The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 30, 1978, SECTION B, Page Page 23B, Image 59
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By Matt Ward
Oamacock Staff WriHr
Located on Eighth Avenue and
33rd Street in New York City is one
of America's most famous sports
arenas. This internationally known
building is Madison Square Gar
den.
And located on the second floor
are the offices of one of the most
powerful, yet least known sports
personalities in America today.
His name; David A. "Sonny"
Werblin. Though Werblin may not
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sports fans, this does not diminish
the role he plays in the sport's
world.
For those who are unaware of
Werblin's history, a brief
background of achievements is
necessary. First, Werblin was
responsible for signing Joe
Namath to the New Ynrk .Tpts fnp a
then record $400,000 in 1964.
At that time the American
Football League was playing in the
shadow of the much older and
respected National Football
League. Many critics of the AFL
believed Werblin responsible for
allowing the bidding war between
the two leagues for collegiate stars
to start. However, as historv has
shown, the bidding war eventually
led to the merger of the AFL and
NFL in 1970.
After spending much of his life as
an agent for various superstars,
Werblin was asked to be the
executive director of the New
Jersey Sports and Exposition
Authority in 1973. Werblin was
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Meadowlands Sports Complex out
of the swamps of East Rutherford,
N.J., into one of the biggest
moneymaking sport complexes in
the country.
With his insight, Werblin was
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Giants and the New York Cosmos
out of the city and the New York
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Nets out of Long Island over to the
other side of the Hudson River.
The net result of these actions
has been sellout crowds for every
Giants' game and an average
attendance of 47,000 for every
Cosmos' soccer game. Before the
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Meadowlands, their average attendance
was only 18,000; and this
included the great Pele in the lineup.
The Nets are currently playing
in the Rutgers basketball gymnasium
and will move into the
Meadowlands Sports Complex
when their arena is finished in 1979
After bringing professional
sports to its greatest heights in the
Garden State, Werblin resigned
from his position in December
1977, to become president of
Madison Square Garden Inc. The
Garden brass decided Werblin is
the man needed to put New York
City back on the map as the sports
capital of the world.
Werblin believed the challenge of
bringing New York back to the
.forefront of the sports scene as the
real reason he resigned from his
position as the top man of the rMeadowlands.
"After building up the
Meadowlands, there was no more
need for me to do anything else,"
Werblin said. "The challenge of
being back in New York City was
one I could not let slip away."
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only two months, Werblin began
the difficult assignment of
rebuilding two of Madftson Square
Garden's weakest teams, the New
York Rangers and Knickerbockers.
Werblin also began
looking for a new hockey coach for
the Rangers. After seeing the
Rangers flounder in the National
Hockey League for the last few I
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seasons, weroiin was determined
to get the Rangers the kind of
coach who could build them into a
NHL powerhouse.
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Who did Werblin get? None other
than Fred Shero, the two-time
Stanley Cup coach of the
Philadelphia Flyers. With a
competent coach for the Rangers,
Werblin began the search for a new
general manager of the New York
Knickerbockers. It was no secret
that Werblin did not especially like
the present general manager of the
Knicks, Eddie Donovan. So, once
again Werblin looked for a man of
high caliber and background. This
time, Werblin wasn't as successful
as with Shero, but it wasn't
because of a lack of effort.
Werblin came extremely close to
luring Boston Celtic general
manager Red Auerbach. Though
Werblin's offer was lucrative,
Auerbach declined and remained
with the Celtics.
This shows the determination
which exists in Sonny Werblin. He
is a man who wants the best
product that money can buy, and
ne is a person who will not settle for
anything but quality.
"Sonny doesn't care what the
cost is," a Garden official said.
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"He's the kind of guy who knows
what it takes to build a winner.
Just look at his record. He literally
built the Meadowlands into what it
is today, and he's going to do the
same as president of Madison
Square Garden."
Behind the tough exterior is a
man keenly aware of today's
sports' world. "You can't kid
sports fans," Werblin said. "They
follow the sports scene very
closely and I feel I am responsible
in trying to build Madison Square
Garden and its teams to the fullest
potential."
Werblin is aware of the difficulties
in developing winning
teams. But he knows the ropes of
the sports world as well as
Muhammad Ali knows the ropes of
the boxing ring.
If the past is anything to go by,
then Werblin has the ability to
mold the Garden into the sports
center of the world. Already he is
interested in getting a series of
boxing matches involving the
biggest names in boxing. Though
the Ali-Leon Spinks rematch will
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be in New Orleans, Werblin is
hoping the next heavy weight
defense will be in Madison Square
Garden.
He is also interested in bringing
another soccer team to the N.Y.
metropolitan area to compete with
the Cosmos. "Unlike other people
who don't care and seem rather
unconcerned, Sonny i is always
looking and working to make
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Meadowlands official said. "He
left the Meadowlands because his
job had been completed. When
Sonny starts something, he finishes
it.
"Many high, powerful people
connected with the Garden thought
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when he took on the job as
executive director of the
Meadowlands," a Garden official
said. "But Sonny fooled them all.
After building the Meadowlands
out of the swamps of Jersey,
Garden officials knew he was more
than capable of helping them solve
their problems."
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