I just finished reading the local news section in this morning’s Times that included a glowing story, on the front-page above the fold, about how smart and fan-centric new Lightning owner Jeff Vinik is.
The guy has been smart. He moved here, he dumped a ton of money into local charities, he changed the feel of the brand and the look of the uniforms, and then he privately financed a renovation of the arena to make it more fan-friendly. That makes him local good guy number 1.
The weird thing is, outside of moving to town, Stu has done all those same things.
I know it seems like I defend Stu too much here, particularly in light of his recent comments, but I see a definite trend developing in the Times’ coverage. Vinik = good guy. Stu = bad guy. The only open question seems to be, what does that leave for Papa Glazer?
Nobody has to maake sure we hate Papa Glazer and his yukster kids, the fans have been speaking with their wallets for two years now.
I saw someone else mention this very point on Twitter yesterday and it’s true I guess, but although there is lots he has done, and there’s no chance I’m going to be anywhere near as disappointed with Stu as the Glazers, it’s hard to be upbeat when your owner is constantly tearing the fanbase now. And people like to remind me it’s not me he’s talking to, it’s the casuals (or lack thereof)…but that’s like a racist hating all people of a different race, “present company accepted”..does that make that person feel better? Doubtful.
The Glazers are putting a winning product on the field. In the world of sports fandom, that should be a number 1 concern by a LONG shot.
No they aren’t. They caught lightning in a bottle.
If you really believe that they knew the DB coach who had never cooridnated a game in his life was a calculated decision and not a cheap out, wow.
If you believe that the rookies last year were all heavily scouted and they used half of the Rays’ methods of making a good decision, wow.
I’m going to use a more obvious approach, and I’m not alone, that they find things on the cheap and keep getting SUPER lucky, while they charge us MORE and spend MORE on Manchester United.
Sorry for Glazering out your thread, Mark.
Generally, I think owners can only have one effect on on-field performance. Owners can prevent on-field success .. like Vince Naimoli … but I don’t think they can create on-field success. That is particularly true in the NFL where the playing field is so forceably level.
Either way, I don’t think that distinguishes the Glazers from Vinik or Stu, all of whom have had good teams in recent years.
Since there is no Rays news to report, how about you do some stories on PHS football? The St. Pete Times’ Plant coverage sucks, mostly because its preps writer is a douchetard. You might even be able to get a press pass to get into the games, which has gotten difficult.