"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?"

Manage v. 1... to control or guide 2.... have charge of 3.... succeed in doing

Years ago, I worked in retail as a store manager.. My boss (the company's owner) used to come around, putting his hands in his pockets jiggling his change and say, "What have you done for me lately?" In business if you don't perform your gone.

If you look around Major League Baseball, the National Football League and any number of other sports, you find that the teams' fans want their teams to be winners. Coaches and managers with winning records have been let go because they have not won the elusive championships.

Take for example Joe Torre, who is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was with the New York Yankees for many years. His team won the World Series several times. They were the World Champs. They got into the playoffs almost every year. There was an expectation by the fans and owner that the team would be in post season play every year. Yes, the Yankees had the largest payroll in baseball, but the manager can't control the play of the players on the field.

The manager only probably makes a difference in only a few games a year. He makes the calls (decisions) when to take out a pitcher, when to pinch hit, where the players should be, when to walk a batter, etc. It still comes down to the players executing. If the players don't perform, then what the manager planned doesn't happen. Some things are just out of the manager's control.

At the end of the season or even in the middle of the season, if the team doesn't perform, what is the owner or general manager to do? He can't fire the whole team. He fires the Manager and/or coaches. He may replace a player or two, but usually they replace the management.
Sometimes the owner realizes that it is the management above the team manager and coaches (middle management, general managers, etc) that needs to be replaced. The adage is you can't replace the whole team but you can replace the team manager.

What does this have to with us (the Mohegan Tribe)? Can we fire the team (the entire government or the casino workers)? Could some of management who made bad decisions be replaced? Should top management (top government officials and top casino officials) go? Should my old boss's idea about what have you done for me lately count?

Was or is Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs a bad deal? Did the MTGA (Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, the Mohegan Tribal Council) make a bad decision building the permanent new slot facility there? What about the Kansas project that didn't happen? What about the Wisconsin deal? What about the Washington state deal? What about Aqueduct? What about Palmer? Is the MTGA rubber stamping the top casino management's ideas?

It seems like everything that the MTGA tries to do either doesn't come to a profitable outcome or is a bad business decision. Does the MTGA need to change the top casino management? Does the members of the MTGA (the Mohegan Tribal Council) need to be replaced? What kind of management do we (the Mohegan Tribe) have?

The fact is that the MTGA (the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, the Mohegan Tribal Council )are the bosses over Mitchell Etess, Jeffrey Hartmann and other top managers. The Mohegan Tribal Council are the bosses of the government workers.

The Mohegan Tribal Council is ultimately responsible to the Mohegan Tribe. The Mohegan Tribe is the top management when we vote. These people are there because we (the Mohegan Tribe) put them in their positions and at election time we can remove them with our votes for not doing the will of the Mohegan people.

Ultimately government exists for the people. The government and its properties (the Mohegan Sun Casino) exist to provide benefits for the Mohegan people.

What have they done for us lately? What have they ever done positive? Does the Mohegan Tribal Council have what it takes to make the decisions that need to be made? Do you know? What do you think?