' t ▁take ▁a ▁close ▁look ▁at ▁Hoff man ' s ▁financial ▁statements . ▁Real izing ▁he ▁was ▁in ▁over ▁his ▁head , ▁Hoff man ▁was ▁forced ▁to ▁sc ram ble ▁to ▁find ▁minor ity ▁partners . ▁When ▁there ▁were ▁no ▁tak ers , ▁he ▁walked ▁away ▁from ▁the ▁team ▁after ▁the ▁second ▁pr ese ason ▁game , ▁forcing ▁the ▁league ▁to ▁take ▁over ▁the ▁team . ▁ ▁In ▁San ▁Antonio , ▁the ▁league ▁was ▁so ▁en am ored ▁at ▁M anges ' ▁apparent ▁oil ▁wealth ▁that ▁it ▁not ▁only ▁didn ' t ▁closely ▁v et ▁his ▁application , ▁but ▁did ▁not ▁require ▁him ▁to ▁make ▁an ▁initial ▁capital ▁invest ment . ▁Instead , ▁M anges ▁paid ▁team ▁exp enses ▁out ▁of ▁pocket ▁as ▁they ▁arose , ▁resulting ▁in ▁an ▁operation ▁that ▁appeared ▁short ▁of ▁professional ▁standards . ▁The ▁G uns ling ers ' ▁offices ▁were ▁in ▁a ▁double - wide ▁tra iler , ▁and ▁they ▁used ▁fol ding ▁ch airs ▁to ▁bring ▁Al amo ▁Stadium ▁up ▁to ▁minimum ▁capacity . ▁M anges ' ▁practices ▁caught ▁up ▁with ▁him ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 5 , ▁when ▁the ▁oil ▁market ▁col lapsed . ▁The ▁result ▁was ▁a ▁lit any ▁of ▁b ounced ▁checks , ▁cul min ating ▁in ▁the ▁team ▁going ▁the ▁last ▁four ▁games ▁without ▁pay . ▁It ▁later ▁emer ged ▁that ▁M anges ▁had ▁been ▁in ▁financial ▁difficulty ▁as ▁early ▁as ▁ 1 9 8 0 . ▁ ▁The ▁worst ▁situation ▁of ▁all , ▁however , ▁was ▁in ▁Los ▁Angeles .