I moving on from this Madoff thing. I’ve had it with the lies and the quotes in the paper from lawyers and owners.
I just want to see baseball.
The Super Bowl is over.
There are 7 days left until Spring Training.
Everyone seems to be healthy and some players have already reported to Port St. Lucie.
Madoff is in jail with like 174 years to go on his sentence and the Wilpons are broke and could be selling the team as we speak.
In my opinion, we’re beating a dead horse here. What’s done is done, besides, this thing could drag on for months. Last week, after reading a New York Times article, I sat down and wrote a piece about Madoff and the Wilpons. The next day I read another article that contradicted the one I read the day before. I seriously don’t know who to believe and honestly, as long as the checks are still good, I wonder if the players do either. Whether the Wilpons knew about Madoff or not, we as fans are powerless to do anything about it except stamp our feet and nod our heads. I am tired of this and I know it’s not going away until either the Wilpons sell all or part of the team, or Mets begin winning.
Perhaps we can take a piece of baseball history here and apply it to the Mets, maybe the Wilpons need to sell the Mets to a point where they are minority shareholders, thus giving up baseball operations. Remember, George Steinbrenner was banned from baseball for a couple of years which actually improved the Yankees and made them what they are today. The worst case scenario is that the Wilpons have to sell the team outright, and if they do, then hopefully the next owner might bring in a new attitude and obviously new money. I do believe that there are billionaires out there that want to own a team and I’m quite sure the Mets can find a new owner.
So I’m sitting back and waiting for Spring Training.
It’s the only thing I have power to do.
8 comments
Prismo
2/8/2011-10:22am at 10:22 am (UTC -4)
Well, you could believe David Wright when he said that this thing WILL affect the Mets on an immediate basis. If not through the roster, then mentally. The dark cloud that hangs over the team and the fanbase can affect the players too; they are not infallible.
stickguy
2/8/2011-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
I listened to that interview (all 11 minutes of it!). I took it to mean that it will affect them because it will be mentioned all the time, and they will have to deal with it, but not that they would be taking it onto the field (unless, of course, it spills over onto the roster, by say having to trade reyes).
Players mostly play for themselves. Contracts #1 (all about the benjamins!), stats, winning a title, money, hunting and fishing, money, getting laid, money, and last place and fading the owners.
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-10:22am at 10:22 am (UTC -4)
I read all articles on the Wilpons problems with a grain of salt. Depending on who is doing the writing, it’s slanted one way or another. Some just cherry pick facts to make their point. Others are putting forth a sort of time line but that time line is only as good as what’s been published so far.
Outside of those involved, none know the true story. I suspect we as Met fans never will. And that’s fine with me. Wost case scenario is they declare bankruptcy, team has to be sold, MLB overseas it and it’s done. Whether new owners will be better or worse, only time will tell.
In all scenarios, I highly doubt the NY Mets will cease to be. As a fan, that alone makes me happy. How far reaching this will be, I have no idea. Here’s hoping that whatever happens, it doesn’t take years to recover from and we’re all watching a competitive team sooner rather than later.
oleosmirf
2/8/2011-10:32am at 10:32 am (UTC -4)
can we never mention Madoff or the ownership money issues again?
Mr North Jersey
2/8/2011-11:49am at 11:49 am (UTC -4)
PLAY BALL!!!
stickguy
2/8/2011-11:51am at 11:51 am (UTC -4)
thanks for writing this. I feel the same way. I keep starting to write a piece about it, but haven’t quite gotten the right tone for it.
Like you, I want to just watch games. The wilpons issue are a side show, but the “facts” are still debatable. Mostly though, we all just have to wait for a resolution, and there is nothing anyone can do in the meantime except dream up worst case scenarios, so why bother?
Even hashing over the history is pointless (and I do not believe that the Wilpons have some moral imperative requiring them to sell the team). All the entanglements of the finances, gains and losses, are irrelevant to me (and the team) at this point. Money is gone, history.
it is really pretty simple going forward. The Wilpons need money to cover debts, settle the lawsuit, and run the team (including all obligations they had invested with Bernie). Either they have enough money to do so now (and can run the team from revenues it generates), or they don’t and will have to sell something to raise it.
so they sell part or all of the team, and we all move on.
but until something happens, they play baseball.
saltygary
2/8/2011-11:52am at 11:52 am (UTC -4)
It will not go away until the case is closed, a settlement is reached and whatever actions the Wilpons need to take are completed.
It is time to watch baseball because it means that the 4′ of snow that I currently have in NH plus the 3″ I am getting today is finally gone. We just need to take care of each other and help each other out when we are about to go over the deep end with our frustration. It’s baseball something very important to us, but it’s just baseball. If the team doesn’t perform and the ownership tanks, there is always more beer to drink.
I don’t know what I am more excited about, the Mets starting to play or a mid-season RDM Dugout rant from TKFJ.
gategem
2/8/2011-7:13pm at 7:13 pm (UTC -4)
“I’m letting this Madoff thing go.”
The Wilpons wish they could say the same thing.