The debt that will not allow us to part!
For better or worse, this baby seems to be Glendale's
Bear with me for a moment, won’t you?
These are strange days indeed aren’t they? And our Phoenix Coyotes hockey drama is no exception.
As you know, we have been following the Coyotes case for several months, and we have been bombarded with evidence of “special interests” that have come around to see what’s being said, by who and why.
There have been visits to this site over time from some very key players in my opinion (no not hockey players) that have helped paint an albeit circumstantial but thought-provoking case to suggest there is a story to tell of who is pulling the strings in the battle of this NHL franchise.
So, again, please bear with me on this one a bit longer. Something has occurred to me based on recent and past activity that might shed some interesting light on the circumstances and reason we are still talking about Glendale and their ability to hold onto this team.
This case we have argued has transcended sport and has touched on the political realm in many ways.
If you are still here despite my apparent losing it, you might fall into one of three categories – one that just picks out the hockey stories. Or, you might have been intrigued by the Global world issues and how it may tie in with sports. Or, you may be interested in a combination of the two; that either came originally for the hockey discussion, or later when we got into the globalist issues, and perhaps you decided both had relative merit. Whatever the reason, thank you for being with us.
I may be able to bring more closure to the many questions that remain. Could it be that world powers that have investment in the United States and it’s municipalities are truly running the show? Let’s see what’s old and what’s new.
Jim Balsillie and his team were baffled when the City of Glendale didn’t take his $50 million offer seriously in court, an offer that would have covered off approximately four years of bond obligations on the arena lease. The Balsillie legal team was also leaning their case in the direction of pinning hope on the Goldwater case against concessions, and also there was a tremendous emphasis on the Toronto Maple Leafs apparent (no make that “obvious”) veto rights. The NHL Constitution was on the forefront, but there was something very strange by the way Judge Redfield T. Baum disregarded the Veto issue. Could he have been tipped off that it was not going to be a factor? With so much reflection and thought, Baum made an abrupt ruling that I would assume he was not too proud of. I am sure given the circumstances, he would have preferred to send a clear message that the creditors should come first in bankruptcy court, but it would appear there was influences that he was not necessarily in control of. His ruling left us hanging and feeling let down. It just didn’t seem in keeping with his character and his credentials. Politics may have played a role. I believe Baum himself felt disappointed by the direction he had to proceed in. Justice was surely not served to the man who was set up by the colluding parties in this case. The bankruptcy trustee, Lashinsky came with a bark, but left with no bite.
For Glendale, we must remember that hockey was a means to an end – a way of attracting residents, business, and tax dollars, and it was part of the bigger infrastructure aspirations of the Glendale City Hall. They made the decision, as did Phoenix to go for broke in the method of financing when they took on the very iffy demand for hockey, that did not match the very concrete lease and bond obligations. It would appear by their desperation, they were not being let off the hook by whoever controlled the bonds for the arena. One comment that stands out in memory from the court case, was Glendale’s urgency that if they lost the Coyotes, the would have to replace the loss with another hockey team. There did not seem to be an option.
While Jerry Moyes gave free advice that made sense, which emphasized that concert venues would be more lucrative, he was backed up by the same advice from the experts at Beacon Sports – bring in more concerts in a year. Seemed obvious, no? Obvious to everyone except Glendale. Or maybe it was obvious, just not allowed! Remember the comment that they would have to replace the lost Coyotes with another hockey team. Oh yeah, says who?
We had Michael Dell investing in land and land deals in Glendale and Phoenix, and famous of these was CityNorth, which was challenged in court for violation of Gift Laws. He shared that space with Related Companies, and in the mix was Mubadala. Mubadala and Dell are no strangers in other areas, with Mubadala suppliers of the AMD chip for Dell Computer, and we can go on from there.
The relationships seemed to intertwine in this case, which shares that space with the Glenn Beck show’s direction these days. Not to say I trust Glenn Beck, but what truth he brings, albeit contrived and in a questionable manner, it remains the truth. His recent tying in of all kinds of lo and behold friends in Crime Inc. reminds me of this hockey story.
So here we are. The NHL has apparently come to terms with Glendale City Hall on keeping the Coyotes in Glendale for one more year, as the City has guaranteed $25 million in losses.
That would not be as big a deal under other circumstances, but it is the timing that is suspect in this case.
Here’s what I am getting at.
Within the last couple of days, I reported on Goldman Sachs visiting the site, checking out Ice Edge. Sachs is implicated in several global issues of corruption and is also implicated in the derivative scandals in Europe. Their reputation – not so good.
Then, we had Mubadala come back to our site, they too interested in Ice Edge. Mubadala, having interest in Phoenix (CityNorth) was suspected by past visits to be a strong candidate to be bond holders for the Jobing.com arena. And equally important, the nature of Mubadala investment is “secretive”, where they do not want to be known as investing anywhere. That is just their nature. Bear this in mind.
Then, we had the “mystery bidders” that have come on the scene that do not want to be disclosed. Coincidence? Could it be our friends Mubadala that all of a sudden have come to the rescue of their investment? Could they have pressured the City of Glendale to ensure that a “hockey team” occupies that arena? Would it explain much?
And if Mubadala was an international influence to the United States, would any court action be dampened by controlling powers within government to ensure they are kept happy?
What of the past visits by Mubadala checking out Ice Edge? Was Ice Edge put in place to be a potential solution?
As Daryl Jones pointed out it was a “business decision” to come to the rescue of the Coyotes. And, Keith McCullough thought that nobody in Phoenix wanted to go to a game anyways, so what was the attraction to the Coyotes? Where exactly was the “business reason for Ice Edge? Could they have been, as suspected, either a diversion or a prop put into place by the powers that be? After all, lots of government past relationships with this group, wouldn’t you say? Possible at the very least.
And now, the coup de gras, the icing on the cake.
We have said for a while that visits to the site could be a coincidence. That is always possible. It is always possible. The question remains, under the circumstances,are they all just coincidences?
Could this visit by the United Nations beaming to the category of Mubadala also be a fluke?
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I suppose we should all make sure they stay happy now! Would they be the bankers that Gary Bettman alluded to in his interview with Ron McLean that seemed a lifetime ago?
We had asked the question with bad grammer, Who is them?
Perhaps Gary was right all along – don’t get your hopes up Canada. There is more to this than meets the eye. It’s damage control and not personal. The NHL dirty laundry was just the casualty of dashed hopes when a country sells itself out, and anything remotely fair becomes far from possible. For that, I can see whyBettman would have wished this never happened.
It was perhaps the most relative 20 minutes from finding a new owner sports will ever know.
