In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 331 Unexpected reaction

Michael Ovitz couldn't understand why the Ethan people who had given up just now suddenly became confident again.

"Think about what Marvin Davis once experienced?" Ethan said insinuatingly.

"An oil businessman from Denver, one of the top 50 richest people in the United States. He persistently donated money to the Donkey Party. With the help of Reagan, he obtained control of th Century Fox, and then sold Fox to Murdoch." Michael Ovitz said.

This incident that happened more than ten years ago is well known in Hollywood. At that time, 63th Century Fox was a big business. In addition to its film business, it also owned acres of land in Century City, a recording and publishing division, movie theaters in Australia and New Zealand, a home video business in Michigan, and a Coca-Cola bottling plant. and two top resorts, Pebble Beach in California and Aspen Ski Co. in Colorado.

But the company's top executives were obsessed with infighting. A 1981 report in the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The studio's machinations are comparable to the French court in the 17th century: power games, corporate backstabbing, and cautious sitting on the fence." "

At that time, Twentieth Century Fox was severely undervalued, which gave outsiders an opportunity to take advantage of it.

In 1981, Marvin Davis and international financier Mark Rich jointly acquired 7.22th Century Fox for US$20 million and privatized it.

At that time, Marvin Davis was once called "the man who ate Hollywood", and what happened next was even more bizarre. Mark Rich was charged with a series of crimes including tax evasion, wire fraud, and extortion. All of his assets in the United States were frozen, including his Fox shares. What’s even more outrageous is that Marvin Davis obtained a license to use low-cost He bought all his Fox shares at a price of

The Marvin Davis acquisition began in 1981 and was completed in 1985, which happened to be the first year of Reagan's two terms. In the last hour of his term, Clinton signed a pardon for Mark Rich.

The two happened to regard Marvin as a guest and had a good personal relationship. Reagan once complained that his movies were too vulgar. The latter was reported to the media by Davis's wife because he did not attend Davis's banquet in person. Threatened in person.

Of course Ethan didn't dare to speculate on the truth of the matter, but these relationships were all on the table.

"Then why did Marvin Davis participate in the bidding?" Ethan asked another question.

"Maybe he just thought investing in football was a good business," Ovitz speculated.

This is not wrong. Marvin Davis has indeed been very interested in sports in the past two years. He also tried to acquire the NBA Miami Heat before, but failed. He also wanted to acquire the Denver Broncos, but he still hasn't reached an agreement.

"But don't you think that joining at this time is a bit too hasty. Although a series of plans have been given, it looks like they were decided on the spur of the moment two nights ago." Ethan reminded.

At first, Ethan thought the other party was targeting Michael Ovitz, an old man who had been immersed in Hollywood all his life and who knew what he had done.

It's even possible that Davis came for the family behind him.

But now it seems that these answers are all wrong.

Ethan looked at the representative of the Hunter family who was sitting not far away. He was standing with the owner of the Denver Broncos. The two of them looked relaxed.

Do you think you have a chance to win?

"We have so many enemies." Ethan shook his head.

Then the meeting resumed and the group returned to their seats.

Ed Roski has been eliminated before, and the only two remaining candidates now need to conduct a new round of reporting. Of course, they can also say nothing.

"Ethan, should we come up with some new conditions." Michael Ovitz asked cautiously.

Even if it can increase the success rate, it would be good. The problem is that he can't come up with any attractive additional conditions at the moment, so he can only ask Ethan for help.

Ethan was noncommittal, then stood up: "I'm going to the bathroom."

Without waiting for Ovitz's response, he left directly, leaving Ovitz alone to worry.

Ovitz watched as McNair walked onto the stage again, held the podium and announced an even more exciting news to everyone present.

"Just now, we reached a new agreement with the Davis family. Marvin Davis no longer supports Ed Roski from California, but is willing to inject the promised investment into the Houston revitalization plan! I The amount of direct investment from China has increased again and is expected to exceed US$1.2 billion."

Spreading 12 billion investment club at the end of the old century is simply crazy!

When Michael Ovitz heard the news, he felt exhausted.

It's all over. This is a condition that is enough to kill the competition. At this point, the suspense has been completely lost.

In the audience, after the bosses heard this particularly exciting news, even those who had firmly followed the Rooney-Lama family, such as "Mrs. Ram" Georgia Frontier, also showed hesitation. Centrists like Bob Harlan, who represents the Green Bay Packers, also showed obvious tendencies at this time.

After all, McNair's Houston revitalization plan really gives too much!

"Mr. Ovitz, do you have any new news to announce?" Paul, the league commissioner standing on the side of the podium, looked at Michael Ovitz at this time.

Ovitz shook his head hard.

"Very good, after the final discussion, the final voting will begin." Paul said.

At this time Ethan returned to Ovitz.

"Why is it taking so long?" Ovitz complained.

"I made a call by the way." Ethan wiped his hands with a tissue.

"It's useless. It's useless to call anyone anymore." Ovitz explained the situation to Ethan.

And Ethan didn't have any surprised reaction, as if he already knew all this in advance.

The final voting result was not unexpected. The supporters of the Hunter family in the league and the impressed centrists all supported the Houston plan this time. The number of supporters exceeded two-thirds, and McNair won the 32nd , is also the last special training franchise in the foreseeable future.

McNair was invited to the stage again. In his speech, in addition to looking forward to the future, he also specifically thanked Lamar Hunter, who was not present today, the father of Clark Hunter, who is diagonally opposite to Ethan.

"Thank you to Mr. Michael and Mr. Ed Roski for their enthusiasm for the league. If the league continues to expand in the future, cooperation with the two will be first considered... The agenda for the next discussion will be related to the Cleveland Browns."

The ownership of the Cleveland Browns was determined two years ago and belongs to Alfred Lerner, who was once one of the shareholders of the Cleveland Browns and later successfully mediated the three-way talks between the NFL, Cleveland locals, and Model. Inheriting the Cleveland trademark, the original Cleveland Browns are now the Baltimore Ravens.

Alfred Lerner owns the second largest credit card issuing company in the United States, but he is usually very low-key and rarely appears in public. This time, he was replaced by a professional manager of the Browns.

He took the stage next and began to talk about the hardships of preparing the team for the past two years, from the venue to the personnel organization, to the high stadium costs until now. Two years later, it still cannot meet the competition conditions... After all, it is still for Want extra draft picks, and short-term NFL policy tilt.

This kind of thing involves everyone's interests, so naturally no one will agree to it.

"It seems that preparing the team is not an easy task. Let's leave it to you young people." Michael Ovitz comforted himself with an example in front of him.

Then he looked at Ethan beside him and said, "Is it time to leave now? What happens next has nothing to do with us."

"Of course it's relevant, look at that." Ethan pointed to the opposite side.

In the distance, McNair, who was proud to have just obtained the franchise, received a call. Before he could say a few words, his expression suddenly changed. Then he immediately stood up and walked to the sidelines, as if he had something urgent to say.

"It should be ours, it's ours after all." Ethan smiled.

Things were going in the direction he expected.

It took a full ten minutes for McNair to come back. Compared to how nervous he was when he left, his face was ashen and he looked a little desperate.

Upon seeing this, league commissioner Paul stepped forward to ask. Before the two exchanged a few words, Paul's expression changed drastically.

At this time, more and more team owners also noticed this, and for a while, the meeting room fell into whispers.

In an atmosphere of unease, Paul returned to the pulpit.

"Everyone, there are some issues regarding the ownership of the special training rights. McNair just said that he will voluntarily give up the management of the special training rights."

"This is a big joke!" Bob Harlan shouted.

"I bought these endless votes," Mrs. Lamm muttered.

"It seems that Mr. Michael Ovitz is more trustworthy!" Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who had been helped by Michael Ovitz, laughed heartily.

Cousins ​​Dan Rooney and John Mara looked at each other, then at Michael Ovitz. They seemed to have guessed something.

The young man Clark Hunter, the representative of the Hunter family, seemed a little angry at the moment.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft was the only person present who looked at Ethan. He was the only one who noticed Ethan leaving just now.

Michael Ovitz turned to Ethan and asked quickly: "Who did you call just now?"

"George Herbert Walker III. I told him that the Hunter family had roped in Marvin Davis, a big financier of the Donkey Party, and told him that if he didn't withdraw his capital, he would do business with the enemy." Ethan talked about what happened just now.

The family was hedging its bets, backing both itself and McNair, that much was certain.

And the Hunter family, for unknown reasons, actually took the initiative to intervene and personally brought in the rich to escort McNair. And this matter was also done very low-key, and the BDW family who was betting on both sides had no idea at all.

That's why Ethan said, there are too many enemies.

In a sense, this is not a bad thing, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The accidental crash was resolved in this way, allowing Ethan and Michael Ovitz to obtain the franchise rights without any danger.

More importantly, Ethan showed George Herbert Walker III that he was not easy to control. As for the backstab itself, Ethan will never forget it. He will give the other party sufficient "reward" when necessary.

Now there is only one question left, why did the Hunter family go to so much trouble to walk McNair? What kind of exchange of interests is there?

The meeting was forced to restart the topic. Since the winner chose to withdraw, the expansion plan could not be disrupted. Even though the Hunter family made it clear that they wanted to postpone, at the request of most team owners, Michael Ovitz still got the extension. Special training rights.

"Ten minutes ago, I thought it was all over. I think the mood at that time was similar to the Cowboys players at the end of the third quarter of the Super Bowl. Thank you Ethan for letting me experience what is called the 'Miami Miracle'" Michael Ovitz walked onto the stage with a smile and spoke, directly joking about Ethan's previous game.

Although according to the NFL's charter, active players cannot participate in team management, in fact this policy has become ineffective. For example, the Broncos quarterback John Elway's contract extension condition is that as long as he plays with the Broncos until he retires , you can get the first right to purchase a certain percentage of the Broncos shares after retirement.

After John Elway retired, he did become a shareholder and executive of the Broncos at a very small price, which is equivalent to an "option."

Ethan also used the same method, which is allowed, and he also has the right to dividends corresponding to the option. As long as he does not leave voluntarily, he will be the third largest shareholder of the new club.

"All in all, we can see another performance that is no less than a miracle in Miami in the next game! God bless." Michael Ovitz nodded.

Clark Hunt was the first to leave after the meeting ended without speaking to anyone, followed closely by Broncos owner Patrick Bowlen. As for McNair, Marvin Davis' son and others had already left early in despair.

Except for these two people, the rest of the people stayed in the conference room, congratulating Michael Ovitz one by one and welcoming him to the NFL family. Many of them were firmly supporting McNair just now and turned their backs. Faster than flipping through a book.

"If you encounter any difficulties in preparing the club, just ask me!" Wayne Huizenga hugged Michael Ovitz.

"Mr. Ovitz, one of my deputies helped me move the Rams to St. Louis. He has rich experience. How about lending him to you?" Mrs. Ram said directly.

"If necessary, I will speak to you." Michael Ovitz nodded.

Mrs. Rahm immediately reminded with a smile: "Preparing an NFL team is not an easy task. There are many details involved, and those players are no better than Hollywood stars. You don't know how much I spent." Thoughts." Then he winked at Michael Ovitz and said: "I'm leaving tomorrow, why don't I take advantage of tonight to have a good chat with you about this?"

Michael Ovitz looked at Ethan next to him, and when he thought about the past events in Ethan's mouth, he shook his head: "Forget it, Mrs. Ram, we will talk to you when we have the opportunity in the future. I want to confirm something with Ethan tonight... …”

This is not a lie. After obtaining the right to operate the special training, relevant preparations must be started immediately. Ethan must race against time and strive to start competing in the next season in a few months.

"Mrs. Ram, I think Michael may not be very interested in you after he is used to seeing female stars in Hollywood." Giants owner John Mara also joined the discussion at this time.

"Mr. Ovitz, if there hadn't been an accident just now, you wouldn't have been able to get the right to operate the special training. This is related to Hunter's operation. If the other party comes into contact with you privately in the future, you have to carefully consider the consequences." Dan Rooney said to Michael Ovitz, full of warning. When Ethan saw this, he immediately spoke: "If you want to win over us, you must at least show some sincerity, right?"

If there is anyone in the league whose reputation can be compared with Hunter's, the only one is Dan Rooney.

Ethan's words cannot be called respect. In his eyes, whether it is Rooney Mara, Hunter, or the BDW family, there is essentially no difference.

"In fact, we are indeed confused. Mr. Rooney, if you can, please tell us everything you know." Michael Ovitz laughed.

Dan Rooney glanced at Ethan, but he didn't refuse. He took the two of them to a corner where they could talk easily.

"When the NFL and AFL merged, the Hunter family and the owners of other AFL teams were very friendly, or they had to be friendly. In the first 20 years of the merger, the NFL was relatively harmonious, or , in a delicate balance. But with the death of George Hylas and a series of changes in team ownership, this harmony has been broken, and the league has begun to become unbalanced."

The George Hylas mentioned by Dan Rooney is the founder of the Chicago Bears, one of the oldest professional clubs in the United States. After that, NFL team operations were conducted in accordance with the methods he gave. He died of illness in 1982, and his daughter inherited the Bears. Today, the Bears have been completely marginalized. It has been a long time since anyone from the Hellas family showed up at the meeting.

"Lamar Hunt has been advocating for a more aggressive expansion strategy and more games. Unfortunately, most people were not on his side at the time. Later he decided to change his approach, and as you just learned, he and McNair made an agreement that Hunter would help McNair enter the NFL, and in exchange, McNair would have to listen to the Hunt family's opinions on league matters."

"From the relocation of the Cardinals to Arizona, to the Glazer family's founding of the Buccaneers, and the relocation of the Cleveland Browns, this is all inseparable from Lamar Hunter's advice. More and more team owners are beginning to favor Hunter. The family, eventually, will completely dominate the NFL, just like they did in the silver market twenty years ago."

"And the NFL, including you, only has 32 teams. If McNair had obtained the right to operate special training today, Hunter's die-hard supporters would have exceeded one-third, and most of these people are concentrated in the United States. United. This will cause the NFL to fall into a state of decision-making. In a sense, what you did today saved the NFL. From now on, I will never allow the expansion of even one team. And Hunter, there is a high probability I won’t give up either…” Dan Rooney told the two of them everything.

"What about you? If Hunter can do it, you can do it too, right?" Ethan asked.

Dan Rooney shook his head: "We neither have the strength nor the intention. We just join forces with several other teams when necessary to stop the Hunter family's tricks."

"Last question, who's on Jerry Jones?" Ethan asked.

"Jerry Jones can be said to be more biased toward us now, but he has experienced repeated leaps during this period. No one in the league trusts him. However, the Cowboys' results have been very dazzling in the past few years, and his voice has gradually increased."

Ethan nodded. If Dan Rooney wasn't lying, he already had a rough outline of the top level of power in the NFL.

"Thank you very much for the reminder, but what we need to consider at the moment is the smooth operation of the club, not how to stand in line." Ethan responded.

"You know, I've heard this sentence countless times." Dan Rooney shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Presumably, other team owners were also very cautious about this out of consideration for their own interests, which actually gave the Hunter family an opportunity to take advantage of it.

On the way back, Michael Ovitz sighed: "I didn't expect the NFL to be so complicated."

"It's normal." Ethan was not surprised.

The NFL is essentially a "parliament". The twenty-two teams are equally matched and have the same voting weight, so cliques are bound to form. As for why there is no news at all, apart from the fact that the top management pays great attention to privacy and will never put this on the table, the most important reason is: the NFL itself is in rapid growth, which will cover up many problems.

"Throughout my career I have worked hard to avoid situations like this that would lead to an organization becoming inefficient, and that will never happen at CAA."

Then why were you kicked out of CAA?

"Please note that I took the initiative to resign and seek greater development. Although it seems like a huge mistake now, I was definitely not fired at the beginning. Besides, my son and daughter are in love with art and are interested in managing the company and inheriting the inheritance. There is no need to turn CAA into a family business."

Ethan felt that what Ovitz said was true. Maybe his descendants would all have their own ideas. Otherwise, Michael Ovitz would not have been able to take his savings and resolutely invest in a sports field that he was not familiar with. With his knowledge of sports, The level of understanding is no different from wasting money.

"Although I have been avoiding this situation my whole life, I still can't escape it in the end. Ethan, who do you prefer between Hunter and Rooney?" Ovitz asked.

"Of course, it's to make repeated jumps to maximize profits. Having said that, I still think that the old Jones's choice is the most correct."

What Old Jones did set up a perfect reference for Ethan.

"Don't forget, our original intention in founding the club was not to play some 17th-century French court game. As the team's performance improves, its voice in the league will naturally increase. This is what old Jones inspired me." Ethan said.

Team performance is also related to income, and this is the right way.

After that, Ovitz returned to Los Angeles and began a series of basic preparations, setting up a company, signing agreements and so on.

Ethan went to attend the NFL Honors Awards Ceremony. Every year, the Professional Football Writers Association (PFWA) and the American Broadcasting Corporation (AP) hold votes to select the players with the best performance this season.

Although the NFL officially did not organize an awards ceremony this year, FOX TV took the initiative to host the awards.

As the biggest winner in the NFL this season, Ethan naturally received the invitation.

Three nights after the conference, Ethan showed up at the Peppermill Center in Tampa, Florida.

This was Ethan's first time on the red carpet, but the female companion beside him was more relaxed than Ethan.

"Why do you want to call me here alone this time?" Grace asked quietly in Ethan's ear.

She was wearing an exquisite evening dress tonight, with a flowing skirt and a dignified temperament. Not only was she beautiful, she was also over five feet ten inches tall, and she did not look too petite standing next to Ethan.

Although it was her first time walking on the red carpet, she seemed to be born for big scenes and had no stage fright. Whether it was in front of the camera or in front of the audience, her demeanor and face were no different from those stars in Hollywood who are used to walking on red carpets. Compared with her, the female companions of other players are like phoenixes and native chickens.

"Don't you like it? Then I'll call a few more over!" Ethan said.

"That's not possible, they are all very busy." Grace shook her head immediately.

"I'm not busy, I have time."

"No!" Grace stretched out her hand to block Ethan's mouth.

"My dear, I want to be alone with you." Grace bit her lower lip and said coquettishly.

Although she has integrated, she is not that selfless and is still somewhat selfish.

"I'm not a woman like Lisa who can make money, nor am I like Kelsey who will stay with you all day long, and we meet very rarely. You have to be nice to me, otherwise I will always feel that my status is low when I see them. .You didn’t take me with you when you went to Xisuo Island before!" She thought about what happened some time ago.

Ethan didn't tell her that the club had been finalized and she would return to Los Angeles to serve as his deputy.

Ethan, who fully understands the necessity of carrying water, nodded immediately: "After the award ceremony, the two of us will stay in Florida for two more days."

"Okay." Grace nodded heavily, raising the corners of her mouth, feeling that she had won and her waist could finally be straightened.

"Besides, I have something to tell you... you may have to play in a while." Ethan said suddenly.

·

"The first award to be awarded is the Super Bowl MVP. I think there is no need to go into details about its recipient. Let us shout out his name together. He comes from the Dallas Cowboys, the architect of the Miami miracle, and is known as the Son of God. Falling Leaves The inventor of the passing ball, the killer of female fans..."

After a long list of titles, Maddon handed the microphone to the audience.

"Ethan O'Connor!" Grace screamed, shouting with extra force.

Ethan stood up and walked onto the stage. Before he could make a speech, all the guests present stood up and applauded. The applause lasted for half a minute.

Ethan saw that the first row in the audience were several of his opponents this year.

Randy Moss, Terrell Davis, Charles Woodson, John Elway, Steve Young, Randall Cunningham…

Many people once thought that they were Ethan's challengers, or thought that Ethan's reputation was in vain, but now everyone seemed convinced.

"Oh, when I heard that the National Coaches Association was going to set up an award called the 'Ethan O'Connor Rookie Award', I hadn't decided yet whether to charge them for the right to use the name." Ethan laughed.

Sporadic laughter came from below.

"I have NIL rights, which the lawyer fought hard for. Why don't you let me sign the trophy? Then I can charge 25 cents more."

Combined with his humorous expression, Ethan successfully made most people laugh.

"To get back to the point, it all happened so fast. Sometimes I still feel like I'm still playing at the University of Alabama. This season has been like a dream for me, thank you..."

Ethan returned to the stage, and the Super Bowl MVP was the first award of the awards ceremony.

Each of the next awards will be interspersed with data honors.

Team scoring leader: Minnesota Vikings, scored 556 points this season. The 49ers got their most yards this season.

Coach of the Year went to Dave Campo, who looked so happy.

The Offensive Player of the Year was awarded to Terrell Davis of the Broncos. As a running back, his performance this year has been a cliff-hanger.

Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to Green Bay's Reggie White.

Defensive Rookie of the Year was also undisputedly awarded to Charles Woodson.

The Offensive Rookie of the Year naturally belongs to Eason.

The last and most valuable award - Player of the Year is called the Walter Payton Award this year to commemorate the great player who just passed away.

Ethan defeated all the players and stepped onto the podium for the third time.

This time Ethan was not talking about a talk show, but turned around and looked at the big screen behind him, which was playing his highlights this year.

"With that miraculous night, the 98-99 NFL season has come to an end. In the next few months, we may have to say goodbye temporarily, but the rookie physical testing camp is about to begin! In addition, we have another award ceremony this year. Important news for everyone.”

"At the recently concluded NFL expansion meeting, the league's third special training franchise was officially awarded to Michael Ovitz, a highly respected entertainment guru in Hollywood, who will establish the league's 32nd team in Los Angeles! I think the Los Angeles area audience in front of the TV is already screaming in celebration. Let's welcome the representatives of the new club to the stage to speak."

Grace stood up at this time, lifted her skirt, and walked carefully onto the stage in high heels.

"Currently, the new club's team name, logo, uniforms, including the cheerleading team, are still being prepared. We will do our best to complete the preparations as soon as possible and join the NFL family."

"If everything goes well, we will officially start competing next season!" Grace's voice spread throughout the venue through the speakers.

But there was no cheers or applause as expected.

Instead, they were whispering, mixed with sporadic laughter, as if they had heard a funny joke.

"Uh, Ms. Grace, the acting manager of the team, I think you are a little impatient. OK, no matter what, let us wish the new club all the best." Seeing that the situation was not going well, Madden immediately came to the rescue, and finally ended with applause.

Grace walked off the stage with confusion.

·

"You are too impatient, and Ovitz, the team owner, is not reassuring to begin with. He does not seem like the kind of person who would be passionate about football. In fact, many fans don't like him. , I feel like he regards this as an investment, a business.”

"And the news of the rapid establishment of the team also confirms the fans' concerns. You can't let the fans sit on the ground to watch the game, right?"

After the awards ceremony, Madden found Ethan and Grace to explain.

"We have a preliminary plan. While the stadium is being built, we will also rent the Rose Bowl stadium," Ethan said.

"This is still not enough... to reassure people, at least in the short term, you have to be prepared to withstand some negative criticism." Madden finally said.

(End of this chapter)