Dollars and Sense: Next on the help line...

You would think sports is our only chance to get away from the dire economic straits we read about every morning on the front page of the paper. It's not. In fact, our morning paper isn't even safe from the economic problems. The Wall Street Journal reports the New York Times is "actively shopping" it's 17.5% stake in the Boston Red Sox in an attempt to avoid the fate that tossed the Tribune Company into bankruptcy earlier this month. The NY Times hopes to fetch upwards of $300 million for their stake, but that seems highly unlikely due to tight credit markets and lingering skittishness on Wall Street. Barclays estimates the value of the stake currently falls somewhere around $166 million (think more than CC Sabathia, less than Mark Teixiera).

Across the country, NHL commish Gary Bettman is working on his best Hank Paulsen impression by coming to the aide of the Phoenix Coyotes. ESPN reports the NHL is assisting the Coyotes by attempting to find potential suitors to take over the cash-bleeding franchise. After losing over $60 million the past two seasons, the Coyotes are projected to be $30 million in-the-red this year when it's all said and done. Couple that with force-feeding a winter sport on a city with 110 degree summers and bankruptcy looks likely.

The NHL's reasoning for relocating the Winnipeg Jets franchise in 1996 made sense on paper. Tap into one of the fastest growing areas in the country and take advantage of the mostly upper-class neighborhoods like Scottsdale that surround the Glendale, AZ region. Unfortunately, Scottsdale was one of the hardest hit by the mortgage crisis over the past two years and disposable income for NHL games was the first to go. Chances are strong that a steep financial penalty exists if the team decides to break it's lease with Glendale, so bankruptcy declaration would likely provide cheaper ways to eventually sell the team and relocate (maybe back to Winnipeg?) if that's what a new owner wanted to do. What's really a shame is Phoenix is the best young NHL team you likely know nothing about, besides the fact that Wayne Gretzky is the head coach. This team is beyond loaded with young talent and on the same path the Pittsburgh Penguins and most recently Chicago Blackhawks have followed.

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