Now He Knows What Mickey Mouse Means

In the end, Disney was everything Ron Wilson was not; insecure, misguided and gutless.

In the end, the man most responsible for the public execution of hockey’s hottest coach did not even have the courage to show up for it.

And just where was Tony Tavares on Tuesday afternoon while loyal employees were scrambling to explain his bloody footprints on Ron Wilson’s reputation?

Wherever it is that Georgia Frontiere used to go when the going got tough, one suspects.

In one stunning afternoon, Tavares confirmed what everyone has been whispering behind his back since he came to town as president of the Mighty Ducks and Angels four years ago.

He is the sports executive from the abyss. He will sell out the fans for his own ego. He will allow nobody to be larger than he is, even if that means a winning percentage must shrink.

He has the short, round body of an ex-boxer. But his best punch is to the back.

That Disney still employs Tavares proves that even Chairman Michael Eisner does not mind being publicly humiliated.

That Disney allowed Tavares to release Wilson over a personality clash proves something that long has been suspected of the organization:

Disney does not care about winning.

Disney does not care about the fans who pay as much as $150 a ticket to watch one of its sports teams play.

Disney cares about one thing, and that is Disney.

Jack Ferreira, the loyal general manager whom Tavares dropped in front of the media like a helpless dog, confirmed as much.

“This decision has nothing to do with wins and losses,� he said.

Am I missing something here?

If Tavares does not make the most important personnel decision on his hockey team based on wins and losses . . . then what about his lesser decisions?

What does this say to the unsuspecting folks who have spent four years, many dollars and countless heartaches following a hapless expansion team because they believed the team was trying to get better?

For four years, inherent in the Ducks’ pitch to attract fans was a promise that they were trying to win a Stanley Cup.

By not renewing Wilson’s contract, that is a promise broken.

By not renewing Wilson’s contract, they are sending a message not only to the Ducks, but also the Angels.

You can be big, but never bigger than Tony Tavares.

Memo to Terry Collins: Watch your back.

Memo to young Angel stars such as Darin Erstad and Troy Percival: Are you sure you want to stick around this organization?

Memo to all of the Ducks: Watch your mouth, restrain your passion, realize you have not been hired to win, but to entertain.

Wilson’s crime was that he changed all that.

In one brilliant two-month stretch this spring, he led an overmatched team into the second round of the playoffs, colorizing faceless Orange County, bringing together thousands of citizens from little cities together under one sweater.

It took him four years to do it, but you try winning with the cheap talent that Disney gave him during those four years.

Tavares will say the media love Wilson only because he is a great quote, but that is because Tavares didn’t understand those two months, that passion.

Tavares never ran a team before he came here, you know. He ran stadiums for Spectacor Management Group.

He understands hot dog vendors. He understands leases. He is probably pretty good with forklifts.

Winning? Tuesday’s action proved that Tavares understands none of it.

Media and fans loved Wilson because he won, and he cared and he showed it.

So he talked a lot. Tavares doesn’t understand that while Wilson talked, his players hid, relaxed, escaped the scrutiny that Wilson happily endured.

As much as Wilson was promoting himself, he was also protecting his players.

Tavares also shows great nerve criticizing Wilson for talking openly during the playoffs about eventually coaching the Detroit Red Wings.

If Disney had signed Wilson before the season as it implied it would, the coach would never have been an impending free agent and the question would have never arisen.

Ferreira said Wilson was given a contract proposal with a month left in the season, but never responded.

By then, the Ducks had ignored him for nearly a year. Can you blame the suddenly leverage-laden coach for ignoring them?

Besides, Wilson always said he was coming back, always said he wanted to come back. Tavares must have missed those quotes.

Don’t blame this on money, either. Ferreira and Wilson both said it has nothing to do with money.

This is about ego.

Wilson won worldwide fame by leading the United States to its first World Cup hockey championship last fall. He will win similar acclaim when he leads the first professional-filled Olympic team in Japan next winter.

Tavares, meanwhile, once led a tour through the locker room while Wilson was conducting a team meeting, angering the coach.

Tavares also at one news conference interrupted a doctor who was explaining Milos Holan’s leukemia to give his own medical interpretation.

The clear winner Tuesday was Wilson, who will have his pick of NHL vacancies.

Who knows, maybe even the Kings can talk Larry Robinson into retiring, and call Wilson the minute he does.

The loser is not Disney, which will survive as it always does.

The loser is not Tony Tavares, who obviously has the blessing of Eisner, who has obviously lost touch.

The loser is the fan, those who came to love a funny little team they can no longer trust, run by a man who hasn’t a clue.