ON THE MARK.

FAREWELL TO A GREAT OWNER AND A PRETTY FAIR COACH.

Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss died Monday at the age of 80.  It's unlikely we'll ever see another pro sports owner like him. He might be the best pro sports owner of all time.   He was fabulously wealthy, flamboyant, incredibly loyal and wanted nothing more than to beat the Boston Celtics. That was good enough for Laker fans.   Buss hadn't seen his Lakers underperform this season due to an undisclosed form of cancer.  Last night, however, he was there in spirit as the Lakers beat those hated Celtics at the Staples Center in L.A after a stirring pre-game ceremony to honour their late leader.
     When Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, he was part of the "new breed" of sports owners who were willing to spend the money in order to get a champion. He purchased the Lakers, the L.A. Kings, the Forum, and a large ranch from Jack Kent Cooke for a reported $67 million.  I can't imagine what those properties would be worth today.    In his first draft, he grabbed Ervin "Magic" Johnson, and "Showtime" in Los Angeles was born.  Buss believed that basketball games had to provide an entertainment value that the game only couldn't provide.  Soon, stars like Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon were regulars at courtside and in the "Laker Club" at the Forum.    The Laker girls were shapely cheerleaders, similar to the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.   Soon, the Lakers were becoming "America's Team" with Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy and coach Pat Riley, who wore expensive suits and slicked back hair.   The Lakers won the NBA title in Buss' first season as owner, and then went on to win 4 more titles in the next 8 years.  Not bad at all.  Then, in the 2000s, five more titles under coach Phil Jackson.  In all, ten NBA titles and 16 appearances in the Finals for Buss' Lakers.  Kobe Bryant said it best last night "On Monday, we lost what we know to be the greatest owner in sports, ever," Bryant said. "He was a brilliant, incredible owner, and he was even a better person, with a great heart. His vision has transcended the game; we are all — all — spoiled by his vision, and by his drive to win year after year after year."  The Lakers wore patches with the initials "JB" on them.   Perhaps his vision will spur the Lakers to a playoff spot this year.
       Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres fired a pretty good coach.  Lindy Ruff didn't win any Stanley Cups in his almost 15 years behind the Sabres bench, but he did compile a winning percentage of .560 in the regular season and .564 in the playoffs.  Only once, prior to this season, did his team fail to reach the .500 mark.   But except for the Brett Hull goal in the 1999 Cup final that saw Dallas beat Buffalo, Ruff never made it to the final and, of course, never won a Stanley Cup.   Nevertheless, just like Kobe Bryant played for only one owner, Jerry Buss, many Buffalo Sabres have only played for one coach.   Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville and Tomas Vanek were all shocked when they found out that Ruff had been fired.  In fact, the Sabres players were on the bus about to head to Toronto yesterday when Ruff poked his head in, and told them he had been fired.  All the players got off the bus, embraced their former coach, wept, and got back on the bus and back to business.  It must've been incredibly difficult for all.
        Ruff was the second-longest tenured coach in pro sports next to Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.  Most of the time, he had to deal with an owner that didn't want to spend the money to get  good players.  Only when Terry Pegula bought the team last year did the Sabres start spending money.  Unfortunately, that didn't help the Sabres on the ice, and since Pegula promised the team would be of championship calibre, he had no choice but to let Ruff go.    And if you thought 15 years without a championship was too long to keep a coach, consider that the Utah Jazz kept Jerry Sloan as their head coach for 24 years and won zero titles.   The Chicago Blackhawks had Billy Reay behind the bench for 14 years and never won a Stanley Cup.   In baseball, Connie Mack was the manager of the Philadelphia A's for 53 years, but didn't win a World Series over his final 19 seasons.  Of course, he owned the team, so he wasn't about to fire himself.   As for Lindy Ruff, he won't be unemployed for very long.  He is highly respected around the NHL by players, fans and other coaches.    The same respect and admiration was true for Jerry Buss.   One is gone forever, but the other has many more good years ahead of him.