If It Seemed Warm, It Was All This Hot Air

When Sports Editor Bill Dwyre suggested I attend a panel discussion on sports at the downtown Omni Hotel on Thursday, I knew lunch wouldn’t be free, or he would have assigned himself.

I arrived, they asked for $26, directed me to the very back of the room and had me sit with my back to the stage, presumably so the panelists -- Tim Leiweke, Bob Graziano and Casey Wasserman -- wouldn’t have to look at me when they began uttering their nonsense.

Some of the past Town Hall Los Angeles speakers, according to the outfit overcharging for lunch, have been John F. Kennedy, Carl Sagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, and I get stuck with my back to the Three Stooges.

Adrienne Medawar, president of the group overcharging for lunch, introduced the moderator: “He’s the leading sports anchor in Southern California.”

I’m expecting Jim Hill, of course, so you can imagine my surprise when Fred Roggin shows up. Medawar told the crowd the Daily News named Fred “sportscaster of the year” in 1990. I guess the past 14 years it has been someone else.

Anyway, Fred began by asking Graziano if Frank McCourt had the money to buy the Dodgers. Graziano, who is in jeopardy of losing his job as team president, especially if he says the wrong thing, talked for several minutes and said nothing, which told me he’s being tutored by Micro Manager Jim Tracy.

Fred moved on to Wasserman, the owner of the Avengers, and you could imagine the buzz in the room of 200 or so when they learned they’d be spending their lunch hour listening to an Arena League sales pitch.

Leiweke, the Kings’ president, followed and told everyone the sport of hockey was broken, primarily because the millionaires and billionaires who own the teams can’t make money. Some things just can’t be fixed -- I hope.

Graziano chimed in and said things were getting so bad that no longer was there a “greater fool theory out there,” which has some fool willing to pay whatever it costs to own a sports franchise. “Look at how difficult it has been to sell the Dodgers,” he said. Only two fools have stepped forward, McCourt and Eli Broad.

Roggin interrupted. I guess he wanted everyone to know what a fool Philip Anschutz is, because he said Anschutz bought the Kings only because his wife liked hockey.

Leiweke retorted, “Tough to explain, Fred, the 16 other franchises we own,” before softening his response and telling everyone, “Phil’s running out of wives.”

Then Leiweke added, “You know T.J.’s going to put that in the paper.”

Let me just say I appreciate Leiweke’s candor, and the revelation that Anschutz has more than one wife. I’ve always suspected....

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LEIWEKE ALSO talked about the impact of the Home Depot Center and the number of Olympic athletes who had come through the Los Angeles area because of the facility. He should have stopped right there.

“Maybe it’s better than hosting the Olympic Games,” he continued, and as much as everyone wanted to get out of that room, I’m not surprised no one interrupted to tell him how silly he sounded.

At the same time, I believe Wasserman was still talking about the Avengers, unaware that no one was listening to him. Whoever turned off his microphone, by the way, should be commended.

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ONCE THE panel finished explaining how tough it was to be a millionaire and own a sports franchise these days, someone wanted to know why a poor chap like McCourt would be interested in buying the Dodgers. The speculation is he wants to redevelop Chavez Ravine and build a new baseball stadium elsewhere.

“Frank and Jamie McCourt need to get in this market and explain why they’re buying this team,” Graziano said, and we agree on that. “They’ve explained to me they just want to get back to running the Dodgers as a family business....”

And if you’re interested in buying a condo, Roggin cracked, come back in three years to Chavez Ravine.

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WHEN IT came time to ask questions, no one in the crowd asked if L.A. would be getting an NFL team soon. So Roggin asked, and then in a rant answered it himself, telling the city and the NFL to get its act together, allow Anschutz to build it, and Wasserman to run it. It was the perfect gibberish finish to a wasted lunch hour.

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I CORNERED Leiweke afterward. Now I’ve been critical of him in the past, but he has remained both professional and cooperative in every instance. In fact, I have to say, the guy grows on you.

“Our company is interested in helping the NFL come back to L.A., and in my opinion the one place to do that is the Coliseum,” he said. “What we need to do is get everyone together and have one voice. Do we want to be the ones to spend the time and energy to do that? No, we have too many things going on, but we will help.”

And what does Leiweke say about McCourt’s efforts to buy the Dodgers? “God bless him for taking the risk.”

Would the Anschutz empire be interested in getting involved in a new baseball stadium project? “No,” Leiweke said, “but we’re interested in football.”

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AL DAVIS said he’s not interested in hiring a disciplinarian to coach the Raiders. Certainly not someone who will insist that the owner keep his mouth shut.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Ralph and Sue Brax:

“The perpetual Dodger critic stands up for Adrian Beltre, the most inconsistent of them all. If you recall, L.A. put him on the trade block last year and there were no takers. Who else would pay him $5 million? Get serious.”

About the Dodgers?

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T.J. Simers can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.