Captains Of Industry ………………

Captains Of Industry

There’s no mistaking the fact that in today’s world of sports franchise ownership it pays to be extremely wealthy and versed in business. And in terms of being versed, I’m talking champions of corporate America. I’d certainly like to think that many of the owners of such franchises as the Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Orioles, New York Knicks , St Louis Rams , Tampa Bay Lightning and St Louis Blues.

Baltimore Orioles' owner, Peter Angelos seen here being interviewed by local area reporters . The wealthy owner and noted attorney has essentially seen his baseball club fall upon hard times and they're no longer viewed as serious competitors within AL East division of MLB. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Scott Richardson ............

On the face it, franchises are there to make money for the vested parties , in this cases the owners. Success is merely a bye product of it all. But how would one equate the fact that so many of these sport franchises owners that we now see operate their businesses as if they’re running their businesses like a flea market stall We’re seeing it all the more frequently, as franchises merely give up of being competitive and now resort to being an entity that solely exists to be part of their respective governing bodies . I’ve heard it said with enthusiasm ……’well our team is building towards the future and then we’ll be competitive.’ More often than not that may well be true. But in large part it’s actually a fallacy. Five years on and that team is nowhere near the point where management and ownership had envisaged where the team should be. But yet those long suffering fans have to live with the charade of it all.

Well here I’ve a suggestion , put yourself in the place of an owner and you’ve at your disposal your estimated wealth of $ 1 billion ($ 1,000,000,000) but bear in mind that you won’t be spending it all . Now make a decision as to which of the four major sports you’d rather invest your money in as the owners . Would it be baseball (MLB), football (NFL) , basketball (NBA) or hockey (NHL ) ? Now as we know three of the four sports has a salary cap, which in essence controls expenditure for the respective franchise, in terms of salaries for the players. The exception to this all, is the sport of baseball.

The decision is now yours as to which of the sports you’d invest your money in as to the purchase of a franchise. First and foremost, I feel that before you assemble the on field personnel you have to have the right management personnel in place. So that of course, starts off with a coach or manager and the general manager. Without those prerequisites pieces in place as part of your jig saw, then more likely than you’re not going to be able to attain the success you’re seeking. Do you go after the best talent available ? Or do you go with someone who you believe has the talent and the skills you desire as a coach and that of a general manger ? These are things that as an owner will be the decisions that you’ll no doubt have to make.

Much has been made of the fact the Seattle Seahawks will hire Pete Carroll as their new head coach . All that is now being left to work out, are the financial details and the amount of ‘say and power’ that he’ll have as the coach, with regard to many of the decision making that there‘ll be in terms of personnel acquisitions. Now as good a coach that Carroll has been at the college level , we all know that success at the NFL level, was anything but that. In fact his record doesn’t even speak that highly as to him being a very good coach in the NFL. If anything it reflects that of a coach who at best , was no more than average. But this will be the person who Seahawks’ owner, Paul Allen will entrust the team to . Much of that now will come down to whether or not Carroll can replicate the success he attained at the college level with the USC Trojans. If Carroll is able to attain that , then there’s a great future ahead for the franchise. If not, then there’s going to be an outcry from not only the fans but also the pundits alike who’ll say that the choice was a poor one from the beginning.

Badly ran organizations tend to have a way of making this even worse at times with their irrational decision making. None more so, when it comes to the choice of a coach. The common thought is that, we’ll go out there and get the biggest name possible. But a lot of the time that choice simply doesn’t equate with the best coach available or for that matter a very good coach to begin with. It comes down to a team wanting to make ‘a splash’ for the glare that the publicity will bring. Certainly the Seahawks now need a coach and all the publicity it needs, as under Jim Mora Jr, the team and the organization simply regressed. No excuses ought to be made, as you could simply see from the outset that Mora wasn’t the right person to begin with for the position, as the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Clearly the regime of Mora’s predecessor , Mike Holmgren made the decision to have Mora named as his successor. There were far better candidates out there,other than Mora. But somehow Holmgren and the organization saw fit in offering the position to Mora. As to the Seahawks following the NFL mandated ‘Rooney Rule’ . Well, let’s just say the transparency of that edict wasn’t even followed and no action was taken by the hierarchy of the NFL. So once again, we see the stupidity of a regulation put in place by the NFL that isn’t even eagerly followed by a franchise. But we’re to believe that a minority candidate with the qualities that a potential employer seeks but they’re not even prepared to offer them an interview. Or when they do it’s under the subterfuge that they’re a likely candidate for the position but they actually stand no chance of landing the position whatsoever !

Mike Holmgren (left) former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks seen here hugging team owner and Microsoft co-founder , Paul Allen. Holmgren having announced his retirement last year has since returned to the NFL to become President of Operations for the Cleveland Browns. Allen has since the Seahawks as a franchise labor over the last four years and recently fired incumbent coach, Jim Mora Jr,. His replacement is none other than USC Trojans' coach Pete Carroll. As to whether or not Carroll can turn things around for the franchise remains to be seen. The former coach's previous forays in the NFL as a head coach , has proven to be less than successful. He previously coached the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. picture appears courtesy of Getty Images/ Rick Parfitt .........................

Instances such as mentioned here, with regard to Pete Carroll just doesn’t happen within the NFL only. It also happens within baseball , hockey and basketball. In the professional ranks, it appears to be all about the perception of getting the biggest name , rather than the best possible candidate available. But such are the vagaries in the world of sports, that you can never be sure what to expect nowadays. Especially when it comes to the owners of a professional sports franchise . There was a time when it was about being ambitious and about winning for many of them. But now it appears to be about little more than the perception being viewed as seen to be competitive ,making money and not much beyond that. However, in the world of ‘Corporate America’, were you running your business the way that many of the owners are running their franchises. There’d be no productivity much less profitability to many of these companies. ‘Captains of Industry’ actually meant something but in the world of sports it gives us the perception that these individuals aren’t really all that bright or intuitive when it comes to the running of a sports franchise.

The owners may well come from a wide , diverse backgrounds and many champion themselves as ‘captains of industry’. But in large part they do come across as being no more capable of running a sports franchise than they are of running a lemonade stand ‘for profit’ . And that’s how asinine the world of sports has now become ! These owners may well be good on ‘Wall St’ and ‘Madison Ave’ but once they’ve dipped their toes into the arena of becoming a sports franchise owners. They in essence become demented lunatics embracing the philosophy that they can conquer the world. Nothing could be further from the truth ! As the world just isn’t simply about them !