Ugh - WSJ reporting Steelers being secretly shopped.

Anyone who bought the Steelers would have to be a Grade A retard to want to move them given the fan base they have there and the support they get from the city and surrounding areas.

 

Good question. Would certainly be a nice consolation price for missing out on the Cubs.

 

Would the Rooneys sell to him?

Also, I would imagine any new owner would have to agree to keep the team in Pittsburgh for the Rooneys to sell, at least as long as Dan Rooney is alive.

 

As a Pittsburgh kid who would keep the Steelers in town, I'm not sure there would be too many complaints about that choice. Though going from the Rooneys to Cuban would be more than a jolt.

 

I wouldn't complain at all. I just wonder how the Rooney family feels about the guy.

I also wonder if Cuban really cares much for Pittsburgh at all any more. He says all the right things, but given the choice of the Cubs or his hometown Pirates, I think he would still pursue the Cubs.

 

Even when things are -- or merely seem to be -- broken, it seems the Rooneys have a history of riding the storm out. Remember the lean years in the 1980s? Most owners would have fired Chuck Noll no matter how many Super Bowl rings he has. Most teams probably would have been on their 10th coach since the last Noll coached Super Bowl team.

And then there've been the Bill Cowher years when the team has been under .500.

I welcome the "if it isn't broken, no need to fix it" mentality. I wish others had that.

 

Well, he is a businessman. And owning a piece of the Steelers would probably be lucrative business. Like the Cubs, it's one of those cherished franchises with a rabid national fan base.

 

Less than a week from the whispers of a sale to the deal being finalized? That makes me think it's already a done deal.

 

If this is true, this Druckenmiller will never have to buy a shot or a beer ever again.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08190/895537-66.stm

Investor would leave Steelers in Rooney's control, source says
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Stanley Druckenmiller, the billionaire chairman of Pittsburgh's Duquesne Capital Management and a member of Oakmont Country Club, was contacted by a member or representative of the Rooney family about buying shares in the team, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has confirmed.

It is unclear just how much interest Druckenmiller would own in the franchise, but, according to a source who is a friend of Druckenmiller, he has been approached about possibly purchasing the shares of at least two or three of the Rooney brothers.

The source said Druckenmiller is only interested in providing investment capital to the Rooney family and would let Dan Rooney run the team "as long as he wants." He also said it has been Druckenmiller's "lifelong dream" to be one of the Steelers' owners.

Several years ago, Druckenmiller came to Oakmont's rescue when the club was involved in a power struggle with the United States Golf Association over the construction of a new pedestrian bridge.

When the USGA told Oakmont it would not bring a U.S. Open back to the club until a new bridge was built over the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Druckenmiller agreed to pay for the bridge as long as his donation remained anonymous. Druckenmiller paid between $500,000 and $800,000 for the bridge.

 

Druckenmiller is a first class guy........This would be great for the Steelers and Pittsburgh.