Uh… Earth to Tom, Come In, Tom…
“There’s no way either of my two teams’ fans have the level of intense passion that Liverpool has,” said Hicks, who also owns baseball’s Texas Rangers and the NHL’s Dallas Stars. “I want them to. Hopefully, someday they will.”
Let’s consider this.
Mr. Hicks was speaking of his team that was playing for the Champions League title. EVERY teams fans are passionate when you are playing for the ultimate title in your sport. Let’s see how the Liverpool fans cheer when Hicks returns to his “tighter than the stripe on a 9-ball” tendencies and hires an incompetent general manager, as history has shown he inevitably will. As the losses mount, the passion will dissipate… even in England.
The Rangers are in the bottom third of the league in payroll, with a significant number still paying for A-Rod. I believe they finally paid off Chan Ho Park, although Phil Nevin may still be costing them something. What they do spend, they do not spend wisely. They are talent-poor, and Ron Washington is going to take the fall for what is clearly a sub-standard team.
The Stars, like Liverpool, were a championship quality team when Hicks acquired them. Since then, they have been abysmal at growing young talent, they have been FAR too loyal to long-time team members who have outstayed their welcome (ask Jerry Jones how well that works), and are so bereft of offensive talent that they could not score on a Plano East cheerleader. I have resigned my Stars season tickets after 9 years. I just couldn’t watch anymore.
Welcome to the club, Liverpool. Hicks is a vampire, and he’ll suck the passion out of you, too.
Yeah, that’s right, Tom. Criticize your customers for not being excited about your inferior product. What a tool.