Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining The Games We Love isn’t the most uplifting of reads. This is not a reflection on its author, Dave Zirin, or the quality of the writing – the book is well-written and researched (and I’m not just saying that because Zirin and I both write for SLAM magazine). Rather, Bad Sports is depressing due to its subject matter – how owners, and not the fans, have all the control in the sports world.
Zirin is not a writer who holds back or is subtle – he comes right out naming names and pointing fingers. And in regards to corrupt, incompetent and inept sports owners, there are plenty of fingers to point. The bulk of the book revolves around owners tendency to hold cities ransom over stadium funding. The old “if you don’t pay and build me a new stadium, I’m moving the team” routine. Zirin does a wonderful job illustrating how asinine this concept is and how destructive public financed stadiums can be to a community. While all the major pro sports are covered, most readers of this site are probably most interested in the basketball owners called out in the book. The rogues gallery of NBA owners outed include Clay Bennett, the man who stole the Sonics from Seattle; James Dolan, the inept, blusterous, sexist owner who has made the New York Knicks a laughingstock; and Donald Sterling, the prostitute-loving, racist owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Zirin also doesn’t hold back his disdain for NBA commissioner David Stern and his role in the great Sonics robbery.
If you’re interested in making your blood boil and/or starting a fan revolt, grab the book here:
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