Bucco Fever

Posts Tagged Mario Lemieux

Winter Doldrums

Feb 8

Posted by Sean H. Steimer | No Comments

Pittsburgh got blasted with almost 2 feet of snow this weekend, and I’ve been stuck in my house for 3 days.  How this relates to the Bucco’s I’m not really sure, although I can say that I’ve never wanted baseball season to start more than I do today.  Luckily football season is now over and pitchers and catchers report in nine days, so we’re not far away at this point.

In other news, there was a bunch of hullabaloo (good vocab word) on the internets last week about a poorly written editorial that ran in the PG (link purposely omitted, if you really want to read it, I’m sure you can find it).  I’ve been really busy with work the last few weeks, and so I didn’t really chime in, and a lot has already been said by people much smarter than I about the subject.  All I can really say is that if there’s one thing I know, its that people who choose to be ignorant are generally not worth the time it would take to correct their ignorance.  If anonymous writers at the PG don’t want to understand baseball’s economic system, or want to ignore what the penguins were spending on salary prior to the NHL lockout, nothing I can say is going to change that.  This really goes beyond sports and extends to the internet at large and the whole situation kind of reminds me of this xkcd cartoon and this from penny-arcade.

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Lemieux Offers to Buy Pirates

Jan 30

Posted by Sean H. Steimer | No Comments

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the news that Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle recently made an “unsolicited offer” to buy the Pirates.  Based on that article, there are 2 things about this story that I find fascinating.

First of all, what, if anything, would be different about the Pirates under Lemieux’s ownership?  In Pittsburgh, the name Lemieux is golden, he can practically do no wrong, and that reputation is well deserved.  After all, he did save the Penguins franchise not once, but twice.  So the emotional fan in me wants to believe super Mario will find a way to turn the Pirates into a winner.  But giving it a bit more thought, I’m just not sure if that’s the case.  For one, baseball doesn’t have a salary cap, and maybe I’m underestimating their financial wherewithal, but I don’t see a Lemieux/Burkle ownership group just pouring money into the Pirates.  More than likely, if they were to buy the team, they would follow through on the rebuilding from within process that has already been started by current management.

The other possible difference might be that Mario’s involvement with the Pirates would carry with it increased Fan interest.  Brian over at RTJR wrote a little bit about this this morning, saying that “It would bring immediate popularity and infinite media attention to the Pirates.”  Honestly though, I don’t see that happening.  Plenty of people in this city love Mario, and sure there might be some initial interest in the Pirates if Lemieux was involved.  But ultimately, the Pirates aren’t going to win over the hearts and minds of sports fans in this city until they start winning.  And at this time, it would appear that Bob Nutting has the team on the path to do just that.  Only time will tell if he keeps him promises and raises payroll when the time is right, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Perhaps more interesting than the possible differences Lemieux ownership would bring to the Pirates is this paragraph, buried int he middle of the article:

According to sources on the Penguins side, the meeting happened four months ago at the Penguins’ front-office headquarters in Chatham Center, Uptown. Mr. Lemieux, Mr. Burkle and Mr. Nutting were present, and the intent of the meeting was for the Penguins owners to offer to buy the Pirates. Mr. Burkle made a financial offer.

Bob Nutting, as has always been his stance when rumors like this are floating around, has denied any desire or willingness to sell the team.  But I think its significant to know that a meeting took place, and at least someone on the Penguins side thought the purpose of that meeting was to discuss a possible sale.  Maybe its meaningless and I’m reading too much into it, but the fact that a meeting took place to discuss a sale means that Nutting was at least willing to entertain the possibility of selling the team, even if he denies it.

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