Right… Mario’s even more of an ass than previously thought.  Got it.

*nod*

Posted by Primis on 08/14/08 at 06:10 PM ET

Primis’ definition of “ass” - Someone who goes against big money in order to force the PA politicians (who may i add care nothing about Pittsburgh) to help him keep the team that he loves in the city that he loves in order to keep many many faithful fans happy.

Kevin’s definition of “ass” - Primis.

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 08/14/08 at 08:05 PM ET

the only reason Mario is involved with the penguins, and pittsburgh is to collect the money he was owed when the prior ownership sank.  Its still about the money, if PA hadn’t pony’ed up the dough it would be the KC pens, or the Vegas pens right now.  this is strictly a diaper move on mario’s part....covering his @ss.

Posted by reelwork on 08/14/08 at 08:28 PM ET

How did Lemieux ‘go against big money’ again?

Posted by HockeyinHD on 08/14/08 at 10:32 PM ET

I agree with Kevin.  This doesn’t make Mario an ass…

Posted by moore00 from the Ohio State University on 08/14/08 at 11:07 PM ET

It may make him unwise, though.

Once you get what you want, there is nothing wrong with keeping quiet about putting on an act to push the politicians into giving you the sweet deal and public financing that you wanted.  He could have just talked about how nice it was that they were able to come to an agreement to stay in Pittsburgh long-term instead of ...

Those trips to Kansas City and Vegas and other cities was just to go, and have a nice dinner and come back.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/15/08 at 04:35 AM ET

Anyone in negotiations wants to gain leverage. That was you try to do in negotiations, and that’s what he admitted doing. Why this makes him an ass, I don’t understand.

Posted by penguinsfan on 08/15/08 at 05:40 AM ET

It makes him an ass for variety of reasons, the largest of which is that he has the absence/lack of mind to now later come out and say this, and even do so in a gloating manner.

Now that people are going to read that, doesn’t it occur to him that if the Pens run into the same problem a few years down the road (and they will, mark it down), that the city will just tell them to take a hike?

Mario doesn’t care though.  Mario cares more about public strutting about how he got his way and how he manipulated to get it.  Mario cares more about his own legacy and public image as some sort of savior badass.  Not that this is news in any way…

Don’t you dolts get it?  Mario is publicly mocking the very people he got what he wanted from… a BIG no-no.  If he wants to bring up even more ill will because the city and the Pens, well congrats… mission accomplished.

He an ass, and he’s a stupid one to boot.  Really, are you Pens fans ok with this?  Do you WANT more ill-will between the city and your team, because it just means the next time problems come up and the organization wants something, you’re losing them for good because the city will just flip them the bird.

Posted by Primis on 08/15/08 at 08:50 AM ET

Primis you simply don’t understand PA politics. Pennsylvania is a very different state than every other one.  This was never a fight between the Penguins and Pittsburgh. It was between the Penguins and the dumb Harrisburg politicians. 

How was he going against big money? Well he was offered arenas to play in that would cost the penguins absolutely nothing, not to mention he had rich idiots trying to buy the penguins off of him, in which he would have made lots of money in the deal.

Reelwork gave us the “only” reason that Mario bought the penguins. Well yes, he was 100% true. Mario bought the team because they owed him a ton of money, and this was the only way to get that money back. However he got that money back years ago. Mario loves it in Pittsburgh, he lives here for the whole year, not just hockey season, he and his wife and kids are very involved in the community.

It is safe to say Mario is STILL involved with the Penguins and Pittsburgh because he loves it here, and cares about the team. Anything he did or said during the negotiations was in order to get what he and thousands of fans wanted. So anyone who likes a good man who doesn’t try to screw over the fans would agree that Mario Lemieux is NOT an ass.

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 08/15/08 at 09:00 AM ET

Well stated Kevin! To me, name calling and making personal attacks against folks you don’t know personally is much more ass-like than any of this. Hate on Mario and Penguins all you want, but when you clearly don’t know all of the details, it’s sometimes best to keep your mouth shut.

Posted by penguinsfan on 08/15/08 at 09:07 AM ET

Regardless of whether the “dumb politicians” were/are in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg or Timbuktu, it wasn’t the best idea to admit he was bluffing about moving the team. In spite of public statements from some of the bamboozled parties about it being a good negotiating technique, the fact is that such an admission embarrasses not only the dumb politicians in PA, but also the cities that were sincerely interested in acquiring the team. As others have pointed out, it also reduces Mario’s credibility going forward.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 08/15/08 at 09:37 AM ET

Regardless of whether the “dumb politicians” were/are in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg or Timbuktu, it wasn’t the best idea to admit he was bluffing about moving the team.

That’s why I think he was unwise.

No one holds a grudge better than a politician, even if they keep quiet for years.  Regardless of how “stupid” they are, they do not forget someone else making them look foolish.  It wouldn’t have killed Mario to keep quiet and let them save face, but he didn’t.  His comments about bluffing to get what he wanted were completely unneccesary.

Wait a few years and see how public sentiment changes if the Pittsburgh economy is struggling and the politicians find that they can make points by attacking the Penguins for using public money that otherwise could be used to repair infrastructure instead of helping a wealthy team owner with a new facility.  It isn’t smart to kick someone whose good graces you might need later on.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/16/08 at 06:14 AM ET

I agree it was unwise, but that doesn’t make him the least bit of an ass.

Posted by Adam on 08/18/08 at 06:12 PM ET