Last I checked, Jeffrey Loria can’t turn a double play much less hit a ball out of the infield. The guy could probably not even make it around the bases at half stride without a chauffeur. So, what is with all the noise about him?
Sure, he is the owner of the Marlins franchise. Yes he is a cheapskate that is using his sports franchise as an investment tool and not as a hobby like his fellow colleagues – who all have much deeper pockets. Say what you want, but the question remains, why should this team spend money?
Ethan Skolnick, another guy who looks like he has never played sports, writes about how his innocent wittle cowwum was picked on by Jeffrey Loria and then goes on to collect what other writers are saying “internationally”. Guess what? The reviews for Loria suck! Of course they do! How hard is it to not like a guy who refuses to spend money yet continues to get a pretty good ballclub on the field each season? Oh, and has pulled off the impossible and has a brand new stadium being built AS WE SPEAK in Miami and basically not pay for that either?
Well, if you look at what Skolnick has amassed, you will see that the people writing either a) already have a bias against Loria or b) know jack about baseball. It made me wonder, does anyone write anything positive about Jeffrey Loria?
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have an owner that has billions of dollars to throw around but you know what? That hardly leads to a good product you can be proud of. How many times have the Mets thrown money at the problem? How many of those teams, as a fan, would you be proud to root for? Exactly. Spending money is hardly the answer and the geniuses that Skolnick amassed would all disagree – they would all be supportive of someone who simply wrote progressively bigger and bigger checks.
Because Loria isn’t as rich as his fellow owners, he has had to be better if he wants to win. He put people in charge that scout and do the things a franchise with small revenue has to do – get the best talent they can afford together. Spend wisely.
To me, it doesn’t matter who the owner is. In fact, that is the point – all of this whining over Loria is ridiculous. You don’t root for the team because of the owner, you root for the team because they represent your neighborhood, your city, and hopefully they do that well. This team is young and loaded with talent and yes, they should be contending for a playoff spot. Disagree with that and maybe you don’t know enough about this sport in the first place. Which is the main problem with our media down here – they are mostly concerned with celebrity worship and making grandstands on things that have no consequence instead of focusing on things like the team’s ability to advance runners in scoring position and their record in 1 run games (which, by the way, is one of the key reasons why Fredi was canned – he wasn’t making those managerial decisions to win games).
So of course the media is going to point the finger at the owner. Look, his job is to sign the checks and make sure the money is there. In fact, that is the problem – the Marlins don’t draw and they don’t get revenue from ticket sales. How can you blame the owner when fans don’t go to games and the media, instead of covering the sport they paint a picture that the Marlins can’t sell to fans? In fact, the reason they Marlins are forced to spend so much in advertising is because that is one of the things they must do to combat the negative reviews from our mediocre media. The game is never the focus down here, instead it is the things going on behind the game. We aren’t New York even though we have a bunch of the mamalukes living down here – none of which support Miami teams but remain loyal to their muttaland, NYC.
If you are looking for someone to blame, blame the media for presenting the Marlins as a hack franchise. They do such a good job of it that they are probably the single largest reason fans in south Florida stay home (well, except for the Palm Beach Post who always does a great job with the Fish). If the fans stay home, the Marlins don’t make revenue off of ticket sales.
And if the fans came out in droves, you know who gets the money? Not Loria – but Wayne “H-bomb” Huizenga. He forced the Marlins to sign a near criminal lease where they will not see much revenue at all. Thank God he sold the Dolphins and the Marlins are getting the hell out of there to their own facility.
Most importantly, support the team. The name on the front of the jersey is who should get all the attention. Names on the back will always change but the name on the front is here to stay. Be critical, but be reasonable. Did the Marlins muck up this Fredi firing? Yeah – it needed to happen but they needed to have a candidate in place ready to go. As it stands, Edwin Rodriguez will now be the manager til the end of the season. That is a solid move and should have been done from the start instead of pursuing the Bobby Valentine “process”. Right now, the Fish have a baseball guy who is hungry and wants to prove himself and maybe the team takes on that characteristic. If not, they have the offseason to make a decision and possibly get a guy they want like Ozzie Guillen.
The media doesn’t get it and probably never will. The fans need to stop listening/reading the media and form their own opinions. Go online, find a fan site for the Fish – there are tons of us out here. Express your own thoughts and opinions with fellow fans who know the game and stay clear of the talking heads. The Marlins should be supported because they are our team and actually have some good talent. Vilifying the owner offers nothing in return.
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by jonnylons
In a Sea of Villainy, Jeffrey Loria Shows the Way
January 18, 2013 in Commentary, Offense
Is Jeffrey Loria the devil? Or evil mastermind? Or just smarter than we all think?
Lance Armstrong is on Oprah confessing that he cheated. And that he lied about cheating.
Notre Dame media darling Manti Te’o, a runner up for the Heisman trophy and heart of the Irish defense, may have been involved in a hoax over a story about a girlfriend that died of leukemia.
Somewhere, Jeffrey Loria is sighing relief, smiling in the mirror giving himself an “atta-boy”.
You see, Loria, as vile as he may be to the shifting allegiances of Marlins’ fans these days, got one thing right – he shut up. He lied and he knows it. No matter how he spins it, he lied to people both “big and small” and made a decision that was vastly unpopular with pretty much anyone in South Florida. Whether or not you agree with his decision, the team did have 93 losses and spent over $100M last offseason to get to that point. That’s a reality.
And one can argue that he is handling it horribly, too. His initial reaction to the media was ”We finished in last place. Figure it out.” He didn’t go on Oprah and confess anything. He didn’t do an apology tour. In fact, his PR shot in the arm is usually David Samson, team president (and stepson) who gets out in front of these things and takes it on the chin. He goes on radio shows – heck, has his own radio spot from time to time. People may not totally embrace his distinctly vinegar personality, but they are at least entertained by what Samson says.
Total silence. Blackness. That is what Loria wants. He wants his organization to not even address this publicly. There has been no public attempt to smooth things over with frustrated wunderkind Giancarlo Stanton. Heck, even the annual Fanfest has been cancelled and renamed “Winter Warm Up”.
But you know what? Loria realizes that nothing good can come from it. That in opening his mouth, no one is going to buy what he says anyway. There is no point. In this, he looks like a genius, a mastermind. Lance Armstrong is going around trying to pitch a new, honest, and humbling image – you know he is up to something. Te’o has yet to interview and address this, which in his case may prove to be a mistake. Then again, maybe the silent treatment in this of endless blogging and social networking is the way to go. Let people think what they will, you can do little to change it and probably do more damage trying to defend yourself. Especially when you are guilty to begin with.
Then again, if the Marlins do turn this around and start winning, what will Loria’s reaction be then? Definitely not a “I-told-you-so”. But he certainly would have the ability to “buy back” some trust from this fan base. Admittedly, that is a pretty big “if” looming over that fancy new Marlins Park – built by an angry tax paying community that feels betrayed. Yet in light of today’s sports landscape, and in our society in general, lying, cheating, and stealing is rampant. So, get in line. You bought the ticket, now see the show.
Tags: Jeffrey Loria, Jose Reyes, Lance Armstrong, Manti Te'o No Comments »