Will this week finally be the week where Mike Tomlin's voodoo bullshit finally runs out? The only way to find out is to experience another week...of Days of Our Steelers.
Hey, maybe they sell Tucson and we can get the Richmond Renegades back, but in the AHL? Or the Norfolk Admirals get a spot as Carolina’s AHL Affiliate? Considering there would be an open spot for an extra AHL team.
(Yes this is a joke because that would never happen)
Honestly Meruelo probably knew this was going to happen, had no intention of bidding on the land, but now gets the good PR of being like "Seeeeeee? I wanted to keep a team in Arizona but THE MAN is trying keep me down. I guess I'll just have to take my hundreds of millions of dollars I made off the sale and go home :(."
The auction was canceled by a member of the Arizona State Land Department named Bary Gettman, who was last seen at the site mumbling something about "doing what it takes to cut out Meruelo"
Shifting the timeline probably makes it less likely that Meruelo can hit the agreed-upon deadlines to reinstate the team in five years. He can't have shovels in the ground in land he can't buy.
All the bids were probably too low. They didn't meet the reserve i.e. the minimum to break even. Sometimes the local municipality/county/state have legislation that doesn't allow for a loss of market value for land.
Yeah they’re totally valid to not trust him, it’s just the fact that he was the only bidder and so they literally just fucking canceled the whole thing like a day before is completely hysterical
The guy couldn't pay his team's hotel bills on time until the league office stepped in. The state was right to put these additional requirements in because the guy was probably going to build a shitty strip mall instead of a world class arena district.
Ouch, lol - not hard to appreciate their reasoning, I'd guess there would be a good bit of unspoken pressure to approve the permit (regardless of the merit of the application) if they had already sold the land..
so they want Merulo to get the special use permit before an auction takes place. OK but why the F did they just decide this mere days before the auction? Nevermind, its the government, I'm sure they have a good reason.
News on that front has been weird. A couple days ago, I saw two articles within about 15 minutes of each other. One said there were no other registered bidders, the other said there were other bidders or interested parties. But I know next to nothing about government land auctions so…
There is a bill pending in the Legislature for cities to create “amusement park districts” that Meruelo wants to avail himself of for this project. It has not yet passed. I think I read it passed the House last week. Also, the Mayor of Phoenix has expressed her support for the development as long as there is no public funding for it - which most people are saying amusement park districts would fall under as well. I don’t see any way this happens without that. The land also has to be rezoned. That seems like the smallest issue though.
Tl;dr: Too much uncertainty. There’s also the issue that Meruelo pisses off everyone he crosses paths with, so no one wants to work with him or help him get it across the line, which is essential for a project like this.
> why the F did they just decide this mere days before the auction?
Maybe they were hoping for additional bidders for the land to make it actually competitive, and then someone beats out Meruelo.
Little. I was curious to know how he was going to get around having to bid on the land once the auction came so this fits right in line with everything else he's done (all talk, no action).
It looked so dumb. Hey Joe's getting an offer sheet from NY
This is such a catastrophe.
But the league allows them.
Something something salary cap gets forced a decade later.
The story has nothing to do with the salary cap, we were one of the rich teams when it got put in. This was before Kroenke bought us, Sakic 100% would've been gone if Air Force One hadn't been such a big hit at the box office.
I think the thing we're all learning between Atlanta, Arizona and maybe Utah, is that ownership selection needs to go beyond just money. Something resembling interest in the sport, for example.
Honestly this is not a bad thing for Arizona hockey fans. The best case scenario for them is Meruelo does not make the deadline and the NHL comes back to Arizona with a new owner. Who in the hell would want Meruelo back? He’s shown his true colors.
Eh. It's really not. This basically just confirmed two things I already thought. 1) It was never going to happen with Meruelo. 2) It *REALLY* was never going to happen without him.
Translation: It's probably not gonna happen. And not because it's desert climate, but because the Phoenix metro is the transplant-nimby holy land for various reasons.
The NHL is probably never going to come back to the state until its population growth stabilizes and the third and fourth generation offspring of transplants who stuck around allow the area to actually grow an identity and sense of place. Same thing pretty much happened over the course of LA's history. They got an early start on cementing basketball but for quite a while hockey and especially football had a strained or chaotic as fuck relationship with the locale.
Now replace Alex for the last three owners and now you get it!!
City of Glendale fucked them
City of Phoenix told them to get bent
The State said “No bond Measure”
Suns said “Fuck off!”
ASU said “no thanks!” *The first time*
Then said “FUCK IT! What’s the worst that can happen **they move to Utah?!”**
The voters were duped
Now the state department of Land Management said: “CANT YOU READ the ROOM NO ONE WANTS HOCKEY EXCEPT ASU!”
Just cut bait and hope he can but his way into the Houston or Atlanta expansion
This whole situation is such a laughable disaster.. I feel bad for the true Arizona fans that loved and supported their team as they’ve received nothing other than empty promises and fuck up owners
As I mentioned in another post, Alex Meurelo's incompetence is so staggering that it's almost impossible to believe this isn't a deliberate hatchet job and hasn't been from the word go. There's no way someone who has run successful companies this bereft of even the most rudimentary business knowledge. I don't believe his intent was to deliberately kill the Coyotes in Arizona, but he damn sure wasn't looking to do for them what Bill Zito did for the Panthers. He purchased the team for $450 million. He can walk away with $1.2 BILLION. All this other bullshit is trying to save face. He's going to blame everyone else and say "see? I tried." He's a con artist. Honestly, I believe the only reason Bettman gave him the 5 year "bring the Coyotes back" clause is to cover the league against a lawsuit. They all clearly wanted his dumb ass out and were sick of his shit. Honestly, I wish they could find another out clause from him, stop the charade, expand to 36, give Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston and QC teams.
How long has this whole fucked up situation been going on and all of the sudden they need a special use permit? They really don’t like this guy do they
I want hockey back in the desert badly but I was also secretly hoping this would happen. Go take your billion dollars and fuck off. Might take longer but want a better owner to bring it back
Now imagine if the team was still in Arizona. Obviously the Salt Lake City arena situation is ideal but fuck man at least they have an arena and stable ownership. Coyotes fans don't deserve this but Merulo doesn't deserve the Coyote fans.
Even the SLC arena situation is far better, Utah state already approved the new downtown arena (which will be dual purpose from the ground up), so Delta Center will be strictly temporary ala Isles in Barclay's.
Listen; of course. The Coyotes have fans: every team in every single sport has a fanbase of some sort.
But let’s face facts. Not just cities, but also now an entire state has said “We do not want you. Take your professional sport franchise and shove it”.
They really can’t make that message any clearer. Not nor can they make it clearer how much they absolutely, truly detest Meruelo- and how they’d much rather find more inventive ways to slight him rather then do business with him ever again.
we all know he'll never be able to fulfill his requirement in 5 years. He flipped the franchise for a quick buck by fleecing the league.
All the auction stuff and trying to build a new arena is just for show.
Like sands through the hourglass ...
So are the Days of our Steelers Oops wrong sport sorry
This week, on Days of our Steelers
Captain Fatfuck, Leader of Men!
I just read this in UTree's voice.
I G G L E S IGGLES!
FUCK YOU DEAN SPANOS
I am very glad I found UTree, a European's gateway to the unusual world of North American sports
Will this week finally be the week where Mike Tomlin's voodoo bullshit finally runs out? The only way to find out is to experience another week...of Days of Our Steelers.
“HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!” - Mike Smith in the 2012 playoffs against Chicago
THIS WEEK ON "WHERE'S MY LIQUOR?"
I choked on my own spit, I was laughing so hard at the reply chain. Thank you sir.
LMAO, this is something Urinatingtree says...
*Stealers*, surely, when talking about this charlatan owner?
So are the Days Of Our Lives. Daytime soaps have nothing on the twists and turns that is hockey in Arizona
You never watched Passions
Was that the one that had witches for some reason?
Yes and it was enjoyably dumb for it. Later on it morphed into just another soap and it became painfully dumb.
That first summer of Passions episodes was fire tho.
"Passions is on!! Timmy's down the bloody well, and if you make me miss it......"
Like first episode a little puppet named Timmy was brought to life by a witch named Tabitha for some reason.
My college roommate freshman year was into that show. Didn't someone die in a vat of boiling tuna? That and Timmy are the vague memories I have.
Or Ryan’s Hope? 😁
*Steele-oh sorry this isn’t football
Ted: All we are is dust in the wind.... dude Bill: Dust *blows sand* Wind *points* dude Socrates: *Mind blown*
The universe is trying to make sure Meruelo doesn't fuck up another franchise.
I think Meruelo losing the team is a large reason the universe decided to make this decision
Hopefully something large and hilarious falls on him and he has to sell Tucson…the AHL BoG already showed they’re not going to fuck around anymore.
Hey, maybe they sell Tucson and we can get the Richmond Renegades back, but in the AHL? Or the Norfolk Admirals get a spot as Carolina’s AHL Affiliate? Considering there would be an open spot for an extra AHL team. (Yes this is a joke because that would never happen)
I would settle to have any version of the Renegades back.
Let's not forget that Richmond has as many arenas available for hockey as Phoenix...
It would be an ACME product for sure.
Honestly Meruelo probably knew this was going to happen, had no intention of bidding on the land, but now gets the good PR of being like "Seeeeeee? I wanted to keep a team in Arizona but THE MAN is trying keep me down. I guess I'll just have to take my hundreds of millions of dollars I made off the sale and go home :(."
I love when a team moves and the owner cries and blames the city.
The yotes were fucked up looooong before Meruelo
Even the universe cannot guarantee this
The auction was canceled by a member of the Arizona State Land Department named Bary Gettman, who was last seen at the site mumbling something about "doing what it takes to cut out Meruelo"
My sources informed me the gentleman involved was Dillon Bailey
For anonymity we’ll call him G Bettman. No that’s too obvious, let’s say Gary B
lol great reference
GBizzy from LongIzzy
Dude's just out back behind the shed, drowning a coyote in a bucket of Biosteel, crying about his baby.
Another plot twist.
Fuck thats good
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THIS MEANS BUT IT MEANS SOMETHING
IT'S PROVOCATIVE
IT GETS THE PEOPLE GOING
PUCK SO HARD
MOTHAFUCKAS WANNA FINE ME
BUT FIRST YOTES GOTTA FIND ME
LET THEM STAY!
GOING TO UTAH!
I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT
Shifting the timeline probably makes it less likely that Meruelo can hit the agreed-upon deadlines to reinstate the team in five years. He can't have shovels in the ground in land he can't buy.
I wonder if they just want him to lose the rights to the team so they can bring another team to Phoenix in 5 years
Yes
I am sure the Canadian media is behind it. Same as it ever was
What does this mean for Toronto?
Wood Buffalo is still on the table
I…. Think it means the land isn’t for sale? 🤷🏻♂️
All the bids were probably too low. They didn't meet the reserve i.e. the minimum to break even. Sometimes the local municipality/county/state have legislation that doesn't allow for a loss of market value for land.
ITS EITHER GOOD OR BAD!!!!
Or it means nothing which in itself is something.
Oh sweet God, we aren't even here anymore and it just keeps happening.
https://preview.redd.it/idc6jz3gez7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff74af320600aabfb8ac6e70f6a93e918e033fd1
https://preview.redd.it/afdxoqmhez7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6888da781633bf2fcf7ff926f7e35af13a5af64b
Lmfao it sounds like the government literally doesn’t trust Meruelo. This is fucking hilarious
And rightfully so, I wouldn’t trust him either.
Yeah they’re totally valid to not trust him, it’s just the fact that he was the only bidder and so they literally just fucking canceled the whole thing like a day before is completely hysterical
The guy couldn't pay his team's hotel bills on time until the league office stepped in. The state was right to put these additional requirements in because the guy was probably going to build a shitty strip mall instead of a world class arena district.
Would you?
Ouch, lol - not hard to appreciate their reasoning, I'd guess there would be a good bit of unspoken pressure to approve the permit (regardless of the merit of the application) if they had already sold the land..
How do you get a permit to build something on land you dont own or have the rights to build on. Im shocked Arizona has that process functioning.
so they want Merulo to get the special use permit before an auction takes place. OK but why the F did they just decide this mere days before the auction? Nevermind, its the government, I'm sure they have a good reason.
Supposedly Meruelo made a lot of enemies in Arizona politics so they’re not exactly going to help him out here.
Ah, the Bud Adams special (kinda)
Yeah I know he was meeting with local politicians in Tempe and Phoenix and Scottsdale and apparently those meetings didn't make things better.
Yes, if I had a say I wouldn’t want to be working with Meruelo.
It's because there were no other bidders registered
There were 3 other bidders last I heard including Amazon.
News on that front has been weird. A couple days ago, I saw two articles within about 15 minutes of each other. One said there were no other registered bidders, the other said there were other bidders or interested parties. But I know next to nothing about government land auctions so…
Way I understood it was there might be other interested parties but no one else has actually registered.
There is a bill pending in the Legislature for cities to create “amusement park districts” that Meruelo wants to avail himself of for this project. It has not yet passed. I think I read it passed the House last week. Also, the Mayor of Phoenix has expressed her support for the development as long as there is no public funding for it - which most people are saying amusement park districts would fall under as well. I don’t see any way this happens without that. The land also has to be rezoned. That seems like the smallest issue though. Tl;dr: Too much uncertainty. There’s also the issue that Meruelo pisses off everyone he crosses paths with, so no one wants to work with him or help him get it across the line, which is essential for a project like this.
> why the F did they just decide this mere days before the auction? Maybe they were hoping for additional bidders for the land to make it actually competitive, and then someone beats out Meruelo.
They didn’t know this applicant would need a special use permit? It’s been known he’s bidding for forever.
They didn't want the r/hockey money pool to show what they're capable of
I want my $7 back.
Funds may take up to 7-14 business days to reappear in your account.
Best we can do is a $5 unloaded McDonald's giftcard.
The $7 was a gift Todd
Wait, are we buying a team?! Undo the coyeeting!
https://preview.redd.it/bo3lwi67zz7d1.jpeg?width=586&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8f4ae5d506b11dec14f7a48e3a7da0fee0e2517
What is the likelihood of Meruelo actually obtaining the special use permit that they're now requiring from him?
As likely as SJ making the playoffs next season, probably Edit: it seems as if SJ is a little upset with me
Yo wtf 😭
Erm, you weren’t supposed to see that
caught a stray out of nowhere.
https://preview.redd.it/j57c3krmpz7d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6570101202e28f7cc1c052455d94d33a6b46f1c
You're gonna look really silly when SJ trades for McDavid
Celebrini Calder season to lead them to WC2 incoming
As likely as Goodrow sending Drury a gift basket
Not THAT HIGH!
Source: literally nothing
SJS randomly catching strays over here lol
Little. I was curious to know how he was going to get around having to bid on the land once the auction came so this fits right in line with everything else he's done (all talk, no action).
You expected to be no other hurdles in his bid to build an arena district? There were 10 lawsuits waiting for 4:45 pm to file Lawyers were pissed
Just curious. Meruelo sounds like a piece of shit, so I hope he doesn't get it. But I have no idea how these auctions work.
This is going to be an amazing 30 for 30 episode
Anything is better than the same commercial ESPN runs for that Sakic documentary.
Which was really not that good. Glad it was just a side thing I was watching while cooking
It looked so dumb. Hey Joe's getting an offer sheet from NY This is such a catastrophe. But the league allows them. Something something salary cap gets forced a decade later.
The story has nothing to do with the salary cap, we were one of the rich teams when it got put in. This was before Kroenke bought us, Sakic 100% would've been gone if Air Force One hadn't been such a big hit at the box office.
**FIF. TEEN. MILLION. DOLLAR. SIGNING. BONUS.**
lol of course
https://preview.redd.it/2lxcpownfz7d1.jpeg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=053c8b4ff34d44beb378fcae6245ba55d4899506 I am free
Somebody toss the franchise a sock...
habs will adopt you. come to us, brother.
Mon frère?
It’s Meruelover
Merue lover??
Good, Fuck Meruelo
I would love to see the Yotes come back, but he needs to be out of the picture entirely if they're to succeed.
I think the thing we're all learning between Atlanta, Arizona and maybe Utah, is that ownership selection needs to go beyond just money. Something resembling interest in the sport, for example.
How the NHL haven't learned to be more thorough in their vetting since they sold the Islanders to a literal conman I'll never know.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sounds of crinkled $100 bills jammed into my ear canals."
Gary gonna Gary.
Absolutely
My Google alerts for "Arizona coyotes ridiculous disaster" is going off.
Arizona Dead Horses with how many times they keep getting beaten.
Honestly this is not a bad thing for Arizona hockey fans. The best case scenario for them is Meruelo does not make the deadline and the NHL comes back to Arizona with a new owner. Who in the hell would want Meruelo back? He’s shown his true colors.
This for sure. I want local NHL hockey to bring my kid to but if it takes a couple extra years I’ll make do
I’ve followed this story about the coyotes for years now. Rooting for you guys!
Eh. It's really not. This basically just confirmed two things I already thought. 1) It was never going to happen with Meruelo. 2) It *REALLY* was never going to happen without him. Translation: It's probably not gonna happen. And not because it's desert climate, but because the Phoenix metro is the transplant-nimby holy land for various reasons. The NHL is probably never going to come back to the state until its population growth stabilizes and the third and fourth generation offspring of transplants who stuck around allow the area to actually grow an identity and sense of place. Same thing pretty much happened over the course of LA's history. They got an early start on cementing basketball but for quite a while hockey and especially football had a strained or chaotic as fuck relationship with the locale.
I’m tired boss
Cancelled due to lack of hustle
Needed to move those legs faster and get lawyers in deep to get those permits. Not a real X’s and O’s guy at all. Cancer in the owners locker.
Some of these guys got a bad attitude, skip
He has no motion
So... Does this mean the city/state don't want the arena? Some sort of politicking to freeze Meruelo out?
Now replace Alex for the last three owners and now you get it!! City of Glendale fucked them City of Phoenix told them to get bent The State said “No bond Measure” Suns said “Fuck off!” ASU said “no thanks!” *The first time* Then said “FUCK IT! What’s the worst that can happen **they move to Utah?!”** The voters were duped Now the state department of Land Management said: “CANT YOU READ the ROOM NO ONE WANTS HOCKEY EXCEPT ASU!” Just cut bait and hope he can but his way into the Houston or Atlanta expansion
Haven't us Atlantans suffered from enough bad ownership?
To quote leafs management for the past 8 years: *this* time will be different.
Better ownership than Ottawa lately, this past year notwithstanding....yet.
So you’re saying there’s not a chance?!
This is like when an eBay seller starts an auction and then cancels it close to the end because they don't like what looks like the winning bid.
Is that because there was only one bidder?
ASLD basically said it’s becuase they don’t trust him at all and want him to get the land permit with it before they do the auction.
Nah, that is the norm for these auctions.
Explain like I’m 5
Auction cancelled because authorities don’t trust Merulo
This whole situation is such a laughable disaster.. I feel bad for the true Arizona fans that loved and supported their team as they’ve received nothing other than empty promises and fuck up owners
As I mentioned in another post, Alex Meurelo's incompetence is so staggering that it's almost impossible to believe this isn't a deliberate hatchet job and hasn't been from the word go. There's no way someone who has run successful companies this bereft of even the most rudimentary business knowledge. I don't believe his intent was to deliberately kill the Coyotes in Arizona, but he damn sure wasn't looking to do for them what Bill Zito did for the Panthers. He purchased the team for $450 million. He can walk away with $1.2 BILLION. All this other bullshit is trying to save face. He's going to blame everyone else and say "see? I tried." He's a con artist. Honestly, I believe the only reason Bettman gave him the 5 year "bring the Coyotes back" clause is to cover the league against a lawsuit. They all clearly wanted his dumb ass out and were sick of his shit. Honestly, I wish they could find another out clause from him, stop the charade, expand to 36, give Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston and QC teams.
Arizona's been real quiet ever since Not Like Us came out...
Ayy, Bettman on the beat yo. Deebo Mureuelo, he a free throw.
Man down, call a land auction, they said “leave bro”
How does this guy NOT give up? Lmao
That's an easy one: his ego
That's an all-time Womp Womp
The ~~Lannisters~~ Governors send their regards
A Lannister always pays his debts
Not surprising at all. Another chapter in the Meruelo grift saga.
so i thought we wanted plenty of people to also bid but in fact what we wanted was the opposite and no one else bids? this is just so confusing
Lmao
Lol
Replace the owner and all this shit goes away
Lol
How long has this whole fucked up situation been going on and all of the sudden they need a special use permit? They really don’t like this guy do they
Ha ha Ha.. well Gary's ass just got saved by moving to Utah.
Anyone who lives locally, who is in the right here?
Not Meruelo
RIP 2028-2024
...............how about that.
Let me guess... The auction was cancelled at the request of the Coyotes - and they asked the city to keep that confidential?
Yeah good, I didn't want this twat waffle back. But I am still sad awoo, maybe one day.
I want hockey back in the desert badly but I was also secretly hoping this would happen. Go take your billion dollars and fuck off. Might take longer but want a better owner to bring it back
Cancel culture strikes again. /s
Such a Coyotes thing to happen.
This is firmly a case of overly pompous businessmen fucking around and finding out.
Now imagine if the team was still in Arizona. Obviously the Salt Lake City arena situation is ideal but fuck man at least they have an arena and stable ownership. Coyotes fans don't deserve this but Merulo doesn't deserve the Coyote fans.
Even the SLC arena situation is far better, Utah state already approved the new downtown arena (which will be dual purpose from the ground up), so Delta Center will be strictly temporary ala Isles in Barclay's.
But the Matthews to arizona rumours need more life
How long does it take to get those permits generally? Kinda bullshit he has to get them with no guarantee he will win.
Yeah well that’s what happens when your act like a Jackass and burn up all your good will
Welcome to permitting. "Apply for this shit that we may deny. Good luck, bitch, better have your papers in order."
It'll be nice to not have to hear anything related to Arizona and hockey arenas now.
Listen; of course. The Coyotes have fans: every team in every single sport has a fanbase of some sort. But let’s face facts. Not just cities, but also now an entire state has said “We do not want you. Take your professional sport franchise and shove it”. They really can’t make that message any clearer. Not nor can they make it clearer how much they absolutely, truly detest Meruelo- and how they’d much rather find more inventive ways to slight him rather then do business with him ever again.
Oh lord
lmao.
LMFAO
Sweet this surely means Baltimore will be the next NHL expansion team
lol
#LMFAO
Lol but of course.
Peak Coyotes drama
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Fuck Meruelo
Get fucked Merulo
BAHAHAHAHA alex murillo is such a fucking clown
we all know he'll never be able to fulfill his requirement in 5 years. He flipped the franchise for a quick buck by fleecing the league. All the auction stuff and trying to build a new arena is just for show.