The funny thing is that William Clay Ford has steadfastly exhibited two qualities that would almost always make an owner great.
1. Extreme loyalty (Matt Millen)
2. Stays out of the way of GM and coaches and let them do their jobs
The problem is that those two qualities have been so extreme, that each borders more on apathy, passiveness, and cluelessness than it does good ownership.
You could describe Randy Lerner the exact same way, at least with #2. Probably not the "extreme loyalty" part, though.
the team is in Detroit and Jerry Jones sucks.
stupid article, imo.
Poor logic. Before 2008 and the 0-16, Lions home games still had around around 92-95% home attendance. After 0-16, home attendance had a huge drop the next couple seasons, all the way down to the mid 70%, which is unbelievable for the NFL. Started to pick up again last year, and obviously with the good start this season, home attendance has been fine.
Being in Detroit means very little when the majority of fans who attend the games come from the more affluent suburbs. The correlation is the product on the field and winning and losing.
Poor logic is attributing the job an owner is doing to just one thing, whether it be profit margins or win/loss record.
There are many aspects that go into it, and you are stupid if you don't think Detroit's economic woes plays at least some part in attendance dropping and loss of profits.
Apparently the Pistons are hurting too:
The Detroit Pistons have been losing money and have been borrowing cash to meet operating expenses — debt that will be assumed by new owner Tom Gores, sources familiar with the situation told Crain's.
........
Sports insiders have said Detroit's economy is the primary culprit in the Pistons' financial woes — drying up attendance and corporate sales and forcing the team to offer deep discounts.
In January, Forbes.com valued the team at $360 million, which represents a $119 million decline in value over 12 months. The financial news website attributed the lost value to declining attendance and the Detroit-area economy.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ume-that-debt#
Suh, Stafford and Megatron are trying real hard to change that and Blake is right about Detroit's economy right now.
Not only are the tickets expensive but $7 beers and $5 hotdogs really hurts the pocket.
There's obviously plenty of factors when a sports franchise loses money. With the Lions and even other Detroit sports, the team being good and winning plays a huge role. I never said Detroit's economy doesn't play any role. But if the team is winning, the attendance will be fine and ultimately the team would not be in the red. The Tigers are located in the same downtown Detroit, with the same economic struggles. They had very good attendance this season because they were actually good. Pistons until 2-3 years ago had the longest running sold out home games in the league and it was it was several years long. If you haven't noticed, the Pistons have sucked the last couple seasons. When they were good, they were selling out. The economy has been bad in Detroit for over a decade.
NFL sells. Only 16 games, only 8 home games. People attend when the team is good. And as I mentioned before, it's not "poor people" in Detroit anyway. It's people in the affluent suburbs going downtown to watch the game. They will sell if the team is good. This year, as long as the Lions continue to be solid and relevant, they'll sell out their remaining homes games and the Lions won't be financially in the red this season.
Yes, the economy in Detroit is bad. And that will have its shared effect. But your initial post is still based on poor logic. The Detroit economy is still bad but both the Lions and Tigers in downtown Detroit will make money on home attendance.
I clicked the thread expecting to nominate Bill Ford Sr.
Awesome that I didnt have to.
I have never walked inside Ford Field for any reason, and I never will until that old ing relic is dead and gone. Worst piece of to own a franchise, second only to "Dollar" Bill Wirtz.
At least your owner isn't suffering dementia and carrying a colostomy bag in tow.
At least your owner is in the building. He's a hundred years old, he's drooling and he's ting into a plastic bag- but he's in the building.
Our owner is either in the Hamptons or in England wearing a goty scarf and rooting on his stupid Premiership team. He can't even be bothered to make the owners' meetings.
I ing hate Jerry Jones......as a GM. As an owner, he really is one of the best. Owning a team is about making money, and very few are as good at that as Jerry..and he's proven he doesn't have a problem with spending money for his team. He just makes ass decisions.
Lake Erie teams can't catch a breakAt least your owner is in the building. He's a hundred years old, he's drooling and he's ting into a plastic bag- but he's in the building.
Our owner is either in the Hamptons or in England wearing a goty scarf and rooting on his stupid Premiership team. He can't even be bothered to make the owners' meetings.
What's great about Randy is that every two or three years he'll drop in to see how everyone's doing.
Inevitably he'll find a MRSA outbreak in the medical facility, a power struggle somewhere in the front office, fans that are screaming for heads and a horrible team that just got beat by 40 by Pittsburgh at home- Terrible Towels filling the stands, of course.
He then fires EVERYONE and starts over again. New GM, new coach, new systems, wholesale roster shuffling, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Life in the fall is a little bit better when you have a quality NFL team to root for.Lake Erie teams can't catch a break
Indeed it is...i'm still waiting for the bottom to drop out though. I think this jet game could send them into a downward spiral.
doublepost
Last edited by JoeTait75; 11-04-2011 at 01:16 AM.
agreed with jerrah great owner horrible gm
tbh, I think Pats fans are blessed... I couldn't ask for a better owner
Yeah, Kraft is about as good as it gets. Doesn't meddle or interfere but he's visible, out front, leading the organization and setting the tone.
I guess after Victor Kiam you guys were due.
So you agree.
you agree again.Yes, the economy in Detroit is bad. And that will have its shared effect.
lol.But your initial post is still based on poor logic.
you're stupid and your conclusion of the logic in my initial 5+ word post is illogical.
There's no set criteria here for what it means to be a great owner.
Nobody doubts JJ business and marketing skills.
Never said there weren't many factors to a team losing money. And never said Detroit didn't have a bad economy. And you never made those points in your initial post. So I agree with nothing. I stipulated to facts that I never disagreed with in the first place.
I inferred what you were suggesting about Detroit's economy in your initial 5+ word post. Your subsequent post criticizing Detroit's economy confirmed what I inferred. Therefore, my conclusion about your logic was right on. The Detroit economy has been pretty bad over the last decade, yet when the teams win, they sell and they make money. When the teams are bad, they don't sell and they don't make money. The economy has some effect, but it's not the main reason a sports team loses money in Detroit. Not a difficult concept to grasp... for most people.lol.
you're stupid and your conclusion of the logic in my initial 5+ word post is illogical.
You agree that Detroit's economy plays a role.
You just said it does in the previous post.
You say that Detroit's economy does have some effect and then say I have poor logic for saying the same.I inferred what you were suggesting about Detroit's economy in your initial 5+ word post. Your subsequent post criticizing Detroit's economy confirmed what I inferred. Therefore, my conclusion about your logic was right on. The Detroit economy has been pretty bad over the last decade, yet when the teams win, they sell and they make money. When the teams are bad, they don't sell and they don't make money. The economy has some effect, but it's not the main reason a sports team loses money in Detroit. Not a difficult concept to grasp... for most people.
You are coming to poor conclusions, contradicting yourself and looking stupid, tbh.
The economy has an effect, just like in a lot of other NFL cities. The economy is not the main reason the team has lost money over the last few years. The main reason is the team losing, the product on the field. Like I've said a couple of times now, even in the bad economy, when Detroit teams win, they sell. So even in a bad economy, an NFL team should not be in the red.
Here's where economy plays a role. When the team is winning and they're still selling most of their tickets, the difference in home game attendance might be something like 95% in Detroit versus 100% in a city with a better economy. Likewise, when the team is bad, the difference in home attendance might be something like 75% in Detroit versus 90% in a city with a better economy.
But to the point of the article, the Lions losing money in recent years should not be blamed mostly on the economy. The economy has been bad for a long time, but if the team is winning, they haven't, aren't, and won't lose money.
You suggest just because it's Detroit, it was a stupid article. What I inferred from your comments is that it's mostly on the economy. That's what I disagree with. That's what I think is poor logic.
I never gave my opinion on what the main reason might be and it's irrelevant to why I think the article is stupid.
I know you did.What I inferred from your comments is that it's mostly on the economy.
It was stupid and illogical of you to do so.
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