Angels Owner Arte Moreno, speaking publicly for the first time since re-assigning GM Tony Reagins “in the first of a handful of moves that promise to reshape the front office,” said that the moves are“''not a purge' or a knee-jerk reaction to a second consecutive year of missing out on the playoffs and losing money.” Moreno: "I just felt we weren't going in the direction we needed to go in and we needed a change." He added, "Everybody thinks I'm being very impulsive but the decisions that have been made had been coming for awhile." In Orange County, Bill Plunkett notes the “turnover of the past two years is a clear sign that Moreno is seeking new voices in the decision-making process in the Angels' front office.” Moreno said the search for that new GM is in the "exploratory" stage (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 10/11).
PROTECTING THE BRAND: In Winnipeg, Jillian Austin notes businesses or individuals using the NHL Jets’ logo or trademarks “for commercial use without permission could get them in hot water.” Club Owner True North Sports & Entertainment “released details of their intellectual property policy on Oct. 4.” True North Dir of Corporate Communications & Hockey Operations Scott Brown said that there “have been issues over the summer, where businesses used the logo without permission for commercial gain.” Brown: “It is something that has been quite rampant. A lot of it has revolved around giveaways and promotions with corporations.” The Jets “contacted several businesses who advertised in a souvenir Jets magazine, put out by the Winnipeg Sun, because they did not have permission” (WINNIPEG SUN, 10/11).
GATOR AID: In West Palm Beach, Greg Stoda notes with the Broncos naming QB Tim Tebow their starter, the “cheering you hear is coming from the Dolphins.” Dolphins execs for the Broncos-Dolphins game on Oct. 23 are “desperate to sell tickets,” and it looks as though “things might work out nicely for them from a business standpoint, because they already had planned to honor the Tebow-led University of Florida national championship team of 2008 on the Sunday afternoon the hero himself will be present with the Broncos” (PALM BEACH POST, 10/11).
THE TRUTH HURTS: In St. Petersburg, Marc Topkin notes Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg “clarified in a letter to season-ticket holders that his recent dire comments about the future of the franchise were not intended as a complaint about the support the Rays do have but a realistic depiction of their ‘precarious’ situation.” Sternberg wrote, "I do not mean to sound ungrateful to our fans for their support, and I certainly will not tell anyone how to spend his or her money. I was simply being forthright about a reality that must be faced” (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 10/11).
