Forthcoming before the day's out: my interview with Kyle Rote Jr.
But before that, a soccer legend overseas -- Steve McManaman, who spent most of his storied career playing for Liverpool FC before his controversial departure for Real Madrid -- has spoken out about the amount of dough-re-mi Tom Hicks wants for Liverpool: £600 million. Says the former forward in this exclusive chit-chat, "If you look at what they paid for the club, and what they want for it, I think it speaks volumes and for me, £600 million is an incredibly inflated price considering someone's going to have to come in and spend £300 million on a brand new fantastic stadium. ... Hopefully a deal will be done nice and quick, but who knows what's going to be involved. You just hope that it isn't a protracted agreement where this time next year the club's still for sale."
Which smoothly transitions us to this Associated Press story concerning the sale of Your Texas Rangers to Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan's group. The deal was supposed to have been done by Opening Day, then by this week -- and still ... nothing. As we noted last week, Hicks Sports Group's myriad creditors remain unhappy with the terms of the sale and are considering a bankruptcy filing. Yesterday, Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's president and chief operating officer, told the AP he's "disappointed" the sale's not completed yet. But as far as MLB expediting matters, well, it's done all it can do for the time being:
"Tom Hicks and the buyer are trying to get the transaction completed," DuPuy said. "The commissioner has had considerable contact with the parties, and we're working closely. We understood that because of the Hicks Sports Group debt -- the parent company and not the team --- that there were issues with regard to the parent company lenders.Update at 5:40 p.m.: The deal with Greenberg is indeed falling apart. Hicks tells Evan Grant today, "We've received information that as it stands right now, the deal would not be approved." For all the reasons previously stated. Bankruptcy looms. So too a prolonged stay in last place.
"We've met with them as well, and we're trying to work through that. We think the purchase agreement for the consideration being paid for the Rangers represents a fair purchase price, and we're anxious to see the deal closed as written. But I'm not going to predict."
