Jeff Gordon
The Grinch has become a beloved Christmas figure, a big green symbol of holiday redemption.
So when the Best Fans in Baseball may nominate Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. for the Grinch designation -- given his mandate to slash payroll after two disappointing seasons -- that doesn't preclude a happy ending.
Investing in player development has always been smarter than investing in middling free agents. Chaim Bloom, John Mozeliak's heir apparent as president of baseball operations, will bring new ideas and fresh energy to his leadership role.
It may take a few years, but Cardinals fans could regain their holiday spirit while many other fans continue to suffer.
This has been another banner year for bad ownership around the country.
Consider the case of GAP clothing heir John Fisher, who became majority owner of the Oakland A's in 2005. The franchise has posted 10 losing seasons on his watch, including 60-102, 50-112 and 69-93 finishes the past three years.
St. Louis developer says consultant, a friend of mayor's dad, offered access to City Hall 6 people hit by teen driver in Ted Drewes' Christmas tree lot in St. Louis BenFred to depart Post-Dispatch sports staff; new columnist named: Media Views St. Louis Public Schools gives interim superintendent a 2-year job guarantee 19-year-old driver charged after 6 pedestrians injured outside of Ted Drewes in St. Louis '8 days of hell' in St. Louis jail: Woman details 'disgusting' conditions, sexual assault Struggling Catholic schools now need St. Louis archbishop's OK to hire teachers for next year Mizzou secures Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula from transfer portal Cardinals All-Star Nolan Arenado declines deal to Astros, but trade talks ongoing: Sources Infant girl dies of drug overdose. Lincoln County charges six adults with her murder New kosher deli leaves Creve Coeur for Clayton St. Louis County health inspector falsified time sheets and inspections, audit says St. Louis Public Schools board member calls for criminal investigation of credit card spending What teams are fits for Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt as Houston Astros make move at first Judge sides with Parson, says governor appoints St. Louis County prosecutor
Along the way, Fisher decided to move the team to Las Vegas. That's easier said than done, so Fisher relocated the team to a minor league park in Sacramento while working to get his stadium built in Vegas.
The Oakland market had its issues. The deteriorating Oakland-Alameda County Stadium essentially became a landfill with seats. And yes, getting a new stadium built in California is a monumental undertaking.
But this franchise suffered from years of ownership neglect.
Speaking of neglect, nearly 90-year-old Chicago White Sox majority owner Jerry Reinsdorf has made some noise during his mostly futile ownership. His group bought the team for about $20 million in 1981, and it's worth more than $2 billion today despite its futility. In the past 11 full seasons, the White Sox posted one winning record. They went 61-101 and 41-121 in the past two years.
Over in Pittsburgh, Pirates owner "Bottom Line" Bob Nutting has been willing to run low payrolls, rack up losses on the field and make money off Major League Baseball's shared revenues.
Those billboards asking him to sell the team after last season? They won't budge him. Nutting has shrugged off steady failure: one winning season (82-79 in 2018) since 2015.
The NFL has many issues too. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones prodded the league onto the marketing fast track and inspired his colleagues to build pro football into a much, much bigger business. He built the Texas-sized Jerry World stadium with its 600-ton video screen display.
Jones helped land-hoarding recluse Stan Kroenke move the Rams back to Los Angeles and build spectacular SoFi Stadium. This was terrible for St. Louis, of course, but great for the league.
As an owner, though, Jones has fallen well short; for all the money he has spent, he hasn't earned a deep playoff run since 1995.
Yet he has been a football genius compared to Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who gave regrettable Deshaun Watson $230 million to play quarterback. Under his ownership since 2012, the Browns have cleared .500 just twice on Haslam's watch.
Then there is Johnson & Johnson heir Woody Johnson, the meddlesome owner of the New York Jets. It's bad enough that the hapless Johnson insists on making key personnel decisions, but he has brought teenage sons Brick and Jack into his leadership team.
According to The Athletic, Johnson once nixed a potentially beneficial trade because the player had a poor rating in EA Sports' "Madden" franchise's latest game. He is heavily influenced by what he reads on social media.
He made dour oddball quarterback Aaron Rodgers the face of his franchise. The football operation churn continued this season with the firing of coach Robert Saleh, then general manager Joe Douglas.
The Jets, 4-11, will miss the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year. The J-E-T-S are an M-E-S-S, and it's only getting worse.
In the NHL, the Arizona (nee Phoenix) Coyotes had a tragic ownership history. The team bottomed out with Alex Meruelo, who took control of the team in 2019 and moved the team to the tiny Mullett Arena at Arizona State in 2022 after getting booted from the team's arena in Glendale.
The Meruelo ownership had myriad issues -- including a hostile work environment and its failure to pay bills -- and its efforts to build a new arena failed. The Coyotes became a revenue drain on the entire NHL.
Finally, commissioner Gary Bettman relocated it to Utah under new ownership. That left long-suffering Arizona hockey fans wondering if they would ever get another team.
In the NBA, the once-proud New York Knicks have missed the playoffs 16 times since 2001 under chairman James Dolan. Their last title came way back in 1973.
Dolan is at war with the league office. He has fended off a sexual harassment lawsuit from a massage therapist for The Eagles (long story).
He has prevailed in litigation over the use of facial recognition technology to ban certain lawyers from entering Madison Square Garden (another long story).
So yes, Cardinals fans could have it worse. They can still hope for better days ahead, but we don't see Grinch-like redemption coming for Fisher, Nutting, Jones, Haslam, Johnson, Meruelo and Dolan.
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