Up for Debate: Worst Owner in Sports

Owning a sports franchise seems like a nice way to make a living. And how hard can it be, really, to produce some level of winning at least somewhat consistently? Well, our debaters take a look at sports ownership, asking the time honored question, "Who is the Worst Owner in Sports?"

Joe Moag
Man, talk about a target rich environment: worst owner in sports. Where to begin? Should it be the most hated (Al Davis, the Steinbrenners), the most immature (Rich Cuban), the greediest (the Redskins’ owner tried to charge kids to watch training camp games)… Too many options.

So I asked my cousin, and he simply said, “Who the hell owns the Clippers?” EXACTLY! The Clippers owner has got to rate number one on the list of worst owners in sports. Donald Sterling always wanted to own an NBA team. Too bad he missed and bought the Clippers.

Let’s see. By my count, the Clippers have won ONE playoff series in last 20 years. They have delivered a losing season almost every year since they opened up as the Buffalo Braves, they sign players like Cuttino Mobley for $42 million, they draft players like Paul Davis with their number one draft choices, and they are one of three franchises to have never won an NBA title.

They suck, and suck hard. And by the looks of things, there is every reason to believe that they will continue to suck for the long term. It is one thing to not make the playoffs for extended periods of time in baseball. But to continually not make the playoffs in the NBA – where virtually every team goes to the playoffs every season – is inexcusable.

I don’t know much about Donald Sterling. Maybe he’s the greatest guy on the planet. Maybe he donates all his money to poor children, feeds the hungry, and walks on water. But I do know that he is the crappiest sports owner on the planet. And the Los Angeles Clippers are the living (well, more like dying) proof of that.

P.S. I would have chosen the owners of the Cubs. 101 seasons without a World Series Championship definitely sets the low water mark on ownership. But, the Cubs are owned by the Tribune which is owned by Sam Zell, and they are being sold to the Ricketts family. The Cubs’ current owner – Zell – hasn’t owned them long enough to take responsibility for them, and the new owners don’t own them yet.

But rest assured, I have little faith that the Ricketts family won’t make my list of worst owners in sports eventually.

Amanda Fox
You could see Davis slipping in 2003 when they went 4-12 after a Super Bowl visit and threw the baby out with the bathwater. In '04 when Gannon went down to a career ending injury and the Kerry Collins era began is when Davis snapped for good. Suddenly draft picks made less sense, not that using afirst round pick to take a kicker, yes a frickin' kicker in 200o, made any more sense than some of the crap he floated after that. No disrespect to the guys he picked, some are okay, but they make absolutely no sense in regards to the teams needs.

Davis starts out with a young team and commitment to a youth movement. After a few losses he decides he needs a veteran presence. Another couple losses and the vets are old and tired and he needs fresh legs. Ever hear of balancing the roster Al? Ever hear of having a quarterback ready for opening day that is actually prepared to play in the NFL?

Al is still trying to put together teams like he had in his heyday, except those types of players are gone. You can't have a hungover QB lead you to victory these days. Matuszak is gone, and so are the roids that made those guys animals. Guys that played through broken bones fueled by who knows what are a bye-gone era, and John Madden has been gone for thirty years. Al is lost in a haze of nostalgia, his mental faculties have to be questioned, and to be honest I find it amazing the guy can stillremember how to paste his hair into that Trump-like helmet everyday.

What he'd done to the Raiders is turn them into a joke and any Raider fan that isn't outraged should be. Hell, all football fans should be. Al is treating a real NFL franchise like a Yahoo fantasy sports team, in a free public league no less. I've seen monkey feces fights at the zoo more co-ordinated than the way he runs the Raiders. Al do everyone a favor and give the raiders up, go play some bocce or catch the 4:00 pm early bird at Denny's or something. Whatever you do, step away from the team.

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