The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, September 8
· Yahoo Sports
Good morning everyone –
Visit freshyourfeel.org for more information.
A seismic change is underway in Anaheim, California.
It emerged last week that Anaheim Angels owner Arte Moreno agreed to sell the team to Stan Kroenke, ending his two-decade ownership.
It’s a remarkable development. Moreno teased fans with a potential sale in recent years only to go back on it. And now he sold it to the man who owns the Los Angeles Rams, Colorado Rapids, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Mammoth and Arsenal Football Club.
Let’s just say the new guy is already well-vetted.
For those who aren’t familiar, Moreno was a horrible owner. He took ownership of a World Series team and effectively ran it into the ground, first by changing the city from Anaheim to Los Angeles (even though the Angels aren’t even in LA County), bloating the squad with a string of high-salary deals for players that yielded horrible results (like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Anthony Rendon), and let a once-in-a-millennium player in Shohei Ohtani walk away and join SoCal rivals the LA Dodgers. His deal to refurbish Angel Stadium was cancelled in 2022 after a bribery scandal involving an Angels employee and the city’s mayor, who was forced to resign. And the team’s legal battle over the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs remains a blackmark.
The farm system has been among the worst in the league for years. The Angels’ last playoff appearance was in 2014, and their last playoff win was in 2009.
He ran the organisation into the ground.
And then, suddenly out of thin air, Kroenke is taking over. It almost sounds too good to be true if you know how Kroenke has built other organisations. Under his tenure both the Nuggets and Rams have won championships, as have Arsenal.
There are a few questions Kroenke has to answer as his stewardship of the team begins:
- What becomes of the name? Will he keep “Los Angeles” or revert back to “Anaheim” or “California”?
- What are his plans for Angel Stadium?
- How will he rebuild the team, and does this mean a new and competent manager?
I think the Angels are still years away from being competitive again, such is Moreno’s legacy. But I think new ownership is a serious step in the right direction.
Fitzie’s track of the day:Angel, by Fleetwood Mac
And now for your links:
Alasdair Gold: “Roberto De Zerbi was unhappy after change inside Tottenham but knows it’s the right move”
BBC: “New video shows Williams handball – but won’t end VAR row”
PA via ESPN: “Harry Kane ‘proud’ to be in Ballon d’Or contention after ‘best season so far’”
Forbes ($$): “New Angels Owner Stan Kroenke Has Already Made Nearly $20 Billion On His Sports Teams”