Americans are predictable: money is the arbiter of success, (It is very simple money is aristocracy, the more you got the higher up you are - a millionaire is a mere Sir and a billionaire is a Prince); they cheer a winner regardless of his or her behavior; they support a victim regardless of the circumstances; they just worship entertainers, - of any variety but particularly those involved with a ball of any sort and they are entranced by the drama of the courtroom, having a touching belief in the justice system. These cultural characteristics have taken over from more humble tokens like log cabins, mother’s milk, Davy Crocket hats and apple pie as the bedrocks of the American value system. Often a notable can encompass more than one of these characteristics and can then set the world on fire. Witness Donald Trump an unashamed boor and braggart but a billionaire winner none the less. That coupled with his entertainment skills and he is off to the races - Presidential races that is.
Top entertainers in sport have an incredible following and it is fair to say are the most admired of all the American icons. Good or bad off the field they capture the imagination and admiration while the public never give up on them. Witness the sudden return to form of somewhat scandal tarnished Tiger Woods in a golf event last weekend. The ticket sales went up dramatically. Now if one these champions with a ball appear in a legal drama the nation sits back spellbound day after day watching each play in the court of another sort. Just remember how the nation paused while the O. J. Simpson trial played out while each infringement of a National Football League Player garners all the attention in the world. Nothing engrosses a celebrity hungry society as much as a tragedy to an all conquering hero such as the affliction that baseball great Lou Gehrig had. In tribute he then had his lethal neuronal disease named after him. A victim not only evokes empathy, sympathy and compensation but is somehow admired for bearing his cross and this too is seen as emblematic of the Great American psyche today.
I WANNA BE LIKE MIKE
The above are examples of top dogs that had encompassed a few of the attributes that epitomize the great American society. What if one champion exhibited them all? Enter Michael Jordan the most accomplished sportsman/entertainer in Jay H. Ell’s lifetime. Now that is saying something because there have been the likes of Pele, Federer, Nicolas and Gretzky.
Now none of these displayed the all round talent, skill and determination of the famous Chicago Bull, MJ, who is as internationally well known as anyone. It is that much harder to stand out in a sport that relies on teamwork than a pastime that you either compete as an individual or where your own performance is not dependent on anyone else. Jordan was not only the greatest star n his own right he took a team to the dizziest heights that only had one other luminary and elevated the play of everyone else. To just cite one example, Dennis Rodman who was an absolutely unpredictable individualist who danced to his own drummer and MJ integrated him into the team building him up to be the rebound king. Jordan would take the responsibility for all key plays and although everyone knew the ball was coming to him he still converted. Then when everyone read his game and double and even triple teamed him he changed his style totally - no more knifing his way to the hoop, either drawing the foul or scoring - rather shooting from the three point line and or drawing defenders and passing to players that had been left unmarked in the pursuit of him.
All in all the Bulls won 6 championships in the 1990’s. There would have been more had there not been the punctuation in the maestro’s career after the first three when Mike went off to play baseball. In addition, Gerry Reinsdorff, the greedy Bull’s owner, knew he had sold all the tickets for a new stadium so he would no pay all that money to keep that Dream Team intact after their sixth Championship. In short Mike was a phenom and left at the top of his game. He played for another year or two elsewhere but the light had gone out. His legacy was ensured. He was known as “Air Jordan” and “His Airness” but more significantly MJ, his initials, are better recognized than JFK or LBJ by today’s generation. The NBA website acknowledges that he was the greatest basketball player of all time and in Jay H. Ell’s opinion the greatest sportsman in history.
MIKE THE BUSINESSMAN
After he had finally stopped playing he went into business. It made sense that he invested in a basketball team but the basis of his massive fortune became public as a result of litigation, that he initiated and that played out in Federal Court Chicago last week. But more of what that is all about later.
MJ is the only sports billionaire. His investment in a basketball team is said to be worth about $500 million and he has an annual income of well over a $100 million a year that comes from branding his name. A decade after he had called it quits he obtains over $80 million a year from Nike. Nike of course collect billions from sales from MJ’s named sneakers. This franchise is growing and growing. “His Aireness” makes millions from every other company that he is connected with. This includes Hanes underwear and a memorabilia company, Upper Deck. This explains why MJ is never prepared to sign autographs - he was reportedly under contract not to do so. So 12 years after shedding his Nike sneakers he limits his signature and it fetches higher and higher amounts.
JORDAN’S LITIGATION
With all this as a background we proceed to the litigation that took place in the Dirksen Federal Court in Chicago last week. MJ sued, Safeway, the holding company of a grocery store, Dominick’s, that had gone bankrupt, for $10 million dollars. The basis of his claim was that Dominick’s had sent out a flier congratulating him on his election to the Hall of Fame in 2009. The flier also offered two dollars off on a meat product on presentation of the flier. Two customers took advantage. Jordan maintained that his number and likeness had been illegally used. (MJ who fancies himself as American aristocracy had a request denied by the Judge that he enter the court via a special security entrance).
Jordan on the witness stand admitted that he was doing just fine but he argued that the use of his name was worth $10 million. His counsel argued that his name brand had to be protected. Safeway, the defendants who had owned the now defunct grocery store produced experts that maintained that at most the compensation for this flier should have been a $150,000. So the great MJ the greatest sportsman of the twentieth century was a victim. Someone had used his name congratulating him in a flier and had as a result had $4 worth of coupons redeemed . MJ believed that as his name had been unlawfully abused he was entitled to $10 million.
The sickening part of it all is that the jury, made up of the likes of you and Jay H. Ell, instead of telling this megalomaniac to go jump into Lake Michigan awarded him $9 million dollars! It seems that MJ, the winner both as an entertainer and a businessman, was a victim as well being a central character in a drama played out in court. Do the jurors believe that these awards to a billionaire are not without cost to the man in the street? Does the pompous MJ warrant having the cost of groceries increased because he has delusions of grandeur? If he could have shown that Dominick’s had profited by this gesture he would have well been entitled to a share. But that was not the case.
“His Airness’s" argument that this is not about the money - ostensibly it is about him being used and being made a victim - is hollow. Nobody even knew about the whole incident till MJ made it public. It is blatant greed. Whenever anyone says it is not about money it is about money unless they actually don’t get any money.
So the leading billionaire entertainer and a winner too in business, successfully persuaded his peers, that is us, that he had been victimized and was entitled to win the lottery. In addition he used the opportunity to punt his restaurant but more significantly to obtain tens of millions of free advertising for his brand in addition to the nine million he didn’t really want. Besides there was the message to all potential sponsors of his worth as determined by his peers, (the buyers) - this not in a poll, but in a court of law.
THE ALTERNATIVE?
Could the outcome have been any different. Now if MJ would have ignored the whole tepid event no one would have been any the wiser. The little congratulatory flier from the dying store would have just floated away into nothingness. It was not accompanied by media headlines, “His Airness taken for a ride” or “MJ’s brand abused” . So Air Jordan could have let it fly away.
Then the jury, that is us, had an opportunity to inject some reality into this unashamed greed. They were asked to choose between two conflicting theories. On the one hand it could be argued that how could MJ’s brand suffer if no one even knew of the alleged slight. Likewise the defendants had gained no profit from the exercise so how could there be monetary damages? At most according to the defendant’s experts the damage suffered was about a $150,000. The other theory put forward by Jordan, a real expert on himself and who values himself really highly, said the "loss" was $10 million. Mumbo jumbo arguments were used to get to this number in relation to the Dominick case. It is all very well if firms that get billions in sales award him $80 million a year but “His Airness" was asking $10 million for the sale of two pieces of meat. The jury cruelly lobbed off a million and only awarded $9 million never - the- less, in so doing, laid down what they thought societal values should be. In Jay H. Ell’s opinion he should have been awarded a cent. He had suffered no real damage all he was doing was pumping up his own self importance and claiming even though there had been no real damages because he was MJ the victim he was entitled to it.
The belief too that no harm is done by making a rich grocery holding company pay out $9 million is a myth. What will happen is that the consumer will pay a little extra for each item as the company’s bottom line never suffers. But victim Jordan claimed that winner Jordan would donate all the money to charity so good is coming out of it. Be that as it may it would have been far more impressive if “His Airness” shelled out his own money. As for us when we pay an extra few cents for a loaf of bread we have to know its going to a good cause.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
Jay H. Ell is of the old school he believes that society deserves better. Those who are blessed to be winners in every field should be role models not unashamed uncaring megalomaniacs who are winners at any cost. They have a responsibility to those who are giving them these outrageous sums of money for their G-D given talent, however hard they work. MJ should take a leaf out of Federer’s book. He should listen to his acceptance speech delivered after winning the Connecticut Tennis Open for the seventh time. There was no false modesty, “His service worked well today” and in addition plenty of humility. His team and family were acknowledged for their contribution and sacrifice and every one down to the ballboys were thanked. Then unlike Michael he patiently signed every exited young fan’s hat, tennis ball or photo. Then without any publicity Federer ususally donates a chunk of change to his Foundation which to date has provided finances to assist in the education of nearly a quarter a million children in Africa. In fairness to MJ he has a Celebrity Golf event once a year and he has raised over $7 million in the past 15 years.
MJ was the greatest ever and brought unforgettable entertainment to so many but apparently thats what he did for a living and should not be rewarded for it anymore than anyone else who does an honest days work. At the end of the day he is not really an icon who one can enthusiastically reminisce with one’s grandchildren as someone you would like them to emulate.
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