I wasn't even planning on writing tonight, but once in a while something comes along that is so ridiculous that it begs for a comment. Forbes Magazine has published an article in which they name the top General Managers in professional sports. I'm just going to cut to the chase on this one. Who do you think was #1? The answer is:
Kevin McHale.
Yes, Kevin McHale, the General Manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA basketball squad. Just so you don't think I'm making this up, here is the article:
http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/03/02/sports-greatest-gms-biz-cz_jg_0302gms.html
OK, breath Jeff. Am I in a parallel universe right now? Nope - I just checked and my garage still needs painting - same universe. Kevin McHale is the BEST General Manager in all of PROFESSIONAL SPORTS, according to the report. Now, I always considered Forbes to be a respectable, reputable magazine. It's not as if Maxim, or Oui magazine ran this article. I'm going to try and run through some positives and negatives in McHale's career that may have led to this honor.
Positives:
1. Drafting Kevin Garnett in 1995.
2. Ahhhhhhh.........
Negatives:
1. All other draft picks. Here we go - Paul Grant (Round 1, 1997), Rasho Nesterovic (Round 1, 1998), William Avery (Round 1, 1999). Taking Ndudi Ebi (Ndudi Ebi!) over Josh Howard in the 2nd round of 2003 (no 1st round pick) . Oddly enough, no 1st round pick in 2004, but McHale took Blake Stepp in round two.
2. Virtually all trades. Actually acquired Michael Olowokandi, possibly the worst 7-footer to ever play the game, and gave him a CONTRACT EXTENSION before trading him to Boston. In the multi-player trade with Boston, gave THEM a first round pick. Traded Sam Cassell to the Clippers for Marco Jaric and gave THEM a first round pick. The Wolves have no first round picks now until around 2015. But the Clippers threw Lionel Chalmers in the trade, who I think is working at Wendy's now.
3. I'm not even going to mention the Joe Smith fiasco because I think Glen Taylor is more to blame (just barely). And there is the Stephon Marbury deal. Marbury is more to blame for that mess, because he's crazy. Also, along the way, McHale lost Chauncy Billups to Detroit, who later became a League MVP. He let Billips go to keep Troy Hudson on the roster, who has not become a League MVP, but has kept several orthopedic surgeons in business.
4. Signed and then RE-signed perpetually in-trouble Eddie Griffin to a long-term contract. The upside to this is that Griffin is quite a movie buff. Unfortunately, he likes to watch "certain" movies while driving his SUV into gas stations.
5. Hiring/Firing coaches. Not enough time to go into all of the detail on this, but let's just say we're on our 4th head coach in the last 3 years. Enough said.
What criteria did Forbes use to come up with this ranking, you may ask? Well, it turns out that "Overall winning percentage compared to the three years before the General Manager arrived" is one huge factor. Now, before McHale, the Timberwolves were run by Sargent Schultz of Hogan's Heroes fame, and they were horrible. I will give McHale credit - they did have some nice regular seasons after he arrived, and even some 50-win seasons. One problem with this is that they lost in the first round of the playoffs seven straight times. Not even Denny Green can claim that type of playoff futility. They had one nice run in the playoffs in 2003/2004 in which they made the Western Conference Finals before losing to the LA Lakers. This is after picking up Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Through no fault of McHale, they later lost Sprewell because he turned down a $7 million a year contract offer. He was quoted as saying "he's got a family to feed." Once again, the Four Horseman are mounting up.
The saddest thing about this whole list is the gentleman coming in at #53. Terry Ryan of the Minnesota Twins. Ryan works on a shoestring budget that is 1/3 the amount of some other baseball teams and they play in one of the worst venues in the league. However, through outstanding drafts, trades, and intelligently deciding who to keep and let go, Ryan (along with Ron Gardenhire) has steered the Twins to 4 division championships in 5 years. The Twins have had 2 managers since 1987. And he's number 53 on the list. By the way, Doug Risebrough of the Minnesota Wild comes in a #88, but Doug MacLean of the Columbus Blue Jackets is listed at #52. That's actually funny. Just in case you want to see the list, here it is:
http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/03/02/sports-greatest-gms-biz-cz_jg_0302gms_2.html
I'm still thinking I'm in a parallel universe. Nope, dishes need washing - same universe.
Jeff
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13 comments:
Ok Jeff, this will get you going. The mayor of Bloomington and the Gov. want to invest $200 million to help expand the Mall of America. Why does the gov. think this is ok but we need a public referendum on stadiums?
Sherry
Ok Jeff this will get your goat. The gov and mayor of Bloomington want to invest $200 Million in tax payer dollars in the Mall of America (rumor has it that the G brothers are making 20% income on their present investment). Why does the Gov. think we need a public referendum on paying taxpayers money on stadiums bu that its ok to use tax dollars to subsidize private business deals?
SAE
Ok, this list is messed up. How does Billy King (looses AI and C-Web), Jerry Jones (Drew Bledsoe & Terrell Owens) and John Paxson (have the Bulls done ANYTHING since Jordan retired?) get listed ahead of Scott Pioli of the Patriots.
Working in the tightest salary cap in sports, he's plugged whole from injuries, retirements and free agency without destroying the Pats future cap number. Oh yeah, and he's won three Super Bowls.
Re: McHale best GM. I e-mailed Patrick Reusse and pointed out that he thought bloggers were stupid?!?
Freealonzo - totally. I now put Forbes on par with Mad or Cracked magazines. I don't think I will go to it for financil advice!
Hey Sherry - thanks for the note! I am going to look into your Mall of America tip and this just might be the subject of an upcoming post. Now, it is true that Governor Pawlenty backed and signed a Twins stadium bill that did NOT call for a referendum. He changed his tune on this from his days as a Represetative. I think, as Governor, he did not want the Twins to leave "on his watch." I have heard, however, that has said any Viking stadium bill would have to include a referendum.
It will be interesting to see the public reaction to $200 million going towards a mall that is already frickin' huge. It will also be very interesting to see if the non-referendum part is Front Page News like it was for the Twins stadium, or if it is buried on page B12.
Thanks again!
Jeff
Jeff, as I recall, Ndudi Ebi was taken with the 26th pick and Josh Howard (ACC Player of the Year) was the 29th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Both picks were in the first round.
P.S. I'm still pissed that they didn't take Howard!
Regards,
Paul - NBA Historian with Thompson's Tugboats
Oh, I forgot that Marcus Banks was the 13th pick that year.
Ouch!
Wow - Dudi Edi was a first round pick. I can't even fathom that.
Jeff. The designer in me just has to tell you that it is difficult to read large paragraphs of text in all caps. Keep your headlines and subheads in All Caps but change your body copy to upper and lower case. It is much easier for people to read. Look at newspapers or mags for examples. Just a thought.
CM
CM - thanks for the note. I am a little confused. Are you talking about the body of my posts? Are they appearing as "all caps" to you, because I am using upper and lower case. Are you just messing with me??
Jeff
Jeff
They are appearing in "all caps" for me, I am not messing with you and on my computer Maura's blog appears in 24 pt type. Maybe it is just my computer but I would take a survey.
Your blog used to appear in upper and lowercase for me but it seems like you changed the format recently.
CM
I am not trying to be a pain in the ass. I just thought it would help your readership.
CM - I was just kidding about that "messing with me" comment. :) I asked a few people and nobody else had a problem.
Thanks,
Jeff
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