Friday, July 29, 2011

Jamie's Investor Circle Might Include Burkle?

"Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them. Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

Frank McCourt is digging around to find out who ex-wife Jamie McCourt is wooing to back a bid to buy the Dodgers. But according to Bill Shaikin in today's LAT, Jamie says it isn't Ron Burkle:

Did Jamie McCourt enlist billionaire Ron Burkle in her efforts to buy out her ex-husband Frank McCourt as owner of the Dodgers?

As Frank McCourt launched an unusually personal attack on Commissioner Bud Selig, and as Jamie McCourt charged her ex-husband with waging "jihad" against Major League Baseball at her expense, the newest development in the Dodgers' long-running ownership saga revolved around the potential involvement of Burkle.

Jamie McCourt has said for more than a year that she would line up investors in a bid for the Dodgers, but she never identified any potential partners. In an email dated May 31 and included in a Los Angeles Superior Court filing, an attorney for Frank McCourt asked for documents related to "the proposed deal with Mr. Burkle."

Dennis Wasser, an attorney for Jamie McCourt, would not say whether his client had spoken with Burkle but said she had not reached a pact with him or anyone else.

"There is no deal," Wasser said. "There is no draft of a deal. There are several qualified prospective buyers with a very keen interest who have called and inquired about the availability of the team."

Burkle, who owns a home in Beverly Hills and whose net worth is estimated at $3.2 billion by Forbes, is believed to be interested in buying the Dodgers. Steve Garvey said in April that he had partnered with Burkle, then conceded last month that the two men had no formal agreement. Burkle's spokesman declined to comment Thursday.

Jamie and Steve Garvey, both bringing up Burkle? Where there's smoke, is there fire?

photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times (June 17, 2011). By the way, I couldn't think of any other words that rhyme with "Burkle", so I'll take suggestions.

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