Biggest D-Bags in Sports: The Wilpons

In the fall of 2007, I interviewed for a law position in Manhattan. The man interviewing me, an attorney and fellow Mets fan, struck up a brief conversation on the team. He asked how I was coping with the now infamous collapse, what I thought about the team acquiring Johan Santana and if I was going to miss Shea Stadium after 2008. Midway through the conversation, he explained that he went to school with one of the Wilpons, and had known the family for many years. As I shook his hand, I asked him "when do you think this team will get it together?" I'll never forget his answer.

"Never, as long as the Wilpons are running the show."

New York Mets fans have known for years that Fred and Jeff Wilpon were incompetent businessmen who may very well be clinically insane. After all, no logical human being would put Steve Phillips and then Omar Minaya in charge of a sports organization. What we didn't know is that they're (allegedly) crooks, as well.

They were recently sued for $300 million for their involvement in the Bernie Madoff scandal. The lawsuit claims that the Wilpons "knew or should have known Madoff was operating a fraud." The Wilpons, sensing trouble ahead, announced that they were looking to sell 20-25% of the Mets just hours before the specifics regarding the lawsuit were made public.

Time to sell off the rest of the 80-75%, guys.

My "Blow up the Mets" piece featured on Yahoo Sports a few months back upset many an Amazins fan convinced that this team was, in fact, a championship contender. How's that championship team looking now? Major League Baseball analysts from around the country, including ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, are already saying that the 2011 season is pretty much meaningless for the Mets.

Yes, the Wilpons have somehow managed to eliminate the Mets from playoff contention even before pitchers and catchers report. This has to be some kind of record.

Since the Wilpon family seized total control of the show in 2002, the New York Mets have won one meaningless division championship, achieved two memorable choke-jobs and fired four different managers. Oh yeah, they also paid Oliver Perez 36 MILLION DOLLARS. I know the Wilpons weren't the ones offering Ollie the deal, but didn't they notice the amount on the check they were signing each week?!?

Probably not.

There are a lot of jokes to make about the Amazin Madoffs and, trust me, fellow Mets fans and I have been coming up with new ones each day since January 28. With that said, nothing about this scandal or the thought of a completely meaningless baseball season is funny. There's speculation in the financial world, one that I'll never be apart of, that the Wilpons may actually be forced to sell the Mets when everything is settled. Why wait? The longer this goes on and the more that comes out, the worse the Mets organization is going to look; as if sharing a city with the 27-time champs didn't already do a sufficient job in that department.

Knowing in April that the 2010 New York Mets were a mediocre team, at best, I happily jumped on the New York Red Bulls bandwagon. I'm now taking it one step further. From this moment on, I will not spend a cent on tickets to a New York Mets game or on Mets merchandise for the rest of the year. Team ownership has made this a "meaningless" season. What's the point in wasting my time?

So congratulations, Wilpon family, on joining The Dolans, Hollywood Brett and others on my list of the biggest d-bags in sports. I'd offer you some sort of trophy but you'd probably just sell it. You could certainly use the money.

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