Hicks

[nb]

Hicks really seems to be a prick of the highest order. The piece below is from an article from the Daily Mail about what happened when Hicks two weeks ago sacked the general manager of his baseball team:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1779

 

"Whether the change of tack has come in time to save Benitez from the wrath of Hicks remains to be seen. A cheery smile may be constantly on standby for the nearest camera, but the Texan's 'good ol' boy' image only goes so far.

 

When it comes to business, he acts on instinct first and thinks about the consequences for others later, if at all.

 

After seeing his Dallas Stars ice hockey team struggle in the NHL, he decided the time had arrived for action a fortnight ago and sacked general manager Doug Armstrong without even consulting president Jim Lites. There was a good reason for that. Lites was on his way, too, after Hicks decided he should be replaced by his Texas Rangers baseball team president Jeff Cogen.

 

As he surveyed the carnage that was completed in the space of 24 hours, Hicks let out a sigh of satisfaction and said: "I'm the owner. It's what I do. Honestly, I feel very good today. I think I'm getting a lot accomplished.

 

"I feel good about the direction of the baseball team now. It's taken a while. Now, I want to get the hockey team back to where it was at. I want it to be at an elite level."

[Hightown Phil]

Hopefully an NFL President = A CEO.

 

NO PARRY.

[Guest prophet]

Hes aTexan afterall....shoot first ask questions later.....

[Will]

Sorry, but why does that make him a prick?

[Rimbeux]

Three card trick?

 

 

 

"I feel good about the direction of the baseball team now. It's taken a while. Now, I want to get the hockey team back to where it was at. I want it to be at an elite level."

[JonShar]

How does that make him a prick?

 

He doesn't dilly-dally around, he makes his decisions quickly and with conviction. Right or wrong, it's his choice, he IS the owner.

 

Just cause we don't agree doesn't make him a prick, and just cause that reporter doesn't like him doesn't make him one either.

[mooks]

  Will said:

Sorry, but why does that make him a prick?

  Quote

"As he surveyed the carnage that was completed in the space of 24 hours, Hicks let out a sigh of satisfaction and said: "I'm the owner. It's what I do. Honestly, I feel very good today. I think I'm getting a lot accomplished.

 

"I feel good about the direction of the baseball team now. It's taken a while. Now, I want to get the hockey team back to where it was at. I want it to be at an elite level."

Notice all the references to the supporters in there?

 

Notice how he thinks he is "getting a lot accomplished" by firing people?

 

"Prick" doesn't do his character justice

Edited November 28, 2007 by mooks

[CaptainXabi]

So Hick's does the NHL equivalent of sacking Parry and everyone is upset?

[Rimbeux]

  CaptainXabi said:

So Hick's does the NHL equivalent of sacking Parry and everyone is upset?

 

 

Well whatever else he seems to be on a roll

[CaptainXabi]

  Rimbeux said:

Well whatever else he seems to be on a roll

Yeah. Strange to give Cogen double duty though. That can't be good for his effectiveness for either team.

[mooks]

  CaptainXabi said:

So Hick's does the NHL equivalent of sacking Parry and everyone is upset?

I didn't know there were Rick Parrys in the NHL ...

[JonShar]

  mooks said:

Notice all the references to the supporters in there?

 

Notice how he thinks he is "getting a lot accomplished" by firing people?

 

"Prick" doesn't do his character justice

 

Give me a break.

 

I've fired plenty of people that the "supporters" - ie, their employees and customers - liked. I did it for the good of the company, not because I'm a prick.

 

Calling Hicks a prick because of the story above is pathetic, and smacks of desperation.

[Crazy Horse]

  mooks said:

I didn't know there were Rick Parrys in the NHL ...

 

[Knox_Harrington]

Shows he's a part-timer who hasn't got the ability to offer the required focus to LFC if he wants to be so intimately involved. Yet again, we need someone effective on the ground 24/7 or we need one or, ideally, both the owners on the ground.

 

The club is being mis-managed.

Edited November 28, 2007 by Knox_Harrington

[alias75]

At least this time he has a partner so he can't make this type of decision off his own back. Hopefully Gillett is more level headed and less likely to make a stupid rash decision.

[mooks]

  JonShar said:

Give me a break.

 

I've fired plenty of people that the "supporters" - ie, their employees and customers - liked. I did it for the good of the company, not because I'm a prick.

You sure?

 

And - we're not talking about 'liking' someone. We're talking about the true owners of the club thinking he is doing a great job.

 

  JonShar said:

Calling Hicks a prick because of the story above is pathetic, and smacks of desperation.

I've got a good handle on Hicks' character already,thank you very much. This 'story' is just further confirmation.

[JonShar]

  mooks said:

You sure?

 

And - we're not talking about 'liking' someone. We're talking about the true owners of the club thinking he is doing a great job.

I've got a good handle on Hicks' character already,thank you very much. This 'story' is just further confirmation.

 

I'm glad you've got a good handle on Hicks' character already, but if you think this story is further confirmation then you're getting a little too emotional. It's a story about him firing a couple of people that he didn't believe were moving the club forward - whether he's right or wrong time will tell, but it doesn't make him a prick.

 

And yeah I'm sure - unless you already have a handle on my character too of course.

[mooks]

  JonShar said:

I'm glad you've got a good handle on Hicks' character already, but if you think this story is further confirmation then you're getting a little too emotional. It's a story about him firing a couple of people that he didn't believe were moving the club forward - whether he's right or wrong time will tell, but it doesn't make him a prick.

 

And yeah I'm sure - unless you already have a handle on my character too of course.

Emotional?

 

I didn't see any reference in there to what the supporters needed, wanted, or felt. All I saw was an arrogant dick-head who was only concerned about himself. And could do what he wants because "I am the owner".

 

As to the comparison with your company, we've gone over ad nauseum why owning a football club is as different from owning a typical business as blokes are from birds. If you don't accept that then there is no point arguing about it - I just do not understand how you can be a football supporter who lives and breathes your club and compare yourself to a customer in a clothing shop.

 

As for the 'Are you sure?' perhaps I should have put a at the end. Does that make you feel better?

[Siang]

one must remember that the fans over there RARELY have much emotional attachment to most of their coaches except for a few elitist in the NFL and NBA as well as MLB, thus the removal of GMs or CEOs in mid-season or whenever will not create a maelstorm that they will have if they remove, say, Rafa today!

 

I am using the above description to say that Hicks probably wouldn't know what kind of effect will have if he did what he did with Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers at LFC, thus i would label Hicks being ignorant of the passion of LFC fans if he removed Rafa

[New York Red]

I'm pretty sure Lites wasn't just given his walking papers. He was given a new role. The top job in building our new stadium.

 

I'll find the link.

[New York Red]

Here you go:

 

DALLAS -- In the words of the new president of the Dallas Stars, Jeff Cogen, “I’m coming home.”

 

Dallas Stars Owner Tom Hicks announced this morning the appointment of Cogen as president of the NHL franchise, the cornerstone of Hicks’ interests and investments in sports and its related interests after he bought the hockey club in 1995. For three years, Cogen has served as president of the Texas Rangers, the major league baseball club that Hicks also owns. Concurrently, Hicks announced that Jim Lites, who has had split assignments between his leadership at the Stars and Hicks Sports Marketing Group (HSMG), will now be totally dedicated to, what Hicks defined, as the “global mission” at HSMG.

 

“The Stars franchise and the Stars fans need a man like Cogen, and I need Jim Lites working full-time on the national and international expansion and marketing of our properties,” said Hicks.

 

Hicks said the new assignments will take effect immediately. He did not indicate a timetable for the selection of a new president of the Texas Rangers.

 

“The Rangers have strong depth of management in operations, marketing and ticketing,” said Hicks. “I have asked Jeff to apply his considerable talent and creative energies to the revitalization of the Dallas Stars. At the same time, Jim Lites is ‘on point’ for myriad HSMG projects including the planning and construction of a new stadium for Liverpool FC as well as the efforts to build a hockey arena in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, Texas.”

 

Longtime friends and allies, Lites and Cogen came to Dallas after Norman Green brought the team to North Texas from Minnesota in 1993.

 

Cogen, who has served as president of the Texas Rangers for the last three years, has over 20 years experience in professional sports. Prior to his three-year stint with the Rangers, he served as chief operating officer for the NHL’s Florida Panthers from 2001-2004, responsible for all business operations of the hockey club as well as the business operations of the National Car Rental Center/Office Depot Center.

 

Lites has served as president of the Dallas Stars in each of the club’s 14 seasons in North Texas. Last year, he also assumed leadership as president of newly-formed Hicks Sports Marketing Group, the venture formed to represent Hicks’ syndicate of interests in sports, advertising sales and media.

 

About Hicks Sports Marketing Group:

Formed in July 2006, Hicks Sports Marketing Group represents the Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, the Liverpool Football Club and other Hicks-owned interests in sports, media and real estate. In its new role as a full-service marketing agency, Hicks Sports Marketing Group now represents a broad range of sports properties throughout the United States and Europe. Hicks Sports Marketing Group delivers a wealth of expertise in many facets of the sports business: the selling and buying of advertising and sponsorships, strategic branding and sports marketing for international corporations.

[New York Red]

The last paragraph is a little disturbing. I'd gotten wind that he was rolling us up into a bigger entity. I didn't know that had happened all ready.

 

He'll take that public before long too. If it is worth enough, he'll sell the lot off. Then what?

[americanscouser]

  New York Red said:

The last paragraph is a little disturbing. I'd gotten wind that he was rolling us up into a bigger entity. I didn't know that had happened all ready.

 

He'll take that public before long too. If it is worth enough, he'll sell the lot off. Then what?

i don't think it says he's rolling his ownership in us under that umbrella, more that he's using that group to do some of the work for each of the clubs. if its a marketing agency it could well be that he's using it do sell the sponsorships for all those entities etc instead of hiring individual staffs to do it. just an example, but i do remember another article that said hicks was consolidating the ticketing and merchandising staffs of the stars and the rangers together because it made more economic sense to have them running everything with how the seasons ran timewise. plus its cheaper for him and makes him more on the bottom line.

 

add in that the sports marketing portion of that business could easily be used to schedule our overseas trips during the summer etc and he's basically outsourcing parts of the clubs business to his other businesses.

Edited November 28, 2007 by americanscouser

[JonShar]

  mooks said:

Emotional?

 

I didn't see any reference in there to what the supporters needed, wanted, or felt. All I saw was an arrogant dick-head who was only concerned about himself. And could do what he wants because "I am the owner".

 

As to the comparison with your company, we've gone over ad nauseum why owning a football club is as different from owning a typical business as blokes are from birds. If you don't accept that then there is no point arguing about it - I just do not understand how you can be a football supporter who lives and breathes your club and compare yourself to a customer in a clothing shop.

 

As for the 'Are you sure?' perhaps I should have put a at the end. Does that make you feel better?

 

Why SHOULD he have a reference to what the supporters needed, wanted, or felt? It was about 6 sentences you quoted, not a week in his life recorded on paper. And yes, he can do what he wants because he's the owner, and if that makes him a dick-head then ok, that's your opinion.

 

Of course owning a football club is different from owning a business - TO US. It's not different to the people who own it - they're there to make a profit, plain and simple. It's a business.

 

Nah, I don't need your smiley faces. I was just poking fun at your amateur psych job.

[mooks]

  JonShar said:

Of course owning a football club is different from owning a business - TO US. It's not different to the people who own it - they're there to make a profit, plain and simple. It's a business.

I'm glad to see we share the same opinion of the new owners