Most ridiculous thing heard recently:
But to some Capitol Hill Republicans there is a dark cloud on the Nats’ horizon: the potential that their newly adopted home team could be purchased by billionaire financier George Soros.
Earlier this month, Soros joined an ownership bid being led by entrepreneur Jonathan Ledecky. Their group is one of more than a half-dozen angling to take over the Nats, who are currently owned by Major League Baseball.
In addition to being a well-known currency speculator and philanthropist, Soros is also known in political circles for having pumped more than $20 million in the last cycle into groups seeking to unseat President Bush and elect Democrats.
While the Soros-Ledecky group is not seen as the frontrunner to win the bidding for the Nationals, who should be awarded to their new owner at the end of the 2005 season, the very prospect that Soros could have a stake in the team is enough to irritate Congressional Republicans.
“I think Major League Baseball understands the stakes,” said Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R), the Northern Virginia lawmaker who recently convened high-profile steroid hearings. “I don’t think they want to get involved in a political fight.”
I’m sorry, but what does Soros political activities have to do with the Major League anti-trust exemption? Last I checked George Bush’s partial ownership of the Texas Rangers didn’t bring threats from Democrats nor does the current ownership of the Cardinals, the Dewitt’s, for whom Democratic Governor Bob Holden tried to get a stadium deal done, yet are big Republican donors. George Steinbrenner’s illegal donations to Nixon apparently weren’t a problem, but George Soros’ bid is…
News Corp owns the Dodgers, Jerry Colangelo is a big Republican donor.
In other sports, is Herb Kohl the next target? This is just thuggery.
Now, if they want to threaten the NHL to boot Wirtz, that’s not political, that’s just good sense and hopefully better hockey (assuming it’s ever played again).
Wirtz needs to go… Like now
Wirtz needed to go a decade ago. It’s going to take at least that long to get hockey in Chicago back to where it used to be–and that’s in an Original Six town. How much of a putz do you have to be to ruin hockey in such a place?
And it looks like the NHL and the PA will manage to get their shit together in time for this season to start on time, thanks be to God.
Just to clarify the record, News Corp. no longer owns the Dodgers. Last year, they sold the franchise to Boston real estate developers Frank and Jamie McCourt. Of course, that doesn’t negate your very valid point. It is also interesting to note that Ted Turner, a longtime arch-nemesis of the conservatives as the father of CNN, controlled the Atlanta Braves for years and that didn’t stop generations of southern conservatives from the supporting that team.