Jack says ‘You’re Fired!’ to lousy owners

Across the major sports, there is the normal ebb and flow of franchises stringing together prolonged periods of success and failure. However, certain franchises are perpetually in the bottom of the standings due to poor personnel decisions by management and an unwillingness of ownership to commit the financial resources necessary to field winning teams.

Major-market franchises — New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Lakers — benefit from higher revenues and in turn are usually able to be competitive even in poor seasons by their respective standards. There tends to be a steady turnover between championship caliber seasons among teams that aren’t in major markets, so there is no excuse — other than poor management and ownership — why some franchises continue to be perpetual losers.

Orioles Owner Peter Angelos

Take exhibit A, the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles are on track to finish their 13th consecutive season below .500 after reaching the American League Championship Series in 1997, and for the past few seasons, have finished near the bottom of Major League Baseball in attendance. The Orioles suffer from playing in the American League East with the large-pocketed Red Sox and Yankees, but prior to the 2000s, the franchise was competitive on an annual basis and truly one of baseball’s flagship teams going back to the 1960s. The Orioles, in my opinion, boast the best stadium in all of baseball in Camden Yards, and it is a crime to see the stands virtually empty on Sportscenter highlights.

After 13 seasons of misery, the city of Baltimore deserves a change in leadership. Clearly owner Peter Angelos has lost his way in being able to produce competitive teams that fans want to watch, and there are minimal signs of improvement. The recent hiring of Buck Showalter to manage appears to be the best decision Angelos has made in 13 years.

Simply put, ownership may own the team, but there should be some requirement to display competency in leadership and effort to improve a franchise and produce winning teams. The world has changed, but the CTU Sports Division of Taking Back Sports plays for Joe the Fan, and still believes the fans should always come first, as they are the foundation of any sport’s prosperity. Peter Angelos is among several owners listed below (in no particular order) that deserve to hear the words “you’re fired” — Donald Trump style:

Lions Owner Bill Ford

Bill Ford, Detroit Lions (NFL). This team hasn’t fielded a winning team since Barry Sanders retired in 2000, and the NFL has a rigid salary cap, so Ford has even less of an excuse than Angelos. When a three-win season is an improvement by three games over the prior season, your team has an ownership problem.

Knicks Owner Jim Dolan

Jim Dolan, New York Knicks (NBA). The Knicks, like the Lions (getting compared to the Lions is always a severe negative), have not been to the playoffs or produced an over .500 team since 2000. Given the decorated history of the franchise, and that it is in the largest market in the United States, only truly abysmal ownership could accomplish what the Knicks have this decade. Combined with the Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas fiascos, Dolan might be the worst owner in the history of American professional sports.

Spike Lee might want to start forming an group to try and buy the franchise.

Raiders Owner Al Davis

Oakland owner Al Davis constantly gets panned by the media and fans for not having a winning team since 2002, but Jack Bauer will actually be the voice of reason on this issue: The Raiders played in the Superbowl just eight seasons ago, so Davis doesn’t quite deserve to be in the same sentence as Angelos, Dolan, and Ford when it comes to poor ownership. Very quietly, Al Davis and his management have actually assembled the pieces to once again produce a winning team in the East Bay with a perfect fit at head coach in Tom Cable, a very underrated defense, reliable offensive line, capable running back tandem, and at last cutting the umbilical cord with their now-former franchise quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.

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So how do we fix bad ownership? Being ever-solutions oriented, I’m proposing that all owners of the major sports must adhere to this list in order to protect fans and the sanctity of sports from poor and/or uncommitted ownership (because after all, you play to win the game!):

1. A franchise must produce at least one team with a record above a .500 winning percentage within the most recent consecutive ten-year period of ownership.
2. Exception to Article 1: Within the defined ten-year period per Article 1, a franchise produces teams that have steadily increasing winning percentages for the most recent three-year period.
3. A franchise must produce a team that competes in a postseason game/series within the most recent consecutive 12-year period of ownership.
4. A franchise must produce a team that wins a postseason game/series within the most recent consecutive 15-year period of ownership.
5. Any franchise that fails to abide by Articles 1-4 will be required to undergo a change in ownership prior to the commencing of the second season following the violation of any of the above articles. In the interest of fair franchise valuation, the governing body of a sports league will be required to establish and enforce a minimum sale price of an offending franchise. Any person, relative of a person, or person having any financial transactions with any person or relative of a person involved with the ownership of a franchise in violation of Articles 1-4 will be prohibited from owing such franchise.

If such a system were in place, Angelos would no longer be the owner of the Orioles, and the Ford family and Dolan would each be required to produce records better than the prior season during their upcoming seasons to save their ownership. This seems reasonable to me.

Jack Bauer out!