcomed thieves, liars, conmen and cheats, that embraces incompetents and honours rogues, that goes out of its way to do business with men who should be in jail, and has seen several of them dragged off to the pokey while still members in high standing of the NHL Board of Governors.
Character and integrity? As CBS sports noted: It's an interesting assessment because in recent years, the governors have welcomed William "Boots" Del Biaggio, now headed to jail on fraud charges, Henry Samueli, now awaiting sentencing on SEC violations, John Rigas, currently in jail on embezzlement charges, and Sanjay Kumar, now serving time for conspiracy into their circle."
Nevermind the crooks for a moment, how about the chronically inept? The Boston Bruins haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1972, three years before the team was purchased by Jeremy Jacobs, a renowned tightwad who made both ESPN's "worst owners in sports" and "greediest owners in sports" lists. Jacobs runs his team in the tradition of Bill Wirtz, who operated the Chicago Blackhawks for more than 40 years and all but drove them into the ground. The Hawks are the only original six team that has gone longer without a cup than the Toronto Maple Leafs -- indeed, one of the Leafs' few claims to comfort is that, for all their failings, at least they're usually not as bad as the Hawks. A skinflint of epic proportions, Wirtz oversaw decades of mediocrity in what should be one of the hottest hockey markets on the continent. The bigget reason for the Hawks recent revival is that Wirtz finally died two years ago.
The New York Islanders have been one long circus act under the decade-old ownership of Charles Wang, a man so clueless he thought Mike Milbury would make a good executive. Tampa Bay is so badly run it can't win games despite the ability to put Martin St Louis, Steve Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier on the ice at the same time; the two owners loathe each other to such a degree the league is putting together a plan that will let one owner buy out the other before the 2009 season gets underway. The Dallas Stars owner stopped making interest payments on $525 million in loans last spring. The Buffalo Sabres are still so iffy after almost 40 years in the league that the team can't survive without drawing fans from across the border, one reason Bettman is so terrified of letting Balsillie move another team into southern Ontario.
All these owners are just fine with Gary Bettman and his loyal sidekick, Bill Daly. They'll sit around the table with bankrupts, fraud artists, skinflints and clowns. But they won't tolerate a seat at the table for Jim Balsillie, whose crime is a desire to turn the sad-sack, money-losing Phoenix Coyotes into a well-financed winner in an eager market. Bettman would much rather sell the team to Jerry Reinsdorf, who is offering less money and wants tens of millions in inducements, subsidies, concessions and tax give-backs -- and could still move the team a few years down the road. That's right -- Bettman is more than happy to sell the team to a guy who can't guarantee he'll keep it in Phoenix, but has a massive hate on for Balsillie, for suggesting he'd do the same thing. Balsillie is willing to pay generously for the privilege, Reinsdorf wants a welfare package to ensure he assumes no risk.
Jerry Reinsdorf apparently has character and integrity. Jim Balsillie doesn't. So how do you tell the difference? Don't ask Gary Bettman. He wouldn't know either quality if he fell over it.
National Post
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