Ballmer? Really?

The NBA gets another schmuck as an owner. I see Ballmer behind Microsoft’s failure to innovate over the past few years. Even worse, I see his mean spirited imprint on most everything Microsoft has done.

Steve BallmerIt looks like the Clippers will go quickly. Published reports says Steve Ballmer, who recently left as CEO of Microsoft after seeing the writing on the wall, will pay $2,000,000,000. That’s an impressive number. Now I understand why Windows costs so much.

Donald Sterling, disgraced current owner, gets to laugh all the way to the bank. The value of his team seems to have doubled over the past few weeks. He can buy new friends.

The NBA gets another schmuck as an owner. I see Ballmer behind Microsoft’s failure to innovate over the past few years. Even worse, his mean spirited imprint is on most everything Microsoft has done recently.

But let me allow Steve to speak for himself. On the iPhone:

“There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.”

Of Google’s Eric Schmidt:

“F**king Eric Schmidt is a f**king pussy. I’m going to f**king bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I’m going to f**king kill Google.”

On Apple’s Macbooks:

“Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction.”

And, on business in general:

“That doesn’t mean nobody else ever thought about it, but ‘How do you make money?’ was what I got hired to do. I’ve always thought that way.”

After a friend posted this sale on Twitter, I replied, “Until Sterling, he was my most despised CEO.”

Good luck to all of us.

The Clippers Inspirational Promo

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

We get the Clippers local broadcasts on Prime Ticket. They’re currently running an inspirational promo. Black and white. Silent. Text only.

ONE CITY

ONE TEAM

WE ARE ONE and the Clippers logo.

Great, except Donald Sterling still owns the team. It wouldn’t surprise me if he still owned the team next year! And it is Donald Sterling who will most benefit should success find the Clippers.

Meanwhile, Leon Jenkins, head of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP has resigned. It was his chapter (truly his… no one else seems associated with it) which was about to honor Sterling. The LA chapter is a ‘conscience washing’ operation. Pay enough money and your sins get washed away.

This too is disappointing and despicable, especially under the name of the NAACP. I expected more.

Donald Sterling And The Question

Donald-SterlingNBA Commissioner Adam Silver just held a press conference concerning the Donald Sterling controversy. Sterling’s been banned, fined and pressured to sell the team. The commissioner had no choice and I fully agree with his decision (as much of it as I know right now).

It is not a surprise there are mean spirited jerks running teams. Baseball had Marge Schott, who once defended Hitler. Basketball still has Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov whose fortune came under ‘interesting’ circumstances.

Kremlin leaders gave him what amounts to an insiders opportunity to buy one of the state’s most valuable assets. It was acquired from the Kremlin in a so-called auction for the measly sum of a few hundred million dollars in a process that even Prokhorov’s business partner admits wasn’t perfect, and probably not even legal under Western standards. But it was legal in Russia”. – 60 Minutes

If you didn’t watch the press conference you probably didn’t hear this question asked toward the end. I don’t have the exact words, but a reporter asked Silver a question that began, “As a Jew…”

Silver is Jewish. Sterling is Jewish. I am Jewish.

Silver dodged the question. I won’t. As a Jew I am mortified. It’s not the first time.

Maybe I’m the naive one here. It’s how I was brought up. Maybe I shouldn’t expect more from any single group of people. I do.

There’s a limit to how much Sterling can be punished. He will be allowed to sell, not have his team taken. That is as it should be. However, it means Sterling will be capable of laughing all the way to the bank, should he choose.

Jerks like him are capable of that.