Duck Brain Trust Draws Bench Penalty

The firing of Ron Wilson is but another indication of Tony Tavares’ arrogance, ego and total lack of respect for Orange County hockey fans.

Tavares believes that because hockey is still a relatively new sport to a number of people in this area, they can’t understand NHL personnel decisions. Tavares likely had Wilson fired for complaining about the same thing that local Ducks fans are already saying. Tavares refuses to put a crowbar in Michael Eisner’s huge wallet and provide more complementary talent for [Paul] Kariya, [Teemu] Selanne and [Guy] Herbert.

Ducks fans have been very faithful, and they deserve better than Tony Tavares. So did Ron Wilson.

JOHN FRASER

Aliso Viejo

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Being just your garden-variety, puck-impaired Southern California hockey fan, I was puzzled by Ron Wilson’s sacking. The Ducks, far from Stanley Cup-caliber, appeared to make the playoffs through over-achievement and gritty play when it counted. Aren’t these traits normally instilled by an aggressive coaching scheme? In this instance, Tony Tavares’ decision making conjures up the image of yet another Disney character: just plain Goofy.

JOHN R. GRUSH

Mission Viejo

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As a fan of the Mighty Ducks, I am embarrassed by the management of this team. They took no consideration of the opinion of the fans or their top players when they made this decision. The only thing that mattered was Tony Tavares and his ego. The person who should have been fired was Tavares. Until he realizes the Ducks’ win-loss record is more important than his bruised ego, the franchise is in serious trouble.

Good luck, Ron Wilson, and thanks for that glorious ride down the yellow brick road. We’ll miss you.

KIM KAVANAUGH

Huntington Beach

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How ironic: The Mighty Ducks and Disney must be reading a script to a Might Ducks movie. Only in this script it’s not the coach who is confused. Maybe Michael Eisner should hire Emilio Estevez to coach, or better still, let one of the “pixies” coach the team. After all, if they can manage to hold together some “high-tech” fantastic parade, they can certainly manage and coach under Tony Tavares. Remember, pixies never grow up, and they just want to play. By the way, where was Tony Tavares? Still in “Never Never Land?”

DAYLE IRVIN

San Clemente

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The truth is, Disney doesn’t want to pay the market value to renew Ron Wilson’s contract. Believe what Disney does, not what they say.

The central theme in 60 years of Disney movies has been honesty defeats lies and good triumphs over evil. Disney listed Wilson’s candor with the press as a negative. This fact screams volumes about the lack of character of the executive management at Disney. One would have hoped that truth and candor were a plus, not a negative, in dealing with the press. Can one imagine Walt Disney even thinking, let alone announcing that being truthful contributed in any manner to the failure to retain an employee?

You can believe Disney when they publicly state Disney’s image is more important than truth. Wins are the long-term key to hockey and baseball attendance and success, not image.

RUSS PATTERSON

Orange

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Regarding the firing of Ron Wilson: It’s a shame that Jack Ferreira used such a lame excuse as “philosophical differences” for his and Tony Tavares’ actions. I guess Jack and Tony have a philosophical difference with concepts such as winning, fan appreciation and player respect. This is another example of how local sports management can take a successful recipe and trash it. What’s next? Are they going to follow that other ex-local, pathetic, professional sports owner to St. Louis? Here we go again, another good local team being sabotaged by its management. Good luck, Ron, in the future. Thanks for everything you’ve done and we’ll miss you.

STEVEN SCHOLL

Costa Mesa

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OK, Mouse-ke-Ducks and Angel-teers, listen up, here’s the man who is leading your organizations: Tony Tavares, as shown in last week’s Times profile, is a man who berates and belittles the people working under him because he is an incompetent and egotistical man with few, if any, skills. Not too long ago he lied when he said the Disney Company was no longer interested in purchasing the Angels, even though the company was in secret talks with the City of Anaheim. Last year he said he held all Angel players accountable, yet this week, when he made the biggest and worst decision of his short tenure, he hid from the press conference so he wouldn’t have to be held accountable for his stupid decision. This is the man hand-picked by the Walt Disney Company to represent it, showing again that when the fairy dust disappears, we have just another corrupt corporation led by disgusting little men.

R.L. WHITMAN

Corona del Mar