I’m a fan of Liverpool FC, an association football team that’s just been bought by two Americans, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks. I understand that Gillett owns the Montreal Canadiens, and that Hicks is something to do with the Texas Rangers. Apparently Gillett is also something to do with meat, as well as being constructed of the stuff.
Having just read this rather alarming article about Hicks spending copious amounts of money on something called an “A-Rod” (which I am assured is not a plumbing device), only to have to eventually pay him to leave (which is a lot my experiences with plumbers), I’m now a little bit nervous. Are there any Rangers or Canadiens fans out there with strong opinions on their respective owners? What say you: moron or right-on? Have my club been sold up the river, or down an exciting flume, with ice cream waiting at the bottom?
Anyone know what I can expect, basically? Are we going to end up paying Chelsea to take our best players, or will we get away with just shortening their names to sound like manual equipment? Help me, baseball fans.
Well, the Montreal Canadiens are a professional Hockey team, and their owner, George Gillette, has a resume you can read here. They have been singularly unremarkable for the last several years, much to the disgust of their fans, since the Canadiens used to be THE premier hockey team of the NHL.
As for the Texas Rangers, they also are singularly unremarkable, despite having had one of the best players in baseball on the team for a few years, Alexandro Rodriguez (A-Rod). You will best be able to judge the success of the current owners from the fact that the team is in a division with only three other teams, and regularly fails to make the playoffs, a difficult achievement. All three other teams in the division regularly trade off making the playoffs.
Best of luck to Liverpool. Frankly, best of luck to the EPL, because I am afraid that this trend of foreign investors owning EPL teams is picking up steam, and not everyone is as deep-pocketed as Abramovich. Of course, Glazer seems to be on the right track with Man U., not that that’s a goooooood thing.
