The Detroit Pistons cluster****

Once upon a time, there was a man named Bill Davidson. Like many uber-rich guys of old (see Joe Kennedy, Sam Walton, the Rockefellers, etc.) he'd made his fortune through what now might be called unsavory business practices.

Regardless, old Willie was loaded. So he bought an NBA basketball team, which we now know as the Detroit Pistons. After spending many years at Cobo Hall in Detroit, a sorry venue in an even sorrier town, they relocated to play in -- wait for it -- a football stadium. This was known as the Silverdome, which the city of Pontiac, in their infinite wisdom, turned down a $20 million dollar offer for after the Pistons had left -- to settle for $583 thousand. Roughly a fortieth of what they could have had. But Pontiac hasn't exactly been known as the land of financial geniuses over the years either.

To his credit, Davidson built a brand new state of the art arena for his basketball team which he dubbed the Palace. This was all out of his own money -- no taxpayer dollars required, like most other arenas these days. And in a place where hundreds/thousands of people didn't get thrown out of their own homes via the dreaded "eminent domain" to make room for it. Easy in and out access to the Palace with major highways very close by for fans and their automobiles. What could go wrong?

Answer -- Mr. Davidson dying. Which left his estate to his daughter Karen. Apparently not interested in the hassle of such business, she decided to "cash out". The team, the arena, a concert facility nearby, and a few other goodies. Big bucks and no worries. Can't blame her.

Enter Tom Gores, a former Michigan native who had struck it rich in California maneuvering other people's money around via something called equity funds. Let's just say Mr. Gores was loaded himself, and he wanted in on the professional sports team ownership club.

So a mega-deal was struck. Nobody's heard much of Karen Davidson since. She's probably off to a tropical paradise with man and maidservants galore, living in the proverbial lap of luxury for ever after. This is what can happen when your daddy is rich, gets old and dies, and you inherit the works. More power to her. You go girl.

It should be noted that after a period of sustained success, including an NBA championship, the Pistons were obviously headed into a decline. So Karen got Tom to bite on a high price, and walked away with a smile on her face.

But dear Mr. Gores had to hire some people to actually run the basketball team. And this is where it started to get ridiculous. For the last few years a guy named Stan Van Gundy has been both the president and head coach of the Pistons -- with not one -- but two general managers in between. So who's in charge of whom? The president can typically hire/fire a general manager, and the GM can typically hire/fire a head coach. Unless he happens to also be the president, which he reports to. In other words, the Pistons chain of command is  a colossal cluster****. It's like the classic Abbott and Costello "who's on first", etc. routine that never seems to end.

Which might have been okay, had the Pistons returned to NBA relevance, as in even semi-contenders. But they haven't. Worse, they're in the worst position possible. Finishing just out of the playoffs, but not a bottom feeder with a decent chance of getting a high lottery draft pick. Not that it would make much of a difference with what they've become over the last few years -- which is ugly. As in, they can't seem to get many people to show up for their games, even with cheap trick promotions.

And here's the kicker. With the Palace totally bought and paid for by the above-mentioned Bill Davidson, still a world class facility by any measure, with the also above-mentioned easy access, Tom Gores decided to move them back to Detroit. To an arena built for a hockey team (Detroit Red Wings) where he has to pay rent. Where it's a nightmare getting to and from. An oasis in a town still chock full of drugs, gangs, murderers, thieves, car-jackers, and urban blight pretty much everywhere else. In what magical financial world does that make sense?

Unlike the Palace, n the peaceful prospering community it's always been located in, which now sits empty awaiting bids. Perhaps even the dreaded demolition balls, implosives, and front end loaders/garbage trucks to scoop it up and haul it away to a land fill, as if it never existed.

This would not only be a colossal waste, but equally colossal stupidity at work. Alas, it's too late to remedy those obvious bone-headed missteps.

Does Stan Van Gundy need to go? That's like asking if you want to stick with your regular lawn maintenance guy when the grass is a foot high and chock full of weeds. All the BS he might offer for explanations doesn't change what's really been going on. It is what it is -- and it ain't pretty.

While Tom Gores is no doubt in quest of his next billion, he's obviously lost sight of -- if he ever had it -- the plight of the Detroit Pistons. They're not only bad, but will probably get worse in the short term.

And somewhere Karen Davidson likely sips from fancy cocktails with umbrellas and chuckles.

Sucker.

Did I mention -- you go girl?