Penguins to be owned by man named Boots

I didn't mean for this blog to become so sports-heavy, but I've got to nod at this news, which came out of nowhere a day or two after it was reported simply that the team had attracted some attention from west coast investors.

Observation #1: This is what I love about the Penguins. There's been no professional hockey in North America for nearly a full calendar year. Other than reports on the ongoing CBA negotiations, there's been no hockey news of substance for a year apart from some planned tweaks to goalie equipment and puck-playing. Despite that, the Penguins manage to make news regarding their ownership/financial situation. It just can't be beat. This is the team that's been twice-bankrupt, many-ownered and under constant financial stress. You'd think that removing all operating expenses from the team would allow them to stay out of the papers and away from speculation concerning their capital health. Uh, no.

Observation #2: Like the proverbial refrigerator-eskimo transaction, you kind of wonder how you go about selling a team that's pretty much unable to play. Maybe the time's right because things will soon be settled and costs will be fixed, and maybe the team's sufficiently undervalued now because (a) they just emerged from bankruptcy and (b) the greatest-hockey-player-ever-to-live/owner is getting too old for this shit.

Observation #3: When the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County were passing out new stadiums in the late nineties, the team's then-owner instead settled for some cheap upgrades to the current building in an effort to keep his debt leveraged just a little while longer. The team pins its survival in Pittsburgh on a new arena, and pins arena financing on the receipt of one of the forthcoming slots licenses for the Civic Arena. Shouldn't the team be a lock to get a slots license if they're owned by a guy whose name ends in "o"?