Is Jeffery Loria To Blame?
My thoughts are with the residents of Miami-Dade County. As I said at the onset of this debacle, you deserved better.
Self interest is a power aphrodisiac we all indulge in. The management decisions of Jeffery Loria over the past two decades were motivated by insatiable hunger for wealth. Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk wrote an excellent overview of the owner’s past indiscretions leading up to this off-season’s exodus. By opening day half of last season’s 25-man will be wearing uniforms with a less senses jarring palette. As offensive as Loria’s actions have been to accepted notions of sport, recognize he’s competing at an entirely different game. He is driven by the black in his ledger; it’s capitalism at it’s finest.
And I don’t have a problem with it.
If opportunity is ripe people lie, steal, and cheat to achieve their ends. Thus my gripe is not with a known swindler but with those who enable him.
How can one blame Jeffery Loria for his actions with the Marlins and surrounding Miami-Dade County? After all, Major League Baseball allowed him to own the franchise following a disastrous stint in Montreal where he looted Expos and left them with a faint pulse.
How can one blame Jeffery Loria for gorging himself on $300 million from Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing program? After all, the league’s commissioner and the player’s union have not strictly enforced their collective bargaining agreement which requires revenue sharing money to be used to bolster rosters, not wallets.
How can one blame Jeffery Loria for paying himself $10 million in administrative fees?
How can one blame Jeffery Loria for robbing the tax payers of Miami-Dade County by threatening them to publically finance a new stadium? After all, public officials allowed this stadium to be financed by tax-free municipal bonds and free of property tax in turn for illusory promises curiously missing from the final agreement.
Marlins fans, residents of Miami-Dade County and the like should harbor considerable anger towards Jeffery Loria but he is not the blight. He does not act independently. No, the majority of the disdain must fall on incompetent public leaders, cronyism, and Major League Baseball for enabling a known addict to abuse once again.
I am no fan of internet memes but forgive the absence of my disdain when the inevitable occurred…
Marlins gonna Marlin.
Great points JD! Loria is such a dirtbag when he left Montreal he actually took all the cardboard cutouts of Vlad Guerrero!!!!! The guy looks at MLB simply as a way to line his pockets and he has no intention of ever fielding a quality product for a sustained period.
I’m a little late, KBR. Sorry, Have a great holiday! Nevermind, Candian.
You as well buddy. You guys are doing an awesome job on this site.
PS: I may be Canadian but we got the best Thanksgiving gift of all from Loria!!!!