The Weekly Dis
I hate the Carolina Hurricanes more. A 7-year-old gets his name on the Stanley Cup. U.S. cities (but not Chicago) are getting hosed by FIFA. An excellent week in Discasting.
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As most readers of this blog are aware, I'm not a huge fan of the Carolina Hurricanes. It goes way back. It starts with ownership.
The previous absentee owner bought the team out of state receivership from a Connecticut governor who – after the absentee owner moved the team to Raleigh – spent his retirement on the board of directors of the absentee owner's software company. In other words, the governor sold the team and sold out his state in exchange for a two-day-a-year gig that paid six figures (I think it was $250K) a year. Every soul has a price, eh?
But, damn, the former absentee owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, Pete Karmanos, was Bluey compared to the current absentee owner, Tom Dundon.
Dundon began building his fortune by peddling subprime loans, a profession that is parallel to selling children for medical experiments (H/T, Monty Python). Dundon lives in Dallas, where he is growing his fortune as a real estate developer, a job for which subprime lending is the perfect background. His time as lord of the Hurricanes has yielded on-ice success, to be sure. At the same time, he has run his hockey business with the heart of a repo man, shedding longtime employees along the way. It's not a terrific stretch to say that everyone who leaves that organization despises the owner.
(Digression: Dundon bought the Portland Trail Blazers in March. Among his first orders of business was to demand that the cost of a $600-million arena renovation be covered, 100%, by taxpayers. "It feels like we're making a pretty big investment by staying here and paying these tax rates," Dundon said by way of explanation. Does a multi-billionaire demanding public funds sound familiar, maybe even close-to-home? I tell anyone who thinks the biggest problem with the Blue Jackets is their ownership, who believe the team needs to be sold: Be careful what you wish for, because there are plenty of assholes out there who'd love to buy the Jackets. Which gets this discussion back on track.)
Earlier this week, the Dundon Experience reached a global audience when the Stanley Cup showed its latest etchings – the names of the 2026 champion Carolina Hurricanes that are carved into the trophy.
Now, there have been championship owners who've tried to get their father's name on the Cup (Peter Pocklington of the dynastic 1980s Oilers did that, and when the Hockey Hall of Fame found out, daddy's name was Xed out.) More recently, Florida Panthers owner Vinny Viola had three of his relatives etched on the Cup – but in Viola's case, each of the relatives either worked for the team and/or was an alternative governor on the league's board.
This year, Dudon Dundonded like only Dundon can. The Cup reveal showed that, for all of posterity, the top two rows of the trophy-winning 2026 Hurricanes is comprised of Dundon, his wife, Veruschka, and their five children – Caden, Dax, Drew, Blake and Tagan.
Veruschka has no role with the club. The five kids are all school-aged; the youngest is 7. The only real surpise is the family dog, Dooshie, is not carved in there, too. (I don't know if the Dundons have a dog or, if they do, what his/her name is. "Dooshie" just popped to mind.)
Nicholas McEntyre
The coach, Rod Brind'Amour? Row three. The captain and Conn Smythe winner, Jordan Staal? Row nine.
This is, as Sports Illustrated used to say, another Sign of the Apocalypse. Here we have most difficult trophy to win in all professional sports, and one of the ultimate symbols of teamwork at the highest level of sport, and the owner has his wife and five kids (if not Dooshie) – who've done nothing but get ponies every birthday, and yacht – etched in the vanguard of glory, for all time.
There is no more shame, not even in hockey. Billionaires rule.
Chicago to FIFA: We will not be shaken down
If you're old enough to remember the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup, in 1994, you're likely to conjure the opening ceremony at Soldier Field in Chicago, which was one of nine host cities. Flags waved. Bill Clinton was there. It was the day of the OJ chase.
FIFA wanted Chicago in on this year's World Cup, but Chicago wanted no part. Why? As former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel explains, FIFA wanted to take all the money and leave Chicago with all the bills.
“I was not gonna basically allow taxpayers of the city of Chicago to be dumb money,” he said. “They assumed that we were gonna take all the risk and they were gonna get all the reward. I told them to take a hike.”
Mary Ann Ahern
It will be years before a final accounting is in from the 11 host cities in the U.S. – Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelpia, Seattle and San Francisco.
Judging by more recent reports I've read, there will be a net loss on state and municipal investments and a shortfall in projections for things like hotel stays; at the same time, all the stadiums were in place (no new ones needed to be built) and the money invested in other forms of infrastructure (mass transportation in LA, for example) was probably well spent.
Generally speaking, we're still in the glow of what has been a terrific tournament with massive, worldwide television ratings, and host cities are basking in that glow, trying to calculate the intangible value. Like, how often does a city have a chance to welcome the world?
I'm just throwing this out here: It's quite possible that Chicago did more restaurant business with televised watch parties than Kansas City restaurants did in a host city (except for the famed barbecue joints, which were packed) and saved a ton of money. Maybe, both cities are happy with how things are turning out.
In sum, the U.S. isn't going to get hosed like Brazil (which can't afford it) or Qatar (which can). The ultimate verdict will sound something akin to, "It wasn't terrible."
Anaheim matches Philly's offer sheet for Leo Carlsson
Just over a week ago, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere tendered a five-year, $90 million offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks restricted free agent center Leo Carlsson. It rocked the NHL, as it guaranteed that Carlsson, 21, would become the league's highest-paid player with a salary of $18 million (average annual value).
Thursday, Ducks GM Pat Verbeek matched the offer, which is to say he accepted the contract and retained Carlsson rather than give him up for four first-round draft picks. Verbeek's yearslong rebuilding plan, part and parcel of which has been careful management of a salary structure, now has a big, fat wrinkle in it.
The fear in Columbus has been that if Briere didn't get Carlsson, Philly's next target might be the Jackets' RFA top-line center, Adam Fantilli. Jackets GM Don Waddell has said that he's not expecting to be targeted by any offer sheets, but if one comes at him, he will match. And he has the cap space ($23.27 million), according to PuckPedia to handle it.
A scan of the trades indicates that Briere is probably reticent to reload his cash cannon and fire off another offer sheet. Briere has at least one GM who hates him right now. With another offer sheet, that number might be 31.
Proviso: One never does know where the next twist is coming from at this time of year.
A couple of days before Anaheim matched the offer sheet on Carlsson, Aaron Portzline of the Athetic and I did a deep dive on the subject in a recording of the latest episode of the Cannon Balls podcast. Speaking of which ...
This week in Discasting
Among other interesting bits of conversation, Porty talks about how he went into research mode (as he is wont to do) to figure out which, if any teams, had both four first-round draft picks (picks that must be their own) and the cap space to make an offer-sheet run at Fantilli. It's probably fewer than you think.
Good stuff here. Like, what do you think the Jackets' lineup will look like on opening night in October? We talk about that, and much more. Check it out.
How was the World Cup game between the U.S. and Belgium like Johnny Manziel's first appearance against the Cincinnati Bengals? If you dare, you can find out on the latest episode of The Crewcible podcast.
I welcome back Neil Sika, the Costas of Columbus, for his fifth appearance on the pod. Sika was the longtime (2008-2022) radio/TV voice of the Crew. He continues to work for an alphabet soup of outlets, including the Big Ten Network, covering many different spots. His main gig is serving as one of Apple TV's play-by-play voices for MLS telecasts.
We talk about the World Cup as it enters the quarterfinal stage and all things Crew. Sika's the best.
(Podcasts also available at Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms besides my YouTube channel.)
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Michael Arace
