The passing this week of the beloved Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin was the latest in a series of instances recently that seem to show us that one of the great storylines of American team sports, the iconic “owner” that we loved or hated and sometimes followed with as much or more passion than the players themselves, is fading into the distance of corporate America. Yes, we still have Jerry Jones with the Cowboys and a community and business leader like Mike Ilitch with the Tigers and Red Wings, but these days a single owner as the personality of his or her franchise seems to be more a hindrance than a help when teams’ cost of doing business or connecting to a community is in play. In addition to Pollin's passing (his legacy is well detailed in many pieces this week in the Washington Post, including Thomas Boswell's great read), we have the fading health of the Yankees George Steinbrenner, the recently disclosed illness of the Seahawks and Tralblazers owner Paul Allen, Lakers owner Jerry Buss taking a back seat in running his franchise, and the disfunctional issues with the Raiders and owner Al Davis. Then pile on the public divorce cases of the Padres John Moores and the Dodgers Frank McCourt, both effecting those franchises bottom lines, and there is a very good case that the individual leader has gone the way of the dinosaur. Now in today's all access media market the argument can probably be made that there is less of a need to have the owner as the organization front man or woman. Fans want access more to the players who they are spending the money on, and probably are less interested in the billionaire owners footing the bills for the talent. Still the owner as the brand and the face of a franchise, more as promoter and pillar of the community than as rich playboy, was what drew many to sport in the first place. The Maras and the Rooney's of the NFL, a man like Sonny Werblin with the Knicks and the Rangers, Lamar Hunt taking his oil money to help start the AFL, the Yawkeys of Boston…all became touchpoints as sport became big business and their faces and reputations rose and fell in the community with the fortunes of their team or teams. Now these men certainly did not act alone, and the most successful always assembled the right business teams to run said franchises on the day to day. However the team brands and their individual personal “brands” were one in the same. Steinbrenner's Yankees took on the personality of their owner, both good and bad. Maybe today's high demand world of everchanging loyalties and interests may not lend itself to such individuals as much as in the past, especially as the battle for the discretionary dollar, but the personality of the owner was part of the mystique of the team brand and was part of the passion that drove the business of sport. Yes its easier to be lukewarm about corporate ownership and maybe it puts more focus on the athletes. However knowing the owner always made it more fun and a little more intriguing, and that personality involved with the imprint of the franchise got sport to be the business it is today. It is probably an era lost, but one which should be reflected on positively as another icon passed this week.
Some other good reads…the Bergen Record had a great piece on the struggles of injured NHL lineman Pat Depuzzo… the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica had a great pre-Thanksgiving column on a 9/11 survivor and his return to Denver for Thursday's game…the first trip of which saved his life that fatefull day in 2001…and Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski has a good look at the fast moving Atlanta Hawks…
