Hicks article

by Anfield Paul on May 6, 2008 6:23 PM CDT

Hey lads,

Further to the post on 23rd April, please find said article below:

http://liverpoolfansagainsthicks.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/killing-the-texas-rangers-part-1/

He's currently talking to a few private equity houses and appears hell-bent on plunging us headlong into a debt nightmare.

I've never seen a man hated as much as he is in Liverpool right now.

It'll all be coming to a head over the next few weeks so I'm sure you'll read about it.

Best of luck,

Paul

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Comments

nice write up man.

good luck on your long term quest to run him out of the hemisphere, when you find something that works, let us know. our fans are just as sick of his act, but the disconnect goes from a decade of hicks ownership.

good luck. burn an effigy of him with a rangers cap on him for us…

.500 or bust!

Bad Vibes Kill Rallies!

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on May 6, 2008 6:54 PM CDT reply actions

A lot of Rangers fans dislike Hicks, but I don't think we hate him as much as the Liverpool fans do

Unlike the Rangers, Liverpool has a long storied history of success. We have a long history of losing with three playoff appearances mixed in.

by uthornfan on May 6, 2008 7:20 PM CDT up reply actions

But

Not to defend Hicks, but he does own a third team that’s doing pretty well. The Stars are what got him into sports and they’ve done alright by Hicks. Co-GM Brett Hull even called him the best owner in sports. I’m sure we all agree that statement is a bit of an overstatement.

However, Hick’s detractors must reconcile with the fact that under the right circumstances, Hick’s can be a good owner. It’s unfortunate that the right circumstances have only come along one time out of three.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on May 6, 2008 10:14 PM CDT reply actions

unfortunately for the rest of the sports fans of teams that hicks owns

those circumstances in which Hick’s can be a good owner involve a salary cap, of which MLB and Footy dont have.

.500 or bust!

Bad Vibes Kill Rallies!

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on May 6, 2008 10:30 PM CDT up reply actions

oh and it helps to have the best american born hockey player to ever live on the team you buy.

that helps too.

.500 or bust!

Bad Vibes Kill Rallies!

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on May 6, 2008 10:31 PM CDT up reply actions

SO

Just because you have a great player doesn’t mean you will win anything. If it did, the ARod would have brought a lot more success to the Rangers.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on May 7, 2008 9:16 AM CDT up reply actions

Hockey is different than other sports in that

they greats make your team great. kinda like the NBA. other sports, american football, footy, baesball, etc these sports require a solid balanced lineup. Hockey is a sport where if you have wayne or sid the kid and a good goalie, you can win titles. NBA with the Cavs and Labron. They went to the finals within his first 3 years and the 2 favorites are teams that didnt even make the playoffs last season but acquired top 10 players in the league and look like the teams to beat to win the trophy.

Mike Modano’s ability to dominate the game has/had a greater impact on the Stars chances of long-term success than Arod’s ability to dominate his sport and its effect on the Rangers.

different sports…

.500 or bust!

Bad Vibes Kill Rallies!

"Well, we are one of the cheapest teams in Major League Baseball"
-Tom Hicks 4/8/2008

by Jayslick on May 7, 2008 1:26 PM CDT up reply actions

no

You need more then just one player and a good goalie to win the Stanley Cup, no matter how great that player is. That’s why Gretzky or Jagr didn’t win it every year once they left their first teams (Edmonton and Pittsburgh respectively). The Stars have built a good team around Modano, and that needs to be said. That doesn’t necessarily validate Hicks as an owner though.

I’m just saying that to truly convince people Hicks is the worst owner ever, you have to reconcile the facts about the successful Dallas Stars, who in the aforementioned Forbes article, are the 5th most valuable franchise in the NHL despite their mountain of debt. It looks less then objective if one rakes Hicks over the coals for the Corinthians, Rangers, and Liverpool but conveniently forgets about the Stars.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on May 7, 2008 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions

The superstars get you into the playoffs

but it’s the additional support players and the bench that win you Championships.

"To exhibit true intelligence, you must be able to argue both sides of an argument. Most are incapable of so doing."

by Clueless on May 7, 2008 8:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Salary Cap

The NHL only recently added a salary cap. The Stars won the cup without one.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on May 7, 2008 9:16 AM CDT up reply actions

Salary cap

Great management below him, a history of success, and did I mention how limited the salary cap is?

Livin' in Heartbreak Central

by BudLight on May 7, 2008 7:28 AM CDT up reply actions

Liverpool

As a Texas Rangers fan, Liverpool has become my least favorite EPL team (beating out Chelsea and ManU) because of the scourge that is Tom Hicks. I now cheer vehemently against Liverpool, where I didn’t care about them previously.

--Brian

by BCanfield on May 7, 2008 3:28 AM CDT reply actions

Stars

@ Derek

I don’t know a lot about the Stars but Forbes appear to disagree:

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/31/biz_07nhl_Dallas-Stars_315393.html

I’m sure Brett Hull is looking after Brett Hull’s best interests.

And I’d say one in four (if you want to include the Stars as a good example). Have a read of what he did to Corinthians in Brazil.

by Anfield Paul on May 7, 2008 8:35 AM CDT reply actions

agree

I agree Brett Hull is looking out for his best interests and overstated things a bit. The Forbes article does list the mountain of debt which is bad. But it also lists the playoff failures against Hick but was written before the recent playoff run. It ends with, “What he really needs is a better product.” I would argue that he now has a better product, albeit with no help from Hicks.

Look I don’t want to defend the guy. I’m just saying the people he places underneath him have more of an impact on how the team plays then Hicks does. Your main point about the debt piling up and potentially causing future problems is a VERY valid point and is true for all his teams. That makes it a direct issue you can blame on Hicks.

How is Hicks’ debt compared to other owners though? That would be a useful bit of data to compare him to his contemporaries to determine if he is indeed a sports disaster in the making.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on May 7, 2008 9:26 AM CDT up reply actions

Debt

I’m not totally familiar with the situation at other clubs in the EPL but it would appear that any debt they have is manageable.

The situation at Liverpool is that we generate an operating profit of approximately £30m pa, and now have interest payments of approx £25m pa to meet.

The £30m is contingent on us qualifying for the Champions League each season (say an extra £15m). If that weren’t to happen, there would be a deficit of about £10m to find from somewhere.

In addition, Hicks now wants to borrow MORE. He’s approached hedge funds (who’ll charge a high rate of interest) just so he can raise the £200m to buy out his partner (who has said that he won’t sell to him and essentially had to publicly tell him to “shut up” when he tried to sack our CEO a few weeks ago!).

And none of this includes the additional £300m that needs to be raised to build the new stadium.

Aside from the debt, there’s also the tremendous lack of respect he has for the fans. He seems to think that we’ll believe all his lies and spin.

Personally, I think he should have stayed with the LBO thing and kept out of a business in which the people have strong emotional ties.

by Anfield Paul on May 7, 2008 7:27 PM CDT reply actions

debt

I find that debt is a problem for America in general. Our government, people, and even our businesses (including sports teams) don’t know how to live within their means. A bad debt to income ratio is a systematic issue of this country. It’s a major problem for us that most don’t seem to realize or want to talk about.

Sorry didn’t mean to go off topic here.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on May 8, 2008 8:21 AM CDT reply actions

I'm sorry...

“live within their means”? Not sure what that means.

Damn I just bought a brand new SUV for only 60,000 and the payments are only 850 a month for 7 years. It’s cool though because I make 30,000 a year so it should be paid for in 2 years. :D

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on May 8, 2008 9:24 AM CDT up reply actions