Sports Columnists

By Red Skull

May 16, 2007 10:57 AM | Link to this

The Skull is predicting a Braves/Red Sox world series this year.

By Ripme

May 16, 2007 11:00 AM | Link to this

I for one hope MLB owners turn Liberty down before midnight dead line. We need a locale owner.

By Kenny

May 16, 2007 12:02 PM | Link to this

As a life long fan of the Braves I would love this sale to not go through as it is probably not in the best interest of either the Braves or Baseball. It will be interesting to see how long they keep it before they sell it off. I thought I heard that under tax laws they would have to own the Braves for a minimum of two years. Does anyone know?

By Matt the Brave

May 16, 2007 12:20 PM | Link to this

I don’t think that the fans have any choice in this matter now. Baseball is all about the money, just like football, college football, and other major sports. As long as it’s making money, the people aren’t going to care if the fans don’t like it. I just hope that Liberty will decide to only hold onto the Braves for the length of time so they can get their tax break and then decide to sell them to Arthur Blank (when he decides to sell the no-good Falcons).

By Let's Trade for Ken Griffey, Jr.......again....... ( Let it Go, T! )

May 16, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this

Liberty Media is CLUELESS?????

Gee, it sounds like you have something in common with them, T-Moore Money. Maybe you should buy some stock.

By Bob

May 16, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this

Liberty is a business and they make money. They also know that to keep a sports team competitive they need to spend money on players.

One thing I do know is that the CEO of Liberty is in fact a major fan of baseball and yes he does know the name Chipper Jones and what he does. Dont look for the payroll to stay at 80. Dont look for the payroll to jump to 200. Do look for the payroll to go up some. Remember that McGuirk and Libertys CEO go way back and are friends. McGuirk knows what it takes to win and he wont hesitate to talk with Mr. Liberty Media man.

By Randall H.

May 16, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this

UNCLE TED COME BACK!

By Grampus

May 16, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this

Why do you morons keep wishing for Arthur Blank to buy the Braves? Unless of course you want them to become a public relations nightmare like the Falcons have under his ownership. Blank may be filthy rich, but that doesn’t mean he knows his butt from a hole in the ground when it comes to owning a sports franchise. Besides, do you honestly that that “Mr. Hands On Management” himself could leave the front office to run things? Honestly, people.

By Bob from Acworth

May 16, 2007 1:40 PM | Link to this

At this point,I’d MUCH RATHER see the Braves owned by a THING rather than a meddlesome owner who knows NOTHING about football. Someone like Arthur Blank. An owner who continues to coddle his “Star Quarterback” and protects his investment every time Mike has a boo boo! Which lately,is about once a month. Leave the current management team in place and show up for the playoffs and the Braves should be fine!

By Bob from Acworth

May 16, 2007 1:47 PM | Link to this

The Braves need Arthur Blank as their owner like Custer needed more Indians!

By haha

May 16, 2007 2:11 PM | Link to this

So will every blog no matter the subject get twisted back in to the falcons? Pathetic you people need to get Mike off the brain! this has nothing to do with foot ball author blank or Vick but the subject is already comming up that show you how deep the hatred goes in GA.

By Dumbing Down

May 16, 2007 2:27 PM | Link to this

Bring back Ted to the Ted! McGuirk is a waste of air who has done nothing but take up a paycheck! It’s SCHUERHOLZ baby! Plain and simple!

By REFMan

May 16, 2007 2:27 PM | Link to this

Liberty Media by some miracle hopefully increases payroll… at least to $100 million.

By Najeh Davenpoop

May 16, 2007 2:39 PM | Link to this

There were reports a few months ago that Liberty would try to sell the Braves soon after acquiring them. Do these reports have any merit? I’m not as optimistic as Moore seems to be that Liberty will keep their hands off. I don’t know anything about the CEO of Liberty, but logic tells me that when an asset is acquired for the sole purpose of saving money, it’s not likely that the new owner is going to be willing to sink much money into that asset. Ultimately no matter how “clueless” Liberty may be about baseball, they do have a clue about the accounting books, and if the Braves are in the red I don’t think they will hesitate to slash payroll. That’s never a good situation for a team. I hope Liberty is willing to negotiate with a local buyer in the near future; whether that’s Arthur Blank or anyone else doesn’t really matter, as long as the pockets are deep.

By Justin

May 16, 2007 3:25 PM | Link to this

I think there’s a rule that they have to own their “asset” (the Braves)for something like 3 or 4 years before they can sell it off, without getting a tax penalty….

By Bob from Acworth

May 16, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this

What is it with you clowns who think if someone disagrees with you or they don’t want to kiss his(Vick’s) butt like you do,we HATE THEM? GET A GRIP,PAL! And stop looking for the KKK under EVERY BED in Georgia! We(I)don’t HATE anybody! Mike Vick is just a DUMB JOCK who suddenly had hundreds of millions of dollars thrown at him by an idiot owner! He surrounds himself with his”Posse” And these so called “friends” are there for one thing. M-O-N-E-Y. If it suddenly dried up,they would be GONE! That’s not friends,those are LEECHES! As for Liberty Media.Give them a chance. HOPEFULLY,they won’t be as bad as Time-Warner.

By Jason

May 16, 2007 4:17 PM | Link to this

Although individual ownership is much better, as long as they leave front office operations and the Braves keep winning, then I don’t care that much. But they sure haven’t put a friendly face out their to the fans. NO ONE knows who they really are. We all knew Ted Turner. If the company was worth a damn, they’d let the Braves fans KNOW, publicly, that the PROMISE not to change operations, payroll, or for that matter, ANYTHING as it current is related to the Braves. No changes in TV or radio broadcast. Keep the stadium name. In other words, make it 100% TRANSPARENT to the fans and the team.

And the SECOND they take ownership of the team, they need to start looking for an INDIVIDUAL OWNER to buy the team. Braves fans do NOT want corporate ownership - it’s bad for our image, bad for baseball, and bad we don’t want a faceless organization based out of a totally different part of the country owning our team. It’s an embarrassment to our city, our franchise, and the state of Georgia to have such an organization own the team. Sell the Braves to an individual owner ASAP.

By Ryder

May 16, 2007 5:01 PM | Link to this

I know this is off topic, but at least it’s good to know that there’s another Atlanta franchise that knows the group that will be taken over by SOMEONE. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for the Thrashers or Hawks. That being said it would be wise for them to sell the team to a local owner. Just so as long as they stay out of the way for Schuerholz to do what he does best: build contenders.

By The BRAVES Can Do It. Arthur Blank CAN'T Help.

May 16, 2007 5:08 PM | Link to this

Great Post, Bob from Acworth!!

I needed that laugh today.

Thanks you, Sir.

///////////////

If any of you folks are wondering how intelligent Artie Blank is, let us look at it like this:

HOME DEPOT is to LOWE’S

as

ATLANTA FALCONS Franchise is to NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Franchise

( - If you’ve ever walked into a LOWE’S immediately after disappointedly walking out of a HOME DEPOT empty-handed, the above analogy needs no further explanation. - )

In sum, I’ll take Liberty Media owning My BRAVES instead of A. Blank turning them into the “HOME DEPOT” of MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

By BossLady

May 16, 2007 5:29 PM | Link to this

You must be the biggest A$$ there is at the AJC. Now you are calling a billionaire company clueless. There are probably several people in that organization that knows baseball in and out. No one invests that kind of money without knowing the product. A team of baseball experts that know the percentages of profit. But bashing is your way of reporting, I forgot.

By Tmitch

May 16, 2007 5:38 PM | Link to this

As long as Andruw is back next year I don’t care who owns the team.

By Chris

May 16, 2007 6:21 PM | Link to this

Check out Ted with that glass of white wine. What a girl.

Well, at least it wasn’t pink…

By Thugga

May 16, 2007 6:23 PM | Link to this

Vick is a herpetic pot-head who breeds killer dogs as a “sport.” If so many of his fans weren’t racially motivated defenders, he would have none.

By M

May 16, 2007 6:30 PM | Link to this

thugga, i’m sure you’re one of those wiggers who would….oh forget it, you’re probably just a wigger

By Me

May 16, 2007 6:42 PM | Link to this

To “The BRAVES Can Do It. Arthur Blank CAN’T Help”:

You’re a fool. All the bad stuff happened after Blank left the company in 2000. Why don’t you get a brain before posting, you turd.

By zombieboy

May 16, 2007 6:51 PM | Link to this

Hey, when they gonna indict Mike vick for dog fightin’ and bad sentence structure!!??

By Rich

May 16, 2007 6:53 PM | Link to this

Well, if anything maybe ticket prices will change. I can only afford to take half my family at a time. Why would we want Mr. Blank to buy the Braves? So we can have another stupid corney sounding mascot like “Depot” the mascot for the aquarium!

By The haters is worth Two dead fly's

May 16, 2007 7:56 PM | Link to this

Please buy some of these UGA rednecks. They no nothing about a winner they just love to B!TCH. They had a loser in the smith family who was the owner of the falcons. Thank God that clown is gone. They don’t want a winner. The home town media AJC SPORT are just like the UGA fans they love to B!TCH and they say the new owner is clueless. Listening to AJC nothing is right. They are the bottom of the barrel In sport news It is just gossip lies and nobody knows what they are doing says AJC SPORTs AJC SPORTS hopeless haters!

By The haters is worth Two dead fly's

May 16, 2007 7:57 PM | Link to this

Please buy some of these UGA rednecks. They no nothing about a winner they just love to B!TCH. They had a loser in the smith family who was the owner of the falcons. Thank God that clown is gone. They don’t want a winner. The home town media AJC SPORT are just like the UGA fans they love to B!TCH and they say the new owner is clueless. Listening to AJC nothing is right. They are the bottom of the barrel In sport news It is just gossip lies and nobody knows what they are doing says AJC SPORTS AJC SPORTS hopeless haters!

By The haters is worth Two dead fly's

May 16, 2007 8:07 PM | Link to this

Thank you Vick . The haters are in melt down mode. Go Falcons and take the trug Fans that never set foot in school UGA with you! They never play no kind of ball and B!TCH all the time about something they know nothing about! Thank you MR. Blank for haveing a mind and a heart! Hate on hate on because that all you know how to do is hate!

By Steven L

May 16, 2007 8:08 PM | Link to this

It Allomes dowm to Bobby Cox get A new Manager, And who ever buys the team will be succseful.!!

By Terence is an American Hero

May 16, 2007 9:29 PM | Link to this

An american affirmative-action hero! Where else would this buffoon have a job? Hey Terence, did you know yo mamy misspelled yo name?

By Obi-Wan Kenobi's Girl

May 17, 2007 12:07 AM | Link to this

Dear Me:

Please get off your knees, go sit on a lightsaber and quit slurping on Arthur Blank’s “Dirty Bird.” Have you even been in a HO’ DEPOT in the last 10 years, Dumb@$$?
It ain’t no coincidence that LOWE’S has been going to town on HO’ DEPOT’s customer base like Arthur Blank on Vick’s NUTZZZZZZ since before Blank got chased out of HD management by all the sexual-based civil suits.

I don’t want A. “Meet Me in My Office, Sweetheart” Blank owning the Braves, either.

Peace.

By serbok

May 17, 2007 5:28 AM | Link to this

c’mon Tm~ are you a sports reporter? or do you just DO this for the helluva it~ Hard to believe that someone in your position can be so~outta touch! gonna go out on a limb here~~~~~~~~~ hate! doin that! Does your employment have anything to do with~racial quota’s?(affirmative action) Sorry bro~ c’mon man~ the sunshine’s yellow? you just dont seem to get it:o(

By JeffS

May 17, 2007 6:03 AM | Link to this

Why does the AJC bother to keep Terence Moore around? Unbelievable.

By jesse jackson

May 17, 2007 7:24 AM | Link to this

Hold on you white motherf—-kers. Ain’t nobody ax me a damn thing.

By Oneiron

May 17, 2007 7:59 AM | Link to this

To those of you who believe individual ownership is best, please see: Robert Irsay, Peter Angelos, Bud Selig, Wayne Huizinga, Arthur Blank (“Muichindising” Genius) et. al. These owners ran their franchises into the ground or ruined them. Sometimes group or corporate owners do well, see: Red Sox, SA Spurs, PHX Suns, et. al.
It’s all a business venture, sometimes you make money and you are successful - sometimes you’re not. Most major sports teams do OK - look at the franchise prices over the past several years.

By Steve in S. Ga

May 17, 2007 8:42 AM | Link to this

Arthur Blank would try to micromanage the team. Ted is a wacked-out drunken moonbat who just wants to waste his money on the UN. I think Liberty Media ownership may be a good thing, especially if they boost the payroll.

By DirtyDawg

May 17, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this

Man I tell ya’, this place is so full of stupid-a88 peckerwoods it’s scary. Everytime they open their mouths they skin their ignorance. People, we’ve enjoyed baseball in September and October more than any other fans in the game and we’re gonna do it again this year…thanks John, Bobby, et. al.

Liberty Media’s not gonna be paying any more attention than AOL/Time Warner did…and that’s just fine. You get an ego-driven owner in place that reads the home-town writers/complainers…or listens to the local rednecks call into the local talk-show rabble-rousers and the next thing you know you’re pushing an overpaid player onto the field in a wheelchair.

We’ll take this deal and run like hell.

By Jogger

May 17, 2007 11:45 AM | Link to this

I am glad that this over with. Now the Braves can play with no distractions.

I predict a Cardinals/Braves NLCS with the CARDS winning.

Yes, I am originally from St. Louis. GO CARDS!!!!

By nolesfaninbamacountry

May 17, 2007 12:08 PM | Link to this

Excellent post by oneiron. Liberty has already hinted that payroll would be going up…….We’ll see when it comes time to ante up with Andrew’s contract up for renewal…..

By Joe

May 17, 2007 12:11 PM | Link to this

They are smart enough to keep Schuerholtz and aside from him having Thorman traded and bringing up his son to be the new First Baseman (kidding), he needs to ask management point blank “Are you going to cut me a check for 168 mill over 7 years for Andrew and talk to him before Ichiro signs for 20 million a year with the BoSox.” or trade Salty for Hunter Pence from the Astros, so they have his sucessor. Remember 15 or so years ago, the Astros traded another center fielder, Kenny Lofton to Cleveland for a rookie catcher and even though it worked out better for the Indians, they still had a solid catcher on their team for years to come and Salty is a notch about the other catcher “cannot think of his name” and Pence is a notch below Lofton, so it should work out.

By Mike Hampton

May 17, 2007 11:01 PM | Link to this

**All I know is that I’m collecting one hell of a paycheck from the Braves each week and I don’t even have to suit up!

Ahhhh, life is good even though I’m hurting the team’s payroll.**