NHL Anti-Thread: Bad Business Decision Aggregator

[TheOldRoman]

As is, I think they are about a week away from another year being guaranteed, anyway. I was hoping the NHL would use the emergency clause being struck down as a "Well, we tried. See you guys later," but it's clear by now that they aren't very smart.

And why the hell didn't the judge strike down the whole thing? Was Goldwater only challenging the emergency aspect of it this time around? I mean, Glendale's agreement couldn't be more unconstitutional if it required citizens to quarter soldiers.

[Gothamite]

The judge hasn't yet ruled on the rest of the deal. Using the emergency clause was just so egregious that it needed to be struck down right away.

[The_Admiral]

This whole thing is a labyrinth of contingencies, false dilemmas, and straight-up lies, but my new favorite is the one that goes like this:

Greg Jamison will use his arena management acumen to fill the calendar with non-hockey events as he proved he can do with the Sharks

but when it's mentioned that all this could be done without subsidizing the hockey team,

You can't replace the Coyotes dates with other events because there are too many superior venues in the Phoenix area and everyone just goes there instead.

So which is it? How is it that the key to saving the Coyotes is supplementing the anchor tenant if you're simultaneously arguing that the arena cannot be supplemented? If monster truck rallies and concerts and conventions and such won't come to your podunk arena without a team there, why would they be more likely to come there with fewer open dates to do so? It makes no sense.

[NJTank]

Wow I dont think the Isrealites wandered the desert this long waiting for Moses to find the promissed land after smashing the ten comandments, and spliting the red sea.

[BrySmalls]

Wow I dont think the Isrealites wandered the desert this long waiting for Moses to find the promissed land after smashing the ten comandments, and spliting the red sea.

The Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years before reaching the Promised Land; whereas the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy and ownership saga is not even 5 years old.

[LMU]

Besides, even if he was alive, Charlton Heston wouldn't be the best casting choice for Bettman.

[NJTank]

Wow I dont think the Isrealites wandered the desert this long waiting for Moses to find the promissed land after smashing the ten comandments, and spliting the red sea.

The Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years before reaching the Promised Land; whereas the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy and ownership saga is not even 5 years old.

Im sure at 5 years the Isrealites thought there saga would end soon any way, and if they only listened to Saul's wife Silvia they may have been there sooner.

[IceCap]

Wow I dont think the Isrealites wandered the desert this long waiting for Moses to find the promissed land after smashing the ten comandments, and spliting the red sea.

The Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years before reaching the Promised Land; whereas the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy and ownership saga is not even 5 years old.

It's all relative.

[The_Admiral]

Caught this on Joyce Clark's twatter feed:

Joyce Clark ‏@clarkjv

@VeroPadilla34 Veronica, Dawn Monaghan and I would like to direct message you about your experience with forged petition signatures

Between "it's illegal, ahhh, so whaaat" editorials and aldermen trying to forge signatures, it's like Daley took the whole machine down there.

here's a video from informglendale.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqlP0ZUhNjU

cool story, bro

[Kevin W.]

"A thriving cultural hub?"

Oh boy, that's a side-splitter.

[marlinfan]

The website's a real knee slapper: http://informglendale.com/

[The_Admiral]

* Jamison has said numerous times he wants to BUY the arena within a couple years. That would take ALL BURDEN off of the tax payers – no more management fees, no more payments on the arena debt. The city of Glendale would effectively be out of the arena business. Whether or not you believe that building Jobing.com Arena was a wise decision, this is the ONLY way for the city to completely rid itself of the responsibilities and costs of owning the arena.

But why buy the cow when you not only get the milk for free, but get paid to drink it, too? (No, can't you see, you evil relocationist naysayer? It's a Milk Management Fee! It's standard procedure! Greg Jamison assumes all risks of spilling milk on himself! That's what people don't realize!) Public ownership with a private master lease is the best of all possible worlds; you get all the revenue while paying nominal rent rather than property taxes. And this deal not only does that but includes a generous subsidy as well. There is no world in which voluntary cessation of this handout makes any sense for the "arena manager." If you actually believe he would use his option to buy the arena, you are without a shadow of a doubt one of the dumbest human beings ever to draw breath.

the previous owners of the team have only been interested in real-estate deals, NOT in making the team more successful by generating better attendance and getting corporate sponsors. Greg Jamison is ONLY interested in being a HOCKEY team owner and making that team a WINNING team.

Jamison has publicly said he wants to significantly increase the amount of non-Coyotes game events.

hey buddy

[RyanMcD29]

That video... looks like it was done by a 15 year old for a class project. Yeah.... that's actually kinda fitting

[The_Admiral]

So it's come to this:

http://www.azcentral...t.html#comments

Glendale officials this week considered offering up City Hall and the main police station as collateral to obtain a $41 million loan to cover sports-related debts.

The city would use the money to cover payments to the National Hockey League and potentially to make payments on Camelback Ranch stadium, the city's spring-training ballpark.

Glendale officials acknowledged the proposal wouldn't bring the city any savings.

"This is by no means a money-saving exercise," Interim City Manager Horatio Skeete said. "This exercise would basically allow us the freedom to do a couple things: spread the payments of the $25 million that is currently owed to the NHL and to shore up ourselves for the (Camelback Ranch payments) that are coming due."

No one talks enough about how that Camelback Ranch thing is just as much a disaster as the Coyotes/Jobberdome. "It has two team facilities separated by a fully stocked pond! We didn't pay for it!"

You can't fight City Hall, but apparently you can pawn it off.

EDIT: oh and

http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2012/06/20/20120620glendale-possible-sales-tax-hike-referendum.html

Glendale is expected to trim $1.1 million from police, fire and other city departments in an effort to avert a referendum to repeal the sales-tax hike the City Council passed last week.

. . .

The latest cuts follow a painful budgeting process that included the layoff of nearly 50 employees and service cuts as the city shored up a $35 million shortfall in its operating budget for the coming fiscal year, which opens July 1.

Some of the budget woes come as the city plans to pay potential Phoenix Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison $17 million in the coming fiscal year to manage the city-owned Jobing.com Arena.

Interim City Manager Horatio Skeete said if the tax increase was repealed, the city would have to consider whether it could pay the arena-management fee.

Sports.

[Sodboy13]

[bosrs1]

So it's come to this:

http://www.azcentral...t.html#comments

Glendale officials this week considered offering up City Hall and the main police station as collateral to obtain a $41 million loan to cover sports-related debts.

The city would use the money to cover payments to the National Hockey League and potentially to make payments on Camelback Ranch stadium, the city's spring-training ballpark.

Glendale officials acknowledged the proposal wouldn't bring the city any savings.

"This is by no means a money-saving exercise," Interim City Manager Horatio Skeete said. "This exercise would basically allow us the freedom to do a couple things: spread the payments of the $25 million that is currently owed to the NHL and to shore up ourselves for the (Camelback Ranch payments) that are coming due."

No one talks enough about how that Camelback Ranch thing is just as much a disaster as the Coyotes/Jobberdome. "It has two team facilities separated by a fully stocked pond! We didn't pay for it!"

You can't fight City Hall, but apparently you can pawn it off.

EDIT: oh and

http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2012/06/20/20120620glendale-possible-sales-tax-hike-referendum.html

Glendale is expected to trim $1.1 million from police, fire and other city departments in an effort to avert a referendum to repeal the sales-tax hike the City Council passed last week.

. . .

The latest cuts follow a painful budgeting process that included the layoff of nearly 50 employees and service cuts as the city shored up a $35 million shortfall in its operating budget for the coming fiscal year, which opens July 1.

Some of the budget woes come as the city plans to pay potential Phoenix Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison $17 million in the coming fiscal year to manage the city-owned Jobing.com Arena.

Interim City Manager Horatio Skeete said if the tax increase was repealed, the city would have to consider whether it could pay the arena-management fee.

Sports.

What's amazing is how much of a money loser Camelback has been for Glendale when just up the 101 Loop, the Peoria Sports Complex has proven to be an economic boon for that city. What is so different between the complexes or the cities that has led Peoria to actually make money on theirs while Glendale is hemorrhaging?

[Crash]

What's amazing is how much of a money loser Camelback has been for Glendale when just up the 101 Loop, the Peoria Sports Complex has proven to be an economic boon for that city. What is so different between the complexes or the cities that has led Peoria to actually make money on theirs while Glendale is hemorrhaging?

Glendale watched "Field of Dreams" too many times and thought it would all be self-sufficient? I'm pretty sure the idea was to break even and get complexes for "free," counting on automatic money.

Oooh. They should trot out Kevin Costner as the new Coyotes owner.

[Sodboy13]

Oooh. They should trot out Kevin Costner as the new Coyotes owner.

Absurdist municipal sports mismanagement crossover! This is truly a chocolate-meets-peanut-butter moment.

[The_Admiral]

Funny you mention him. It hit me the other day how similar Glendale is to Zion when I was reading Joyce Clark's twitter. All that talk about praying to God to prove the naysayers wrong is the same old movie, and I already know how it ends.

Oh, and Camelback Ranch failed because it was supposed to be surrounded by exciting new retail developments that never got built because the Phoenix/national/global economy went bye-bye. Kind of like Westgate if it had been aborted.

[Crash]

Oh, and Camelback Ranch failed because it was supposed to be surrounded by exciting new retail developments that never got built because the Phoenix/national/global economy went bye-bye. Kind of like Westgate if it had been aborted.

So Camelback Ranch is actually a success in comparison because they don't have an even bigger failing complex?