Tag Archives: GM

What GM Proves About Our Government That The GOP Doesn’t Want You To Know!

11 Jul

General Motors exited bankruptcy on Friday in just about 40 days.  That’s about two days less than it took the much small Chrysler to get out of bankruptcy.  Leaving aside whether government intervention was the right answer or not, getting both companies out of chapter 11 so quickly is amazing.

What certain Republicans would have you believe is not necessarily true.  Government can work and it can move quickly.  Granted, it doesn’t happen every time out, but GM proves that the system can work well.

Let’s keep that in mind as the health care debate continues.

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The Shocking Way Detroit’s Auto Makers Will Save Their Companies! (Video)

17 Jan

At the recent Detroit Auto Show, electric vehicles were the talk of the town.  Detroit is betting going electric is their best shot at future profitability not to mention continued sympathy and support from lawmakers in D.C.

Assuming GM lasts, their Volt actually may make it to market sometime next year.  Good move for GM.  It’d be a slam dunk though if they could figure out how to cut the price significantly.

From what I hear it’s going to be priced over 40K.  For that you get to be the first kid on your block to drive an electric car.  Unfortunately, the Volt isn’t much in the looks department.

At that price point, most folks wants something pretty for their hard earned money.  Just saying…

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Coach This! A Chrystal Ball Guide To Who’s Coming & Going!

9 Dec

Perhaps only the Pittsburgh Steelers, Utah Jazz and Atlanta Braves have truly learned the value of continuity.  Every other pro sports franchise these days either can’t find the right guy to hire or doesn’t give that guy enough time and support to really turn things around.

With that volatility in mind, here’s some quick thoughts on various pro coaches, their futures and recent pasts:

Marty Schottenheimer– Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage, the current coach/GM combo for the Cleveland Browns are in a lot of hot water.  One year after their breakthrough 10-6 campaign, the word is one or both of the two are likely goners.  And who’s rumored to take over?  None other than Marty Schottenheimer, who started his long and distinguished regular season career with the original Browns back in the ’80s.

Marty is a winner and has been everywhere he’s been, except for the playoffs.  The Browns may have overachieved last year, but they do have talent.  Wouldn’t it be something to see Marty Schottenheimer bring his career full circle by wrapping things up in Cleveland with the Super Bowl title he’s chased so long?  Stranger things have happened!

Wade Phillips– He’s got to be done now, right?  This past Sunday is a perfect example of Phillips’ head coaching legacy.  Up ten with nine minutes to go and he lets Offensive Coordinator/HC in Waiting Jason Garrett start winding down the clock way too early.  What should have been a huge road win and boon to Dallas’ playoff hopes ends up as another crushing defeat and Dallas will likely miss the playoffs.

Phillips is apparently a great defensive coordinator.  And, if he wants to stay in the NFL, that’s what he’ll be next year.  He’s finished running Jerry Jones’ squad.

Norv Turner – He’s Phillips’ flip side.  Turner is a great offensive coordinator who just can’t get it done as a head coach.  San Diego has way more talent than their record shows.  With Turner at the helm that’s not a surprise.  By now the league has caught on and neither Phillips or Turner will be a head coach anywhere other than in their current jobs.

Dick Jauron–  After starting the season at 5-1, it’s all gone down hill for the Bills.  Based on that strong start, Buffalo extended Jauron’s contract.  What has Buffalo brass got to be thinking about that extension right now? 

I never understood the urgency.  But, maybe it’s cosmic payment for Jauron.  After all, he did a decent job in Chicago and got bagged there kind of unfairly.  (He got screwed over)  So, this could be the way the football gods make it up to him and his family.

PJ Carlesimo– A great college coach, who loves the NBA lifestyle too much to return where he really belongs.  Apparently, he’s a great NBA assistant and was very popular in that role in San Antonio.  Somehow he loses his people skills when he gets that head coach title.  Rule number one in the NBA is don’t alienate your franchise number one draft choice, especially when he’s going for 20 a night in his rookie year.   PJ forgot that.  And now the NBA will forget his name for future coaching openings.

Eddie Jordan– I can’t believe the  Wizards were stupid enough to fire him.  If I were a GM looking for my next NBA head coach, I’d have Jordan’s digits on speed dial.  The guy has won in places that no one wins.  As a player, he led Rutgers to a Final Four.  As an assistant coach, many felt he deserved more credit than Byron Scott for the lowly NJ Nets fortunes turning earlier this millennium.  Leaving Jersey for another perennial loser in DC, Jordan managed to regularly get the Wizards to the playoffs before being dismissed.  Some day, Eddie Jordan will win an NBA title as a head coach.  And that day will come before the Wizards franchise grabs its next title.

Kevin McHale– What a great player and what a horrible GM.  His reign of terror in Minnesota goes on unabated.  There’s no logical explanation for his lasting so long there even if he’s a massive b-ball icon in the state.  It’s bordering on the ridiculousness of Elgin Baylor’s time with the Clips or Mike Millsbury’s time with the NHL’s Islanders.

Now, however, McHale may be close to done.  Ownership fired the ‘Wolves head man and today word came out that McHale will be stepping down from his executive duties to take over as coach for the long term.   Only McHale can save himself now.

Hmmmm….. That move didn’t work out too well for one Isiah Thomas.  To be fair, McHale pulled this stunt once before and manged to go about 19-12.  For the Timberwolves these days, that would be a HUGE improvement.

So what’s the take away?

Everyone finds their level in life and in sports.  Great coordinators or assistants aren’t always great head coaches.  As a GM, it’s your job to know the difference.

If you’re a GM and you’ve got an Eddie Jordan at the helm, then be patient.  But, not so patient that he ends up turning into undeserving lifer like a Kevin McHale.

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Confession! I Get Emotional Over Detroit!

3 Dec

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I get emotional over Detroit.  Intellectually, I do believe a bail out should happen.  (please see post below – or don’t, it’s your call)

The prospect of Detroit going under hits a nerve with me.  I don’t really know why this is.  I haven’t bought an American car in over twenty years and don’t feel any particular guilt over that.  It just feels to me like America should produce cars and that at least some of those should be produced by American owned companies no matter how incompetant.

I don’t feel this way about many other products.  Most home electronics aren’t made in the U.S. any longe and I’ve never lost a second of my life pondering that.

There’s just something about cars.  Maybe it was growing up in the 70s?  I caught the tail end of the muscle car era.  As a very young child, my parents and some of my other relatives had some really cool cars back when America still knew how to make them.

And really, that’s probably the core concern for me.  It’s the making and the knowledge.  Our economy has changed from being a production based economy to an information based economy.  Much of that has to do with our growing prosperity over the last century.  And much of that is, in fact, natural and positive change.

My worry is that there is a point at which anything goes to far.  Don’t great nations have to retain the ability to compete and produce goods wanted around the world if they want to remain great nations?  It certainly seems so to me.  If that’s truth, then the failure of the American auto industry may be a signal of far greater troubles ahead.

And maybe that’s what has me so emotional or it could be my “man period”…

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Private Jets Be Damned! What’s A Lousy 25 Billion Anyway!?

3 Dec

Every morning when I wake up it seems that I’m greeted by the news of some other financial or quasi-financial company being bailed out by the federal government.  One morning it’s billions to AIG.  The next it’s billions to Citibank.  And then it’s AIG’s turn again. 

And when I say the federal government is bailing out the AIGs of the world, I really mean the US taxpayer.  Tons of our hard earned dollars are going to rescue corporations that failed due to lack of attention from our federal government coupled with the unchecked greed and incompetence of the upper management at these firms.

Like many of you, the whole thing sickens me.  I can’t escape the nagging feeling that history will report that a lot of the bailout money was misspent.  However, I can’t escape this other feeling that we’ve got to do something.  Like it or not, the failure of some of these huge financial firms would be devastating to the economy (as far as I can tell having never taken an economics or business course – not that those seemed to have helped AIG’s or Citi’s management too much).

What I can’t fathom is why Congress can’t get behind bailing out Detroit.  It was fantastic to make them sweat, but now that that goal is accomplished it’s time to give them what they want.

I totally get that the bailout of Citi and AIG helps not only their fat cat executives but also helps the economy in general.  In part by helping to ensure that the assistants and other non-fat cat types keep their jobs at AIG and Citi.

And really that’s my concern with Detroit.  I could care less about their bumbling executives.  But, how can we let autoworkers go under in this economy?  And what about all the businesses both large and small that depend on the US auto industry?  How can we risk turning all those people out in the streets now?

Sure, some say that foreign manufacturers would put some those people to work if the Big Three went under, but how long will that take?  Do we have that kind of time?

One common concern about all these bailouts is that no help seems to be coming to the common working person.  The government seems to only be in the business of saving big business from itself.

The Detroit rescue feels different to me.  At least a little.  This one seems closer to actually helping Main Street more than Wall Street.

That would be a welcome relief.

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