Same Old, Same Old...

[xoxoxoBruce]

I feel saddened that this story neither surprises nor enrages me. I guess that's a sure sign they've won.

The second is the settling last fall by the National Park Service (NPS) of a whistleblower complaint over a secret sweetheart deal Snyder extracted nine years ago to give his Maryland home an unobstructed view of the Potomac River. It was a small concession in the grand scheme of things, the kind that the rich and powerful frequently wheedle out of government, especially back then, during the presidency of George W. Bush, when such favors were flowing like booze in a skybox.

But its discovery set off a decade-long campaign of bureaucratic retribution over two administrations that nearly sent an innocent man to prison. The story of that little favor wonderfully (if depressingly) encapsulates the essential character of our times, in which average people who play by the rules are made to suffer by the blithe manipulation of those rules by the people at the top.

[glatt]

I've been pissed at Synder since this story broke years ago.

The NPS should erect a giant fabric billboard style wall on that park land with a big middle finger painted on it, pointed directly at his home, and completely blocking the view of the river. Fuck that douche bag.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Snyder is a rich asshole doing what rich assholes do. I'll save my outrage for the government officials that are supposed to prevent rich assholes from doing this sort of thing.

[tw]

No wonder the Washington Redskins are a losing team. 85% of all problems are directly traceable to their owner.

[BigV]

can you give an example of some of those problems? something specific about the owner that makes them lose?

[glatt]

Oh, I don't know. Going through 17 head coaches in 10 years? No consistency other than constant owner meddling? There was a long front page opinion piece in the Washington Post a week or two ago that listed the many problems the team has, and most of them are linked almost directly to the owner.

[BigV]

...

fair enough.

Here's another take: It's his team, and over the last several years he's been extremely successful at making money from it. Maybe the things you enumerate are not "problems directly traceable to top managment" (which I poked tw about because it's his signature cliche), but instead they're things top management fixed, or succeeded in spite of. He's increased the value of the team by over 100% since he bought it, that's got to be a good thing, to someone, eh? Number three in the league by many measures, and continual improvement by many measures during the course of his ownership.

[BigV]

that said,

he sounds like an asshole's asshole, the kind I wouldn't I wouldn't cross the street to piss on if he was on fire. The bullshit about the trees... xoB said it well, but I don't have to like it.

[tw]

Originally Posted by BigV

He's increased the value of the team by over 100% since he bought it, that's got to be a good thing, to someone, eh?

The investment is increasing in 6% annually (not including annual income). So it is a good (average) investment. His EPS is about 7. A good investment is closer to 14. It has been profitable. But I would have expected other NFL teams to be doing better.

Is anyone in the NFL losing money?