Sterling:
Time To Be Quiet
In the Tim Burton superhero movie “Batman”, edgy reporter Alexander
Knox made this observation about reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne: “The rich…
you know why they’re so odd? Because
they can afford to be.”
That seems to be the case when it comes to Los Angeles Clippers owner
Donald Sterling, who is certainly not living up to his last name these past few
weeks.
As a general rule, owners of professional sports teams should be
treated a little like children in that they should be rarely seen and almost
never heard. They should be competent
and candid when it comes to the trading of one of their players. They should
certainly be proud, even boastful, when it comes to accepting the big trophy
during championship games. And they
should be compassionate and paternal when it comes to a tragedy involving the
team.
But other than those things, they should be only seen in their luxury
skyboxes, peering down on the great unwashed like the Olympian deities they see
themselves to be, watching their regular routine Iliad recreation play out in
their overpriced taxpayer-supported theaters.
It’s supposed to be all about “the game” and the players in “the
game”. It’s not supposed to be about the
people behind the scenes, never mind being about the self-appointed “gods” that
supposedly make “the game” happen.
And sports owners should certainly not have their personal dirty
laundry aired out on TMZ and then rehashed on the nightly news and debated by
the armchair quarterbacks of the cable news channels. Never mind have prolonged debates as to
whether or not said owners should continue to have their place on their own
little Olympus.
But apparently Sterling did not get that memo. Or, maybe he did and he’s just too senile to
remember that part.
So Donald Sterling had some choice personal words about the people that
his mistress hangs around with. Words
that are usually uttered by “good ol’ boys” here in the South, preferably when
they’re not at the local Wal-Mart. Words
that are more reminiscent of the 1950’s than the 2010’s.
Of course Sterling thought that these words would never be recorded,
never mind repeated for the whole world to hear. But that became moot once it did. He hasn’t denied saying them, and he is
already banned from all NBA activities for the rest of his life because of
them.
And he supposedly doesn’t even have his mistress anymore… which is good
because ever since the media found out who she was, she’s hid herself behind an
ugly visor like she was the third member of Daft Punk.
But now the debate is about whether or not Sterling – and his wife –
should be forced to give up his coveted Olympian seat… a.k.a. ownership of the
Clippers… which he can no longer sit in anyway because of that lifetime ban.
I know the cons and neo-cons are throwing fits over this idea. They’re screaming bloody murder and
proclaiming that no one-percenter should ever be forced to give up something
they own because of the demands of other people. They pull out their little pocket Ayn Rand
scripts and scream about “Communism” and “Socialism” and “Obama-ism” and say
it’s just not right for a one-percenter to be forced to give up their personal
property.
Which… if you really put some thought into it… sound a lot like they’re
defending a passive form of slavery.
Okay, let’s put a bullet into the head of the Rand-like script and put that
argument out of our collective misery.
If… and I say “If”… Donald Sterling and his wife were the sole owners
of the LA Clippers, as a separate private professional organization operating
in their own stadium that they paid for entirely with their money, then I would
agree with the cons and neo-cons in that they shouldn’t be forced by others to
sell their team.
But the LA Clippers is not a standalone team operating in their own
standalone private stadium. They are
part of the National Basketball Association.
It is an association that has rules and contractual obligations that are
not limited to just the activities of the players or the game officials, but
also to the owners. And if those
contractual obligations include an agreement that the owners give up their
ownership if told to by the majority of the other owners, then the cons and
neo-cons really have no grounds to complain about it.
I mean, really, cons and neo-cons, you are the ones that claim to
champion the sanctity of free markets and private organizations to be able to
do as they please.
Plus, the Sterlings don’t own the venue that the team plays in. They are tenants of the Staples Center, which
is another private contractual obligation with their own terms of
operation. And if, as with the case of
many other professional venues across the country, the Staples Center takes in
any kind of taxpayer money, then it’s really not a “private” organization
anymore, is it?
So, conservatives and neo-conservatives, give it a rest. You have no real skin in this game when you
pretend to channel John Locke. Go back
to mad-hating Barack Obama, because that seems to be the only thing that you’re
competent in doing.
Anyway, back to the Sterlings, and especially Donald.
The elder Sterling has been trying
to explain away his statements in a desperate attempt to convince his
fellow owners to let him keep his little fiefdom. He’s been trying to tell people that he’s not
a racist, that he was trying to get some nookie from his visor-wearing mistress,
oh, and his team “loves” him and everyone
knows it… except the media, of course.
And then trash-talking
Magic Johnson for pretty much no reason.
I’m sure Mister Sterling is not going to listen to what I have to say,
but I think it should be said anyway.
Mister Sterling, do yourself a favor and shut up.
Seriously, you need to stop talking!
Granted, there was a time for you to defend yourself over the
recordings of what you said. But let’s
get brutally honest here… that time has come and gone. You said nothing when the recordings were first
made public. You admitted to the NBA
Commissioner what you said, you allowed the NBA to then deliver the punishment,
and you pretty much squandered your opportunity to minimize the damage when it
could have made a difference.
Not only that, Mister Sterling, but you’re not doing yourself any
favors now by running your mouth. If
anything, you are demonstrating to the world that you really are too incompetent
to be a team owner.
Now is not the time to be talking, Mister Sterling. Now is the time to shut up in front of the
media. If you’re sorry you said those
words, then say you’re sorry and then that’s it. Get away from the cameras. Stay as far away from ESPN and CNN and any
other media outlet as you can. And tell
your wife or soon-to-be-ex-wife to do the same thing if she wants to keep her
part of the team. Talk to the owners
privately, one on one. Convince them
away from the cameras that what you did was embarrassing and that you’re sorry and
that there’s no need for any talk about selling the team. They probably don’t want to be in the public
spotlight on this subject any more than you do.
Keep it away from the cameras, and hopefully the talk about forcing you
to sell your team will go away. Because
the rage that is behind the effort to further punish you is fueled by the
media. Every time you or your wife get
in front of the cameras, it only adds more fuel to the fire. Let it burn itself out.
If you can’t do that, if your ego is such that you simply cannot let this
go away by being quiet, then maybe you should consider selling the team. And better yet, doing it before you’re forced
to.
Remember, team owners are supposed to be rarely seen and almost never
heard. Leave the drama and the clown
acts to the players in the game. That’s
why they’re getting paid the big bucks and all the endorsement deals. They’re supposed to be the entertainers and
the entertainment.
To borrow from Shakespeare… let the “play” be the thing, not the
unconscionable acts of its sporting king.
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