A friend of mine asked me for my thoughts on the whole Madoff "resolution" today, and 2 main thoughts came to mind (I'll write more about what I think this all means for Mets' fans later in the week)
1.) The Wilpons/Katz situation reminds me of an old Yiddish joke (of sorts), which my buddy Jonathan reminded me of today; a man is on trial for the murder of his parents, and he asks the judge for leniency; "After all, your honor, I AM an orphan!" Do they REALLY want Met fans to celebrate this??? Do they really think that all will be forgiven now?
The Wilpons get to eat their cake AND have it too- by dodging yet another bullet, they still (for now) retain control of the Mets and are positioned to work on extending all of their long-term debt so that it doesn't come due all at once. $162 million SOUNDS like a lot, but in reality, if they have to pay even half of that amount, I'd be shocked!!
2.) Don't think for a minute that the sale of those $20 million dollar shares in the team wasn't postponed simply because of the problem of co-mingling funds between personal and team-based monies; there's also the problem of Steve Cohen, the front-runner for Dodger ownership also having committed to buying at least one of those available shares. His share(s) would also have to have been held up pending the April 1st announcement as to which prospective ownership group wins the Dodger-lottery. Bud Selig has got to be beaming right now, which means that being a "FOB" (Friend of Bud) truly has its' advantages!!
The Wilpons are a LONG way from being clear, as they have over a billion dollars or so of debt yet to be repaid; however, today is a sad day because it looks like they will, after all, be able to hold onto at least the lion's share of this team. And that, fellow Met fans, is truly sad...
1.) The Wilpons/Katz situation reminds me of an old Yiddish joke (of sorts), which my buddy Jonathan reminded me of today; a man is on trial for the murder of his parents, and he asks the judge for leniency; "After all, your honor, I AM an orphan!" Do they REALLY want Met fans to celebrate this??? Do they really think that all will be forgiven now?
The Wilpons get to eat their cake AND have it too- by dodging yet another bullet, they still (for now) retain control of the Mets and are positioned to work on extending all of their long-term debt so that it doesn't come due all at once. $162 million SOUNDS like a lot, but in reality, if they have to pay even half of that amount, I'd be shocked!!
2.) Don't think for a minute that the sale of those $20 million dollar shares in the team wasn't postponed simply because of the problem of co-mingling funds between personal and team-based monies; there's also the problem of Steve Cohen, the front-runner for Dodger ownership also having committed to buying at least one of those available shares. His share(s) would also have to have been held up pending the April 1st announcement as to which prospective ownership group wins the Dodger-lottery. Bud Selig has got to be beaming right now, which means that being a "FOB" (Friend of Bud) truly has its' advantages!!
The Wilpons are a LONG way from being clear, as they have over a billion dollars or so of debt yet to be repaid; however, today is a sad day because it looks like they will, after all, be able to hold onto at least the lion's share of this team. And that, fellow Met fans, is truly sad...
1 comment:
my thoughts wouldn't fill up a post...
I really never care who owned this team...
I just care who played on it.
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