Welcome to (failed) TED Talk - TED is dead.

[knich]

The is absolutely no excuse for how poorly they ran the TED campaign. Especially being outspent 4:1. It’s completely inexcusable.

Agree or disagree?

It was so poorly run, that it almost appeared to have been done on purpose. That’s how bad it was.

What happens next will, of course, define Meruelo for the fanbase. Obviously. Lionizing him now, while nothing has been accomplished, isn’t commendable it’s bizarre.

Constructive criticism is fine, although I am not sure what facts we really have at this point. I still reserve judgment until I get facts.

I don't post as much as many of you do and I know many of you are diehard Yotes fans as I know you are rt. I just want us fans to remember who we are and why are even able to root for the Yotes in AZ.

Sorry...I just think it is a little early and not enough information to be as dismissive as everyone seems to be of this owner and frankly of this franchise. There is a big difference between lionizing someone and thanking someone for trying to keep our team in AZ, however flawed one might think was the process. In the end, no one wins.

 

[Jakey53]

I don't like that Marchese guy but did get a lot of info from Craig today, as I wrote he seemed frustrated and angry with Coyote's Ownership.

Morgan is frustrated and worried he may be out of a job, and throwing blame at the Coyote ownership. He was crying that Meruelo wouldn't give him the time of day. XG is the mouth piece for the Coyote's, plain and simple.

 

[MIGs Dog]

Who is going to buy the team in those places and where will they play?

This guy is very influential around KC. He did bring Whataburger to the city after all.



But Id prefer the Coyotes stay in AZ. It's where they belong.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I've never ruled out that possibility.

Look.... if you want to see it all as a ruse I'm not going to stop you from doing it.

It'd be way easier to think of it as a ruse. But I'm starting to feel like it's the IceClowns with better marketing.

 

[Jamieh]

^ that is contradicted by this:

Who is going to buy the team in those places and where will they play? The basketball owners to put them in their basketball arena? It’s certainly possible. It’s also not all that more believable than finding an alternate site in AZ.

The Houston NBA Owner was reported to have approached the League months ago about getting an NHL team. I don't think the arena is perfect there but there is an arena and an Owner who wants a team.

 

[IrishFin]

Voting based on slogans and smear campaigns without taking the time to do the research might be one of the reasons why I have very little confidence in this country. I tried to dismiss people calling Tempe Wins out for their lack of bumper sticker material, but you were right. Could ownership have done a better job with the campaign? Absolutely. But would it have mattered with how dumb we are as a society? Probably not.

I’m still hopeful that there is a plan b. And I’d love to see it right on Tempe’s border so the voters still have to deal with it while not reaping the benefits.

 

[hbk]

The Houston NBA Owner was reported to have approached the League months ago about getting an NHL team. I don't think the arena is perfect there but there is an arena and an Owner who wants a team.

But he doesn’t want to pay a price of where franchises are being sold today. I’m interested in a Ferrari if its the same price as a Toyota Rav4.

 

[Jamieh]

But he doesn’t want to pay a price of where franchises are being sold today. I’m interested in a Ferrari if its the same price as a Toyota Rav4.

Correct. And the reports said the NHL was not that receptive at that time. I was simply pointing out that there is an Owner and an arena in Houston as rt has written a few times questioning it.

 

[Mosby]

I think it’s:

1. Plan B (Scottsdale)
2. Salt Lake City
3. Houston (owner balks at price)
4. KC (owner balks at price)
5. QC (too East, lack of $, small market)
6. Portland (realignment, is there an owner?)

Everywhere else has too many questions especially a lack of an arena.

 

[Jamieh]

I think it’s:

1. Plan B (Scottsdale)
2. Salt Lake City
3. Houston (owner balks at price)
4. KC (owner balks at price)
5. QC (too East, lack of $, small market)
6. Portland (realignment, is there an owner?)

Everywhere else has too many questions especially a lack of an arena.

I think Quebec potential Owner balked at expansion fee last go around with NHL as well.

 

[AZviaNJ]

The Houston NBA Owner was reported to have approached the League months ago about getting an NHL team. I don't think the arena is perfect there but there is an arena and an Owner who wants a team.

That’s a change of direction for Fertitta who as of a year or 2 ago was unwilling to pay a new franchise or a relocation fee (at least $500m). If he’s now open to it, and I’m sure he’s been approached, then this becomes a very viable option.

 

[Tom Polakis]

Meh, not so much a boycott as not having a reason to go there, again. In my 30s I was in that Mill Ave area all...the...time..., as many of my friends and coworkers (including our mutual friend Russ!) and I lived in Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, etc. and there wasn't much out there. Spent a lot of time in the central areas of both Tempe and Phoenix.

But then you get older, don't feel like traveling so much, time passes...it's a shame because I marvelled this season at how Tempe had progressed. Looked forward to spending more time there, even considered moving there... But now, eh. I can go to a Pedal Haus, and countless other examples of activities without having to go to Tempe or further to do it, from Chandler.

Hmm, maybe sort of highbrow, but there are cultural attractions for us old folk that my wife and I have attended on campus quite often. I have a science hobby that I spend considerably more time on than following/playing hockey, and the university and its staff are indispensable resources. The city is incredibly bicycle friendly up into Papago Park in Phoenix. That's just the beginning of my reasons that I wouldn't live in any of the Valley's other cities.

But the gullibility of what I had always thought were mentally slightly above average residents on this vote is certainly not a good luck for Tempe.

Tempe trivia on another vote from way back: there was a similar proposition to eliminate smoking indoors at businesses, not long after California did it, and well before it went statewide here. Unlike Turesday's propositions, there was next zero campaigning on either side, an exceedingly small turnout, and it passed handily. Bars like the Q & Brew, Yucca Tap, and the Palo Verde somehow survived just fine, despite their complaints.

 

[Tom Polakis]

If y'all are falling for this "we're committed to AZ" malarkey, I've got a really nice bridge for sale.

Just move 'em already and end this gong show. I trust Meruelo about as much as I trust a fart at my age.

You live here, and you're saying that. Really? Even a shitty hockey team is NHL hockey that I can see without traveling. It can drag on forever as far as I'm concerned.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

But he doesn’t want to pay a price of where franchises are being sold today. I’m interested in a Ferrari if its the same price as a Toyota Rav4.

I can virtually guarantee you that if Gary and the other governors decide that the circus is over, they will offer a tremendous discount on the relocation fee - or at least a substantial incentive package to offset it - for someone like Fertitta because it'd be worth it to make all of this nonsense go away.

 

[Mosby]

There are no issues with the arena in Houston. It looks exactly like GRA. Same architect. I don’t know if it has an ice machine but that’s fixable.

Fertita has balked at the price tag in the past. That’s their biggest issue.

 

[rt]

There are no issues with the arena in Houston. It looks exactly like GRA. Same architect. I don’t know if it has an ice machine but that’s fixable.

Fertita has balked at the price tag in the past. That’s their biggest issue.

Sounds smart of him. Wait until the league reaches complete desperation. He may get a smoking deal.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I guess right now I'm very cynical about Meruelo because, in hindsight, I invested a lot of hope and trust in him. In another thread, someone on this forum said something like, "If a guy gets this rich, he's gotta be smart," and while I don't believe that there is necessarily any fundamental correlation between wealth and intelligence, in this context I was really hoping it'd be true.

But man, if Meruelo was capable of faceplanting with a deal as good as the TED was - an absolute slam-dunk win-win for anyone who ever bothered to do the due diligence on it - then that retroactively calls everything else he's done into question for me. I mean, there are mistakes, and then there are MISTAKES, and you'd expect someone successful in business to be smart enough to avoid the latter - or at least employ a team that could function as the smart people to offset their personal idiocy.

I'm just so downhearted that we finally had The Guy, but now the evidence is starting to indicate that he isn't that much of an upgrade over The Other Guys.

 

[Jakey53]

It'd be way easier to think of it as a ruse. But I'm starting to feel like it's the IceClowns with better marketing.

Why the hell is everyone pissing on the Coyote's. Could they have done things better or differently? That would be a yes, and the Coyote's would agree. But that is hindsight, and it's easy to look back and criticize, but this was a landslide loss. Blame the younger demographic who did not vote. Looks like they didn't care. Shame the old who did vote but listen to lies to decide instead of doing just a bit of research on the deal. Clowns? That would be most on this forum spouting off because they feel hurt the out come was not what you wanted. Meruelo is far from a clown.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

LTempe trivia on another vote from way back: there was a similar proposition to eliminate smoking indoors at businesses, not long after California did it....
Bars like the Q & Brew, Yucca Tap, and the Palo Verde somehow survived just fine, despite their complaints.

...And also Baseline Pub, for whom I played softball at the time, and was the first place I remember that law affecting. The smokers grumbling at having to go outside, and me marveling about how clean the air was suddenly.

 

[AZDesertKnight]

Tempe wasn’t the place politically to rely on a public vote. Or anywhere in AZ to be honest. It’s always been Salt River or bust because of that. They have the location but will own the land they want this project. Tempe would’ve just been worth the effort if it passed but that was a pipe dream once city council punted to a public vote. You can believe it was the coyotes idea all along but it wasn’t.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Meruelo is far from a clown.

To borrow your own well-worn phrase, you don't know that.

 

[Grimes]

I can virtually guarantee you that if Gary and the other governors decide that the circus is over, they will offer a tremendous discount on the relocation fee - or at least a substantial incentive package to offset it - for someone like Fertitta because it'd be worth it to make all of this nonsense go away.

Yep, this thing can move very quickly. And just because they said they are playing in Mullett for another year doesn't mean that that will be the case.

I think the email from XG + statement by Bettman are tactics to settle the fan base down, and player parents like Keller's dad lol. But I also believe they arent done here...yet.

I could see Bettman calling up AM after that vote and telling them what the options are. Get it done in Phoenix within X amount of days or we will have to sell at a discounted price. AM and Bettman don't want to sell lower than they could, so there is motivation to get Plan B resolved soon.

Just my take on the situation

Sounds smart of him. Wait until the league reaches complete desperation. He may get a smoking deal.

And the league is getting desperate. He could be in luck.

 

[TheLegend]

It'd be way easier to think of it as a ruse. But I'm starting to feel like it's the IceClowns with better marketing.

Fair enough.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I think the email from XG + statement by Bettman are tactics to settle the fan base down, and player parents like Keller's dad lol. But I also believe they arent done here...yet.

I think right now Gutierrez is scrambling trying to find a solution - any solution - available here in Arizona. His job depends on it, really. Meruelo brought him in to be the super-confident, super-competent face of his business in the hockey world, and he just had his ass handed to him on a silver platter by a California labor union and a couple of Karens who played the NIMBYs like a Charlie Daniels fiddle.

Alex Meruelo doesn't strike me as the most even-keeled guy in the world from what I've seen and read about him, and I really don't think he's going to appreciate looking like a monkey f***ing a football after this Tempe disaster.

So with the information I have at my disposal and my gut instinct based on experience, I think it comes down to this: unless Gutierrez can somehow pull another deal out of his ass in a very short time frame, Meruelo's gonna wash his hands of this hockey thing, and the League is going to let him. The last thing Gary Bettman wanted was more huevos rancheros on his face connected to Arizona. He's not going to want this to drag on any longer.

 

[Mosby]

Muruelo was vetted by Tempe and there were no concerns about his financial wherewithal.