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January 15, 2008
Mahoney story details past, present, future of Quakes
In a three-page article on si.com, Ridge Mahoney covers the past, present, and future of the Earthquakes. The story, which originally appeared in Soccer America, features quotes from many of the team's VIPs, including Lew Wolff and team president Michael Crowley.
The article also clears up a question that has had many Quakes fans wondering: When was Wolff approached to buy the team?
The day before AEG moved the team to Houston in December '05, Wolff took a pair of phone calls. The first came from AEG president Tim Leiweke, yet another of Wolff's extensive contacts in the sports industry. The second call came from someone he'd never spoken to: MLS Commissioner Don Garber."I didn't follow the Earthquakes too closely, I was so busy with other things in San Jose, where I'm active," says Wolff, who among other properties in the South Bay owns the Fairmont Hotel. "I didn't know Don, but he said, 'We're moving the team. Would you be interested in considering taking the Earthquakes name?' They wanted to keep the team name, so I said, 'Yes. Tell me what you want us to do,' and he said he'd get back to me."
That phone call evolved into an option to buy the team, which he exercised last summer.
Aside from a couple minor errors — John Fisher is the son of the Gap's founders and didn't start the company himself, for example — Mahoney turns in an excellent piece on the team.
Posted by Jay at January 15, 2008 08:52 AM