Guest Column: Joe McGrath on Frank McCourt and The Los Angeles Dodgers
Editor’s Note: Mr. McGrath has long and storied history in the management of professional sports franchises, most notably as the general manager of the Charlestown Chiefs of the now-defunct Federal League. Oh, and this is probably a good time to mention that Mr. McGrath’s views are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Dubsism, our staff, or anybody else whose house you might want to burn to the ground.
For the love of God, I just don’t understand this. The shit happening with the Mets, that’s easy to understand. All that happened there was a few guys got greedy, now they are going to be broke. That story is more prevalent than pee smell in a bus station bathroom. But this McCourt guy must be the dumbest guy on the planet. I mean, the Dodgers were a great franchise once, but through a series of stupid decisions, he’s turned them into a Double-A team with a 60,000 seat stadium. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the minor leagues, there’s some great people in places like Charlestown and Peterborough. But Los Angeles has what, like 20 million people? That’s not a minor league market. It would take me fifteen home games in Charlestown to sell 60,000 tickets, and the goddamn Dodgers can do it anytime the Giants come to town.
Not to mention, this asshole McCourt owns the stadium, which means he controls the parking, the concessions, and all the other revenue streams. It also means he doesn’t have a landlord trying to bang him out of all that revenue. Back in Charlestown, I had a landlord that used to screw me out of every dime he could, and he never once tossed one of those dimes toward lube, if you know what I mean.
And on top of that, this guy had the commissioner of the goddamn league escort him into the ownership ranks, and it is that very same commissioner who is clipping his wings. This is why I keep asking myself how did McCourt fuck this up as badly as he did?
To me, the first mistake he made was making his wife the CEO of the team. Who in the hell wants to go to work every day and see their goddamn wife? Not mention, he didn’t make her the secretary or some other job fit for a woman, he makes her the goddamn CEO! Now, he has to listen to all her bullshit, from what flavor the urinal cakes are to which players you think she wants to fuck. Worse yet, when the marriage is over (like when he caught her banging her chauffeur) he not only has to divorce her, but fire her as well. And better yet, making her an officer of the organization punched a nice, fat hole in any pre-nuptial agreement they may have had. This is exactly why all of us got to hear the accusations from Frank, in a public letter no less, about Jamie’s “insubordination, non-responsiveness, failure to follow procedures, and inappropriate behavior with regard to a direct subordinate (that’s the ‘fucking the chauffeur’ part).”
Oh, and for good measure, he changed the locks on her office. Now, I’m no Dr. Phil, but shit like that tells me there were problems long before Frank found the chauffer’s dick in his wife. So, what could have possibly been wrong before the eve of the 2009 NLCS when Frank McCourt filed for divorce?
The first hint there was some crazy shit going on was when it came out the pair had hired a faith healer in Boston to watch Dodger games on TV and send “positive vibes” their way. I don’t even know what to say about that.
Then there’s Jamie, who while she refused to accept her firing, sent her chauffeur/fuck-buddy to Taiwan as an “Official Dodger Ambassador.” What the hell is that all about? Does she feel the need to make sure the Dodger disabled list never runs out of guys like Hong-Chi Kuo? Or is she worried about the future of the organization now that they let a talent like Chin-Lung Hu to escape to the Mets?
Then there’s the ownership of the stadium. Frank McCourt owns the stadium, but he is playing a financial shell game by charging his own team big-time rent. The whole reason he is doing that is it somehow allows him to hide money from his ex-wife. I understand not getting rooked on a divorce, but how much work do you have to go through to hide a roll of dimes? The guy is broke, the Dodgers do not have the cash to meet their May 31 payroll, and this guy is telling me “everything is just fine.”
Here’s the part I really don’t get – what the hell is this deal $3 billion dollar deal with Fox all about? McCourt keeps saying all these problems go away if we could just get the trigger pulled on that deal. So, then why the hell isn’t that happening? Probably because nobody trusts McCourt’s book-keeping, and when you consider that Fox has already loaned McCourt a ton of cash, I’d be willing to bet there is some sort of “secret deal” between McCourt and Fox that Selig wants no part of. This is exactly why Selig made the move he did; he wants an honest accounting of the Dodgers’ finances, and it was clear that was never going to happen until he had McCourt’s balls in a vice.
So, after all that shit, McCourt still doesn’t get that the guy who brought him into the league can sure as hell kick him out? For that alone, this guy is the stupidest man on the planet.
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11 comments on “Guest Column: Joe McGrath on Frank McCourt and The Los Angeles Dodgers”
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There’s nothing more irritating that annoying millionaires that mismanage the things they own, then cry poor.
I say, fuck ’em and the limo they rode in on.
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Frank McCourt needs a frontal lobotomy but why waste the money on an exercise that still leaves him being an idiot anyway ?
You’ve simply got Selig and the league hierarchy to blame for this crap because when he was using the team as collateral to facilitate certain business deals why the hell didn’t they intervene then ? Baseball is made up of a bunch idiotic old farts !
Now apart from not being able to meet team and other staff payroll for April the same situation is now arising again for the month of May . Ned Colletti and the other dickheads in that Dodgers’ front office ought to be meeting the same fate as Bin Laden ! That’s my take on the situation !
tophatal …………
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I’m far from a McCourt apologist, but the league has to approve his Fox TV deal, and I doubt they will. Would you let an owner that is obviously broke sign a $3B deal? I wouldn’t, because if there was a financially competent owner in place, I bet the deal would be closer to $4B! You never get a great deal when your negotiating from a position of weakness, and obviously that’s where Frank is. Hopefully he can’t pay the payroll this month, and the MLB will be able to take over the team no questions asked!
I actually like the product on the field. They have solid hitting, and can pitch better than most teams…
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chappy
Do you actually believe that the alleged tv contract would put an end to the mess that the Dodgers are in ? Hell they couldn’t make the club’s employee payroll for April and they’re in the same boat again this month as well . What does that indicate to you about the mess that they’re in ? It’s obvious that they’re a mess not only from a financial standpoint but also from an executive one as well . Much of that blame lays not only with McCourt but also with the dumb ass league hierarchy and the criteria they set for vetting potential team owners .
tophatal ……………
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I agree with Tophatal, the Dodgers’ issues run much deeper McCourt. The MLB sat back and watched this “NoneSense” roll into a major SnowBall. No, $3 billion is not the answer for the Dodgers’ payroll debacle. This is another case of a greedy owner and terrible management.
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Dee Morgan
That $ 3 billion tv deal between the Dodgers and Fox seems to be a tad better than the deal that NBC has with Notre Dame don’t you think ? When was the last time that The Fightin Irish were actually relevant in college football ?
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Tophatal,
Actually, the Fighting Irish and NBC makes better sense. The University is not in financial ruins. The state, Board of Regents, student fees, rich alumni and sponsorships will take care of the Athletic Department if/when they get in the red.
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Perhaps we can have the regency of Notre Dame now take care of the national debt as well as the federal deficit then ?
So the Police Chief Jim Chu in Vancouver believes that the rioting in his city wasn’t caused by Canucks’ fans but merely the criminal masses within the city . Does it make a damn bit of difference who in effect caused millions of dollars worth of damage ? Chu needs to look at the real world not through rose colored glasses !
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Notre Dame needs to be concerned with issues pertaining to the function of the students/athletes, faculty/staff, members, guests and others involved with the entity as a whole including community and services necessary. Notre Dame didn’t cause the National Debt issue. Now, Vancouver’s Police Chief is in denial. Like every major sporting event, the fans always cause a substantial amount of damage after the fact. His reason for making that statement is for research/records purposes. Also, to paint a positive outlook of the city and residence of Vancouver to outsiders.
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Dee
Perhaps ND can assist the Prez with the country’s financial problems given the fact that they’ve hoards of cash within their coffers ?
No truth to the rumor then that Jack Nicholson wants to get a consortium together of his A List buddies and buy the Dodgers ? I can see it now as Jack takes an axe to the whole organization .
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