Confirmed with Link: All-Purpose Coyotes Arena Talk: Land Auction Date Set - 6/27

[Mosby]

I'm legitimately worried about the status of Xavier "Baghdad Bob" Gutierrez. Anyone know if he's still kicking? Did Alex Meruelo Jr. sacrifice him on a designer altar at one of his fashion-brand popup shows? Or did he take a job with Fox News or MSNBC as an opinion contributor?

He’s probably already back in California.

 

[TheLegend]

I can't say without potentially selling someone out, and as of right now they're being retained as an employee. Should that change, I'll spill the beans, but I have to respect my source.

Related...I asked the source about a Reddit post, and it's known in the organization (or what's left of it) and accurate but not 100% accurate. I was told "At least it's just Reddit so half the people that see it will think it's bullshit."

Someone investigated the accusations that Smith made donations to the "no" campaign and found nothing. Not that tracking campaign donations in Arizona is the most transparent there is but that one is believe it only if you want.

 

[brentashton]

You have to give AM credit for hiring Bill Armstrong and the fact that he was open to letting Armstrong tear the whole thing down for 4 years and allow a complete rebuild says something deeper than everyone is giving Meruelo credit for. This team will mature and be a very good team going forward, and to just give BA all the credit is a mistake. Usually when a billionaire comes in and buys a franchise they want to make a big splash, usually to the detriment of the organization long term. AM allowed the rebuild process to take place and I think that was the right move. Armstrong does nothing without AM's approval. This all went south with the Tempe vote.

BA was basically a scout and an unknown. I’m not sure that AM knew he was hiring Barry Fraser, circa Edmonton 1978.

That said, Bill Armstrong has proven himself to be the GM of the year the past couple. He’s the real deal and I would love to see him succeed in Utah with the work he has done to date.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[Alberta Yote]

Someone investigated the accusations that Smith made donations to the "no" campaign and found nothing. Not that tracking campaign donations in Arizona is the most transparent there is but that one is believe it only if you want.

You can question the decisions made by and within the NHL though the years . That is legit. If you think there is even a chance that they would completely blow up their legitimacy as a pro league by selling a team to a person that helped to torpedo an effort to keep a team in a location that they fought tooth and nail to stay in for decades... well. Yeah just no. No chance.

 

[TheLegend]

You can question the decisions made by and within the NHL though the years . That is legit. If you think there is even a chance that they would completely blow up their legitimacy as a pro league by selling a team to a person that helped to torpedo an effort to keep a team in a location that they fought tooth and nail to stay in for decades... well. Yeah just no. No chance.

One of the reasons why I didn’t buy that.

A number of us were keeping tabs on who was spending what and where and there was nothing coming from Utah.

 

[Jormungandr]

We will know the legitimacy of the Reddit post if the Roadrunners are still the Roadrunners come August. Which I suspect they will be.

 

[Melrose Munch]

My issue is not with what she reports. She was probably one of the first people to say Meruelo treats his employees like shit. She's most likely (which we will probably find out for sure when Craig, Pete, etc speak out publicly) going to be right about a lot of other stuff.

My issue is HOW she reports it. Routinely framing the Coyotes in the worst possible light. Making completely unverifiable statements from "employees" and "vendors" she won't name. Painting XG, AM, GMBA, Gary Bettman and everyone in between as delusional, angry rich scumbags. She has very clearly been biased against the Coyotes for years, and it has to do with her writing, not with what she reports.

You can't quote people calling the Arizona organization a dumpster fire in your article where it serves no other purpose but to shit on the Coyotes and then say you aren't biased. You can't write a paragraph about how rich XG is and tell me that has something to do with the Coyotes arena troubles.

Meruelo is this. The team should not be moving.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Meruelo is this. The team should not be moving.

I don't disagree, but 3 years ago none of us had the slightest clue that he was. Tempe looked like a slam dunk. The campaign hadn't even started yet. All of that was written before we lost Tempe.

 

[KibbleandBlitz]

why cant coyotes try Tempe again? what's stopping them doing a new vote this time the voters will know they were lied to.

asu will need a new arena and there isnt much land left so partnership with coyotes make too much sense.

 

[DustyDangler]

I've got nothing but sympathy for you guys who stuck around this long, but it's absolutely wild to hear some of you rationalize AM as a "savvy businessman but an inexperienced professional sports owner" as if "paying bills" is somehow advanced-level sports-centric economics.

Ditto slagging Katie Strang as "morally compromised" because "she wrote something mean about the team I like, once".

Absolutely wild.

On my YouTube feed tonight, one of the women Katie Strang enabled via her lies / “ reporting” criminally indicted for felony fraud facing 16 years.

 

[Snarky Coyote]

On my YouTube feed tonight, one of the women Katie Strang enabled via her lies / “ reporting” criminally indicted for felony fraud facing 16 years.

I'm not familiar with this; what are the details of this?

 

[DustyDangler]

I'm not familiar with this; what are the details of this?

Cliff notes are..

Trevor Bauer, the baseball player, is a bit of a slut (not illegal). Two females attempted to take advantage of that by lying with him and then accusing him of things he did not do in order to score paydays. Sports media (like Strang & especially Strang) reported on him in an unfavorable light. Did not investigate but just took whatever the women said as fact because, you know, metoo and sensationalism sells copy. MLB suspended Bauer and they and the Dodgers cowardly bowed to pressure and disassociated from Bauer derailing his baseball career. For a time, the story was hot and Bauer's name and reputation were irreparably damaged and he wound up playing in Japan and who knows how many millions in earnings he is out. Now that facts are being revealed and the facts of the story have swayed to Bauer's side, sports media is not as loud about his innocence as they were about his alleged guilt likely due to the shame and embarrassment as the more they might report on this issue, the worse they look. I think too outlets like The Athletic are in legal jeopardy so any truthful reporting they do will work against them legally.

This should also be a cautionary tale for our view of Carter Hart & Co. Maybe they are guilty, looks bad for them on the surface but until all the details are vetted, judgment should be withheld as people, even women, sometimes lie.

Trevor Bauer accuser charged with allegedly defrauding exiled MLB pitcher after faking pregnancy

Darcy Adanna Esemonu was charged with a count of fraudulent schemes and artifices on Monday with Bauer and another man listed as the alleged victims, according to Maricopa County DA.

nypost.com

 

[Snarky Coyote]

Thank you, did not realize that was her.

 

[DustyDangler]

BA was basically a scout and an unknown. I’m not sure that AM knew he was hiring Barry Fraser, circa Edmonton 1978.

That said, Bill Armstrong has proven himself to be the GM of the year the past couple. He’s the real deal and I would love to see him succeed in Utah with the work he has done to date.

BA was an AGM for St Louis with a very good reputation. I expect he was on the short list as a potential GM for more than one organization.

 

[LAIslanderFan]

Cliff notes are..

Trevor Bauer, the baseball player, is a bit of a slut (not illegal). Two females attempted to take advantage of that by lying with him and then accusing him of things he did not do in order to score paydays. Sports media (like Strang & especially Strang) reported on him in an unfavorable light. Did not investigate but just took whatever the women said as fact because, you know, metoo and sensationalism sells copy. MLB suspended Bauer and they and the Dodgers cowardly bowed to pressure and disassociated from Bauer derailing his baseball career. For a time, the story was hot and Bauer's name and reputation were irreparably damaged and he wound up playing in Japan and who knows how many millions in earnings he is out. Now that facts are being revealed and the facts of the story have swayed to Bauer's side, sports media is not as loud about his innocence as they were about his alleged guilt likely due to the shame and embarrassment as the more they might report on this issue, the worse they look. I think too outlets like The Athletic are in legal jeopardy so any truthful reporting they do will work against them legally.

This should also be a cautionary tale for our view of Carter Hart & Co. Maybe they are guilty, looks bad for them on the surface but until all the details are vetted, judgment should be withheld as people, even women, sometimes lie.

Trevor Bauer accuser charged with allegedly defrauding exiled MLB pitcher after faking pregnancy

Darcy Adanna Esemonu was charged with a count of fraudulent schemes and artifices on Monday with Bauer and another man listed as the alleged victims, according to Maricopa County DA.

nypost.com

The woman is from Arizona. This is a good breakdown of the story.

 

[Mosby]

BA was an AGM for St Louis with a very good reputation. I expect he was on the short list as a potential GM for more than one organization.

He was runner up in Florida to Zito

 

[DustyDangler]

He was runner up in Florida to Zito

Didn't know that...nice nugget.

 

[RemoAZ]

In case anyone missed it in the game thread. I love when he says he doesn't want the current ownership to bring hockey back. More proof that this grifter f***ed us and probably orchestrated the whole thing from the beginning.

 

[Mosby]

So is uncle Gary pulling the plug today or tomorrow?

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Sorry for your loss guys.

Still know how it hurts losing your team when the Sonics left Seattle.

Fans don't deserve crap like this but if the club of billionaires decides they want to move on, they'll do.
Especially since you never had owners that deserved your support.

Hopefully you come back with a solid ownership group and arena in place.

 

[benedictTavares]

This really sucks. Hopefully they leave a path to them coming back via expansion. Just need to find a better owner.

 

[finkelsteinberg]

Someone investigated the accusations that Smith made donations to the "no" campaign and found nothing. Not that tracking campaign donations in Arizona is the most transparent there is but that one is believe it only if you want.

The company my wife works for handled the NO campaign mailers. I had her reach out to see if there was any credibility to it. The response from the person in the company who was in charge of that particular project said it was solely union money. That being said, the mail is just one side of it.

I could see it being true but we would never know either way in my opinion. Somebody with money and power would not allow that info to be available. If it was proven true, I would guess AM would be entitled to major damages from RS and the NHL via lawsuit(s).

 

[benedictTavares]

The company my wife works for handled the NO campaign mailers. I had her reach out to see if there was any credibility to it. The response from the person in the company who was in charge of that particular project said it was solely union money. That being said, the mail is just one side of it.

I could see it being true but we would never know either way in my opinion. Somebody with money and power would not allow that info to be available. If it was proven true, I would guess AM would be entitled to major damages from RS and the NHL via lawsuit(s).

I don't want to cross post from another thread but we didn't need outside influence sometimes you just run into powerful people or groups who do not wish you to succeed for any numbers of reasons. Mention the name "Kate Murray" to any Islander fan and watch their blood pressure sky rocket.

 

[SniperHF]

So is uncle Gary pulling the plug today or tomorrow?

I was under the impression it was happening today at some point.