From the Tribune: Already there has been some internal unrest about the Bears' front-office decision to award two different types of commemorative NFC championship rings -- one for players, coaches, team President Ted Phillips and general manager Jerry Angelo, and a smaller, more modest one for everybody else. The slight difference in size and value is not the point in the minds of some people getting the rings worth less. The point, at least the one interpreted by some members of a group of employees the Bears consider a minority, is a lack of appreciation for key people in the organization who helped put the NFC champs together and keep them in one piece.
Think this just shows a lack of class by the organization.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
Ranking the NFL owners.
SI ranked all of the NFL owners - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/michael_silver/06/27/ownerrankings/index.html
As you can see below, Snyder ranks 5 and McCaskey ranks 26. I am sure RobsObs is rolling his eyes now and about to launch on a campaign to dispel these rankings. That's fine.
5. Daniel Snyder, Redskins
Though he has yet to make the Redskins a consistent winner, owner Daniel Snyder has succeeded in making his team one of the most valuable in all of sports.
If anything, Snyder tries too hard to build a winner. In January '06, when Snyder wooed former Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders with a three-year deal worth more than $2 million annually, it seemed like a great move on paper. Instead, Saunders' philosophy clashed with that of head coach Joe Gibbs, which was one reason the team fell from a playoff appearance in '05 to a 5-11 finish last season. Snyder's zealous mentality also enables Gibbs and VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato to overpay for free agents like Adam Archuleta, Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd, none of which helps the on-field product.
But hey, at least he's trying. Snyder will get it right eventually, if only because he won't settle for anything less -- a quality far too owners possess. And he is pulling in an enormous profit in the meantime, thanks to his innovative marketing strategies. He's also more of a team player on the league level than you might imagine, as evidenced by his willingness to go along with the revenue-sharing plan that ensured labor peace in the spring of '06.
26. Michael McCaskey, Bears
Just as the Yorks don't seem capable of parlaying the nearby Silicon Valley wealth into big-picture endeavors that buoy the franchise, McCaskey is a massive marketing underachiever. He has a storied team in the nation's second-most-populated market where pro football is played; a team, mind you, coming off its first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years. Yet the biggest buzz coming out of Chi-town over the offseason has been:
a) The team's cheap stance toward underpaid coach Lovie Smith, who finally signed a contract extension after his agent announced it wasn't likely to happen?
b) Smith's curious decision to cut loose highly regarded defensive coordinator Ron Rivera -- and, a cynic would note, remove a potential candidate to replace Smith as his own contract situation played out?
c) The organization's hard-line stance toward franchised playmaking linebacker Lance Briggs, to whom they have no intention of offering a long-term contract, and apparently aren't open to trading, likely ensuring he'll miss more than half of the season?
d) Troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson's jail stint, traffic stop in Arizona and subsequent release, with Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo acting utterly stunned by his misbehavior?
The answer is, Who cares? It's McCaskey's world; the rest of us just laugh at it. Chicago fans should be less stressed about Rex Grossman and more appalled at the performance of this signal-caller.
As you can see below, Snyder ranks 5 and McCaskey ranks 26. I am sure RobsObs is rolling his eyes now and about to launch on a campaign to dispel these rankings. That's fine.
5. Daniel Snyder, Redskins
Though he has yet to make the Redskins a consistent winner, owner Daniel Snyder has succeeded in making his team one of the most valuable in all of sports.
If anything, Snyder tries too hard to build a winner. In January '06, when Snyder wooed former Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders with a three-year deal worth more than $2 million annually, it seemed like a great move on paper. Instead, Saunders' philosophy clashed with that of head coach Joe Gibbs, which was one reason the team fell from a playoff appearance in '05 to a 5-11 finish last season. Snyder's zealous mentality also enables Gibbs and VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato to overpay for free agents like Adam Archuleta, Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd, none of which helps the on-field product.
But hey, at least he's trying. Snyder will get it right eventually, if only because he won't settle for anything less -- a quality far too owners possess. And he is pulling in an enormous profit in the meantime, thanks to his innovative marketing strategies. He's also more of a team player on the league level than you might imagine, as evidenced by his willingness to go along with the revenue-sharing plan that ensured labor peace in the spring of '06.
26. Michael McCaskey, Bears
Just as the Yorks don't seem capable of parlaying the nearby Silicon Valley wealth into big-picture endeavors that buoy the franchise, McCaskey is a massive marketing underachiever. He has a storied team in the nation's second-most-populated market where pro football is played; a team, mind you, coming off its first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years. Yet the biggest buzz coming out of Chi-town over the offseason has been:
a) The team's cheap stance toward underpaid coach Lovie Smith, who finally signed a contract extension after his agent announced it wasn't likely to happen?
b) Smith's curious decision to cut loose highly regarded defensive coordinator Ron Rivera -- and, a cynic would note, remove a potential candidate to replace Smith as his own contract situation played out?
c) The organization's hard-line stance toward franchised playmaking linebacker Lance Briggs, to whom they have no intention of offering a long-term contract, and apparently aren't open to trading, likely ensuring he'll miss more than half of the season?
d) Troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson's jail stint, traffic stop in Arizona and subsequent release, with Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo acting utterly stunned by his misbehavior?
The answer is, Who cares? It's McCaskey's world; the rest of us just laugh at it. Chicago fans should be less stressed about Rex Grossman and more appalled at the performance of this signal-caller.
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