Dodgy Dodger dealings

One of the benefits of residing in the USA is the ability to closely monitor how the various sporting bodies are run and managed.

Everything is extremely transparent and information is available for all to digest. Journalists are always permitted to dig a little deeper and brutally expose anyone who fails to do the right thing. Sport in America is massive business and franchise owners have an obligation to treat their loyal supporters honourably.

The national bodies that control American Football, Baseball or Basketball are cut throat, precise and do not mess around. As soon as any franchise drama unfolds they leap in with conviction and get to the bottom of the mess. The controlling sporting bodies in America understand that they have the faithful public to answer to and their job is to control the game for the betterment of all who are in involved.

A classic case arose last week in Los Angeles. The headlines were screaming from every newsstand. The beloved Los Angeles Dodgers were in trouble, big financial trouble. After an intense love affair between the successful Dodgers and the people of this city that has lasted some 53 years, an unscrupulous individual has driven a wedge between the organisation and those dedicated followers who fill the bleachers.

When the LA Blues relocated from Brooklyn, New York, in 1958 and won the league title the following year, it was a match made in heaven. The romance however is now suddenly diminishing. A certain gentleman (I use that term loosely) bought the Dodgers from Fox Entertainment Group in 2004 for $430 million. Apparently no money traded hands. Those deals are always dodgy and sadly this time around it has proven to be Dodger dodgy.

One Frank McCourt has been reported to have been using the treasured Dodgers as his own personal ATM machine. The Dodgers are now $400 million in debt. In fact, earlier this month after facing numerous other financial stresses he had to borrow $30 million to pay the first payroll of the season.

As you can imagine the repercussions of headlining articles in the dailies depicting the nefarious ways of the running of such an esteemed and proud organisation has shocked many. Sport is an escape for all. Sport is about fun and pleasure. Sport is about honesty, or should be. Clearly Frank McCourt missed that lecture at school.

The middle of last week will be remembered as the time that one of America’s most storied sporting franchises buckled. Buckled initially and then collapsed.

Major League Baseball, the custodian of the game in the US, leapt into action. Within hours of the enormously troubling news hitting the airwaves, respected Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig wrestled control of the franchise from shamed owner McCourt. It all happened as quickly as that and in a matter of hours MLB had secured the reigns.

There will clearly be a long road to travel before the adoring public restores their faith in their beloved Dodgers but the swiftness of action from the governing body to halt the haemorrhaging was startling.

I could not help wondering how cricket’s governing body, the ICC, would have handled such a calamity.