For those of us in Texas, this recent standoff between Nolan Ryan and Mark Cuban to buy the Texas Rangers was right up there with the Jerry Jones/Jimmy Johnson and the firing of Tom Landry back in 1989. Old perceptions, die hard. For those of us who are purists, the only choice for ownership was Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame right-hander who tossed 222 complete games over the course of his major league career. And that he would go the distance to buy them was no surprise.
The winning bid — $593 million, including $385 million in cash — over Mark Cuban and his group of investors brought a sigh of relief and cheers last week in the D/FW area.
The noteworthy point, that I surprisingly want to call out, is the professionalism in which Mark Cuban handled the loss. This loss was probably one of the first (if not the only) public loss of this magnitude in his career. Sure, it helps that he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars – earned in the early 15 minutes of fame in the dot-com craze of 1995. Yet, it would have been just as easy for him to make a publicly arrogant stink. I, for one, was elated that both parties handled this competitive, down to the wire, transaction with such class and professionalism.
Maybe we have learned something since the days the Dallas Cowboys ownership and leadership changed in 1989 in such a disgraceful and demeaning way. Progress!
you are on target again as usual.