Chicago Sports Leaders Gather To Discuss Local Market
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(l to r) Reinsdorf, Wirtz And Kenney Appear
On 1,000th Episode Of "Chicago Tribune Live" |
White Sox and Bulls Chair Jerry Reinsdorf, Blackhawks Chair Rocky Wirtz and Cubs Chair Crane Kenney appeared last night on the 1,000th show of CSN Chicago’s “Chicago Tribune Live” with CSN's David Kaplan. Wirtz, when asked how the attention the White Sox, Cubs and Bears were attracting would impact the Blackhawks, said, "You want to have everyone doing well in just sports in general. You want people to get excited about it, and the Hawks will get their fair share." Reinsdorf added, "There’s no reason why we shouldn’t all root for the Chicago teams. It’s foolishness. White Sox fans and Cubs fans are all Bears fans, they’re all Blackhawks fans and they’re all Bulls fans, so it’s silly to wish the other team ill. I think we should be thrilled by the success of either team.” Chicago Tribune reporter Fred Mitchell noted the White Sox, Cubs and Blackhawks all have "done a really good job of reconnecting with the tradition of the past ... and that’s helped the image of all these franchises." Wirtz said of whether to be a hands-on or hands-off owner, "You realize tomorrow is a new day, so you can’t let your emotions control your better judgment." Reinsdorf said the owner of pro sports teams "is the CEO ... (and) a CEO essentially has very few jobs. He has to pick good people ... and let good people do their jobs.” Wirtz added the owner needs to “not get in the way. Too many times the owners in sports tend to let their egos get ahead of them and that is not good. You have to run this as a business.” Kenney: “As a President, my role is to make sure you continually remind yourself it’s a players’ game. The best thing that can happen is the focus is on them.”
UPGRADED IVY: Kenney was asked how future renovations and improvements to Wrigley Field could compare to U.S. Cellular Field, and he said, "Jerry is like Phyllis Diller: he gets a facelift about every three years down on the South Side. We actually don’t have a public source of financing, so we don’t have a hotel tax to rebuild our stadium ever year. We’ve got to find it in our own pockets so it’s a little more limited.” Kenney added there is "no question going forward we need to redo our clubhouse space and training space. Talking to some of the prospective owners, that’s always high on my list of projects" ("Chicago Tribune Live," CSN Chicago, 9/17).
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