Posted on Sun, Oct. 12, 2008

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Even when he wins, Rangers-Stars owner Hicks can’t win

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Gil LeBreton

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AP/Dave Thompson

Tom Hicks has incurred Liverpool wrath for going into debt to build the English soccer team a new stadium. AP/Dave Thompson

The voice on the phone sounded exhilarated — as energized as ever.

And that was even before Saturday afternoon, when Tom Hicks’ favorite college football team rocked the Cotton Bowl.

Contrary to local belief, you see, Hicks has plenty to be happy about.

For one thing, the NHL regular season has begun, and Hicks’ Dallas Stars are being prominently touted as Stanley Cup contenders.

For another, team president Nolan Ryan returned from Arizona beaming with good news about the youngsters working out in the Texas Rangers’ fall camp.

And last, but far from least, Hicks has an undefeated, first-place soccer team.

As a resident local sports mogul, he has made his mistakes. John Hart and Chan Ho Park easily come to mind.

But I remain baffled by the wrath, from area fans and media alike, that mere mention of Hicks’ name seems to inspire.

Never mind that Jerry Jones let the best head coaches he ever had get away — twice. Never mind that Jones won’t fire the worst general manager the Dallas Cowboys have ever had — himself.

Jones still walks on water around here, fueled by the three Super Bowls that Jimmy Johnson won for him. (Don’t dare bring Barry Switzer’s name into this).

And Hicks? Other than in Austin and at the Stars, Inc., offices, he curiously remains broadly scorned on the global sports scene.

I don’t get it. And I especially don’t understand the rancor that the fans in Liverpool have for him.

Hicks didn’t buy his share of the 106-year-old Liverpool Football Club, I suspect, because he loved sharing a pint at Anfield and hanging out in Ringo’s old hometown. It was an investment, and the Liverpool club, with its cramped, ’70s-style stadium, presented an attractive opportunity.

News of Hicks’ and George Gillett’s joint purchase of the team was roundly applauded. But at that point, Liverpool fans apparently expected the two foreigners to disappear — and, oh, leave behind their checkbooks.

In the English Premier League, money is the sole official language. There is no trading of players between teams. There’s no amateur or college draft.

Instead, players are bought and sold. Cash is king. The more you have of it, the more that you can spend on acquiring better players.

The exact mentality, in other words, that some disgruntled Rangers fans want Hicks to employ in baseball.

First, though, Hicks wants to build Liverpool a modern, larger stadium, boosting the seating capacity from 45,362 to more than 71,000.

More Liverpool fans will get to see their beloved Reds play. Yet, they’re mad at Hicks for the idea, if I’m reading the tabloids correctly, because he’s had the audacity to — gulp — borrow money to build the new stadium.

To the Brits, debt is truly a four-letter word. The more debt a soccer club has, the fewer good players you’ll be able to buy during the transfer period.

Apparently, the Liverpool backers think that all wealthy Americans can build $530 million stadiums by writing a personal check.

The frenzy has been made worse by members of a group in Dubai that wants to buy the team themselves, once they’ve helped goose Hicks and Gillett to the selling table. The Dubai bunch seems to regularly feed the Liverpool tabloids with dirt, real and imagined, about the current owners.

Are the fans in Liverpool that unsophisticated about sports finance? Every sports team in America has debt. The Dallas Cowboys have debt — a lot of it sits just off Collins Avenue in Arlington. The Premier League’s own Manchester United and Chelsea teams have their shares of debt.

Funny thing, though. Liverpool FC was anything but quiet and frugal during the most recent transfer period. Hicks even paid a premium to acquire Irish national team star Robbie Keane.

Seven games into the season, Liverpool has yet to lose. One of the victories was over rival Manchester U.

The Liverpool club’s history is a golden one. But it hasn’t won the Premier League in 19 years.

Yet, Hicks and Gillett are the villains?

Hicks was polite, but he declined to comment publicly last week when asked about the situation in Liverpool. He’s learned the hard way that anything he says, even on this side of the pond, is likely to be taken out of context and used against him in the newspapers in England.

"They’re like fans everywhere," Hicks said. "They just want to win."

So far, so good this season.

Hopefully, the owner knows, the Rangers’ turn is next.