Anyone have good stories about when JKC was owner?

[hail2skins]

Over the weekend I ordered a new book called "Showtime" by Jeff Pearlman (who has also written other sports-related books, including one about the Cowboys dynasty of the early-to-mid 90s). This new book is about the Lakers 1980s dynasty, and begins by devoting the first couple of chapters to Jack Kent Cooke, who owned the Lakers from 1961 through 1979, also brought the Kings to LA, and built the Forum.  Anyway, the book made Cooke out to be a real prick, particularly after he suffered a heart attack in 1973.  Stories about how he'd call employees phones and give them three rings to answer before firing them, etc.  Apparently Cooke was inclined to go along with Jerry West's recommendation to pick Sidney Montcrief with the first pick of the '79 NBA draft, but in the end recognized that Magic Johnson would do more to generate interest and attendance.  Funny story about when Magic first got to LA and had dinner with Cooke and JKC was insisting that Magic eat this exotic fish and all Magic wanted was a hamburger.

 

I know its not news that JKC was not exacly a saint, but does anyone know of any other stories about him during his Skins tenure?  I know that he made Gibbs mad in '91, claiming that Jimmy Johnson was building a great young team in Dallas (well, JKC was right about that) and of course had his battles with DC politicians that resulted in our current stadium not being in the city.  Anything else that folks have heard?

[88Comrade2000]

I think SI had an article on him around the time we won our last Superbowl.  He was a prick but he was our prick.

 

Dan Snyder can't hold a jock strap to Cooke.

[Hazel-Ra]

Yes, Sundays were fun, we won more than we lost, and won 3 out of 4 trips to the Super Bowl. The end.

[Supreme Wu]

We won Superbowls. 

 

Storytime over.

[Timmy Smith]

Random memory: I remember after we'd won the Super Bowl against Denver, and Brent Musberger was interviewing Gibbs and JKC in the locker room, as the champagne sprayed in the background.  There had been some stories in the papers a couple months earlier, about how the name Redskins was derogatory, and whether the team should change the nickname... the front office had been resolute in its defiance, and even more so than Snyder is these days.  It wasn't a really big story at the time, and it had long-since faded from the headlines by the time the Super Bowl rolled around.  (I'm not diminishing its importance or passing judgment; just calling it like it was at the time.)

 

Anyway, JKC gets asked what it means to win the title, etc.  He offers some standard, kind words to the coaches, players, and fans, and then, as the mic is being redirected towards someone else for the next question, he pipes up loudly and leans into the mic and bellows, in his trademark gravelly voice, "oh - and one more thing - there is NOTHING wrong with the name.... REDSKINS."  And he smiles, this sort of Mr. Burns-on-the-Simpsons smile, and lets his words sink in for effect.  It was kind of awkward, but whatever...  I remember my little brother and I as kids, laughing at how over the top it was, as we'd replay it on our VCR.  It kind of summed of JKC: crotchety, defiant, but devoted to his Skins.

[DButz65]

He didnt charge us for pre-season games until late in his ownership. I remember people lining up outside of RFK

to purchase pre-season tickets.. yes back then people wanted to see pre-season games.

[warskins65]

He use to give stuff away at games as well. For the first 10,000 to 20,000 fans at RFK, he would give Christmas tree decarations, posters, seat cushions, etc. Considering you only paid $35 to $45 a ticket, and you got a free souvener if you got there ealy enough, another word I would use to describe JKC, generous.

[skins island connection]

 If he were still here [ god rest his soul ], he would have put Mara AND Goodell in their place.

 

 But he was an owner who wasn't afraid of ****, and everything he touched turned to gold, at least in my eyes. I still miss the guy.

[Rocky21]

This one is for the Snyder fans....

 

"He never once that I can remember interfered with any decisions we made. During the season he only came over to the office on Thursdays, and he'd come in, say hello, or sometimes you'd never see him. I don't even know if he ever went in the football part of [the building] back there except to say 'Hey guys, how you doing,' and that's it." – Bobby Beathard on Jack Kent Cooke

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/12/beathard_its_a_terrific_move.html#more

[Dan T.]

This one is for the Snyder fans....

 

"He never once that I can remember interfered with any decisions we made. During the season he only came over to the office on Thursdays, and he'd come in, say hello, or sometimes you'd never see him. I don't even know if he ever went in the football part of [the building] back there except to say 'Hey guys, how you doing,' and that's it." – Bobby Beathard on Jack Kent Cooke

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/12/beathard_its_a_terrific_move.html#more

 

That's what I recall too.  He wrote the checks and stayed the hell out of the way. The only time he would get involved was when contract negotiations with higher profile, big money players reached a stalemate.

 

He was a fan, but held no illusions of being any kind of GM.

---

 

Not directly a Cooke story, but a couple years after Jack Kent Cooke Stadium opened, Frederick Brewing Co. starting making Big Jack Stadium Beer which you could buy on the concourse during game day.  (People called the stadium "The Big Jack" before the name changed to FedEx Field.) The logo used an image of houndstooth fedora that Cooke always wore. People called

 

 

It was a good alternative to all the watery lite beers otherwise for sale.

[sideshow24]

I remember that he said "I like Gordon Libby, he makes a lot of sense to me."

[pjfootballer]

I remember his coked out slutty South American wife.

[Dan T.]

I remember his coked out slutty South American wife.

 

JKC with fourth wife, Marlene Chalmers Coke, er Cooke:

[StephenB]

I remember after Super Bowl XXVI, he was being interviewed by Leslie Visser.  The broadcast was cut to commercial, but CBS left the mic live for an extra second or so as the picture faded to black.  All you hear then is JKC in a gravly, pissed off voice say, "Are we done here yet?".  He came off like s***ty, grumpy old man, but he was our grumpy old man.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

That's what I recall too.  He wrote the checks and stayed the hell out of the way. The only time he would get involved was when contract negotiations with higher profile, big money players reached a stalemate.

 

He was a fan, but held no illusions of being any kind of GM.

 

I remember stories Gibbs told about having to drive out to JKC's place to explain his game day decisions because Cooke was pissed the eff off for whatever reason lol...they'd go over game film and Gibbs would methodically explain why he did what he did.

[skins island connection]

I remember after Super Bowl XXVI, he was being interviewed by Leslie Visser.  The broadcast was cut to commercial, but CBS left the mic live for an extra second or so as the picture faded to black.  All you hear then is JKC in a gravly, pissed off voice say, "Are we done here yet?".  He came off like s***ty, grumpy old man, but he was our grumpy old man.

 

 In his defense, I look at it this way;

Your son is on a baseball team who just won their little league championship; as you walk towards your son, the mailman steps in front of you and asks about the game; how quickly do you push the mailman outta the way?

[Boss_Hogg]

This phone still sits in the RFK owners box.

 

[LaRonDontLikeUgly]

I've got a few stories about his granddaughter Jacky lol

[SoulSkin]

CO2CH JO3,-- N33D 4 U 2 STOP BY N 3XPL2IN WH2T H2PP3N3D SUND2Y

 

JKC

 

S3NT FROM MY ROT2RY PHONE

[Skinsfan_13]

I read an autobiography about Cooke called " The last Mogul"...and another book his former secretary wrote about her 3 years working for him. He was a true self made man who earned his money the hard way. He was selling the encyclopedias and soap but wanted to get into radio. He begged the owner of some Canadian stations to give him a job. His name was Roy Thompson and that's who gave Cooke his first break.  Took a pay cut  to work for Thompson. Apparently, these stations, that were in small mining towns, weren't making money. Cooke used creative promotions and changed up the programming to make them into money makers. Soon he was running all the stations Thompson owned.Thompson made him a partner, they eventually sold the stations and he was a millionare buy the time he was in his early 30's. They built a media empire, buying more stations, magazines and newspapers. Cooke went off on his own and bought more stations in LA and then ended with the Lakers and Kings.

 

However, Cooke was unbearable to work for. That stuff about the phones are true. There's a video of Bob Miller on You Tube and he talks about working for Cooke. Type in LA Kings Stories: Bob Miller. I'd suggest also picking up the book that his secretary wrote. It really gives you an insight about what a horrible person he was to work for.  

[RFKFedEx]

He use to give stuff away at games as well. For the first 10,000 to 20,000 fans at RFK, he would give Christmas tree decarations, posters, seat cushions, etc. Considering you only paid $35 to $45 a ticket, and you got a free souvener if you got there ealy enough, another word I would use to describe JKC, generous.

.

The give aways were from sponsors, and often a youth group like the Boy Scouts would get to hand out the items at the tunstiles. It was def cool to get free stuff as a kid. Wall Posters, megaphones, hats, etc. IDK if the current ownership has reduced the give aways on purpose, but they definitely aren't as common as they were in the JKC days on E. Capitol St.

[Darth Tater]

He didnt charge us for pre-season games until late in his ownership. I remember people lining up outside of RFK

to purchase pre-season tickets.. yes back then people wanted to see pre-season games.

That was, in part, because the regular season was sold out and was much more honestly sold out.  If you didn't have season tickets and did not have an inside connection, you usually had to go to the stadium and find a scalper.

 

This one is for the Snyder fans....

 

"He never once that I can remember interfered with any decisions we made. During the season he only came over to the office on Thursdays, and he'd come in, say hello, or sometimes you'd never see him. I don't even know if he ever went in the football part of [the building] back there except to say 'Hey guys, how you doing,' and that's it." – Bobby Beathard on Jack Kent Cooke

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/12/beathard_its_a_terrific_move.html#more

That's because he learned his lesson about interference quickly.  He wanted a relatively big name up and comer, got Pardee and saw that go south.  He was POed at Bobby after Gibbs 0-5 but decided to give him more rope.  Instead of hanging himself, Bobby/Gibbs redeemed themselves.  You have pretty quick success after messing up when you try to run things, you stay with what worked.  When Gibbs left, he reverted to trying to control everything.

[youngestson]

He once made a columnist for the Washington Post (Christine Brennan?) look up a word she didn't know in the dictionary before he's let her continue an interview with him. Don't know if it had an impact or not, but she wrote a column a year or two later in which she rated Cooke as a far less effective owner than Art Modell. Sort of made me laugh.