I believe Pohlad started out by working for the banks, foreclosing peoples homes during the great depression. I thought I read that somewhere, maybe I am full of nonsense. Let me know.
Pohlad is cheap, and we all wish he would spend more money, but I don't blame anyone for making a company that loses money. There would not be a Major League Baseball organization if the league were run by idiots that lost money. The Twins organization is accountable for plenty of jobs, the community, etc. I have no idea how much profit Pohlad makes per year, and I wish he would spend more on player salary (There is no reason our payroll should be below $85M this year) but I think people are pretty dumb if they expect someone to lose money.
He is a jerk for making the community pay for the new stadium...but all of sports are screwed up like that. As a nation of sports fans, we gave commissioners of these organizations too much power. It would be too easy for Pohlad to go look at a city that wants a baseball team, make them pay for the stadium, then move the team.
Unfortunately that is a part of our society. Different cities and states want to offer an improved standard of living for their citizens, to attract more people to the area, more jobs, and to continue the cycle of everyones well being (and the politicians pockets as a result). A huge part of that is having a professional sports team. So it has become part of our society that the community leaders pay for something like a stadium, to attract a team, attract jobs, and contribute back to the community - if anything less then something for the citizens to do.
I hate Carl Pohlad as much as any Twins fan. It is a joke that he may not take 1 year to lose money, in hopes of chasing a championship, to just once go on a spending spree like many other owners do. But no one in professional sports is stupid, and no one is out to lose money, just as I'm sure the Bucks owners ultimate goal is to make a profit and stay in business.
So please don't just say "Carl Pohlad has lots of money so I expect him to lose money trying to overspend for a champtionship" (even though it isn't guaranteed - ask the Steinbrenners).
|
