@king-ghoolie-lives said:

As Stan pointed out before, I was indeed big on Lerner and even the Policy connection in 1999. HAving worked as a perosnal guard for both DeBartolo's in college, I got to meet a lot of folks in their circle. Knowing what little I did, I liked the Lerner team because of an assumption I made.

Eddie DeBartolo Jr. built his team by paying players under the table, thereby allowing SF to stockpile players.

I logically assumed Policy would do the same thing for Lerner that he did for Eddie. BZZZZZZZZT. Good grief, what the hell does Policy know about football? He's an atty, he knows how to break rules, not obey them.

Anyway, I turned on Lerner ownership in year two, not because of record but because of lack of passion.

It is something to see people, slowly but surely turning their favor away from Lerner. DOn't know where it will go, but it is the only thing we have to send Lerner a message, if he even cares.

Well, you bring up an interesting point: Does it matter if a sports teams owner has "Passion" for his team or his sport? There have clearly been some owners who have not had passion for their teams, yet were successful nevertheless.

One prime example I recall is Wayne Huizenga. He owned the Marlins back in 1997 when they pulled out their first WS victory over the Indians. He made a token appearance at the games, but I noted that in the middle of those tense WS games that he would be only cursorily watching the game. He was more intent on watching the stock market. Also, after the Marlins won, he literally announced that he didn't care much about winning the WS except that by doing so it might get a new stadium built for his team (at taxpayer's expense, of course).

In a sense, even Dick Jacobs has to be questioned about his passion for the game. I think he was more passionate than Huizenga, but that didn't mean that when he could find a buyer at the right price he didn't jump to sell that team.

And speaking of cold fish owners, the Dolan's have made it clear many times over that it is all about the bottom (cash) line for them.

But you are right to question Lerner. Does he have passion? Perhaps for his English soccer team.

Of course, if this team wins, and Randy pays the bills and buys the talent....I could end up really caring less if he has passion. When the team loses and the owner seems aloof, that is when the burning effigies come out.

(one of the reasons people have been endeared by Dan Gilbert is because of the passion he showed after "The Decision". A lot of asshole in the national media criticized him for his words...because they could give a shit about whether a Cleveland team won or not, but for the fans of Cleveland who do care, what he said made him somewhat of a folk hero)