Allsports Commentary: A Ruling in the Phoenix Fiasco?

So if you have been following the Phoenix Fiasco in the sports news or sports on the web, you will find that Judge Redfield T. Baum had finally made a ruling, well sort of. It was one of those “kiss your sister” type things where he rejected both of the bids that were submitted for the Phoenix Coyotes.

It just proved one thing to allsports, Judge Baum did not have the stomach for making a ruling even after so many delays in coming up with a decision. The shareholders must be wondering now if Judge Baum was the man to look after this case. Jim Balsillie’s bid was the best one out there but was rejected because Baum, ruled that the NHL had the right to decide where the franchise should be located and who should own it. Balsillie said he would not appeal thus ending his quest to join the “old boy” club that is the NHL owners.

The NHL’s bid (over 100 million less than Balsillie’s) was rejected because they were not going to compensate Moyes and Gretzky. What Judge Baum did do though is grease an already slippery slope for owning an NHL franchise. Maybe he should have looked a little deeper into Mr. Bettmans previous track record on judgement for locations and owners. It is somewhat jaded to say the least. The ruling has huge implications as far as ascertaining the value of NHL teams in certain markets. So the owners in cities like Atlanta and Nashville, among others, better buckle up and get their wallets out. Looks like the Canadian owners will be paying huge money too, to float Gary’s misguided dream.

Coyotes fan’s show their support, yeah all 1500 of them in a 20,000 seat arena, what a joke.

Maybe old Gary should do the right thing here and give the team back to the city of Winnipeg.

The city that he raped the franchise from in 1996. With today’s economic climate the city could support the team and do a much better job of it than in the desert. Well Gary I guess you have won the battle but something tells me you may not win the war.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

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