Bee: What are the Maloofs thinking, anyway?

[VF21]

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/75769.html

Marcos Bretón: What are Maloofs thinking, anyway?
By Marcos Bretón - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:10 am PST Sunday, November 12, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
An open letter to Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof:

Dear fellas: It's no secret that I'm the last person you want to hear from right now in light of the recent failure to build the Kings a downtown arena.

That's understandable. This column has been tough on you, real tough. Based on the comments of your employees on the radio -- and of NBA leaders, including Commissioner David Stern -- you feel that this column was part of a campaign to assassinate your character.

Why would anyone want to do that for the sport of it when so many -- including me -- want the Kings to be here?

Putting aside the opportunistic politician behind the recent anti-arena campaign, many people in Sacramento either like you or give you the benefit of the doubt.

Why not? You donate time and money in the community and make sure Kings fans are engaged and entertained.

You also took a huge gamble to acquire Ron Artest, a shrewd decision to energize a sinking franchise and a risk many NBA teams now wish they had taken.

And although it's too early for final judgments, your choice of Eric Musselman as the coach looks like a winner. Under him, the Kings are playing with a toughness rarely seen here before.

In every respect except the arena, you are really good NBA owners whom I wouldn't trade for any others in the NBA.

But the arena is where our opinions diverge.

Based on your public comments and of those of the NBA, you feel Sacramento hosed you on the number of parking spaces you were promised. And you believe that Sacramento promised you more than it could deliver.

Your side states that the developer slated to build at the abandoned railyard downtown -- where a new arena would have gone -- was left high and dry by Sacramento without money for infrastructure needed for the whole deal to happen.

Your side is passionate about this, and it's accepted as fact and transmitted on your team radio station without corroboration.

But these are not facts. They are points of dispute rejected by the city and county. And the right-hand man of developer Stan Thomas -- Suheil Totah, one of Thomas' vice presidents -- went on record in Thursday's Bee as also disputing your version of events.

Moreover, the truth about the parking spaces you say you were promised is that there is nothing legally binding to back up your claims.

It's akin to getting mad about a handshake deal when the other side denies ever shaking -- or signing -- to such a deal.

Where does that leave us? With you being angry.

But there are a lot people on the other side just as angry -- and some who went on record in this paper as speculating that you guys tanked this deal on purpose.

Why did this column let you have it with both barrels? Because I -- like a lot of other people -- was prepared to support the downtown arena. And then you guys walked away, making assertions that are disputed to this day.

I still don't get it and don't feel good about it. Here was Sacramento willing to try raising the sales tax for you -- something other California cities wouldn't do for their pro teams -- and you failed to appreciate the significance of that commitment.

Then you walked away for reasons that still ring hollow. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I'm telling you how it is.

If you're confused as to why so many people are upset with you now, it can be spelled out it in one word:

Confusion.

Where are you coming from? What are you trying to do? You say you're committed to Sacramento, but your way of showing it leaves many scratching their heads.

You haven't made all the mistakes. Everyone made some -- me included.

But you act as if you alone are the victims. And the truth is, you walked away and stayed away until the clock ran out on the arena campaign.

And you know what? A lot of people still want you to stay, still think this relationship can be fixed, but wonder if you truly want to stay here.

It's the quandary of many people not on your payroll or not blinded by your stature as Kings owners: the difficulty of reconciling your words and your actions.

About the writer: Reach Marcos Bretón at (916) 321-1096 or mbreton@sacbee.com

 

[VF21]

What a mess... and believe me, boys and girls, it's not gonna get any clearer, at least as long as the same people are making the decisions at the Bee on how they will cover this whole issue.

I think there's truth in the Breton comments, but I also believe there is a defensiveness which comes from having everyone up to the Executive Counsel for the NBA talking about what a hatchet job the local press did on the Maloofs.

I believe Mr. Breton should look to himself and R.E. Graswich to see why people are upset with THEM instead of pointing the finger of blame back at Joe and Gavin. If you accept the Maloofs for what they are - passionate team owners who sometimes forget this is all about politics - their stance makes perfect sense. On the other hand, if you look at the writings of at least a couple of Bee columnists, you see articles that are pretty clearly calculated to sell newspapers and get people angry. And that, to me, is not what a newspaper should do.

If the Maloofs walked away, it was because they felt they had been blindsided - which it appears they were. It's a two-way deal, Mr. Breton.

I'm not on the Maloofs payroll or blinded by their stature and I find THEIR words and actions a lot easier to reconcile than yours.

 

[BRad1055]

I agree with Breton on this....

Everyone has to take some of the blame on this whole arena mess the city,county,and the Maloofs, but why did they walk away and not come back to the table when this city like Breton said wanted to make a deal happen and did something unlike any city in California would have done.

 

[VF21]

They walked away because it was pretty clear to them, IMHO, the city wasn't going to honor their verbal commitment. At that point, it wasn't up to the Maloofs to return to the table so much as it was up to the city to try and fix the misunderstanding (I'll be generous and call it that).

Are the Maloofs blameless? No. Are they trying to hose the city of Sacramento? No. They have explained fairly clearly why they need the revenue stream from parking.

The city may have wanted to make a deal happen but at some point it sure seems as though they wanted to make it all about the city and the railyards and not also about the Maloofs. You can't do it that way...

Compromise is the key.

Something very similar to this happened in Houston the first time the city and the Rockets tried to get a deal together. And it went down to defeat, also.

My hope is that all parties concerned can now get back to negotiations, cutting the crap and finding a way to make a deal (not necessarily the railyards deal) work for everyone.

 

[BRad1055]

Ya I agree...

I too hope they get an arena done as well obviously cause I love the kings and would hate to see them leave. You said they had a verbal agreement, but they never had any of that in writing so unless it is in writing they can't come back and say they were double crossed or whatever IMO.

 

[VF21]

I too hope they get an arena done as well obviously cause I love the kings and would hate to see them leave. You said they had a verbal agreement, but they never had any of that in writing so unless it is in writing they can't come back and say they were double crossed or whatever IMO.

Au contraire.

The verbal agreement was supposed to lead to the memo of understanding, MOU, that has been talked about so much. The parties verbally agreed to certain things and then waited for their respective attorneys, etc. to draw up the papers. The whole problem started, it seems, when things that had been verbally agreed to all of a sudden disappeared or simply didn't happen.

 

[kupman]

I believe Mr. Breton should look to himself and R.E. Graswich to see why people are upset with THEM instead of pointing the finger of blame back at Joe and Gavin. If you accept the Maloofs for what they are - passionate team owners who sometimes forget this is all about politics - their stance makes perfect sense. On the other hand, if you look at the writings of at least a couple of Bee columnists, you see articles that are pretty clearly calculated to sell newspapers and get people angry. And that, to me, is not what a newspaper should do.

C'mon, VF. The majority of people are not upset with the Bee - they are upset with Maloofs. As you know, I really, really do not like the Bee. However, the total defense of the Maloofs is tiresome. You take H.B. comments on the radio as the gospel truth. Obviously, there are two sides to the story and I am certain that the Bee has made mistakes out of their biases. However, Breton' makes some really, good points here. It was not the Bee the botched the arena deal and it is time to stop blaming them.

 

[Kingzrool]

The city may have wanted to make a deal happen but at some point it sure seems as though they wanted to make it all about the city and the railyards and not also about the Maloofs. You can't do it that way...

That is exactly where this whole thing went sour. The "arm in arm" concept was not followed through on.

 

[VF21]

That is exactly where this whole thing went sour. The "arm in arm" concept was not followed through on.

I agree, Kingzrool.

Hopefully, without the restrictive time constraints they faced this past spring, they may be able to get back to working on something that will benefit the city, the county, and the Maloofs - and give Sacramento the state-of-the-art arena so many of us have hoped for.

But we'll have to be prepared for another contentious political battle, too, since Mayor Fargo has already announced she's running for re-election in 2008 and any arena deal that requires a public vote is sure to be smack-dab in the middle of the campaign.

I'd really, really, really like to see a deal brokered that DOESN'T require public approval, primarily because I just don't even want to think about the plethora of ridiculous ads that we'll end up being subjected to...

 

[Warhawk]

C'mon, VF. The majority of people are not upset with the Bee - they are upset with Maloofs. As you know, I really, really do not like the Bee. However, the total defense of the Maloofs is tiresome. You take H.B. comments on the radio as the gospel truth. Obviously, there are two sides to the story and I am certain that the Bee has made mistakes out of their biases. However, Breton' makes some really, good points here. It was not the Bee the botched the arena deal and it is time to stop blaming them.

No, but the Bee really poisoned the waters making public support untenable for whatever deal was agreed to.

You can't fight the media, especially in a one-paper town. The Bee has consistently sided (in the editorials and most of the articles) with the anti-Q&R crowd. Just like they put out a voting guide every year that is always sincerely misinformed.

 

[VF21]

C'mon, VF. The majority of people are not upset with the Bee - they are upset with Maloofs. As you know, I really, really do not like the Bee. However, the total defense of the Maloofs is tiresome. You take H.B. comments on the radio as the gospel truth. Obviously, there are two sides to the story and I am certain that the Bee has made mistakes out of their biases. However, Breton' makes some really, good points here. It was not the Bee the botched the arena deal and it is time to stop blaming them.

First, there are number of people who ARE upset with the Bee over their slanted coverage of this issue. There were way too few articles that actually put the facts out there for the readers to digest and way too many articles that ceaselessly slammed the Maloofs.

Are Joe and Gavin perfect? Of course not. Did they deserve the unending vitriol coming from R.E. Graswich? No way. Did they deserve the repeated faint praise from Breton? No.

I've read every single article that came out in the Bee - most more than once.

Look at Breton's article again. He admits right up front that his column has been very, very tough on the Maloofs. That is actually an understatement. He's said some things that were IMHO over the line.

Yes, there are more sides to this than have come out. On that we agree. The problem is we're talking about the coverage of the only daily newspaper of any size in the entire region. They held a sacred responsibility to get to ALL those sides and they repeatedly failed to do so. Sorry if that bothers you, but I'm not going to let them off the hook with some self-serving claptrap like this.

Breton made some good points. That's where the quicksand lies. Had it been pure garbage, it wouldn't be dangerous. It isn't, though. It has some good points but, in the end, it smacks of condescending finger-pointing, as though Marcos Breton is speaking from some ivory tower where he is better suited to judge the Maloofs and their actions than anyone else.

 

[JB_kings]

The Bee has to assume some responsibility. Long before this most recent deal was underway, both Graswich and Breton wrote articles that were highly critical of the Maloofs character. Some would call them "hatchet jobs". Breton only wrote a few, but Graswich hammered them out a few a week and finally got to the point where at one time he had something negative to say aout the Maloofs in like 10 out of 12 of his columns. It got so bad that the Bee had to publicly tell him to knock it off. And at least one of his columns needed a retraction. How this guy isn't on the unemployment line is beyond me.

 

[Venom]

The Bee coverage was harsh at times, at least editorially, but they should not be blamed for the loss of Q&R. The Bee did put the facts of the deal out there, and the facts are that this was a sweetheart deal for the Maloofs, at least in comparison to other cities. And the Maloofs were still quibbling over details in public, and pulling their typical petulant and immature act. Of course Graswich was over the line, but I think his bias is largely acknowledged.

Who really knows what was promised, but the things that the Maloofs were asking for were pretty ridiculous. Their need to be liked is pretty apparent, and I think the main cause for all these bruised feelings. If they want to be swashbuckling, hard-charging deal brokers they need to grow thicker skin.

 

[fansinceday1]

the maloofs torpedoed this deal. The city was willing to give them what every other city in CA has shot down. If the maloofs were putting everything on a handshake then they are stupid businessmen. Plain and simple.

 

[slugking50]

The Bee has suspended all segments with thier columnists on KHTK as of 3 weeks ago. The Bee is calling it a "cooling off period". Evidently the Bee is mad at a certain number of hosts(Can you guess who?) who have said some disbaraging things about the Bee staff writers.

These hosts appearently have said that the Bee is lieing, misrepresenting information about the Maloofs, and keeping information from the public.

Anybody have a hankey for the Bee?

 

[JB_kings]

Oh I see, it's ok to toss rocks at somone, but when they get thrown back at them it's snivel time?

 

[kennadog]

C'mon, VF. The majority of people are not upset with the Bee - they are upset with Maloofs. As you know, I really, really do not like the Bee. However, the total defense of the Maloofs is tiresome. You take H.B. comments on the radio as the gospel truth. Obviously, there are two sides to the story and I am certain that the Bee has made mistakes out of their biases. However, Breton' makes some really, good points here. It was not the Bee the botched the arena deal and it is time to stop blaming them.

I am comletely upset with the Bee. There is more than one side to any story. In this case there are at least three sides. Why didn't the Bee report the Thomas Enterprises side? Why didn't they fully report Benjamin's comments? I read everything and it seemed to me the Bee made up their mind and and only reported part of the story. They should have printed it all and let the reader decide. They did not do that.

As to the city? They were hardly forthcoming. Until Benjamin's interview, did you hear the city make any statement that nothing could be built at the railyards until the city comes up with $500 million for the developer to pay for infrastructure? Did the city also tell people they had no clue where they were going to get that money? Did they tell people it could still be years before anything is built there, because of no money for infrastructure?

I don't blame the Maloofs for backing out. They can't wait for an unknown number of years to build downtown. All poor Joe said at the press conference was that if the site didn't work out, because there were so many hurdles, MSE was still committed to building an arena somewhere. Obviously, he knew about the problem at that point. He gets blasted for the statement and the city/county just let him hang out there to dry, instead of admitting they had no idea how they'd ever build anything in the railyards at this point.

 

[slugking50]

Oh I see, it's ok to toss rocks at somone, but when they get thrown back at them it's snivel time?

Of course. When or if the Bees Sports Editor Bill Bradley is on the radio next time, It will be interesting what he has to say.




Also, If you listen to the Sacbee.com sports podcast, There a line from Marcos Breton where he mention he was basically read the riot act by Commisioner Stern via phone. About a week ago.