Anchorage Daily News

Weatherholt did Wild disservice as owner

I guess firing coaches really is a big part of the game for the owner of the Alaska Wild and I suspect an even bigger part of his ego. I bought season tickets so I could watch players and coaches I could get to know. Joe Small and Keith Smith and Mao Tosi and Hans Deemer are why my butt is in the seat at the Sullivan. As a season ticket holder I'm not looking to watch a bunch of guys picked up at a day labor bus stop.

Team owners need to hire a great coach and provide quality players if they want people in the seats. If David Weatherholt got bored midseason with his great coach and exciting team he should have done something useful; look into the cruddy hot dogs at the Sullivan, or no football scoreboard, or event staff with Napoleon issues. Instead he fires a brilliant coach because he isn't selling enough T-shirts?

This "Steinbrenner wannabe" has decided to flush a successful team down the drain. I buy season tickets because of what the coaches and players and cheerleaders bring to the field. The 2009 season tickets go on sale on Thursday. You do the math.

Hey Mao, I can probably come up with a $1,000. Let me know.

-- Tom Rainey

Palmer

EDITOR'S NOTE: This letter was received Monday. Weatherholt sold the team Friday.

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