In St. Paul, Charley Walters reported Wild investors “have been notified to expect another cash call while the NHL lockout continues.” The team's investors, including “11 limited partners besides majority owner Craig Leipold,” made a “capital call of $10 million after the Wild signed free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in July to contracts that included $10 million bonuses for each.” The second cash call “is expected in mid-November” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/7).
OWNER, FIRE THYSELF: SPORTING NEWS’ David Whitley wrote of Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, “There is no reason why Jones should keep calling the shots, other than he can’t fire himself. Being GM is a vital part of being JJ. And as long as JJ is around, Dallas is perfectly situated in the NFL universe. It will never win a Super Bowl, which will make millions of people happy. But it will never drift into Bengals-like irrelevance, which would be a huge blow to the NFL’s showbiz quotient” (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 11/7). ESPNs Jalen Rose said," Sometimes you've got to let your pride and your ego get pushed to the side. ... It's OK to delegate, especially when you're a billion-dollar owner" ("Numbers Never Lie," ESPN2, 11/7). USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell writes, “With another underachieving season upon them, the owner needs to put Jerry the GM on notice. Tell him: craft a long-term blueprint for success or else” (USA TODAY, 11/8).
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: In Philadelphia, Phil Sheridan writes Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie “made a mistake back in June” after giving an extension to GM Howie Roseman by “failing to announce the extension immediately." Sheridan: “Announcing it then would have been no big deal. Having news of Roseman's extension come out now, thanks to the relentless reporting of The Inquirer's Jeff McLane, was a big deal.” A “big issue” is the Eagles' “unwillingness to look outside their own building for some of the most important hires of the last half-decade or more.” That “festers from the delusion that the franchise is among the NFL's elite.” When former GM Tom Heckert left the Eagles in January '10, Lurie, former Eagles President Joe Banner and coach Andy Reid “didn't look for the best possible talent evaluator in the NFL.” They “promoted Roseman” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/8).
MORE FANS, MORE WINS: In Seattle, Joshua Mayers asked in a Q&A with MLS Real Salt Lake Senior VP/Soccer Operations & GM Garth Lagerwey, “How has moving into Rio Tinto Stadium helped the team?” Lagerwey replied, "We've gone from right around 4,500 season tickets in Rice-Eccles to now over 8,700 in Rio Tinto, so we've nearly doubled the ticket base. … For us it's still a source of some pride that by moving into the new building we've been able to really grow our ticket base. I think it's now comparable to the big market clubs in the league.” Lagerwey added, “By increasing the season ticket base, we got larger crowds, which led to better atmospheres, which has helped us win more home games” (SEATTLETIMES.com, 11/6).
