Re: Positive & Negative Look At Bird's Franchise Efforts

["Greg Odegaard" <grodeg@xxxxxxxxxx>]

It is the stunted "Professional" sports logic that allowed teams to
immediately be reassigned to Baltimore, Cleveland and Houston in the NFL,
Minnesnowta etc. in the NHL and Miami in NCAAFB and soon to be NCAABB in
Michigan. Sympathy with the devil, and healing to the victims and the weak.
Hoodlum owners and alumni wronged the city and it fans, therefore some 12
step do gooders (wanting a few century millions don't hurt either) come in
on a white horse to save the day.

Business as usual, and you can get a receipt for the tax man.  Take care
all,
Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: "Maria Lyell" <marialyell@netzero.com>
To: "Way Of The Ray" <wayray@ix.netcom.com>; <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 6:24 PM
Subject: RE: Positive & Negative Look At Bird's Franchise Efforts


> I don't understand how the NBA could give Charlotte this team when they
> could not market the last one. Was anyone else in the running?
>
>
> John
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-celtics@igtc.com [mailto:owner-celtics@igtc.com]On Behalf Of
> Way Of The Ray
> Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 4:29 AM
> To: celtics@igtc.com
> Subject: Positive & Negative Look At Bird's Franchise Efforts
>
>
> >From Boston Sports Media Watch - http://bostonmedia.blogspot.com/
>
> The one thing Jageler has been vocal about is the Bird/Belkin group not
> getting the NBA franchise for his former hometown of Charlotte. Jags
> says that the city was basically sold a bill of goods by having Larry
> Bird go down there, get the city excited and then the NBA goes with the
> Johnson group instead. Without Larry Bird's name there would be no arena
> deal or NBA expansion team there.
>
> Posted on Thu, Dec. 19, 2002
>
> On Basketball | For NBA trailblazer, money talked loudly
> By Stephen A. Smith
> Inquirer Columnist
>
>
>
> Robert L. Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment
> Television, was the logical choice all along for ownership of the
> Charlotte franchise.
>
>
> Staring in the faces of five NBA owners, knowing he was in competition
> with a group led by the legendary Larry Bird, Black Entertainment
> Television founder Robert L. Johnson walked to the negotiating table
> with the following:
>
> Fearlessness.
>
> A belief that it was his time - an African American's time - to become a
> majority owner of a professional sports franchise.
>
> A financial portfolio worth more than $1.3 billion, and inside knowledge
> that Bird's group was not truly ready to compete financially for
> ownership of Charlotte's expansion franchise.
>
> For those wondering how a black man known more for televising hip-hop
> videos on BET beat out a 14-person group in which Bird was the marquee
> name, the answer is simple: money.
>
> "Essentially, Bob Johnson walked in there and reminded the committee
> that this is a business deal," one league source extremely close to
> negotiations told The Inquirer yesterday. "He reminded them that he was
> a businessman. That he can build value and can invest in what it takes
> to make things work. Then he basically said, 'Oh! By the way. Here [are]
> my financial credentials.'
>
> "Needless to say, there was not much else to say."
>
> A man born in Mississippi and raised by a working-class family, a man
> who took out a mortgage on his second home 22 years ago for $40,000 and
> turned it into more than $2 billion, Johnson is now the first black to
> own a majority stake in a major American professional sports team.
>
> Isn't America great?
>
> No doubt African Americans across the nation are celebrating.
>
> They should be joined by everyone.
>
> For years, minorities have attempted to gain ownership, but weren't
> blessed with the financial means to do so.
>
> Magic Johnson's 5 percent stake in the L.A. Lakers was given to him by
> team owner Jerry Buss. Bill Cosby was meshed in with others to gain a
> stake in the New Jersey Nets. Michael Jordan gained access to ownership
> with the Washington Wizards only after Ted Leonsis, a minority owner,
> brought Jordan in. And Isiah Thomas' bid to gain majority ownership of
> the Toronto Raptors was squelched abruptly.
>
> Until now, when a minority attempted to get a foot in the boardroom, the
> overture came in the person of a big-name African American athlete. An
> athlete who was willing to allow some group to use his name in return
> for a stake.
>
> That's exactly the design by the group containing Bird. White and as
> illustrious a basketball name as Jordan and Johnson, Bird was to have a
> 10 percent stake in ownership of the Charlotte franchise if his group
> had been approved.
>
> Thing is, Bird partnered himself with a group that didn't have the
> funds, according to sources very close to the negotiations.
>
> >From day one, Bird's group appeared too eager to engage in a public
> relations, smoke-and-mirrors campaign.
>
> Bird went down to Charlotte to ingratiate himself with the community
> shortly after the Hornets - Charlotte's original franchise - skipped
> town for New Orleans. He did everything but have M.L. Carr - another
> former player and proposed partner - wave pom-poms. Meanwhile, Bird's
> group was negotiating hard to lower the NBA's $300-million price tag,
> thinking Bird's name would parlay into leverage.
>
> "From day one, the committee knew Bob Johnson was the guy," the source
> familiar with the NBA decision said. "His financial portfolio was just
> overwhelmingly impressive. He had everything together. Everything. He
> didn't need to negotiate a price."
>
> So, no matter how Bird's group looked to the NBA, the simple fact is,
> Johnson looked better.
>
> Bird's 14-member group couldn't get the $300 million asking price as
> recently as days ago, according to the official who wished to remain
> anonymous. Meanwhile, "Bob was saying, 'Who do you guys want me to sign
> the check to?' " the source said.
>
> He will make it out to the NBA. He should make it out to commissioner
> David Stern and the Phoenix Suns' owner and committee chairman, Jerry
> Colangelo.
>
> Stern, after all, has been on a mission for years to make sure the
> league beat every other major sport to landing the first African
> American majority owner. And it was Colangelo - like Johnson, a graduate
> of the University of Illinois - who befriended Johnson nearly 10 years
> ago and championed his cause in the league.
>
> Anyone with knowledge of the NBA knows that Johnson doesn't get in
> without Stern and Colangelo.
>
> And anyone with a respect for fairness and ethics should realize that it
> was time for this to happen.
>
> Johnson came to the table with credentials instead of his hand out. He
> had the financial package to make this happen. And in the final
> analysis, when prejudice, unfairness and the ever-so-popular Good Ol'
> Boy network could have played a significant role, it didn't.
>
> For years, the NBA's mantra has been "I love this game."
>
> Now, more than ever, I know why!
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> ----
>
> Contact staff writer Stephen A. Smith at 215-854-5846 or
> ssmith@phillynews.com.
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