A Cold Day In Hell

It should by now be obvious to anyone who follows these things that only very, very rich people can afford to own sports teams.

It should be equally obvious to anyone who has followed the story of the Phoenix Coyotes that their latest prospective owner is not very, very rich. And it's that extra "very" that makes all the difference in the world.

Even with a guarantee of $15 million per year from the City of Glendale for "managing" Jobing.com arena, and a year's time to get his investors lined up, Mr. Greg Jamison couldn't get the necessary jack together to satisfy the NHL and become the latest in a long line of folks who thought they could do something despite all the available evidence to the contrary.

My late father-in-law used to say that "if you take a laborer, and beat all the sense out of him, then you have a truck driver." I mention this only because Mr. Jerry Moyes, owner of Swift Trucking, lost by his own estimation $200 million trying to keep the Coyotes afloat. Of course, he had a lot more dough than Jamison (but not nearly so good a deal with Glendale, by the way. Curious that.) But the old saying "throwing good money after bad" applies even to the extremely wealthy.

So, for the time being at least, there's still a hockey team in Glendale, Arizona--many miles away from the majority of its fan base in the East Valley, owned by the league, drawing half filled arenas most nights--that sensible people won't even consider investing in unless the good citizens of Glendale agree to subsidize them.

Glendale got into this pickle thanks to the visionary Mayor, Elaine Scruggs. She is gone now, of course. And, naturally, on her way out the door, crawling from the wreckage as it were, she voiced her disapproval of the city's deal with the Coyotes. Once again, I am reminded of Eisenhower warning about the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex after standing by for 8 years while the Military Industrial Complex took root. But better late than never, I guess.

Anybody know a sucker who's also a billionaire?

Steve Ellman, Entrepreneur

The following is taken directly from Steve Ellman's website:

"Steven Ellman has been Chairman and CEO of The Ellman Companies since the company's formation in 1972. The group today consists of more than 88 privately held companies.

Ellman has been designated by the Phoenix Business Journal as the number one commercial real estate developer in Phoenix four times since 1998.

Ellman's flagship Westgate City Center...is a super-regional mixed-use urban development...

Upon completion, Westgate will include up to 8 million square feet of retail, restaurants, entertainment, office, residential and five hotels...and is expected to attract 26 million annual visitors..."

This only confirms my long held belief that you can write anything you want, no matter how unlikely, and someone somewhere will treat it as the Gospel and base their entire future around it.

In this case, the someone is the mayor of Glendale, Elaine Scruggs and her cohorts on the Glendale City Council. They made the choice
more than a decade ago to get in bed with Ellman and Westgate. At that time he was also part owner of the Coyotes, who were looking to move out of downtown Phoenix. And in the fever dreams of the Big Time that kept Scruggs awake nights it all seemed so easy: the Cardinals' Stadium surrounded by the promised Bidwill commercial development, the (Jobing.com) Arena for the Coyotes, and Westgate too!! "Take that Phoenix! Take that Scottsdale!! We'll show them! Someday it'll be Governor Scruggs or even Senator Scruggs!"

Unfortunately, as the song says "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Even "Big" plans. Turns out the Bidwill's couldn't develop a cold in a snowstorm, the Coyotes cost Ellman's one time partner Jerry Moyes (the one with the money) more than $300 million before he finally cried "uncle!", and now, as the cherry on top, Westgate is in foreclosure.

That's right, the cornerstone project of the Ellman companies, the crown jewel, the real estate engine behind all of Elaine Scruggs' plans and promises to the citizens of Glendale for the past decade, is being taken over by the banks. And the tax payers of Glendale have to hope that some white knight rides into town to save it--and them. Just like in the fairy tales...

I'm not sure what to make of Steve Ellman, Entrepreneur. The Latin phrase Caveat Emptor immediately come to mind. Also PT Barnum's
words of wisdom about suckers and the frequency of their births. Then again maybe Steverino has just had a run of bad luck...

However I am sure about one thing: there ought to be a law that makes it a crime for snake oil salesmen to take advantage of simpletons.

Ice ice baby

First off, I must admit to not being a hockey fan. I blame the overall lack of ice in Phoenix during the late 50's to the late 60's, a period I fondly call my formative years. (Dude, this guy is old!)

Like soccer, ice hockey is a game I just didn't play as a kid. And because of that, it's more or less foreign to me. (Although I will say this about "the beautiful game" as we're encouraged to call it every 4 years when the World Cup rolls around: after watching a little FIFA "action" I'm beginning to understand how all the armies of Europe could sit in trenches staring at each other from 1914-1917.) (But then I'm a philistine about so many things.)

Over the years I've seen a couple of hockey games in person (somehow ending up with Wayne Gretzky's autograph, which will be on e-bay just as soon as I remember where I put it), a few on television, and they were...well....OK. I certainly haven't made an effort to see any more. So, frankly I really couldn't care less about the Phoenix Coyotes. Stay or go, it won't affect me one way or the other. The taxpayers of Glendale, on the other hand, might be feeling the effects for many years. Ultimately they are the ones who will be paying off all of the interest and principal on whatever bonds the city issues to keep the team in Glendale.

Mayor Elaine Scruggs and the Glendale city council have rolled the dice on a number of grand projects over the last decade or so. As far as I can tell, with the possible exception of the University of Phoenix stadium, (which really was a statewide boondoggle and not strictly speaking a Glendale one), not one of them has paid off yet.

Westgate, the Steve Ellman mixed use development that surrounds the hockey arena is where chain restaurants you've never heard of go to die. All that's missing most nights are the tumbleweeds blowing through. The big plans the Bidwill family had to develop the land surrounding "their" football stadium disappeared in a cloud of unpaid loans (hard to imagine the Bidwill's screwing something up, isn't it?) Camelback Ranch, the spring training site that Glendale and Phoenix share is about 2 years behind in building all of the outside amenities the teams were promised for their fans. And the Indian tribe that wants to build a casino just north of the Glendale "Sports and Entertainment Hub" is probably going to prevail against the city in court.

Yeah, it's a perfect time to commit the city of Glendale to another $100 million or so in high interest bonds to bribe the hockey team to stay there. I mean, why not? After all, the previous owner only lost $300 million trying to keep the team afloat. Who knows, another 2-300 million and maybe they can turn a profit. Or at least break even.

If Scruggs were a sympathetic character, I might shed a tear over all the problems her "vision" has brought and will continue to bring to sleepy little Glendale. But she isn't, so I won't. (Besides, the good folks of Glendale keep electing her, so they must be happy, and that's all that matters.)

Blind hubris never led to a happy ending in the ancient Greek dramas, and it continues to be a bitch in modern times.