Dipperpool fans protesting

[Pam]

I've said this on a different thread, but these protest are about more than Raffa, shirley. They're as much about the fact that they Yanks couldn't organise the proverbial brewery piss up and have no money and say they want to sell, but only at an unrealistic price. It isn't just the shambles about the manager.

Sounds fair to me. Now only if some other Americans did the same........!

Yep.

 

[bezdog]

I've said this on a different thread, but these protest are about more than Raffa, shirley. They're as much about the fact that they Yanks couldn't organise the proverbial brewery piss up and have no money and say they want to sell, but only at an unrealistic price. It isn't just the shambles about the manager.

shirley who the fcuk is shirley?

 

[sam221985]

Rawk has made some pretty hilarious reading today

Just looking for a razor blade as we speak.

At the time the news broke (of which I was unaware) I had my baby niece in my arms and was nursing her. For some reason the Rafa song came into my head and I started lullabying her with it.

I'm literally in tears.

It shouldn't have had to end this way. Not like this.

 

[whp.blue]

I've said this on a different thread, but these protest are about more than Raffa, shirley. They're as much about the fact that they Yanks couldn't organise the proverbial brewery piss up and have no money and say they want to sell, but only at an unrealistic price. It isn't just the shambles about the manager.

shirley who the fcuk is shirley?

she is related to Alice

 

[ali benarbia's studs]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHFK1yKfiGo[/youtube]

 

[tommybooth]

Chubby Brown has put his name forward.

 

[shackattack]

its lovely to watch your red neighbours implode- you should try it lol

 

[Ricster]

Here is some more good news for scouse fans.

Yes, Hicks is going to have a large sum of money in his account but look at the way he has run this baseball team as a business. One word, shocking!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/052510dnsporangerslede.3604b4dd.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 4b4dd.html</a>

Texas Rangers declare bankruptcy to speed up sale

10:21 PM CDT on Monday, May 24, 2010

By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com

The saga concerning the Rangers’ sale entered a new chapter Monday: Chapter 11.

The Rangers, Tom Hicks, Major League Baseball and the potential purchasing group headed by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan all hope it’s the final installment in an epic that has been 15 months in the making.

The club, under the direction of owner Tom Hicks, intends to enter a voluntary, “prepackaged,” court-supervised process under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code pursuant to the sale plan previously negotiated and agreed to by the current Rangers owners and the Greenberg-Ryan group.

That sales agreement, worth approximately $575 million, was agreed to by Hicks Sports Group and Greenberg-Ryan’s Ryan Baseball Express on Jan. 23. It was contingent, however, upon the approval of creditors, who hold $525 million in notes on a loan on which HSG defaulted more than a year ago. The creditors, led by hedge fund Monarch Alternative Capital, have refused to approve the deal because they were unhappy with the amount of proceeds they would receive from the deal.

The creditors sought approximately $300 million in repayment from the Rangers deal, with the rest to come when HSG sells off other assets, such as the Dallas Stars. The current Rangers sales agreement calls for the creditors to receive approximately $280 million in proceeds.

The sides have been at an impasse for several months and not even the intervention of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig produced any tangible progress towards a deal.

Complicating matters was the structure of the HSG loan. Only $75 million of the loan was earmarked for the Rangers. Under the sales agreement, the sides intend to pay off that and all other outstanding debt with the remaining proceeds to be divided up among HSG’s creditors. While all the club’s debt will be paid off, the HSG creditors would still receive about $280 million if federal bankruptcy judge Michael D. Lynn of Fort Worth approves the Rangers’ plan.

“We ended up reaching a complete impasse,” Hicks said at a Monday afternoon press conference while flanked by Greenberg and Ryan. “This was the only way we felt like we could move things forward in a timely fashion. This action is about ending that impasse and getting the club to the group we reached an agreement with and the group I feel is the right group.”

“This plan to complete the sale of the Texas Rangers serves the best interests of the team, its fans, MLB and all other parties involved,” said Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. “This agreement assures an orderly process to expeditiously transfer Rangers ownership to the Greenberg-Ryan group, and it protects the franchise’s baseball operations. Rangers fans can have confidence that their team has the resources it needs to compete. “

The idea, hatched by Hicks’ attorneys about a month ago, is all about timing. The Rangers, who are in first place in the AL West, have four picks among the top 50 in the upcoming amateur draft (June 7-9) and would like to add a veteran player or two before the July 31 trade deadline.

To get the best talent in each requires payroll flexibility. It was something the Rangers have not had for the last year. MLB extended the Rangers a loan of $18 million last June to help the club meet its operating expense. Until that money was repaid – through the sale proceeds – MLB took an oversight role on the club’s costs. That meant limiting both the draft bonus budget and the overall payroll.

The Rangers lost out on first-round pick Matt Puke last year because they were unable to meet his contractual demands. Though the team was active during the off-season when it came to adding players, it did so by jettisoning enough other payroll to balance out costs. In the meantime, MLB has agreed to loan the Rangers another $11.5 million to help cover operating costs until the deal is done. That money will be repaid to MLB as soon as ownership is transferred.

“I did not want to put the baseball future of the Rangers in jeopardy,” Hicks said.

Greenberg and Ryan acknowledged that their planned budget for the operation of the team is larger than Hicks’ MLB-approved budget. The petition asks Judge Lynn to rule within the next 45 days, which could give the team almost a month before the August 16 draftee signing deadline and two weeks before the trade deadline.

“The budget we have has more resources so that if we want to allot the money to different places we can,” Greenberg said. “It’s not because the budget is not inadequate.”

The unknown is how the creditors will react. According to various reports, Monarch had considered forcing the club to “involuntary bankruptcy” if Selig had seized the Rangers. But with a bankruptcy petition already before the court, that would seem moot. And while another bidder could emerge during the bankruptcy proceedings, the bidder would not be entering into the process with the endorsement of Selig and MLB. That would render such a bidder not viable.

It’s possible Monarch could still tie up the case with motion and further litigation. But this procedure offers the greatest possibility the deal could be wrapped up in time for the Rangers to make their draft a talented class and to have an impact on the trade deadline.

“Odds are, the creditors won’t handle this well,” Greenberg said. “They may very well make a lot of noise. But the bottom line is the Rangers will satisfy all their obligations.”

 

[The Frontzeck]

Burning US flags according to talkshite.

Will the yanks do us a favour and declare war on the scouse?

Two weeks of unrelenting carpet bombing would only inprove Liverpool!

 

[Stuuuuuu]

Chubby Brown has put his name forward.

Heh heh heh!