The Worst Type Of Owners: Part 1

With Dan Snyder being in the news for his mishandling the Washington Football Team's new name, it's fitting to cover the worst type of owners in all of sports. These sports owners are either assholes, don't know what they're doing, or both. Why they're terrible is what we'll look at. Let's start off with the owners who don't have intestinal fortitude.

Remember the episode of American Dad where Stan Smith was talking to one of his co-workers about marriage and his co-worker proceeded to drop his pants, showing nothing? That's the type of leadership (or lack of) that is being highlighted. The owners who have no intestinal fortitude to lead their teams to victory.

A perfect example of this is First Avenue Entertainment, the group that owns the Seattle Mariners. Initially set up by Nintendo of America in 1992, the incompetence of First Avenue started in the early 2000s with Howard Lincoln verbally berating then-manager Lou Pinella for his team falling short of the World Series. Not long after, Pinella left the organization for Tampa Bay, as did Pat Gillick, who was the general manager at the time. Gillick went on to win a World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies. Managers like Dusty Baker and business people like Mark Cuban wanted in on the Mariners, but Lincoln didn't want any part of that success (imagine Cuban's moneyball-esque model in Seattle. That would be extremely fun to see).

There are other reasons why you should despise Lincoln's guts if you're a Seattle sports fan. There's the whole regime with Chuck Armstrong and the fact that one of their managers, Eric Wedge, quit in the MIDDLE OF A GAME. There's the fact that Lincoln LOVES the Los Angeles Angels' sloppy seconds (i.e. Bill Bavasi and Jerry DiPoto) and the numerous bad signings (i.e. Chone Figgins, Jack Cust, and Milton Bradley) that happened. There's also the time Lincoln and company stopped their own general manager from signing Nelson Cruz in 2014. Believe it or not, the offense was anemic enough for the M's to miss the postseason by one game.

There's also the fact that the M's social media team (mainly Facebook) only posts when the M's win as opposed to when they lose. There's also only one M's pitcher that plunked the cheating Houston Astros (Zac Grotz) while Joe Kelly gave the Astros hell a few days later. Also, Lincoln and company blocked Chris Hansen from building a new arena, leaving Seattle without their Sonics returning. Also, the M's haven't been to the playoffs since 2001, the longest playoff drought in ALL OF SPORTS, resulting in a drop in attendance. There's also the fact that the M's are the only MLB team to never make the World Series. It's like Lincoln made this team allergic to October baseball.

I hope that someone like Mark Cuban (who wants a baseball team badly) or Steve Ballmer buys this team or John Stanton puts a new regime in and makes this team relevant again while ridding the team of Howard Lincoln's curse. Right now, First Avenue Entertainment is acting like they're finishing last in business operations in all of sports. If they had more gumption to them, they wouldn't have to watch other AL West teams make the playoffs.

This sort of ownership can frustrate fans because they want to see their team make the playoffs or championship round. It's the unwillingness to spend money and put a winning product on the field that leaves the fans burned. Other incompetent owners that fall under this category include  Robert Nutting of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Dolan of the Cleveland Indians. Owners without an ounce of guts will be eaten alive by the fans, resulting in a revolt that includes lower attendance figures and lower revenue.