Missing Signatures

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 19, 2006 1:40 PM PDT in News

You might have caught this online or in your local newspaper:

Word on the street is that Jason Richardson alone dropped half of the estimated $100,000 to put up the ad. JRich deserves mad props for the gesture towards Warriors Nation. You have to love the man for well, showing Warriors Nation some love. That's a lot of money for one person to spend. Although, it appears that many of the Warrior players did not know what they were signing, they all deserve some credit.

But this once again shows how bad Warriors (mis)management really is. Missing signatures on the apology letter are the clowns (owner Chris Cohan and team President Robert Rowell), Vice President Chris Mullin, and General Manager Rod Higgins, and Coach Montgomery. The Warrior players have their weaknesses, but for the most part they all played hard during the season and gave it all they had. The Warrior players (Jason in particular) have nothing to apologize for.

Mullin and Higgins constructed a flawed roster and created a salary mess that will be tough to get out of. Montgomery did as poor a job coaching as anyone not named Larry Brown in the NBA this season. However, these three were all set up for failure. None of them have ever had any legit NBA experience or success, yet they were given full control. The VP, GM, and Coach were definitely a major part of the problem this year, but they aren't responsible for the 12 years of losing. It would be nice to see them formally apologize like the players, but Mullin has gone on record in radio and other interviews thanking the fans. They're good guys and they're all trying.

The real apology should come from the clowns (Cohan and Rowell). They continue cashing checks and stealing dollars from some of the best fans in all of sports, while hiding behind the scenes and absolving themselves of any blame for a horrendous product. Cohan and Rowell (the ticket raisers) are the real problem. They are the ones who should be apologizing for being in charge of one of the worst franchises in all of sports (well, okay- as Hash noted when we were at a Warriors game, the Milwaukee Brewers are worse).

The most disturbing part has to be what one of the clowns said (from Inside Bay Area):

"I think it was important that it was from the players, because they truly appreciate the fan support," Rowell said.

"That's kind of Jason's style," Rowell said. "As a captain of the team, he's representing all his guys. That's what a good leader does, pulls everyone up with them, and that's Jason. That's been Jason ever since he's been in a Warrior uniform."

Looks like someone doesn't practice what they preach. Sorry clowns- but it's even more important that an apology comes from you guys. JRich might be the leader of the team on the floor, but if your titles are owner and president- you're the actual leaders. Jason isn't the one who should be organizing an apology. Everything comes back to the top even if you work for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

I've always thought clowns were scary, but these clowns aren't scary... they just aren't classy. (zetaminor.com)

Do you think Cohan and Rowell should be the ones apologizing instead of the players?

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Also see: Update: J-Rich tweets about the Ad. It will be in this Thurs's AZ Republic Paper. (5/26/10)

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Great JRich Interview

http://insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3726018

There is no reason Jason should be apologizing to the fans. Stay up dogg!

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 19, 2006 2:13 PM PDT reply actions

Worst Franchise

Warriors are certainly the worst franchise in basketball. As for all of pro sports, I have to give it to the Kansas City Royals, no playoffs since 1985. You think 12 years is bad, try 20 with no end in sight. The Pittsburgh Pirates are up there although not as bad as the Warriors. They haven't made the playoffs since 1992, but at least the years before that they were competitive with Bonilla and Bonds.

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 19, 2006 3:05 PM PDT reply actions

Worst Franchise in a Major Sports Market

Kansas City? Pittsburg? They aren't even on my US map!

I should have qualified my statement-- The Warriors are the worst franchise in a major market.

The Bay's still the 4th largest sports market in the country. There's a reason they keep getting these crazy attendance records. The Bay's on point!

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 19, 2006 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions

Nice Article

Good write up man. You hit on some good points. Cohan and Rowell definitely need to apologize not only for this year, but for the past 12. I've never heard Cohan come out and take any responsibility for this mess even though he's the owner. Great fans deserve more than a ticket price increase.

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 19, 2006 3:09 PM PDT reply actions

The Whole Front Office Sucks

Cohan/Rowell deserve blame for caring more about cosmetics when constructing the organization. The bottom line is that despite all of the local goodwill that Mullin and Montgomery had accumulated throughout the years, they were not and are not qualified for their jobs. So, Cohan/Rowell should be blamed for hiring the wrong guys.

After that, the performance of Mullin and Montgomery is not all that surprising. Mullin has drafted well, but tethered the team to two of the ten worst contracts in the NBA (Foyle and Dunleavy). Montgomery was a fantastic college coach particularly when you factor Stanford's academic restrictions, but he is ill-suited to the pro game. We should not tolerate the idea that Montgomery is JUST NOW getting comfortable with the pro game. That's two years too long!

When I look objectively at the Warriors and consider salary cap flexibility, I would argue that the team is in worse position now than it was before Mullin and Montgomery assumed their current roles.

Still annoyed that we drafted Tod Fuller

by teagle @ Golden State Of Mind on Apr 19, 2006 3:36 PM PDT reply actions

J Rich

Not only did he do that, but he also guanteed a playoff appearance next season. That's a good sign coming from him, he has become much more vocal and becoming a leader.

by Puonpower on Apr 19, 2006 5:13 PM PDT reply actions

JR

JR guaranteed the playoffs next year? When did he say that and that still doesn't mean much since Baron guaranteed the same thing before this year started. Big ups to JR though.

by DaAzNJRiCh on Apr 19, 2006 8:51 PM PDT reply actions