Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Niño del Oro interview


Glenn Davis' blog has a fascinating interview (read it here) with incoming Dynamo minority owner Oscar De La Hoya. (And, of course, you can listen to the interview on Davis' Dynamo Power Hour podcast here.)I haven't wanted to post much on De La Hoya and Gabriel Brener's impending acquisition as the reports leave me somewhat confused about the business power structure, and the interview sheds no further light on this.

According to Bernardo Fallas' story in the Chron, AEG has the team valued at $40 million. De La Hoya will have a $10 million stake and Brener will have another $10 million stake. AEG, meanwhile, will still own 50 percent of the team. So the question is, who's in charge here? Hopefully, at the official announcement, which the story says could come by the end of the week, this question will be answered.

While I wholeheartedly welcome a guy like De La Hoya, who has done nothing but succeed in every thing he's ever done (much like this guy), my three main concerns are:

1. The power structure
2. No local ownership (though Fallas says Brener has family in Houston, and I know De La Hoya has multiple connections, to which he alludes in the Glenn Davis interview, in the city's vibrant boxing scene).
3. Will the Oliver Luck/Chris Cannetti/Dominic Kinnear/John Spencer on-field power structure be left intact or will De La Hoya/Brener start intervening?

One this last point, here's a great quote from De La Hoya in the interview, which is exactly what I, for one, want to hear:

“I think Coach Dominic Kinnear and President Oliver Luck have just done a tremendous job with the team. The team’s nucleus of players like Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching, obviously you have Pat Onstad who are incredible talented players who have had great success. You let the management take care of that, what they are doing now is perfect. No other team out there can say they are back-to-back champions and that is the thrill about our team. I say our team because it is not just Golden Boys team or AEG teams or MLS teams but it is the fans team and that where we want to keep it with the fans.”


Also, one other question, AEG has been trying to sell this team since they came in. Is their remaining 50 percent stake still up for sale?

Hopefully, more will be revealed when the sale is finalized.

But for now, here's another great quote from the Golden One:

"I can not wait to wear my orange jersey and be part of (El Batallon) crew that they have down there cheering on our team.”

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