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McCourt's Loan from Fox Rejected By MLB
Dodger owner Frank McCourt honoring heroes of the LAPD during pregame ceremonies at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
I’m getting my seat warmed at STAPLES Center last night watching the Kings play in their first home game since Jan. 26, click on Google Reader and look what was there: the L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin and his report that MLB commissioner Bud Selig rejected Fox’s loan to Dodger owner Frank McCourt.
A couple of things are remarkable about this story. Firstly Shaikin reported for the first time that the amount of the loan amounted to $200 million. That’s quite a bit of scrap right there.
This is not the case of an owner having a tough quarter and needing to meet payroll for his year-round employees and other expenses. McCourt is not waiting for the revenues from ticket sales, concessions, parking and revenue sharing to come in to help float the business.
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This is the Oh-Shit-I’m-Flat-Broke-And-I-Have-Exhausted-Every-Other-Possibility-And-I-Don’t-Want-That-Wench-To-Get-A-Share-Of-The-Team loan.
So with Selig poo-pooing this idea, I’m just wondering that with a bigger payroll than last year how will the players get paid? Does McCourt still have any parking lots left over to pay his players?
And the second thing remarkable about this story: Selig has grown a pair. I imagine him dancing around his office doing his best Eddie House impersonation.
Call me crazy, but with Selig setting a date on when he’s stepping down doesn’t he seem to be all maverick-y in an un-Palin way?
So old Frank has to go back to the drawing board to find a way to raise money, Jamie and her vultures are buzzing around and every Dodger fan has a glimmer of hope in their heart.
Normally I’m right there with the optimism, but there’s one problem: this is Frank McCourt we’re talking about. This is the same sleezeball who rolled into town from Boston with nothing but parking lots and delusions of grandeur in his carpetbags.
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And it’s those delusions that will fuel him in the coming years - the delusions of being the sole owner of the Dodgers and passing the team along to his four sons (who apparently get paid by the team, but aside from a botched blanket giveaway haven’t really done much of anything from what I know.) It’s those delusions that give you that menacing smirk at you after a press conference announcing the new Dodger manager when you in fact tell him he’s delusional.
For heaven’s sake he still thinks the fans adore him. Hoping to stem the tide, a fan named Ben Goetting created a shirt with the “Dollars” in the Dodgers script. On the back is McCourt’s name with dollar signs replacing the number. He was planning on selling this to fans but unfortunately received a cease-and-desist letter from MLB.
While Selig rejecting the loan is good news and might ultimately pave the way for the Dodgers being sold, don’t think that anything is fast-tracked. This will be a long drawn out process. In the meantime let’s enjoy the Dodger infield filled with guys who drink Geritol between innings.
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