New Ownership In New Jersey

August 15th, 2013 will forever be etched in the history of the New Jersey Devils as one of the most important days in the franchise's history that didn't involve hoisting a Stanley Cup. Last Thursday, Joshua Harris and David Blitzer became the owners of the Devils and now control the operating rights of the Prudential Center. I'm going to break this down into a few parts just to keep everything organized so I don't ramble - I have a habit of doing that.

Josh Harris and David Blitzer, the new owners of the Devils. (Photo credit: USA Today)

The Specifics

Harris and Blitzer bought the Devils and the operating rights to the Rock for a reported figure of $320 million dollars from (now former) owner, Jeff Vanderbeek, who will maintain a minority stake in the team and stay on board as a "senior advisor." Harris and Blitzer are also the owner's of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. A little background on both of these guys first. Both of them graduated from the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Harris is a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management in New York City and has an estimated worth of more than $2 billion. Blitzer is senior managing director and head of tactical opportunities for Blackstone in New York, the world’s largest private equity firm. So, it's safe to say that these guys have the necessary cash to properly run a professional sports team. With new owners come changes to the behind-the-scenes staff. Scott O'Neil, former president of Madison Square Garden Sports, will come on to become CEO of Devils Arena Entertainment, the non-hockey arm of the Prudential Center and where I was an intern during the Spring 2011 semester. I interned for Rich Krezwick, then president of DAE, but it looks like O'Neil will be taking over his role. I wish Rich all the best. I hope the other people still at DAE get the chance to keep their jobs. There are some great people there that will do great things for the organization. But, even with new owners presumably changing things up, the most important man to New Jersey Devils hockey not named Martin Brodeur will still remain at the helm.

Lou Lamoriello Keeps His Throne

Lou Lamoriello will remain the President/GM/CEO/Overlord of all things Devils hockey in midst of the ownership changing hands. Did you really think that Lou was going anywhere? I don't care who owns the team, the New Jersey Devils are Lou's team and you let him run the show. The man has a trophy named after him (NCAA's Hockey East Conference tournament champion wins the Lamoriello Trophy); you let him work his magic. Smartly, the new owners have no plans to fiddle with Lou's methods on the hockey side of things. Why would you? The man is arguably one of the greatest GM's ever, and he's been doing most of his work under tough financial circumstances. Now, Lou actually has some money to spend, more so than ever before. This could spell trouble for the rest of the league. Now that the Devils are financially stable and their future is secured in Newark, we're about to become major players in future free agent periods. We can be in the conversations with the big-market teams when it comes to the marquee free-agents. Fans have been waiting for this for a LONG time. Hopefully, the days of hemorrhaging superstars are a thing of the past for the Devils, and New Jersey becomes a "destination organization" for players.

A Bittersweet Transition for JVB

Jeff Vanderbeek was a long-time Devils season-ticket holder before taking majority ownership of the team in 2004. The Prudential Center was his brainchild. It took a ton of effort on his part to get the arena approved to be built. To take a page from the Yankees' book, you could call it "The House That Jeff Built." Call me biased, but I like that name a lot! Of course, Vanderbeek would have loved to be the guy that was able to bring the Devils back to prominence as an owner. However, he was never quite able to get his finances in order once the bottom fell out of the economy in 2008, and that was what led the Devils to this point. One great thing that puts all Devils fans at ease is the fact that there was never any talk about moving the team when Vanderbeek was speaking to prospective buyers. I knew all along that Vanderbeek would never let this team fall into the hands of owners that had any ideas about moving the team. Harris has Jersey roots and Blitzer calls himself a "Jersey guy." Sounds good to me. The unfortunate part about the financial troubles of the Vanderbeek era was that this was all out of his control. Vanderbeek was a great guy; he really cared for the team. He just had bad luck once the economy went in the toilet. You really can't blame him for trying to right the ship.

Newark Will Continue to Improve

This was one thing I didn't expect to hear in the presser for the new ownership, but they made it a huge point talk about what they want to do for the city of Newark and how they want to keep Vanderbeek's vision of revitalizing the city. I love hearing that from them. The fact that they care not just about the organization but also about the long-term conditions of the community shows me that these guys are definitely the right people for the job. I haven't followed too many ownership transitions since I really started following sports like I do now, but I don't usually hear too much about the community work the new owners want to do. It's usually all about the team and winning. That being said, Harris and Blitzer have big ideas for what they want to do on the business side of the Devils. If they're going to follow the model they're using for the 76ers, Devils fans are going to be very happy with what they have in store. For one thing, 76ers tickets are pretty affordable now. Your ears just perked up, didn't they? Based on everything I read about the new owners, I'm more than happy with what's in store for the Devils for the foreseeable future. I think it's FINALLY time to retire the old and tired "Devils have no fans" jokes and the "Devils are leaving New Jersey" quips because neither of them are true any more. We're no longer restricted by finances. The Devils will be back to being a factor sooner than a lot of Rangers and Flyers fans would like.

Johnny Football Has Got Me Thinking...

I know you're all waiting to hear about what I have to say about the impending sale of the New Jersey Devils, but I'll wait until after it's official to give my thoughts. But, most of you that know me already know how I feel about the whole thing.

Johnny Football or Johnny Drama?

Johnny Manziel has had quite the roller-coaster ride since winning the Heisman trophy back in January. He was on all of the late-night talk shows. He had pictures with all kinds of elite athletes and celebrities. He has become one of the most recognizable people in all sport, let alone college football. However, from what we have seen, it looks like Johnny Football can't handle the spotlight off the field as well as he seemingly could on it. He has tweeted about how he can't "bleeping" wait to get out of College Station. He had to leave the Manning Passing Academy because of missed meetings. And now he has this autograph fiasco hanging over his head. It's like a train wreck; we want ESPN to shut up about it, but we can't look away when they talk about it. Did he accept money? Did his friend accept money and thus act as an agent? Why did he sign so many autographs? If it's all true, this is just another instance of Manziel acting like an idiot. Sure, he wants us to cut him slack because "he's just a 20-year-old kid trying to have fun." Sorry, Johnny, but once you won the Heisman, you became a public figure. You're no longer a kid at that point. It's time to be a man and start taking responsibility for your actions. Getting kicked of a University of Texas frat party while wearing a Tebow jersey? C'mon, man! You have got to smarter than that. I hope all of the allegations are false, but if they turn out to be true, then Manziel just showed the whole world that he is incredibly selfish. Why put your whole team at risk for a few extra bucks? It's not like he needs it; he comes from an upper-middle class family. This leads me to my next point...

NCAA "Hypocrisy"

Jay Bilas has long been a man on a mission to get real NCAA reform when it comes to student-athlete compensation. Recently, he had NCAAshop.com shut down because he was able to search by student-athlete names to find memorabilia. Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney were just two of the names that brought player-specific results. Mark Emmert, NCAA president, had the site shut down based on how people could see that as "hypocritical." The student-athletes can't profit off of their likenesses, but the NCAA can. Right. So, Jay Bilas single-handedly shut down a revenue stream for the NCAA. He's currently the NCAA's worst nightmare, and he won't stop until there's real reform. But, if Manziel is doing this - and he comes from a comfortable economic situation - what about the guys that come from nothing? What must they be doing to try and get their family any little bit of cash to help their situation? Honestly, the fact that the NCAA doesn't even let the "revenue-generating" sports' athletes get paid is foolish. Amateurs don't play in 100,000-seat stadiums. Amateurs don't play in front out millions upon millions of TV viewers. Amateurs don't get to be in a video game. It's time to properly compensate these kids for the hard work and sacrifices they make so their respective schools can make money. This does raise a very interesting question, though.

What if there was another pipeline to the pros?

College football is the only way to get the NFL. College basketball is (for the most part) the only way into the NBA. Baseball is much more international, but the a majority of American-born prospects come from college. This leaves us with hockey. There are multiple avenues to get to the NHL. You could go to college and play for a powerhouse. Or, you can head north of the border and play in one of the three CHL junior leagues. How does this change the college hockey landscape? The kids in the QMJHL, OHL, and WHL get paid. They don't have to attend classes and maintain academic eligibility. It's no coincidence that the best prospects come from the CHL. I am in no way knocking NCAA hockey, though. Some awesome players have come from the college ranks. But could you imagine if there was a similar system in place for football and basketball? There would be a complete and total overhaul in the college sports landscape the likes of which no one can even begin to fathom. The best recruits wouldn't even think about going to school. They would chase the paper in the junior leagues. You would find out real quick how many kids actually care about their education and which just care about their sport. There would never be a crowd of 100k+ at a college football game again. The days of one-and-done recruits in college basketball would be over; teams would actually have to build for the long-term. The quality of play in both sports would suffer greatly because all of the best players would being playing in the junior leagues where they would be getting paid. This is something not a lot of people are talking about with all of this craziness with the NCAA and Manziel. It is interesting to play the "What If?" game with it, though.

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez

(Photo credit: USA Today)

Forgive me for being late on this story as I have been vacationing down the Jersey Shore this week, but on Monday, Major League Baseball finally handed out the suspensions involving the players implicated in the Biogenesis investigation. Twelve players were given 50-game suspensions. Those players included Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, and Evereth Cabrera just to name a few. However, the name most people were paying attention to, Alex Rodriguez, was handed the largest suspension that wasn't a lifetime ban in MLB's history, 211 games. That means A-Rod won't get the opportunity to play again until the 2015 season. However, he does get the opportunity to appeal. During the time leading up to when his appeal is heard, he can play. Since most experts are saying that he won't be able to get a hearing until November, I guess we will see A-Rod (unfortunately) in a Yankee uniform for the rest of the season. His reception in his first game back in Chicago went as expected. The boos rained down on him at every at-bat and whenever he did anything in the field. When he struck-out looking in his last at-bat U.S. Cellular field erupted in cheers. This is will probably be the standard crowd response from opposing fans when the Yankees are on the road. The real test is going to come Friday when A-Rod plays in his first game back in front of my fellow Yankee fans. Honestly, I have no idea what the crowd reaction at the Stadium is going to be. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably going to be 75%-25% boos-to-cheers. Where do I fall? If I was there, I'd be booing the crap out of him. There are plenty of reasons that I fall on that side. Some are obvious; some not so much.

After 2009, A-Rod's play began to decline. He wasn't the player he once was. His power numbers were down, he was striking out more, and his defense was beginning to take a dive. In just one season after leading the Yanks to the World Series, he had just as quickly turned into a liability. Most Yankee fans, myself included, started to sour on A-Rod based on his play alone. Add the fact that he kept getting major injuries putting him on the Disabled List for long periods of time and his albatross of a contract, and there was plenty of ammo for Yankee fans to use to justify hatred towards A-Rod. You then have A-Rod admitting to using "a banned substance" and his connection with Canadian sports medicine specialist, Anthony Galea, which just added more fuel to the fire. But on top of all of that, there's one quote that really set me over the edge:

"I'm a human being. I've had two hip surgeries. I've had two knee surgeries. I'm fighting for my life. I have to defend myself. If I don't defend myself, no one else will."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! My aunt that lost a five-year long battle with ovarian cancer was fighting for her life! YOU'RE A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR ATHLETE! You're not "fighting for your life," as you say. You're fighting because your ego is too big for it's own good and you can never not be the spotlight. So, you foolishly drag this whole thing out just because you think you have a shot to overturn your suspension. Keep dreaming. When the arbiter holds up the suspension, I hope you'll be happy with all the time and effort you wasted. This leads me to why I think A-Rod's suspension is not harsh enough.

Agree with me or not, Alex Rodriguez should be banned from baseball for life. I look at it this way: A-Rod used the game of baseball as his own little toy. He did everything with only his best interests in mind, he always thought he was above the game, and shamed the game of baseball in the process. This all started with his insane contract with the Texas Rangers. He then used PEDs to try to justify the contract he signed. When he was traded to the Yankees, he did nothing to help our team in the postseason until 2009. Other than that year, his postseason numbers as a Yankee are abysmal at best. He opted out of his deal with the Yankees only to sign a BIGGER deal, and this was all announced during the World Series. No respect whatsoever. Now this whole circus that will surround him and the Yankees for the rest of this season. ALL OF THAT compounded on top of each other is why I think A-Rod deserves to be banned for life. What A-Rod did to the game is far worse than anything Pete Rose ever did, I don't care what anyone says. I still say Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. He never bet against his own team, but I digress. Monday was a rough day for baseball thanks to A-Rod once again, but it was a good day in the sense that MLB basically showed that it's finally beginning to take the steps necessary to crack down on PED users once and for all.