By Jim Bleyer Would you reward an employee whose ineptitude cost you well over $100 million? Of course you wouldn’t but that’s precisely what Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik did when he extended coach Jon Cooper’s contract last March. Cooper’s contract with the Lightning was set to …
By Jim Bleyer Jeff Vinik selling the Tampa Bay Lightning would never enter the mind of most local hockey fans but the idea is not at all far-fetched. In fact, over the next 15 months it is rated a 50-50 proposition to those paying close attention to the machinations …
By Jim Bleyer The obsequious Tampa Bay media, never passing up an opportunity to genuflect to the local lords of professional sports, uniformly term the shrinking of Tropicana Field’s seating capacity as creating “an intimate fan experience.” The national press and fans of the Tampa Bay Rays know better: …
By Jim Bleyer It was a very good week for Stu Sternberg, billionaire owner of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays. His team won six of seven games vaulting itself into third place in the American League East and into the thick of the wild card chase. But Sternberg …
The Boston Globe said Vinik “reinvented” himself but Tampans have discovered that only applies superficially. By Jim Bleyer Water Street Tampa, the highly-touted $3 billion “vision” of local businessman and Tampa Bay Times investor Jeff Vinik, is in deep trouble and may be taken over and/or liquidated by …
