Tag Archives: jim balsillie

Lots Going On. Some Good, Some Bad and Some, well you know…

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Another week in Toyland and another week of good, bad, and very, very ugly.

THE GOOD

1) On the good side, there was Ben Dartnell. As a young kid, Ben was a Winnipeg Goldeyes bat boy who used to play catch at Shaw Park (old Canwest Park) with anyone who happened to have a glove. He was a great kid who always seemed to be better than the other youngsters  his age.

This week, Ben Dartnell was selected in the 34th round (1,042 overall) by the Boston Red Sox on Day 3, of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound lefthanded throwing fireballer out of Vauxhall Baseball Academy in Alberta, Dartnell has been a Red Sox fan all his life.

“This is a kid who owned Red Sox underwear,” said his dad, Goldeyes director of security, Paul Dartnell.

“I can’t complain,” young Ben said via Facebook. “I’m part of Red Sox Nation!”

It doesn’t get a lot better than that.

2) According to Forbes Magazine, this past week NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told Research in Motion founder, Jim Balsillie, he could still acquire an NHL team as long as he “didn’t create any more bad publicity for the league.”

Interesting comment considering that very few people have created more bad publicity for the NHL than Gary Bettman.

In fairness, however, that’s a big turnabout for Bettman who refused to allow Balsillie to buy the Phoenix Coyotes out of bankruptcy. Now, it’s apparent that with the instant success of the Winnipeg franchise that maybe Balsillie could bail the NHL out of that mess it has created in Phoenix.

The fact that another Canadian-based NHL team could be on the horizon makes Bettman’s reluctant kind-of-apology to Balsillie intriguing.

3) On Saturday,  the Winnipeg Blue Bombers held a day of training camp at Brandon’s Vincent Massey High School. Practice ran from 11:30 to 1:30 and autographs followed soon after the workout.

For no profound reason, that’s just good.

4) Ichiro. Watched him play against Detroit this week. Ichiro is good.

5) Nyjer Morgan. Because the guy is certifiably wonderful. Watch him here: http://ca.deadspin.com/5810810/the-week-in-deadspin?skyline=true&s=i

THE BAD

1) The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 112-103 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

The Mavericks had another big run to the finish. This time they outscored the Heat 15-3 down the stretch. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 29 points, but the dagger was a long three by Jason Terry, over a lazy LeBron James, with 20 seconds left. The Mavs shot 56.5 per cent from the field, 68 per-cent, 13-of-19, from three-point range. LeBron had a triple double, 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists but only two points in the fourth quarter.

The Mavs lead the Heat 3-2 heading back to Miami for Games 6 and 7. Miami can still win this championship and LeBron can win the first of all those championships he vowed to win when he decided to “take my talents to South Beach.”

But here’s what can make this still fluid situation bad: the Heat do proceed to lose the series. This was a team that celebrated its 2011 championship BEFORE it held its first shoot-around. It’s as if the Heat are supposed to win.

They aren’t. And if they don’t, the entire season was a failure and the stupid TV show last summer looks even more outrageous.

2) The reports of an “imminent (there’s that word again)” deal to end the NFL lockout was apparently premature. The Eagle-Tribune of Lowell, Mass., reported that the players and owners were close to a deal to end the work stoppage but spokesmen for both the players and owners said otherwise.

NFLPA spokesman George Atallah posted this 54-character comment on his Twitter account: “There’s a report that the lockout is over. Umm…no.”

It’s bad that the lockout isn’t over. It’s good, however, that there is at least some discussion about ending it.

3) So we’re told LeBron and Dwyane made a snotty remark about Dirk Nowitzki’s case of the flu this week and while Dirk seemed a little hurt by it, the American media blew right up.

“I just thought it was a little childish, a little ignorant,” Dirk said. “I’ve been in this league for 13 years, I’ve never faked an injury or an illness before, but it happened.”

To that, Wade’s response was as follows: “First of all, it wasn’t fake coughing. I actually did cough. And with the cameras being right there, we made a joke out of it because we knew you guys were going to blow it up. You did exactly what we knew. We never said Dirk’s name. I think he’s not the only one in the world who can get sick or have a cough. We just had fun with the cameras being right in our face about the blowup of the incident, and it held to be true. You blew it up.”

No matter who is right or wrong — the two Heatles or the U.S. media — the whole stupid little joke was just bad.

THE UGLY

1) The track at Belmont Park on Saturday.

2) LeBron’s shot … on both Tuesday and Thursday.

3) Colby Lewis’ fastball against Detroit on Monday and Minnesota on Saturday.

4) Roberto Luongo on Monday and Wednesday in Boston.

5) Shane Carwin’s face on Saturday night.

 

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Finally, A Mainstream Media Outlet Picks Up What Winnipeggers Have Known for Months.

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

We’ve been talking about it for months, the people of Winnipeg have been talking about it for months and the mainstream media has been saying, “Absolutely Untrue.”

Well, what started as a rumour in February has now been validated by the mainstream media. Not in Winnipeg, of course, but in Phoenix.

Could the Jets be coming back? Even Scott Brown, the director of communications for True North Sports and Entertainment, won’t deny it in the following story from Mike Sunnucks of the highly-regarded Phoenix Business Journal…

Monday, March 29, 2010, 10:11am MST

NHL talking to billionaire David Thomson about Phoenix Coyotes sale

Phoenix Business Journal – by Mike Sunnucks

The National Hockey League is working on a backup plan with Toronto billionaire David Thomson and Winnepeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment that could send the Phoenix Coyotes back to Canada if a deal with Ice Edge Holdings or Jerry Reinsdorf to keep the team in Arizona falls through.

Two sources with knowledge of the Coyotes finances and ownership said a deal between Thomson and the NHL has been completed in principle and could have the Coyotes back in Winnipeg next season if necessary. Thomson, also considered a possible buyer of the Atlanta Thrashers, is a partner in True North and chairman of Thomson Reuters. True North owns the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and MTS Centre in Winnipeg, which seats 15,100.

The sources said, however, the NHL still wants to work out a deal to keep the Coyotes in the Phoenix market. The league bought the Coyotes, still in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, for $140 million in October fending off a $242 million bid by Research in Motion CEO Jim Balsillie, who wanted to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

League officials said during bankruptcy proceedings last year that if a deal could not be finalized by June 2010 it would be open to a sale that would involve a move from the team’s home in Glendale.

Scott Brown, communications director for True North Sports and the Manitoba Moose (who play in Winnipeg), declined comment.

“Due to the possible impact on both the Coyotes and our own AHL product here in Manitoba, we’ve actually been hesitant to engage in any discussion publicly about the situation in Phoenix as far back as last summer when rumors began to surface of the team’s possible departure. It is our understanding the NHL is working very hard to keep the team where it is in Phoenix,” Brown said.

Glendale city spokeswoman Julie Frisoni also declined comment as did NHL spokesman Kerry McGovern.

The NHL and Glendale are still working with Ice Edge Holdings to keep the team in Arizona with some games to be played in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but there have been reports of financing challenges.

Ice Edge COO Daryl Jones said he optimistic about financing the Coyotes sale. “Ice Edge feels very comfortable with their financing. Our banks are very interested in this deal,” Jones said. He told a Toronto radio station recently, however, he wanted Glendale to move faster in getting a lease deal.

Glendale officials also have been talking to Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and his business partner John Kaites, who previously made a bid for the Coyotes.

The Coyotes have qualified for the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2002 and are seeing a late-season boost in attendance.

The Coyotes moved to Phoenix in 1996 from Winnipeg, where they played as the Winnipeg Jets. The franchise has lost more than $300 million since moving to the Valley and were put into Chapter 11 bankruptcy by former owner Jerry Moyes last year.

Check out more here: http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/03/29/daily2.html

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Bettman Working On His Revisionist View of Hockey History As Canada Becomes His Final Frontier.

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA — This week, Gary Bettman started his “Dick Cheney Tour.” It’s a simple format. You find people in the media who won’t challenge your assertions and then you go out and change history.

This past week, Bettman sat down with Toronto-based Sun Media and got all warm and fuzzy about his relationship with Canadian hockey markets. In a piece entitled: Bettman Asks Canada to Be Patient, the commissioner of the National Hockey League suggested he had a great track record “in respect to the Canadian franchises.”

“For anyone that knows my record in respect to the Canadian franchises, that’s simply not true (that he tried to keep Jim Balsillie out of Hamilton simply because he disliked teams in Canada),” Bettman told the Sun. “I can’t satisfy those who believe our intentions were other than straightforward of ensuring NHL rules and procedure. That’s what this was about.”

Really? What rules? And at what cost?

When Bettman forced the Jets out of Winnipeg in 1996, he convinced the two hockey-ignorant rich guys who bought the franchise that if they couldn’t cut a deal with the Target Center in Minneapolis, they should take the team to a basketball gym in downtown Phoenix, Ariz.

Dr. Richard Burke and his partner Steven Gluckstern lost a fortune on the Coyotes (mostly because of the restricted view arena they were forced to play in) and soon sold the team to Steve Ellman and Jerry Moyes who lost millions more. Since 2004, the Coyotes have lost $389 million and that doesn’t count this year. Currently, the Coyotes are on pace to lose approximately $140 million on operations. Especially after virtually giving away tickets to the season home opener, then drawing announced crowds of 6,899 and 9,162 to their next two games.

So in order to “uphold the rules” of the NHL, Bettman is going to ask the other 29 franchises to find another $140 million (at least) to cover the losses of a team owned by the league (as long as Judge Redfield T. Baum allows the NHL to ultimately purchase the Coyotes for about $140 million out of bankruptcy). Nice rules.

Trouble is, Bettman has always found ways to bend his own rules. For those who remember the loss of the Jets, owner Barry Shenkarow proposed a “group ownership” position, in which a number of Winnipeg business people would own an equal share of the team. Bettman said, “No,” that the NHL’s governors wanted to deal with only one prominent person in each market, a person who could make financial decisions at the drop of a hat.

Bettman put a halt to the group ownership plan in Winnipeg, adding more fuel to the team’s demise, but a few years later he went ahead and allowed it in Edmonton, since it was the only way to save the Oilers. In essence Bettman made up the rules as he went along: First, to take a team out of Winnipeg and put it in Phoenix and then, to save a team in Edmonton. Some Canadian markets he likes, others he doesn’t. Rules be damned.

So if Gary Bettman simply asks Canada to be patient, I wouldn’t believe him. However, if he told the truth (remember, this is the guy who said the league was NOT funding the Coyotes last year and then, in court, was forced to tell the truth) and admitted that he had to come back to Canada because he had no other alternative in the recession-crippled United States, I’d probably listen to that.

Remember, the six Canadian franchises make up 33 per cent of the league’s revenues. Despite what Bettman says or thinks, he’s going to have to come back to Canada eventually.

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The Phoney Coyotes Have Lost $389 Million Since 2004

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I love to say I told you so. It’s fun.

People used to look at me funny when I suggested that the Phoenix Coyotes had lost far more than $500 million since the Winnipeg Jets were moved to the desert in 1996.

They won’t look at me funny anymore.

Yesterday, when Phoenix bankruptcy Judge Redfield T. Baum rejected both bids to purchase the Coyotes — although the NHL will be allowed to amend its bid and try again — he also opened up the books to the public. Here are the numbers:

The Phoenix Coyotes Hockey Club lost the following amounts of money:

2004 — $75 million

2005 — $50 million

2006 — $75 million

2007 — $117 million

2008 — $72 million

That’s $389 million in five seasons. $389 million!!!!!!!

Baum said: “Financial statements raise substantial doubt as to the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Well, no shit Sherlock.

The Phoenix Coyotes are a disaster. And it’s very likely the Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders are closing in on disaster territory, as well.

The imagination runs wild thinking of how much money that Phoenix franchise will lose this year. And ol’ Judge Redfield T. Baum, on the eve of the 2009-2010 NHL season, thinks it will be a good idea if that dreadful hockey club stays right there  in Glendale, Ariz., for the next seven months.

The people who run the NHL, who had their “membership selection right and control over home team location rights” protected by a bankruptcy judge who has decided to drive a joke of a franchise deeper into the financial abyss, should be counting their lucky stars tonight. Anybody else who looked at those numbers would have yelled “Shut that thing down, right now!”

No wonder the U.S. in a recession/depression. This is a wonderful example of how money is frittered away in the United States. There wasn’t one person in this entire exercise who demonstrated any fiduciary ability whatsover. I wonder how many people have been stiffed by this “business?”

Sadly, throughout this entire procedure, there has not been one single person who has provided even the slightest hint that he could run a one-car funeral. I fear for the future of capitalism.

This week’s question: How much money WILL the Phoenix Coyotes lose this year? The over-under line is at $200 million.

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Things Banging Around in My Head

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

When you spend every waking moment reading about, writing about or thinking about sports, one of two things will happen: Your brain will turn to tapioca or you’ll start a blog to get this crap out of your head.

Right now, I have a headache. Let’s see if I can drain the swamp.

1) For head coach Mike Kelly’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, there might not be a more important football game played this season than Saturday night’s Bombers-Argos battle at Canad Inns Stadium. If the Bombers win and go to 4-8, they’re right back in the playoff hunt (that’s what happens in a league where six of eight teams make the playoffs). However, if they lose and fall to 3-9, it will be time to think about next year.

Lose, and the Bombers can go right ahead and release Michael Bishop, save some money and let the kids, Casey Bramlet and Ricky Santos share the quarterbacking duties for the rest of the season.

2) “The Minister of Defence,” Barrin Simpson, is no longer a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The star middle linebacker, who was, for awhile, on the CFL’s nine-game disabled list, has been told by head coach Mike Kelly not to return to the locker room, to meetings or to hang out at practice.

To make matters more difficult for the Minister’s future in Winnipeg, the CFL’s board of governors ruled yesterday in favour of Simpson’s grievance, a grievance that was filed last week. The board said Simpson would be placed on the one-game injured list, not the nine-game list. The Bombers wanted him on the nine-game list so his contract wouldn’t count against the cap.

Now that he’s already come off that list, if he can’t be traded quickly he will likely have to be released.

And the Bombers will get nothing in return for a very good football player.

3) This my good friend and 92-CITI-FM producer, Scott O’Neil: “Mark my words, you will be doing a CFL Report (7:15 a.m., every Monday through Friday, on 92-CITI-Fm brought to you by MAACO) on how Casey Printers led the B.C. Lions into the playoffs and how Barrin Simpson led some other team into the playoffs.”

I agreed.

4) Jim Balsillie, the man who wants to buy the Phoenix Coyotes for $242.5 million and move them to Hamilton, told the bankruptcy court in Phoenix on Wednesday, that he would agree to keep the team in Phoenix this year.

Which mans that Balsillie has another $50 million (the likely number for this year’s losses) to throw away on that dog of a franchise.

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Congratulations to Gary Bettman. The First Step Toward Stopping Idiotic Behaviour is to Admit You’re an Idiot.

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his board of governors have now publicly admitted that keeping a hockey franchise in Phoenix, Ariz., is about as stupid a business decision as anyone could possibly make.

And, to add to the NHL’s stupidity, they have made this admission not to come clean, as such, but to try and stick it to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie. Talk about all the wrong reasons…

We know this because the Toronto Star (not that we necessarily believe the Toronto Star) has apparently uncovered a report that suggests the NHL will set a relocation fee on the Coyotes franchise from between $101 million and $195 million. Balsillie’s PSE Sports and Entertainment Co., filed a court document written by world renowned sports business analyst, Dr. Andrew Zimbalist, suggesting the fee should be somewhere between $11.2 million and $12.9 million.

Oh, oh. That’s when the NHL got all stupid.

The NHL’s documents allegedly state: “The methodology used by PSE’s expert, Dr. Andrew Zimbalist, in calculating a relocation fee range of $11.2 million and $12.9 million does not pass muster. the notion that a team in Hamilton would be worth only $11.2 million to $12.9 million more than a team in Phoenix is patently absurd.”

Dum, da dum, dum… D-U-M-M-M-M-M-M-M.

The National Hockey League just set itself up for the following criticism:

1) The NHL now admits that a franchise in Phoenix is worth an amazing $175 million MORE in Hamilton than in Phoenix and it’s trying desperately to keep a team in Phoenix. Speaking of patently absurd.

2) Sounds like the NHL is preparing to have Jim Balsillie’s bid to buy the Coyotes accepted by the bankruptcy judge.

3) If a team is worth an absurd amount more in Hamilton (your words, NHL), and since you have a potential owner, why not sell that potential owner a Hamilton expansion franchise for $200 million and make the money yourself? It’s not like the potential owner needs to buy a shitty franchise like Phoenix and move it. Let him start from scratch and you pocket the dough.

4) If a team is worth at least $175 million more in Hamilton than Phoenix and you don’t want the team in Hamilton, but you do want it in Phoenix, are you not negligent in your fiduciary duties to the other league owners and your partners, the players? Or are they just as stupid as you?

5) Is the NHL now publicly admitting that anyone who would own a team in Phoenix is a “patently absurd” human being? There is, no doubt, a sucker born every minute, but when you admit that your Phoenix franchise, the one you want to buy for $140 million and then sell to a third party, is worth $175 million less than a team in Hamilton, Ont., what sane business person — even an in-bred, silver-spooned, bratty heir with shit for brains –  would bite on that deal? It’s like Bettman is purposely trying to kill his own business.

With this alleged court statement, Gary Bettman and the NHL have clearly admitted they are idiots. But, hey, that’s the first step toward fixing the problem.

Wonder if Bettman ever stops to think that he would have been better off leaving the Jets in Winnipeg?

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In Phoenix, the Only Surprise is When There is Not a Surprise

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

When it comes to the National Hockey League in Phoenix, there is a surprise every day.

Which means, of course, that when it comes to the fate of the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes, nothing should surprise anyone.

Not even more examples of insanity, panic and sheer desperation.

On Tuesday, right after Jerry Reinsdorf dropped his bid to purchase the Coyotes and keep the team in the desert (because he’s a smart businessman and he never really seemed all that interested in buying them anyway), the National Hockey League its-own-self filed a bid to buy the team out of bankruptcy, obviously hoping to sell it later.

The league is very nervous. When Reinsdorf pulled the plug, it left only Ice Edge, a group that wants to play Coyotes games in places such as Halifax and Saskatoon (Do we hear Plum Coulee? How about Iqaaluit?) and Jim (RIM) Balsillie the Canadian billionaire the NHL hates s-o-o-o-o much, who wants to buy the Desert Dogs and move them to Hamilton, Ont.

In other words, Balsillie became the only legitimate choice for bankruptcy judge Redfield T. Baum when Reinsdorf pulled out and, to be quite frank, the RIM CEO is, and always has been, the only real person interested in paying an amount of money (in this case more than $212 milllion) to buy the Coyotes and pay off the creditors.

Of course, he wants to move the team to Hamilton, Ont., and the NHL sure doesn’t want that.

So the league has decided to make an offer itself, an offer to buy one of its own franchises, and then try to sell it to some unsuspecting sucker willing to piss away all is wealth on a bad franchise in a lousy hockey market.

That takes nerve, you know.

The judge might just want to sell it back to the NHL if only to see if those grifters can find another wealthy person stupid enough to own a hockey team in a desert. Hey, they already found Richard Burke, Steven Gluckstern, Steve Ellman and Jerry Moyes.

There must be more crazy rich people out there?

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NHL Says No to Balsillie. Accepts Offer for Coyotes That is $64 Million Less. Is That Good Business?

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

So it’s official. Er, sort of. The Phoenix Coyotes will be sold to Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox, while Jerry Moyes, the guy who has lost more than $300 million on this dog of a franchise, has to sit back and watch as a man, handpicked by the commissioner, a guy who bid $64 million less than Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, gets to take over the team.

Wow! It would appear that for the first time in the history of the business of sports, a franchise for sale was purchased for 64 MILLION freakin’ dollars less than the highest bid. WTF! Meanwhile, the poor guy who tried to make ice hockey work in the desert appears to have no say in the sale of HIS team. Get the feeling that anyone who would EVER do business with the National Hockey League is little more than a sucker that Bernie Madoff missed.

On Wednesday, the NHL’s board of governors unanimously rejected Balsillie’s $212.5 million application to become owner of the Desert Dogs while “unanimously(?)” approving Reinsdorf’s $148 million bid.

According to Canadian Press, “NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the process was necessary to comply with the league’s constitution and bylaws and an order by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Redfield T. Baum.”

“We will so advise the bankruptcy court and we will move this process forward,” Bettman told the New York Post.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Balsillie told the CP that Wednesday’s decision would not stop the RIM CEO from his pursuit of the Coyotes. An auction for bidders who would commit to keeping the team in Glendale, Ariz., will be held this coming Wednesday, provided the judge finds “the bids satisfactorily meet the demands of the team’s creditors.”

That means, of course, that Balsillie’s bid is not dead. One can’t imagine the creditors would be happy with a bid that is $64 million less, a bid that would probably cost most of the creditors hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And so not surprsingly, Moyes filed a suit claiming that Reinsdorf’s offer “cannot be approved as a matter of law” and that “there are no qualified bidders” based on terms set by the court.

Get the sense this mess is a long way from over?

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Could We Be Going From the Death of Eaton’s to the Rebirth of the Winnipeg Jets?

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

On a recent Winnipeg Goldeyes telecast on Shaw TV, Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz hinted that a deal to bring the Jets (or a reasonable facsimile) back to Winnipeg could be secured if a number “of very complicated things fell into place.”

“It’s certainly not impossible,” Katz said. “It’s not something that would happen overnight. I would say in the next two-to-five years, perhaps. It would involve the MTS Centre and certainly the Chipmans (Winnipeg’s wealthy Chipman family) would have to be involved, although I don’t think they would necessarily be the major shareholders in the club.

“It would be a very complicated deal. First of all, an NHL team would have to be made available and I think that’s coming. If that happens, there is a chance something could be arranged to bring an NHL team to Winnipeg. I really believe that.”

For months (maybe years) there has been a belief among certain Winnipeg business people that the money is already in place to bring an NHL team back to the ‘Peg. That’s not crazy talk from semi-delusional 35-year-old unemployed males who live in their mothers’ basements. There has also been a more recent belief that if someone, anyone (even Jim Balsillie) can break down the NHL’s cartel, there is a good chance half-a-dozen teams in failing markets could become available.

This week, if Balsillie gets a favourable ruling from Phoenix Judge Redfield T. Baum, there is a very good chance he’ll be able to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and move the team to Hamilton, Ont. If that happens, other teams will soon become available to the highest bidders. You can almost see the Islanders moving to Kansas City as we speak.

The Chipmans, as wealthy as they are, have made it clear they won’t be bringing a team to Winnipeg all by themselves. Just too much coin. But with some help, they have the building (a building that’s way too small, just ask the Columbus Blue Jackets, but that’s for another day), that could play host to an NHL team. The team would lose money, but it certainly would have considerable fan support.

In order to get the help they need, the Chipmans have already reached beyond the Perimeter Highway. One of the current investors in True North Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the MTS Centre and the Manitoba Moose, is the Toronto/Stamford, Conn.-based Thomson family.

The Thomsons, owners of Thomson Reuters, Thomson Financial, Thomson Legal, Thomson Scientific, et. al, have a stake in True North today. The family owned the old Eaton’s site in Winnipeg where the MTS Centre now stands and have been investors in the company since the early days.

The key person in this alleged NHL ownership group is David Thomson, who runs the multi-billion dollar Thomson business conglomerate from the head office in Stamford, Conn.

Lately, there has been talk that the Thomsons will soon take over the major shareholder position in True North from the Chipmans.

If that’s true, and there is still some question that it is, the NHL will be in Winnipeg in two-to-five years, just as Mayor Katz suggested on our Shaw telecast last week.

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More Stuff Rattling Around in My Head.

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I’m in the I-told-you-so mood. And the cranky mood. And the really disgusted mood.

So here’s what’s making me goofy today…

1) The Associated Press wrote a story about Selena Roberts’ book on Alex Rodriguez today. Evidently, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, that made-up piece of garbage by a woman who went to the same journalism school as those famous and successful let’s-make-it-up artists, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, has not been a big seller. Evidently, baseball fans don’t cotton to books filled with hundreds of un-named sources.

Now, in case you forgot, Fainaru-Wada and Williams were the dynamic duo wrote the book Game of Shadows using more than 225 un-named sources. That book turned out to be a very successful effort to vilify Barry Bonds, even though most of it was rubbish (one even two or three un-named sources is acceptable, hundreds make a story rubbish).

Roberts, meanwhile, is the woman who jumped to the wrong conclusion and slandered the lacrosse players at Duke University, only to have all of her vitriol turned to urine by a judge who threw the charges against the players out of court. She never apologized, only wallowed in her hubris — and got better journalism jobs.

Seems now that the rip on A-Rod as fallen on few eyes.According to the AP, the book was published in early May by HarperCollins with an announced first printing of 150,000. It has sold just 16,000 copies so far, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75 percent of industry sales. The book sold 11,000 in its first week, then quickly faded. The book “A-Rod” fell off The New York Times‘ hardcover list of nonfiction best sellers after three weeks. According to AP, “As of Wednesday afternoon, the book ranked No. 2,904 on Amazon.com, where even James Frey’s discredited memoir A Million Little Pieces — at 1,776 — is outselling it.

Well, give Frey credit, at least he admitted he made it up. Roberts still hasn’t apologized for her destruction of a bunch of college kids and she won’t apologize for this dreadful bit of fiction.

2) Watched the American Hockey League Calder Cup final game between the Manitoba Moose and Hershey Bears on Tuesday night.

In the third period, the Bears dod not complete a single pass. That’s right, not one pass reached its target without bouncing off another player.

How did the Moose lose three games to these guys?

3) My new hero is Judge Redfield T. Baum. He became my hero with just one comment in that Phoenix courtroom on Tuesday. He told the lawyers for commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL:

“Don’t tell me that you have ‘expressions of interest.’ It’s obvious to me that there is only one bidder, Mr. Balsillie. Expressions of interest are meaningless.”

The Canadian Press was quite impressed as well: “He (Baum) essentially dismissed the NHL’s assertions of four expressions of interest from potential buyers interested in operating the Coyotes in Phoenix — including Toronto Argonauts owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon, and Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf — as little more than hearsay. He added there was only one real offer, that of Balsillie.”

Evidently, Baum has a built-in Bullshit Meter and because he has it, the NHL is in for tough ride.

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