Imrem: Reinsdorf giving loyalty a bad name
Jerry Reinsdorf made a fortune in real estate, won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and won a World Series with the Chicago White Sox.
But Reinsdorf's most remarkable accomplishment is something altogether different and more difficult.
While intending to do just the opposite, Reinsdorf has given loyalty a bad name.
Hard to do, don't you think?
Reinsdorf's current misguided loyalty reportedly is intending to keep Bulls basketball chiefs John Paxson and Gar Forman secure in their jobs.
The Atlanta Falcons are being ripped for having a bad half in the Super Bowl, while the Bulls have been half bad for more than half a season and much of half a decade.
Everybody who cares about the Bulls is frustrated. The difference is those within the Bulls' organization are paid to be frustrated and those outside pay to be frustrated.
Yet Paxson and Forman will remain in their positions for the foreseeable future, which in Bulls years is forever.
Reinsdorf, the Bulls' chairman, is loyal to Paxson. Michael Reinsdorf, the Bulls' president, is loyal to Forman. Paxson and Forman are loyal back at them. The circle remains unbroken.
The problem is the Reinsdorfs' loyalty is in direct conflict with their disloyalty to the people who really count: fans who fill the United Center to watch NBA basketball.
Loyalty is one of the most cherished commodities in any walk of life.
Think about it: What's more respected than loyalty to country, to family, to friends, to pets, to a job, to core values?
Reinsdorf has demonstrated all of that … and in the process demonstrated that loyalty has boundaries.
OK, so Reinsdorf is loyal to his people … what's wrong with that?
Nothing except that at the same time he is being disloyal to loyal Bulls fans.
Sometimes loyalties to both country and religion conflict. Sometimes loyalties to both family and friends conflict.
As chairman of the Bulls and White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf remains loyal to employees loyal to him.
Never mind that Paxson and Forman have run the Bulls basketball operation long enough to win something significant … and failed.
Their players don't fit each other. Their players don't fit their head coaches. Their head coaches don't fit their assistant coaches. Too often too many of them don't fit the front office.
The mix boils over into unprofessional behavior unbecoming a professional sports franchise.
Yet Paxson and Forman remain entrenched in their jobs, a sure sign of loyalty to employees running amok along with disloyalty to fans.
It's almost as if paying customers are being taken advantage of for leading the NBA in attendance.
Sports owners utter that they don't really own their teams, that they are merely caretakers and teams actually belong to fans.
The Bulls prove that's a fib.
Bulls fans keep buying tickets — though not always using them this season — which permits ownership to continue plodding along with Paxson and Forman.
When loyalty collides with disloyalty, both sides lose unless the team manages to win anyway.
Sports loyalty is great only when directed toward fans paying too much money rather than employees being paid too much money.
Yep, sir, turning loyalty into a negative really is remarkable.
mimrem@dailyherald.com