Archive for June 13th, 2007

An open letter to Craig Leipold

Craig–

I know you care about this team and this community. I know your decision to discuss a sale with prospective owners was a painful one. I know you’ve worked hard without bearing enough fruit to sell the Preds to corporate Nashville.

I think you’ve only really made one major mistake while you’ve been the owner of this team: You buried your heart so deep in what you were doing that you (unintentionally) lulled us to sleep in regard to the Preds’ financial woes by insisting that the team would never leave.

I firmly believe that you did not want to be “that owner,” the one who holds a city hostage and threatens to relocate. You wanted to be a partner and a part of this community from day one for as long as you owned the team, and you’ve done that.

I know the rumors and speculation that are springing forth are not how you saw things transpiring back in June of 1997 . . . or maybe even in May of 2007.

It isn’t too late to change this, and I hope you will give us that opportunity. Those of us who are hard core fans have loved you and your team since day one, and the business community is finally awakening to recall the same fondness it once held for the Preds.

There’s no question in my mind that you want to see this team, the team that you built, raise the Stanley Cup here on Broadway and stay in town for a long, long time. Take another chance on Nashville and make a difference to thousands of fans: Embrace the campaigns to pack the Sommet Center, and retain ownership of this team. It may not have happened when you originally hoped, but we get it now, and we’ll work hard to keep the Preds here where they belong. The Preds slogan from last season, “Live It!,” represents the approach you’ve taken all along with this franchise. Please don’t let that amazing story end like this.

john mccain, shea weber Comments 2 Jun 13th, 2007

NHL governor: Balsillie’s approach “not the way” to go

Is the NHL Board of Governors starting to see Al Davis when it looks at Jim Balsillie? A Toronto Globe and Mail story today implies that some of them may be:

One National Hockey League governor, who requested anonymity, said he and a number of his peers are not happy with the way Balsillie is conducting his bid for the team. They are upset that while Balsillie is telling people in Nashville the team will not move as long as an arena lease (which has an out-clause based on attendance) is in place, he is also negotiating with Hamilton.

“If you join a club or a fraternity, it is a bunch of people who have to work together in a partnership,” the governor said. “Sometimes you have to give up what you want for the greater good of the league. This is not the way to come in [to the NHL]. “In my travels, I’ve already had people, unasked, say, ‘Who is this clown?’ I’ve had three clubs mention this to me . . .”

“You get in the club and everyone thinks you’ll be okay, but you turn out to be a pain in the ass,” the governor said. “This guy is showing he is a pain in the ass before he even gets in the club.”

I’m growing more disappointed by the moment that Craig Leipold has plans to sell the team, but I will say this: Leipold has been a hard-worker and a class act from day one, and we deserve a new owner who continues that legacy. And one who is willing to continue it here in Nashville.

john mccain, lane-kiffin, ryan suter Comments 0 Jun 13th, 2007

Balsillie: (Good) faith no more

Prospective Preds owner Jim Balsillie reportedly withdrew his offer for the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins last December after being informed that the NHL intended for him to keep the Pens in Pennsylvania for at least seven years. It was also reported that the NHL insisted that Balsillie make a “good faith effort” to keep the team in Pittsburgh.

I’ve already been feeling like Balsillie’s silence has largely been to avoid the perception that he intends to move the franchise sooner rather than later, and now I have little doubt. His lead lawyer, Richard Rodier, has been quoted in the media lately speaking on Mr. Balsillie’s behalf, and his legalese-laden comments have widely been interpreted as saying that the new owner intends to abide by the lease and keep the team here.

If you’re still not convinced that this is a reuse, listen to this interview with Rodier that aired recently on a Toronto sports talk station. Following 27 minutes of discussion about the Preds’ lease and how it might be terminated, Rodier offered the following single sound byte for Nashville fans who might be listening over the internet:

[T]he key thing here, especially if anyone from Nashville is listening, [is that] this is about winning a Stanley Cup. This is a great, great team with tremendous defense, goaltending, etc.

If the leas–you know, we’re subject to a lease, and if the lease, and if the NHL in their wisdom says, you know, Nashville is it, we’re subject to a lease, and that’s it, end of story.

Don’t believe it for a second, Nashville. This effort appears to me to be good faith in name only, not in intent. I believe Balsillie wants our beloved Preds in Ontario tomorrow, but he’ll settle for the first instance that the team’s lease permits.

This potential transaction is a bad deal for Nashville, and this is not the owner we need in place for the Preds.

john mccain, knoxville, ryan suter Comments 0 Jun 13th, 2007

Balsillie looking to move Preds

If you’ve maintained any illusions that prospective Preds owner Jim Balsillie would give Nashville a fair chance to keep its NHL team, let Ken Whitehouse at Nashville Post set you straight:

The Canadian newspapers National Post and the Globe and Mail have posted stories in the last hour documenting moves that incoming Nashville Predators owner Jim Balsillie is making to relocate the team to Canada. In the National Post article, Balsillie is said to have filed a formal request with the National Hockey League, along with his ownership application, to be granted permission to relocate the team. Balsillie is asking that the contentious issue be handled at the same time is ownership application is considered on June 19 and 20 by the 30-member NHL Board of Governors.

In related news, the Globe and Mail is reporting that Balsillie has reached an agreement with the city of Hamilton, Ontario that would make it the new home of the Predators in the case of relocation. This news would come as a major disappointment to the Kitchener-Waterloo area, which had been courting Balsillie. 

NashvillePost.com sources close to the team say that both news items have outgoing Predators owner Craig Liepold and NHL Gary Bettman “irked” and that they are not pleased with the prospective buyer’s actions.

I’ve realized this afternoon that, as many Preds fans have since late May, I’ve been in denial thinking that Balsillie would give Nashville a chance to keep the team. I was already harboring lingering doubts, but this seals it for me. I do not believe that Mr. Balsillie has any intentions of keeping this team in Nashville one day longer than is required (and hopefully much earlier than that).

If Nashville wants the Preds to stay (and I think we do), we are going to have to fight for them.

john mccain, ryan suter, tourism Comments 1 Jun 13th, 2007

Alan Graham: try another kind of generosity

What is the most generous gift we have to give? If you ask Alan Graham, president and founder of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, the answer is ourselves. “We need to change the way people serve the homeless and the poor,” said Graham. “We need to serve them with love, participating not merely with our checkbooks but with our lives.”

There are plenty of material needs in the world today, more than any one of us could ever satisfy. Working to fulfill those needs is a noble aim–one that should not be abandoned–but there is more to life than just staying alive. Our greatest need as human beings, Graham argues, is not physical but spiritual. We need each other, and we need God.

According to Graham, the leading cause of homelessness in the United States is the loss of family. I think those of us who are fortunate enough to have never been “adrift,” as Graham describes those who are homeless, take for granted what a tremendous loss that must be.

Graham spoke this past Sunday at Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt campus, where the Saint Augustine’s Chapel congregation worships each week. He was in town to help kick off the launch of the Nashville chapter of MLF, a mission intended not only to feed the hungry but to “give them the gift of fellowship, friendship and abundant meals.”

The challenge for each of us, said Graham, is to do more than “just give [the indigent] what we think they need . . . but to give them the abundant love of God.” “Each of us can give a little,” he continued, “and a lot can be done.” I definitely agree.

[Hat tip to Kevin Barbieux, who I had the pleasure of meeting briefly during the service on Sunday. If you've ever wondered what "palliative" means, stick around for an explanation from him. Hint: It has a lot to do with this post.]

kevin klein, power & glory, vandy 1982 Comments 1 Jun 13th, 2007