Yesterday, a bankruptcy court judge ruled at auction that the Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and his partner, Chuck Greenberg, would be the new owners of the MLB's Texas Rangers after outbidding Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. The Ryan/Greenberg bid for the team was for a lesser amount than that of Cuban, but the Judge felt that the other provisions in the contract warranted awarding the team to Ryan/Greenberg. This decision will likely avoid appeal and be approved by the MLB, since Ryan was the favorite of the public and the league for ownership of the Rangers.
Ryan has had a long history with the Rangers as a player and also as the Team President beginning in 2008. He is a good choice for owner of the Rangers, but is he a clearly superior choice here to Cuban?
Cuban seemed to never have a chance with this deal, unless he majorly outbid Ryan. It seems the main reason being that he has a history of being an outspoken owner and that is incompatible with the Rangers' need for "stability" as discussed by Buster Olney on ESPN. So the issue here, is why does Cuban continue to get a bad rap as the boisterous team owner? Why do his outbursts, motivated by his desire to win, risk the stability of a team?
True, Cuban has ripped at the NBA and its refs, and cursed at players, which isn't commendable, but its only a reflection of his passion for the game. He yells because he truly feels personally involved in every play. (And I think that he ultimately needs to be involved in sports to feel "cool.") No other owner sits on the bench and travels to all away games. Don't we want every owner to feel as invested in his team's success as Cuban is with the Mavericks? Cuban has increased the Mavs winning percentage by 30% since taking ownership and has taken the team to the NBA finals for the first time in history. Clearly his boisterous nature isn't hurting the team.
Ryan is the "hometown" jock favorite and may really deserve the team. But there is no way of ignoring the cliche that the software nerd Cuban, who paid for college by collecting and selling stamps, once again got beat out by the powerhouse jock. This image was even more apparent as Ryan celebrated his win by popping champagne in the parking lot of the courthouse, while Cuban graciously accepted his loss (but realizing as a business decision he could not go higher - maybe a smart move by the dork). Could this be any more high school - the jock drinking in the parking lot with the fans surrounding him and the nerd quietly accepting defeat?
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