Adam Schein Unimpressed By Glazer Statement

June 13th, 2010

Yesterday, when the Bucs new media relations honcho, a former GOP operative, issued a statement trying to shoot down the inference from a dubious BBC report that Team Glazer is so choked with debt it cannot run the Bucs, Adam Schein was not moved.

The co-host of “The Blitz” with Rich Gannon heard exclusively of Sirius NFL Radio, and no fan of the Bucs, Schein scoffed at the statement Monday and seemed to put more credence into the BBC report that Team Glazer is so underwater, fish are swimming over their heads.

Schein read the statement in its entirely then had this to say:

“If this is the case [that Team Glazer is flush with cash], why is Reggie Brown the big ticket item in the offseason? If this is the case, why are you relying on neophytes at the wide receiver position?

“T’is the season for optimism. Where is the optimism in Tampa Bay? Where is the talent? Where is the spending? I look at Tampa, where is the hope? Seriously. Where is the optimism? How can you create any scenario where they do not finish last in the division? They will throw a parade in Tampa if they go 6-10.

“I have to give them credit on the draft, but there is no chance for Tampa Bay this season.”

Joe cannot really argue with anything Schein said. That written, color Joe skeptical of that report. As Joe pointed out yesterday, Andy Green, described in the BBC article as a “disgruntled Manchester United supporter,” was the one who uncovered the damning financial information. He is a noted rival of Team Glazer and is trying to help facilitate a purchase of the kickball team from Team Glazer.

Can anyone say “conflict of interest?”

66 Responses to “Adam Schein Unimpressed By Glazer Statement”

  1. dean Says:

    i said it once, i’ll say it again Schein is a DICK!!!

  2. LaughingCat Says:

    Maybe this is the lackluster team we deserve. We had owners that did what they could to get a championship. Instead of focusing on the team, they are now into kick-ball. They did what they said they would do, now they are milking the cash cow for all it’s worth.

    I know I am repeating Joe’s general thoughts, but it’s finally sinking in. We are nothing more than Cinderella, helping the step-mother support her ugly daughters.

    I’ll still go to the games, but my expectations are set very low.

  3. bucfanjeff Says:

    As bad as we were, the Glazers still turned a profit. I think a lot of this will be settled once the CBA is resolved, which seems to be the excuse for a lot of things. That said, Schein is a douche bag – at least he comes across that way.

  4. thomas Says:

    I waiting for sheep like Jimbuc to keep trying to explain away the obvious. The Glazers are operating both sports franchises on the cheap while at the same time carrying nearly 2 billion in debt (and yes with nearly 3 billion in assets based on somebody’s valuation).

    Here is an important question: Revenues of 800 million mean nothing if the expenses meet or exceed that number. How are you best able to adjust the operating expenses of pro sports franchises? manipulate players salaries. The two sports teams probably carry 200 milion in salary, if you cut that in half which there is evidence that has been done here since 2003 – you are able to service that debt.

    Jimbuc and other sheep can’t honestly say that this alarming debt does not impact how owners spend – that is just absolutely a head-in-the-sand position. The Glazer kids major objective today is to control spending, nothing more! Winning is not a priority! Sure they want to win, but they do not want to spend to accomplish it.

  5. nick Says:

    I would like 1 round with this guy. Just one 3 minute round is all.

  6. lightningbuc Says:

    This Schein guy is ignorant and has no idea what the hell he is talking about! Just ask BucJimmy, Rear Admiral Tom, and Dookie!

  7. d-money Says:

    I love how anything some douche bag with no inside knowledge or a BBC report based on findings from a guy who is out to make the Glazers look bad says becomes gospel to lightningbuc, thomas etc.

    You guys are the Sheep. You’ll believe anything you see on TV or read on the internet.

    Ok so the Glazers have $1.5 billion in debt….ok big deal thats only half the story. Until they open their books no one , especially not douche bag Adam Schein, will know the real story.

    That fact is debt is a part of doing business. All big business and corporations carry large amounts of debt. Until we see the books you can’t jump to conclusions based on only half of the story that was presented by someone with an agenda.

  8. Eric Says:

    They are either neck deep in debt or totally eat up with the dumb ass………………………

  9. Not a Rocket Surgeon Says:

    I swear Joe, you post Schein’s rants to get a reaction…

    The dude just pisses me off. 😉

  10. d-money Says:

    Joe i swear to god I love your site.

    But i think if you post another thing from this jack-hole Schein I might throw my computer out the window….Seriously what are his qualifications other than reading the internet and bing a prick?

  11. Eric Says:

    I can’t come up with a scenario where they do not finish last in the whole league.

    This guy is too optimistic for me.

  12. Joe Says:

    d-money:

    But i think if you post another thing from this jack-hole Schein I might throw my computer out the window….Seriously what are his qualifications other than reading the internet and bing a prick?

    If so inclined, one could say the same thing about a myriad of people working in the fourth estate.

    Joe assumes Schein’s qualifications are sound, but Joe is not a human resources director at Sirius NFL Radio nor is he privy to Schein’s resume other than he graduated from Syracuse University, one of the finest higher institutes of learning for memebers of the press, and also works for Fox Sports.

    Sadly, in the past year or so, Joe cannot find too much where Schein has been wrong about the Bucs. He predicted the Bucs would win four games in 2009 which produced wails of outrage from Bucs fans.

    Joe guesses one could say Schein was wrong there.

    At least Schein watches games and seems to do research. There are a couple of bozos on early morning radio based locally that openly admit they don’t watch games of local teams (one clown — with no apparent sense of shame — confesses to sleeping through games) and the other admits if he must watch a game of a local team, it’s with great disinterest and he constantly channel surfs.

    How responsible of them? Pathetic. Absolutely inexcusable.

  13. JimBuc Says:

    Eric said:

    “‘I can’t come up with a scenario where they do not finish last in the whole league.’

    This guy is too optimistic for me.”

    Eric, I think everyone is too optimistic for you. Until John Gruden comes back there will always be a black cloud over your head.

  14. JimBuc Says:

    Hey Joe (cue Hendrix):

    I think we are up to 77 posts on your original comment about Andy Green, the BBC and the obvious conflict of interest and we have 14 or so here and I don’t think there is even a SINGLE person among the Glazer-bashing crowd that has even addressed the issue. So I ask again, why is that? Is this a place where people only accept the “facts” that fit with their view? Why is it that the “haters” don’t even want to acknowledge such an obvious point? I don’t get it. I think the BBC report is a farce, but I can still acknowledge that the Glazers are probably having financial difficulties and that ManU impacts the Bucs. What’s up with the Glazer bashers Joe?

  15. Joe Says:

    JimBuc

    I think we are up to 77 posts on your original comment about Andy Green, the BBC and the obvious conflict of interest and we have 14 or so here and I don’t think there is even a SINGLE person among the Glazer-bashing crowd that has even addressed the issue. So I ask again, why is that? Is this a place where people only accept the “facts” that fit with their view? Why is it that the “haters” don’t even want to acknowledge such an obvious point? I don’t get it. I think the BBC report is a farce, but I can still acknowledge that the Glazers are probably having financial difficulties and that ManU impacts the Bucs. What’s up with the Glazer bashers Joe?

    Fans are fans. Joe’s not a psychologist so Joe doesn’t know why people either hate or love Team Glazer. Joe doesn’t care so long as they continue to read Joe. 🙂

    Joe is not disputing what the BBC is reporting, but Joe thinks the article could very much be slanted if not a hit piece. Surely the BBC has copies of documents Green provided. Joe’s biggest question is, what information did Green unearth through his research that he kept to himself so as not to damage his chances of forcing Team Glazer to sell the kickball team, which is an avowed goal of Green’s?

    From what Joe can tell, it’s a one-source story (never a good thing) and the source is anything but objective. In other words, it borders on disgraceful. This isn’t much different than a piece of propaganda the Daily Kos or Sean Hannity would put out.

  16. JoelGlazerLovesMikeBrown Says:

    JimBuc,

    Here are some facts:
    1.) The BBC reported that a portion of the Glazer’s debt will soon convert to a 16.25% interest rate (“In addition to their mortgages in the US, a portion of the Glazer family’s £700m Manchester United debt will soon see them charged interest at a rate of 16.25%.”)
    2.) The Glazers did not deny this point in the report (to the best of my knowledge)
    3.) The Glazers and their PR machine have a history of vehemently attacking any public statement that incorrectly disparages or damages their name. See: Sileo, Dan.
    4.) Only EXTREMELY desperate businessmen pay 16.25% for a loan.
    5.) Unless this loan is taken out by subsequent debt (hopefully) or paid off prior to conversion (improbable), things are truly worse than even Eric et. al. have portrayed.

    Personally, I believe they’re in deep s–t. I believe the debt is piling up faster than they can re-finance it, and each round of re-financing is costing more and more in terms of higher interest rates. And I agree with RadioMushMouth that 5 years to bankruptcy is in play. However, I’ll be the first to admit that no one on this site has any clue as to the true nature of their finances. The good news for them is that it appears their sports franchises haven’t depreciated in line with their real estate holdings. The sale of either team should put them in good stead financially. Hopefully it will be the Bucs.

    Finally, the fact that they actually went to the players on Man U to help float their most recent bond issue is troubling, to say the least. What sort of business goes to its employees for a loan (that’s all a bond issue is) so they can then turn around and pay said employees their salaries? That’s troubling, at best.

  17. Gary Says:

    I understand this article (true or not) gives some ammo to Eric & Thomas to continue crying. Atleast Thomas tries to present some rational thoughts… but Eric, your regressing man. “Last in the league”!! You are a true bitch my friend. Not even the Lions fans of a few years ago would EXPECT their team to be last. Atleast HOPE we wont be.

    How are you any better than this tool Schein? You both probably hang out together.

  18. lightningbuc Says:

    JimmyYuck,

    I sincerely apologize for all the previous posts where I have questioned the financial stability of the Glazers. Silly me, I thought this was a forum where Buc fans could share their OPINIONS, whether they be positive or negative, of the team. I had no idea this site was reserved for only feel good, gooberville comments. My bad!

  19. Louie Says:

    …and 22 of those 77 comments are from JimBuc!

  20. JimBuc Says:

    JoelGalzerloves Mike Brown said:

    “Here are some facts:
    1.) The BBC reported that a portion of the Glazer’s debt will soon convert to a 16.25% interest rate (”In addition to their mortgages in the US, a portion of the Glazer family’s £700m Manchester United debt will soon see them charged interest at a rate of 16.25%.”)”
    2.) The Glazers did not deny this point in the report (to the best of my knowledge)

    JGLMB, of course the Glazers did not deny this, it is on paper. Since you are so well versed in the facts, answer this question: How much of that 16.25 percent interest (if we ever get to that point) comes out of cash flow? I will give you a hint, the interst rate you are discussing relates to the PIK loan. I will give you another hint “PIK” stands for “Payment in Kind”

    A little information can be very dangerous in the wrong hands.

  21. JimBuc Says:

    Louie, congrats on learning to count without thumbs! Impressive. 🙂

  22. JimBuc Says:

    Here we have some of the biggest Glazer bashers and still none of them address Andy Green? SHOCKING!! Do you guys even know who Andy Green is?

    Come on guys, get out and read a little. No one know who Andy Green is, Louie doesnot know the difference between a rookie and a RFA, no one seems to know that most players are not getting long extensions. Do you guys ever look out into the real world?

  23. RustyRhino Says:

    If and i say “if” the Glazer Family is in deep debt, would not this make the team possibly available to be put up for sale?
    I hear here and other places(sorry Joe i read a lot) that the DeBartolo family is a ready and willing partner, who has had lots NFL success. Who would come in and take over the Bucs and put a winner on the field the first year!!
    Of course if we did allow this to happen and DeBartolo did what they did in SF then we would have more complaints and more BS every day.
    I am all for it we need more negativity and more complaints posted everyday, it is “our” right…
    Right?
    AS i see it way out here in Sunny Arizona most business are hurting the economy is bad for everyone, well the people i know anyway.
    I would like to have a Sports team, any sports team. Soccer Football Baseball Hockey basketball.
    But alas i don’t, i cant afford it, i don’t have the wherewithal to even think about purchasing a team. Woe is me!
    I would love to know if “you” owned a sports team would you like to be bashed everyday day after day night after night about your finances? About how your running your team? About how your decisions are wrong!
    We all look in the mirror we all have bills to pay, are we all telling our neighbors what we pay how we pay how it was financed?
    HELL NO!
    But i read again and again how the Glazers should show “us the fan” how they pay their bills…
    Why?
    Who do we think we are? The NFL “fan” IRS? (no offence meant to the IRS)
    Just TIRED of hearing all the BS..
    Whats good for the Glazers is it good for the “fans”?
    just wondering….

  24. Louie Says:

    @JimBuc, I’m still waiting for your spin on why Williams wasn’t signed to a 1 year deal like the RFA’s. You say the Bucs aren’t signing RFA’s because they don’t have to. So, if they are so smart in their dealings with RFA’s, why sign a rookie to a 4-year deal?

    Hmmmm, Andy Green… Isn’t he related to Mean Joe Greene?

  25. lightningbuc Says:

    To DustyDino and the other Buc goobers,

    Over the past 13 years I have spent more than $30K with the Glazers for my tickets. Therefore, yes, when I sit next to Ghosts of Buc Fans of Season’s Past, i.e. Empty Seats, or worse yet, fans rooting for the opposing team, and I watch my team continually get their ass spanked, then I feel, as a paying customer, that I do have the right to voice my displeasure. I know, I know – I don’t have to renew my tickets. But if I drop them then I’m labeled a bandwagon fan. If I voice my displeasure with the product, then I’m a basher. Please spare me the bad economy stuff, it is bad for cities in the NFL as well as for all the owners in the NFL. So to answer your question, if the Glazers want me to keep sending them a check every year, then I would like to know what plans they have for improving the team despite the fact their revenue will decrease significantly due to all the empty seats. Is that too much to ask?

  26. lightningbuc Says:

    Louie,

    I realize you’re on my side here, but stop already with the Williams contract. Rookie draft picks are signed to a minimum of a 3 year deal. There is no such thing as signing a rookie pick for 1 year.

  27. Louie Says:

    I know, but just want to see how JimBuc rationalized it.

  28. Louie Says:

    …I just think it’s so hypocritical to say the CBA is the big obstacle to signing long term deals, but they do just that with the rookies.

    It was actually very refreshing to see the Bucs do a long-term deal. I almost forgot what one looked like. To get a 4 year deal is a bonus for the team.

  29. RustyRhino Says:

    AWWW you don’t like to sit next to opposing team fans, lets do some math 13 years ago was 1997 right? Well i have been a fan since 1976 and i had to sit next to whole sections of Opposing team fans for years! big deal! At least they supported their team! at our “fans” expense sure. Been there done that. I take it with the 13 year run that you have spent supporting the bucs you did not spend much time in the old sombrero?
    My point is and will be what business it of us the “fan” to know how a team pays its bills. Why do we feel it is “our” business.
    I mean if your neighbor does not like your landscaping and how your yard is kept up, what do you tell him?
    I respect your discomfort in seeing an empty stadium and having to sit beside loud obnoxious opposing fans. I agree the Product is not always what we want, we all would like to be Perennial Playoff and Division Champions, but that takes what we have not had in a long time in Tampa. Players who are able to step in and play without causing the team to miss a step. 2002-03 was the last year we had that type of team IMO. Now we look like to me, to be trying to do that again drafting young players who can step in and play, now don’t get me wrong i was not ecstatic about last seasons record either. But to get better we had to do something. Now we are Rebuilding, like it or not it needed to be done. look back at the end of 08 season, 4 blowouts… we could have went on and did what we where doing the previous seasons, but we did not.

    DustyDino 🙂 nice

  30. Tom Says:

    Can anyone say “conflict of interest?”

  31. JimBuc Says:

    Funniest load of b.s. on this site:

    Louie Says:

    June 8th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
    I know, but just want to see how JimBuc rationalized it.

    Louie, you can admit that you had no idea what you were talking about. Most of us realize that anyway. 🙂

  32. Patrick Says:

    Adam Schein is a douche. But he is right about us. We might just have the worst organization in the NFL.

    Btw, the guy belongs on Comedy Central not on foxsports.com.

  33. josh Says:

    I wish there was a thing that stored all the trash talkers name so when the bucs blow up again we can shove it in there face. last year i said we were going to suck in training camp people you dont fire your superbowl coach and leaders like brooks and have a superbowl season it just dont happen but after the draft i see somthing great being built down in tampa that is going to grow and be great for years to come and im sure all the haters will be buying that superbowl hat when they win it again im a buc fan good and bad

  34. tampa2 Says:

    @RustyRhino
    If Eddie DeBartolo ever becomes the owner of the Bucs I will be 1st in line to buy 4 season tickets. That is a promise! Why? Because I know that he will build the team to contend for years and he will do it the right way. Also, I figure that it will take him about 4 1/2 seconds to fire Raheem the Amatuer after he signs the ownership papers. And, Rusty, I think about 80,000 others would be in that line with me! DeBartolo knows football! And always builds a winner. Unlike the 3 scrooge Glazer Boys! Is Malcom Glazer even alive?

  35. invertedquestionmark Says:

    Woah, this is funny. Yes, Andy Green is anti-Glazer but the reason he is anti-Glazer is what they have done to United. The only club in England that had absolutely no debt (not a single pound, dollar, euro, etc.) now owns more than a billion. Of course he’ll be anti-Glazer, anyone with at least a bit of sense is.

    And claiming that debt is a necessary part of big business… Haven’t the news about this thing called the ‘recession’ reached you already?

  36. bobhopesnephew Says:

    I give you all my apologies for wandering accross this site uninvited. However, I was interested to find what the REAL fans of the Bucs thought about the Glazers. As a Manchester United fan in England I was sure that there must by now be a campaign growing against these leaches on your side of the pond. Alas, I was wrong. To ridicule Andy Green for being the one person in the world who is inteligent enough to substantiate an argument against the repulsive ruinous greed of the Glazers is unbelievable. You will reap the rewards for your docile support of these clueless swindlers for many years to come. “LOVE UNITED, HATE GLAZER” (and doing something about it) is our way. Perhaps LOVE BUCS, PASSIVE DISPLEASURE WITH MALC AND HIS BOYS BUT HEY WE WILL JUST SHUT UP AND PAY UP ANYWAY” should be emblazened on your t’shirts ?

  37. Joe Says:

    bobhopesnephew:

    No need to apologize for stopping by. You are always welcome.

    The Glazers are viewed by Bucs fans through far different prisms as you can tell by this site. In short, Bucs fans are frustrated. It was just a few short years ago that the Glazer family spared no expense to put the best team on the field, realized with the Super Bowl win.

    The previous owner of the Bucs was far worse. They rarely won, never spent money yet Hugh Culverhouse laughed all the way to the bank.

    What the British fans of ManU feel is far different than Bucs fans. To own an NFL team is to own a license to print money. Unless one gambles away all of their money, there is no way to lose money in owning an NFL team even if the stadium is empty.

    NFL teams have rivers of revenue built in before the season starts. So fans could protest, march, do everything under their power short of assasination and there’s no possible way for fans to pry a team away from an owner unless said owner wants to sell.

    So it’s pretty much grin and bear it and hope for the best or change allegiances.

    There are a few NFL owners who have had losing teams for 40+ years. Yet they are wealthy beyond imagination despite their futile teams.

    Most Americans, rather that torment themselves the way ManU fans do in England, would just throw their hands up in disgust and devote their hearts and wallets to another team.

    Don’t be a stanger my friend!

  38. Joe Says:

    bobhopesnephew:

    Oh, not ridiculing Andy Green. Joe is ridiculing the BBC. The article in question appears to be a hit piece. The story used one source and one source only for the story.

    Most news outlets in America would not let such a story get past the talking stages unless a second, objective source could be found. As you are aware, Green is hardly an objective source.

    As for protesting the Glazers? As Joe documented above, such a ploy is futile. Such efforts would be better used to help clean up our once pristine, surgary-white sand beaches that are sure to be soiled by the horrid oil spill.

    That, not the Glazers, has the locals losing sleep at night.

    Please drop by from time to time. Always good to get the British perspective on the Glazers.

  39. mookie Says:

    I have followed the ManU reaction to the Glazers purchase for some time and there is a substantial number of fans whose hatred of the Glazers is rooted in both Anti-American sentiment and to a lesser extent anti-semitic sentiment. Before the ink had dried on the sale agreement people were protesting and rioting in the streets. Not because the Glazers did anything but because they were the Glazers. Not very tolerant blokes, are they? A lot of smack talk about people selling their tickets and not supporting the team out of protest but those wankers didn’t have the backbone to walk the walk after talking the talk. I have several friends from the UK both ManU fans and other clubs like Chelsea and they don’t disagree about the root and the tone of the disdain for the Glazers. Perhaps if Guy Ritchie and Madonna had bought them they would be less agitated. If you think people have posted at times nasty comments on this site- visit one of the ManU blogs and you might even end up defending the Glazers against some of these vicious vitriolic verbal assaults. I’m not defending the family or their actions but some of these rabid ManU fans are card carrying members of the lunatic fringe of society filled with more hate against the owners than love for their own club which can only be justified in the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry (kidding). That all said, the vast majority of UK “football” fans are good people.

  40. BamBamBuc Says:

    Ok, so I haven’t gotten into this conversation much, as I don’t think it’s really my place to know exactly what the Glazers do with their money. Not that it’s my place to know how much debt or how many assets. As a fan of the Bucs, I do like to see how they do building a competitive team. Many “fans” here have ridiculed the Glazers as not spending big money on top notch free agents and believe that the team will struggle in the division and the NFL this season. Just thought I’d put this out there…

    Bucs free agent signings 2010: Sean Jones… yep, that’s it. Anyone thinking Reggie Brown? Nope, that was a trade. Other than that, it’s been the resigning of our own free agents (other than Penn, who is holding out).

    That may seem bad to many fans, but keep reading….

    Atlanta free agent signings 2010: Dunta Robinson… yep, just one as well. They resigned their own players, but weren’t big players in FA.

    Carolina signings: S Aaron Francisco and WR Wallace Wright. Who? Really? At least I’ve heard of Sean Jones. The Panthers have been doing more to purge their roster than to add to it. They have no real QB, and shipped out Peppers.

    The Saints were a bit more active. They signed 3. DEs Alex Brown and Jimmy Wilkerson and LB Clint Ingram. Other than that, it’s all their own FAs they resigned.

    The Vikings were a coin flip away from the Super Bowl last year, and what have they done in FA this offseason to take them to the big show? Resigned their own players, a no-name kicker and Lito Shephard. Wow.

    How ’bout them Cowboys. Another playoff team looking to make it to the next level. What did they do? Nothing. Not one FA signing other than resigning their own.

    Oh yeah, the good teams don’t need big name FAs to improve, just the bad ones.

    Look at all the big names the Seahawks brought in… Kennard Cox CB, Mitch Erickson G, Quinton Ganther RB, Ben Hamilton G, Matt McCoy LB, Sean Morey WR, Rob Sims G, Quinton Teal S. Wow, they must have spend at least a couple hundred thousand on all of those guys combined.

    Sure, there were a few (very few) teams that got some big name players either via FA or trade this offseason. Sure, the Glazers could have spent the money on them instead of draft choices (proven talent over unproven talent). But I don’t see how we didn’t improve over at least a few teams, including one in our own division. The Panthers have declined and we didn’t get any worse. If the D improves even slightly over last year, we should get 1 or 2 more wins, and that’s not saying the O improves at all. So, whine all you want about not spending loads of money on high dollar free agents, I’d personally rather have a young, growing team than an older, more costly team like the Redskins that still are one of the worst teams in the NFL even after they signed Albert Haynesworth, DeAngelo Hall, Renaldo Wynn, DJ Hackett and more last year.

  41. mookie Says:

    Well said Bam Bam!

  42. lightningbuc Says:

    Mookie,

    I had no idea when I was being called a hater on here that it was actually in reference to being a Jew hater. It always has to come back to race and/or religion doesn’t it. Nice, very nice.

  43. lightningbuc Says:

    Bam Bam,

    Thank you for your 2010 free agency update – though it has been discussed on here ad nauseum already. Now could you provide us “fans” a similar update for the years 2005-2009 when the Bucs also had the lowest payroll. Thank in advance.

  44. Mr. glazer Says:

    JIMBUC!!!

    How many times have I told you – don’t play with the help? I said you could slum around read these articles but stop discussing the family finances until you’ve finished accounting 201 will you?

    I don’t understand your obsession with that US football, especially now that the FIFA has started. Now pipe down.

    – Dad

  45. Mr. glazer Says:

    PS – JimBuc if you insist on disobeying me I’ll spend your trust money on signing McCoy and Williams. maybe THEN you’l stop your whining.

    – Dad

  46. mookie Says:

    Apologies lightningbuc, my comment was in no way meant toward anyone on this site being critical of the family. Not even close. My comment was really meant to explain that more than a small amount of the British “hatemail” directly at the family has nothing to do with the way the family has run the team. All of the critiques here I’ve seen are not motivated by hatred or bias but rather a desire for the team to win. Totally different. Just pointing out that you can’t point to the ManU fans hatred of ownership as some sort of validation for the gripes being brought up by Bucs fans especially when the ManU haters were haters day 1, right out of the gate before the family did anything meaningful and no one can tell me that incurring debt to purchase a team is a reason for hatred. Again, apoplogies L-buc, never meant to imply malevolence or bias in your comments.

  47. lightningbuc Says:

    Mookie,

    Thanks Mookie. I didn’t really think you had inferred that to us anyway, but was just trying to make a point. Some of the ManU fans may have been Anti-American, but I don’t feel there were probably more than a handful who may have been Anti-Semitic. Those fans are so rabid, if Osama Bin Laden were their owner and ran the team to their liking, they wouldn’t care. You just have to be careful throwing that stuff around, because it gets thrown around so much now that it has no meaning for the most part. Like when the Obama lovers accuse the Obama haters of being racist just because they don’t like his politics.

  48. JimBuc Says:

    Mookie makes very good points on the ManU situation, I will add one more. The primary issue for the people of Manchester is ticket prices. They view the significnat prices increases as related exclusively to the debt. (Probanly right about that) Manchester is a working class town (maybe think Pittsburgh?) with fans whose lives have revolved around the club for generations and now some are being priced out (the games were still sold out, however). So, there is a very understandable basis for their anger, but for most fans it has nothing to do with a fear that the club will go under due to the debt. That is just a pretext.

  49. mookie Says:

    Totally agree l-buc. Not a fan of the Obama zealots throwing the race card at anyone who disagree with him or his policies. I’ve been name called for saying they’re not doing a good job of containing/fixing the BP oil spill which is ridiculous. You’re right about the ManU fans- they are as rabid as any sports club fans you’ll ever meet and they can get quite “passionate” about their team. Go Bucs!

  50. Capt.Tim Says:

    I don’t apologize, lightningBuc, still think you are a knothead!.
    But I laughed my head off off when I read you post to clueless louie
    ” listen, dude, I know you are on my side, but. . ”
    That was great! As a great man once said,” please, judge me by my enemies, they are more impressive than my allies!”

  51. Capt.Tim Says:

    But I would Not accuse you of racism or being anti semetic,
    just a knucklehead! 🙂

  52. lightningbuc Says:

    Right back at ya Timmy! I can dish it out – therefore I know I have to take some as well.

  53. Capt.Tim Says:

    LightningBuc,
    lol, fair enuff!
    BobHopesnephew,
    The only thing I wanna here from the British right now is” geez, we are really sorry about ruining the gulf coast for the next twenty years! But we are sending over 5000 soccer holigans, who will slurp oil up, and spit it into buckets, so it can be refined! Sorry to Capt. Tim, because you won’t be able to buy oysters again. Guess we’ll send you a couple hundred pounds of Fish and chips!”
    Really don’t want advice on the Glazers or the Bucs. Foward all advice to BP. They apparently don’t have any clues

  54. bobhopesnephew Says:

    Ok Capt.Tim my unreserved apology for the oilspill. As a Mancunian single parent “kickball” fanatic, just about keeping his self-employed bricklayer head above the poverty line, unable to afford take his kids to watch their team, I can only say sorry for the 40% American owned BP f**k-up in the gulf but if you wanna degenerate this discusion to anti-British versus anti-American slander you will win every time. I am only anti-Glazer and anti-greed so as far as that slant goes i aint walking down that street my friend.

  55. JohnA Says:

    As a Mancunian (native of Manchester) I can say that my home town is a proverbial “melting pot” with a big ethnic mix dating back and being renewed over the past couple of centuries. Including a big Jewish population. Hatred of the Glazers is nothing to do with their nationality or religion. Religion is not big in Britain and very much a private thing, you can be of whatever faith or persuasion you like, go to church/synagogue/mosque etc 7 days a week or never and nobody could care less. Being anti Glazer is about the debt they have heaped on the club and the millions they are syphoning out. So please cut the crap about anti Americanism or anti Semitism. That is just bollocks.

  56. green & gold Says:

    @ mookie

    The reasson that the protests started on day one is becausse they never used a penny of their own money to buy MU, and they piled all the debt onto the club. That way, if their so-called “business plan” fails, they won’t take the hit – a 115 year old insitution will, and they will walk away unscathed.

    Andy Green used public records to try to see whether the leeches could actually run MU as a separate enterprise, using its revenues to fund club success, as well as pay them a reasonable return on their “investment”. What he found was actually shocking, hence the morph into a BBC piece. Believe me, the BBC is anti-MU in its coverage of English “kick-ball”, yet it vetted Green’s story and decided to run it. One big shocker was that they re-financed their commercial real estate at the time they bought MU – therefore putting paid to their claims that they used their own money as part payment for the club.

    The PIK interest at 16.25% is also an issue because even today, the leeches maintain that it will be paid off with their own money, and not the club’s revenues. Trouble is – the glazers seem to have no other net income. So that’s a problem.

    When they bought MU, people found lots of instances where the glazers as a whole operated their businesses in an odious manner, stepping on every little person that got in their way, and suing the bigger people – not to mention suing eacch other from time to time. Since they now choose to operate in the public domain of sports club ownership, their customers have the right to shine a light on their poor corporate behaviour. They’re even starting to sue Buc’s fans, I hear.

    Finally, perhaps if they were more forthcoming than the odd public statement that all is well, or the vitriolic statements their “spokespeople” spew when ssomeone’s flashlight cuts too close to the bone; or if they stopped instructing stewards at their stadium to try to stifle the Green and Gold campaign, they wouldn’t face such hostility.

    LUHG

  57. drdneast Says:

    This idiot is just like every other moron that works for the unfair and unbalaced network. Blows hot air out of his piehole based on his “gut.” I’m not knowledgeable enough nor Schein and all the rest of the hayseeds who post on here to figure out the cash flow of the Galzers many businesses and hoildings. I do know the Brits have had it in for the Glazers since they bought Manchester. I don’t know if its from xenophobia, nationalism or anti-semitism, but there is a hatred there that is not based on rational thought

  58. JimBuc Says:

    Green & Gold — had to stop reading after your first sentence. The ManU deal only came after the Glazers used millions of their own to but the bulk of the ManU shares. LOL. Tough to read any more when you get a basic fact wrong

  59. RustyRhino Says:

    I haven’t yet read the other blogs here on this yet another of Schein’s Whining remarks, why do i get the feeling he sounds like he is trying to get the Glazers goat (not Sabby)?? maybe the Glazers won’t talk with him, like it was for him on the playground???…. just a feeling

  60. green & gold Says:

    @ JimBuc

    Read the last sentence of my second paragraph – they never used a penny of their own money, though that’s what they said publicly. They raised the money for their initial purchase by re-financing their shopping malls.

  61. bobhopesnephew Says:

    Green & Gold
    I think we are probably wasting our time here. The Bucs fans just come on here for a moan but deep down they have no fight in them. Averse to any kind of balanced response to a researched point, all hell lets loose in their cranium – bit like homer when facing a doughnut or death situation ! They revert to type and guess what ? They actually come out in support of the leaches !! Thats right, the very savvy businessmen who are using their great club and our great club to bail out their overmortgaged retail palaces are above criticism from British people. All of a sudden we are xenophobic anti-semitists, anti-American hooligan neanderthals (not sure thats spelt correctly but you get the point). Best to keep our fight to our shores and leave these guys to their own seclusion. They are extremely and uniquely comfortable when sticking up for their own, even in the face of all reasoned and fair criticism. Like scousers really, kick one and they all squeal. Green and Gold will win in the end of that I am sure. Keep the faith my friend.

  62. bobhopesnephew Says:

    JohnA
    You took the words right out of my mouth!

  63. green & gold Says:

    to bobhopesnephew:

    I was transplanted to this side of the pond from England many years ago. Following sports over here can’t be compared to the English experience. It is a fully diluted experience. Frankly, it’s just like any other entertainment – I like to think of it as if one were choosing one’s entertainment based on the food served up – if you feel like popcorn, you go to a movie; if you want a hot dog, you go to a ball game. Further, as people here tend to move more often than in Europe, and as distances are so much greater, connections to a particular club are generally tenuous at best. Finally, the franchise system ensures that owners are never punished for poor performance on the pitch – there’s never any fear of relegation; and owners have pulled up stakes and bogged off, sometimes in the middle of the night without warning.

    Bucs fans are starting to grumble a little at their treatment by our common leeches. I assume that the glazers have more of an affinity for the Bucs than they do for United, even though both clubs are simply columns of numbers to them. To me, actions by Bucs fans that make the glazers uncomfortable may have more impact on the publicity-shy glazers, since the Bucs are in their backyard. That in turn may send them packing back to their shopping plaza and fish-oil businesses more quickly. Hence, I’m not averse to sticking my oar in on occasion, through the wonders of t’internet.

    LUHG

  64. Joe Says:

    I was transplanted to this side of the pond from England many years ago. Following sports over here can’t be compared to the English experience. It is a fully diluted experience. Frankly, it’s just like any other entertainment – I like to think of it as if one were choosing one’s entertainment based on the food served up – if you feel like popcorn, you go to a movie; if you want a hot dog, you go to a ball game. Further, as people here tend to move more often than in Europe, and as distances are so much greater, connections to a particular club are generally tenuous at best. Finally, the franchise system ensures that owners are never punished for poor performance on the pitch – there’s never any fear of relegation; and owners have pulled up stakes and bogged off, sometimes in the middle of the night without warning.

    Bucs fans are starting to grumble a little at their treatment by our common leeches. I assume that the glazers have more of an affinity for the Bucs than they do for United, even though both clubs are simply columns of numbers to them. To me, actions by Bucs fans that make the glazers uncomfortable may have more impact on the publicity-shy glazers, since the Bucs are in their backyard. That in turn may send them packing back to their shopping plaza and fish-oil businesses more quickly. Hence, I’m not averse to sticking my oar in on occasion, through the wonders of t’internet.

    LUHG

    Beautiful prose.

  65. green & gold Says:

    to Joe:

    Do you still believe they spent their own money to buy the first batch of United shares? I understand you have no reason to care, but I think it’s important that the facts be on the table.

  66. Joe Says:

    green & gold:

    Joe has no idea how the Glazers financed their purchase of ManU. And you’re right: Joe’s not losing sleep over this either.