"This news comes on the heels of Sun Media learning that members of the EIG board - clearly non-Katz members - made an attempt to contact Jim Balsillie, the Ontario billionaire with a checkered NHL past when it comes to purchasing a team.
A source from outside Edmonton revealed that information yesterday, though attempts by Sun Media to contact Balsillie for confirmation were unsuccessful."
--Jonathan Huntington, Edmonton Sun
Crazy. These guys have tried everything, short of calling Katz a communist. Hopefully this is the end of it, and we can all move on. The EIG has done nothing but damage its reputation over the past six months. Well, that and make a bunch of money off of their original investment. All for the community, though. All for the community.
I also heard they contacted Jerome Kerviel and asked if he wanted to invest some of his €4.9 billion into the Oilers.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't bother mentioning the location agreement clause with him either because Butler knew Paris couldn't support an ice hockey team. Well that and he knew no one would support plans for a downtown arena (with condos and casino) in Paris...
I wonder if this kind of stuff is what precipated Bettman's intervention; I can't imagine he'd look too kindly on contacting owners who have been shut out by the league.
ReplyDeletei don't believe anything reported during this whole situation regardless of what side it attempts to undermine. seems like oiler land looks at everything with katz colored glasses these days. any article critical of katz is automatically discounted whereas as anything critical of the EIG is obviously the absolute truth.
ReplyDeleteany article critical of katz is automatically discounted whereas as anything critical of the EIG is obviously the absolute truth.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that Terry Jones really put together some compelling, even-handed think pieces on Katz. Like when he called him a "drug lord."
Yeah, that Terry Jones really put together some compelling, even-handed think pieces on Katz. Like when he called him a "drug lord."
ReplyDeleteall i'm saying is both papers have been spreading propaganda. after this episode, it's pretty clear that both rags are no better than toilet paper. one just happens to be a more sophisticated, softer brand of toilet paper.
Wait a minute. The Sun was anti-Katz, right? So why are they publishing completely erroneous facts made up out of whole cloth, that undermine the EIG faction?
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between the editorializing that is going on and the reporting of facts. Its rare (but not unheard of) that the latter are fabricated.
What? The Board of Directors are making efforts to maxmize the value of their shareholders investment? The horror!!!
ReplyDeleteAre we now at the point where we're shitting on the EIG Board for doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing?
Not to interfere with your string of poorly informed comments mclea but part of the explicit public rationale for the EIG continuing to hold onto the team was to ensure local ownership. I'm not sure how Jim Balsillie represents that. The same guys who wanted life long Edmontonian Darryl Katz to sign a location agreement were also apparently willing to get into bed with Balsillie, the guy who I'd most want a location agreement from.
ReplyDeleteSeems awfully hypocritical to me.
Not to interfere with your string of poorly informed comments mclea but part of the explicit public rationale for the EIG continuing to hold onto the team was to ensure local ownership.
ReplyDeleteWell that's all well and good, but I'm going to guess that the board's fiduciary duty to act in the interest of their shareholders trumps any high minded proclamations they have made to the press.
Maybe in mc79hockey's fantasy world, hallow promises made to the press are more important than legal obligations to the shareholders, but I can assure that in the real world that is not the case.
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ReplyDeletesome dude close to the situation and by close, i mean his last name starts with b and he owns a blackberry. well not really a black berry, it's something called a blak birry that he bought from some sketcher on queen's street. anyways that guy, he told me that balsillie was contacted by the eig. i couldn't confirm the fact nor did i try very hard to do so but this still constitutes as news, right?
ReplyDeletethis article presents a rumor as fact and everyone lapped it up without question.
McLea would be on the mark here, if it weren't for the very strong odour given off by the Directors for the past ~6 weeks that they were primarily interested in advancing their own financial interests without much regard for the interests of the other shareholders.
ReplyDeleteThis is a legit beef, McLea; not that they were trying to (say) extract a higher bid from Balsillie while lying to the press and public, but that they were fucking around with trying to scrape their own money together rather than representing the shareholders. Many of whom, it should be pointed out, would assign a non-zero dollar value to having their shares sold to the buyer least likely to threaten relocation for whatever reason. That'd be in this real world, not some fantasy one.
Heed: What can we say, we are naive to the media world, and the deceptive ways of its henchmen. Thanks for enlightening us on why one should never trust the media, and thus just throw up one's hands; I will now not "believe anything reported during this whole situation." If I need to care, I will go completely by my gut feel unsupported by any external reports.
ReplyDeleteI retract my earlier query about Bettman, because we have zero reason to believe Bettman may have contacted Butler.
i don't think anyone here is naive. i think all of us just want to see a change in the organization and are willing to do just about anything to see it happen. hell, if someone told me i could guarantee an oiler stanley cup win in the next 5 years by killing 100 puppies, i would be half way to petsmart by now. i've just really been disappointed in the media in general during this whole saga. they have acted as spokesmen for both sides in this equation during the whole affair. they have been involved from the word go. i wouldn't doubt if half the eig found out about the offer while watching the evening news. my allegiance lies with the oilers not the rich dudes that own them.
ReplyDeleteon another note, going to the game tonight (thanks be to molson) and i guess i will have to wait another 1 to 2 weeks to see souray score a goal since he's out for that long. here's hoping tricky dick has a better night than the last time he drew into the lineup.
I'm not expecting Jones to shoot straight on this but if he doesn't, he loses all credibility.
ReplyDeleteWhat was I saying again?
I'm going to guess that the board's fiduciary duty to act in the interest of their shareholders trumps any high minded proclamations they have made to the press.
ReplyDeleteClearly, pissing away time and energy in an effort to match the offer that was already on the table was entirely about maximizing the return for the shareholders and not keeping control of the team with those owners who didn't want to sell.
Seriously, for a guy who clearly hasn't followed the story and/or doesn't get the nuance here, you've got some awfully strong opinions on the matter.