mlt@mb2c.UUCP (Mark L. Tompkins) (04/04/85)
One of the local TV sportscasters here in Detroit had an excellent
response to Donald Trump's request that the other USFL owners help
him pay Doug Flutie's salary:
"That's some pretty good stuff you're smoking there, Don-
DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE???????????"
Mark Tompkins
MBT Co.jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (04/12/85)
The idea of having the other owners in the league chip in for a star player
is not new. The World Hockey Association used that scheme when, in the
league's first season, the Winnipeg Jets signed superstar Bobby Hull to a
$1,000,000 contract. I think it worked too. The league survived for an
incredible seven years, and four of its teams are now playing in the NHL.
Without a big star like Bobby Hull, they may not have had any fans at all.
When the Jets visited another city, Hull probably put a few thousand extra
fans in the arena, thereby bringing in more money for the home team's owner,
so it's only fair that that owner should pay part of his salary. The idea
of paying somebody to help beat you sounds silly, but it's not winning that
earns money, it's attendance. However, I think it's a sad situation when an
owner goes begging to the other owners (or anybody for that matter) to bail
him out of something that he got himself into when he should have known better.
At least the Hull deal was worked out before he was signed.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsrgv!dciem!jeff
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeff