Who is the most disliked Chicago sports owner?
It’s another Chicago Bears Sunday. After last week’s disastrous showing in Green Bay, the Bears get another chance to try again against Houston. I don’t know how the game will go, but it will be interesting and entertaining to see former Bears head coach Lovie Smith return to Soldier Field.
Talking about interesting and entertaining, some of last week’s comments about the team and its owners were certainly that. Get this:
“When the McCaskeys gave the finger to Chicago, I decided to never be a Bears fan again. They could have had their own stadium in the city anytime they wanted over the past four decades. The cheapskate, chiseling, and miserly McCaskeys, like George Halas refused to put up money or take out financing. They are so privileged, that they wanted the city and state to foot the bill., As far as I am concerned, do not let the door kick them in the ass when they leave Chicago. I will support any team who plays against the Bears.”
Wow! That was some intense dislike! But, it got me thinking…are the McCaskey’s the most disliked owners in Chicago sports? If not, who is? For this exercise, we’ll excuse the owners of the Sky, Fire and Red Stars. Their ownership groups can thank me later.
We’ve already seen a McCaskey/Bears tirade so let’s move on to the loveable losers, the Chicago Cubs. OY! Sigh!
The Ricketts family took over team ownership in October 2009. They hired Theo Epstein to run the baseball operation portion of the franchise and left him alone to do his job. Seven years into their ownership, it culminated with their first World Series championship in more than a century. You would think the Ricketts family would be beloved by Cubs fans for the rest of their lives.
Well, between the family’s extreme politics, the trading of beloved players and the rebuilding of the park and neighborhood into a pure money-making machine for the Ricketts, they went from heroes to villains fast.
I’ve never seen an owner lose the admiration and goodwill of their fanbase so quickly….but the Chicago Blackhawks are saying, not so fast…hold my beer.
Rocky Wirtz took over ownership of the Blackhawks after the death of his father in 2007. He immediately made fan-friendly changes. Home games were telecast locally for the first time. His motto of “you have to spend money to make money” was an extreme change from the previous regime.
The on-ice product changed for the better, too. In 2010, the team won its first Stanley Cup championship since 1961. They followed up with two more titles in 2013 and 2015. Although the results haven’t since reached those lofty heights, fans could still bask in the three Cups over six years.
But, then came the revelation of the hidden sex scandal. One of the team’s video coaches sexually assaulted one of the team’s young players, Kyle Beach. When management found out about this, instead of reporting it to the police, they decided to bury it. Management felt it would be a distraction as the team tried to win the 2010 championship.
When the story became public it tainted the entire organization. Wirtz’s reaction made it worse. During press conferences, he refused to answer questions about this. He said it was in the past. It was time to move forward. Not exactly the most transparent response.
But, what is there to look forward to? The Blackhawks are in a major rebuilding mode. The team doesn’t look to be relevant for years to come. I don’t know how an owner could go from the highs of the early years of his regime to the lows of the last few years so fast, but Rocky Wirtz the Blackhawks managed to do it.
I may have saved the most hated for last. Jerry Reinsdorf is the owner of both the Bulls and the White Sox. His teams have won seven championships; more than the combined total of the rest of the Chicago owners. And yet, it’s hard to find a fan of his teams who have anything good to say about him.
When the talk is about the Bulls’ six championships, it’s all because he inherited Michael Jordan. The 2005 White Sox title was all luck. Anyone can win one time in forty years.
This year’s White Sox team was expected to contend for a World Series title. It’s been a disastrous season since day one. It came to a head this week when the team was swept in a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians.
I checked out Twitter after the final game and found that Reinsdorf was trending. That’s usually not a good thing. Here are some of the tweets:
“Fuck you Jerry Reinsdorf sell this team to someone who gives a fuck”
“Fuck you Jerry! Jerry Reinsdorf is communist!”
“Jerry Reinsdorf deserves this. I hope he’s mad to the point of getting a heart attack”
All lovely sentiments. I’m not sure he’s the most hated man in the Chicago sports atmosphere, but White Sox/Bulls fans are extremely intense about their dislike of their owner.
I’m not sure I’ve proved or decided anything in this extremely long diatribe except to show that we have a group of sports owners that are very unlikeable. I’m sure who you think is the worst depends on your relationship with that team. Man, I long for the day we have some owners that we can like and respect. My guess is that it’s going to be a long time until that occurs.