Mark Sha’s blog post on Toronto sports teams, and their success in the financial books compared to their lack of it on the court, is both interesting and thought provoking. He raises the notion that the owners of all three Toronto franchises, majorly Rogers Communications for all three clubs are only interested in the bottom line, and not team success. He then asks if this lack of success is down to a lack of hierarchical needs, or improper management. I believe the first bit to be true, but for the second question, I’d answer neither.

They have tried an array of approaches in hiring executives who they hand sole control of the team ranging from hiring sought after “rising executives”, to paying a premium to hire two general managers who were proven and highly  regarded(Brian Burke and Bryan Colangelo) to employing a young economics graduate who believes in the qualitative and innovative method of sabermetrics. Can upper management be to blame for lower managements failures? I believe that they have done the right thing in trusting in who they employed, and not simply firing them believing the savvy acumen that lead to past success has vanished. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and returning Toronto teams to prominence is no different. Time and money is prevalent, and now it’s up to the employees to pay back ownership.