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Kick Off Your Boots
by Alanah McGinley on 06/07/08 at 01:50 PM ET
Comments (7)
As everyone knows by now, Nashville Predators’ minority owner William ‘’Boots’’ Del Biaggio filed for bankruptcy this past week.
No doubt a frustrating time for Predators fans who are probably at their limit when it comes to the roller-coaster ride of supporting their team. And plenty frustrating for the rest of us who just know—beyond any shadow of a doubt—that when you owe $57 million to a bunch of banks etc., you’re going to be getting off a lot easier than if you were simply $200 overdue to the electric company. (After all, the electric company just cuts off your power; but creditors missing $57 million? That’s gotta hurt a bit. I figure that it won’t take long before they’re inviting you over for drinks while begging on hands and knees for you to throw a few crumbs back at ‘em...)
Anyway, despite the seemingly-endless controversy of this mess, my own hope is that we shall never have to read, type, hear or think about “Boots” ever again. And David Freeman, chairman of the Predators’ ownership group, obviously feels the same way:
“Here’s the bottom line for the citizens of Nashville and fans of the Predators. Regardless of how many lawsuits are filed against Mr. Del Biaggio, regardless of the amounts of the claims, regardless of the details of the allegations, Mr. Del Biaggio’s problems are personal.
“Mr. Del Biaggio is a minority owner. His minority ownership stake and its final disposition will not impact operation of the club. It is my hope and anticipation that the club will be even stronger once this saga reaches its logical conclusion and Mr. Del Biaggio is no longer associated with the club.”
And that, Boots, is what’s known in business circles as “getting thrown under the bus.”
I suspect “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out” would almost be redundant here.
Filed in: nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: nashville+predators, william+del+biaggio,
Comments
What’s lost on me with this whole mess is that Boots’ contributions to the sale of the Predators is what basically saved the team from being sold to someone with interests to take the team out of there eventually (Jerry Bruckheimer, perhaps?) and now he’s flat freaking broke as hell and in the hole for a huge amount.
Who out of the rest of this Nashville group is picking up Boots’ slack and can they afford to do that without plunging into the hole as well? This whole story, to me, has a ton of bad mojo attached to it and I really don’t think Nashville is out of the woods yet.
Posted by HockeyJoe from NY on 06/07/08 at 01:12 PM ET
Golly gee.
Does this mean expansion to Kansas City is off the board?
What’s with Bettman and the NHL? They chose potential jailbirds over rich Canadians.
Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 06/07/08 at 02:31 PM ET
What’s with Bettman and the NHL? They chose potential jailbirds over rich Canadians.
Simple- MLSE.
Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 06/07/08 at 04:02 PM ET
The best part of this is Craig Leipold losing $10 million. That jerk deserves it. He and Boots are 2 of a kind.
Posted by w2j2 on 06/07/08 at 04:56 PM ET
Call me a skeptic, but I remember a time when John Spano tried to buy the New York Islanders in the mid/late 1990’s with dubious/non-existent financial resources. The Spano fiasco was highly embarrassing to the NHL. It was particularly shaken after it was revealed that it spent well under $1,000 evaluating Spano’s credentials (estimates range from $525 to $750). I thought the league had learned this lesson, but apparently not. “Boots” seems to be cut from the same shady cloth as Spano, and it would appear that just about everybody outside of the Commissioner’s Office and the Board of Governors knows that “Boots” has money problems! Could this league do anything more ham-handed than this (I mean besides posting T-shirts on the league web site for the presumtive Hart Trophy winner a week in advance of the announcement)?
Posted by NHL Observer on 06/11/08 at 11:26 AM ET
What still amazes me is the fact the NHL was to have learned it’s lesson and instilled a complex process and due dilligence to prevent this from happening again. So either the NHL did not do their due dilligence to get Boots in the door, or did so and ignored the results. Do not forget, two other NHL Owners (govenors) lent Boots the money to buy the team which is also against the rules in the NHL. Something smells real bad and I hope the true will come out.
Posted by Zeroth from Toronto on 07/18/08 at 08:04 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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