Until then, I'll Cry Instead
Folks, I have a serious question for you. What's wrong?
From
Tom Benjamin to
Eric McErlain, writers across the blogosphere are expressing their dismay with the NHL lockout in a dramatic, grief-stricken fashion that reminds me of a high-school teenager that's trying to come to terms with a recent break-up.
I'm not insulting these gentlemen, as they served as my primary inspiration for producing this site. However, their bereaved sentiments seem a little strange to me considering that they, along with legions of hockey fans, have been highly critical of the declining on-ice product in recent years.
Now I'm not trying to imply that this lockout will definitely result in a new and improved NHL experience. In reality, the league has yet to adopt any ground-breaking rule changes, so the product isn't likely to improve any time soon. What I am wondering, though, is why we, as fans, are treating this lockout as the end of the world.
For years, we've been bitching and moaning about how the game sucks. Yet, now that such a "sucky" game has been taken away from us, we feel deprived in some way. We want the game back, no matter how abysmal it is to watch. It's almost as if the majority of hockey fans truly believe that boring, trap-laden, clutch-and-grab hockey is markedly better than no hockey at all.
If you honestly subscribe to that notion, you really
are depressed.
I love the game just as much as you do. I've grown up around hockey, made friends through a mutual love of the sport, and attend several minor-league and NHL games in multiple states and provinces every year. It pains me to see how such a graceful game has deteriorated over the years, but I still support the sport because I'm confident things will eventually change for the better.
Nevertheless, I will not stumble around my house on October 13th in a glazed stupor wondering what I'm going to do without the NHL. It's to the point now where I don't even want the lockout to end, out of fear that I'll have to once again come to terms with the horrid product NHL hockey has become. I'm starting to find more excitement in golf tournaments.
In all honesty, I'm enjoying this extended break from hockey. I may be singing a different tune come January, but it's not likely. In the meantime, I'll spend a few months consoling my fellow hockey fans, assuring them that everything will be allright in the long run. After all, the NHL
will resume play eventually.
Even if the play is putrid.
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We're Being Suckered
I had to laugh this morning when I read
Ansar Kahn's commentary concerning the inability of the players union to counter what he refers to as the NHL's recent "PR blitz." Kahn notes that Gary Bettman has done a masterful job of portraying the players as greedy, spoiled brats whose astronomical salaries have contributed to the extreme rise in ticket prices over the past ten years.The NHL has repeatedly accused the union of being unwilling to negotiate in good faith, and Kahnpoints out that Bob Goodenow has made no concerted effort to refute the NHL's accusations:
Log on to the union's site and you wouldn't even know there's a lockout. There are daily inane features on a couple of obscure players. There is no attempt to even counter the NHL's PR blitz, which extends far beyond the cyberworld....
Goodenow is a PR disaster. He has continually denied that there is a correlation between ticket prices and players' salaries. And he is getting hammered for it -- by the studio audience on CBC's town-hall show two weeks ago, by radio talk-show callers, by fans on various message boards...
...The NHLPA is either oblivious to or doesn't care that the vast majority of fans aren't backing the players.
Mr. Kahn, you just answered your own question. The players don't care. They don't give a rat's derrière what the fans think. And why should they?
Trying to explain to the average fan why there is absolutely no correlation between escalating players' salaries and high ticket prices is simply a lost cause. An effort to explain to the average fan why it's the owners, not the players, who have created the current economic crisis in the NHL by dishing out outlandish contracts at will would prove fruitless. Don't you think the players understand that?
As hockey fans, we're bitter because we believe the players owe us something. As consumers that greatly contribute to player salaries, we think the players should be obligated to negotiate a settlement with the league and provide us with a product this season. Or else...
What we fans need to realize is that neither the players or the owners give a damn about us. Each party wants what's economically best for them, not what's economically best for the fans. The factions involved in this labor dispute don't have to care about the fans because they know we will be back in the stands once the season resumes. We'll be glued to the television every night and stocking up our fantasy hockey teams each morning. We say we won't come back, but we know we're bluffing.
The players know it, too. So do the owners. In fact, it's the owners that are playing us off as suckers. They know we're going to eat up all the propaganda they put out about the union because we already have pre-dispositions about the players. The owners are just capitalizing on our ignorance, knowing we won't vehemently challenge what they say. The players know this, and therefore, have decided not to fight a losing battle.
Think of the presidential debates. I've always thought that candidates involved in debates tailor their rhetoric to a mere ten percent of their audience. In other words, on Thursday night, George Bush and John Kerry were not speaking to Republican voters, Democratic voters, or Independents that have already decided who they're going to vote for. Instead, the candidates were looking to convince the ten percent of likely registered voters that are still undecided.
After all, no matter what is said during the debates, 90% of the folks watching have already made up their minds. It's that very small minority that needs to be convinced.
From the players' perspective, they realize that most fans have already tabbed them as the bad guys. Trying to win them over is a useless endeavor, and any attempts to convince the folks still on the fence wouldn't do a damn bit of good either.
If Bob Goodenow and Gary Bettman had a debate, fans would simply nod their heads every time Bettman made a point, regardless of the substance of his argument. Goodenow, conversely, would be tuned out, despite the potential merit of his stance.
Don't let guys like Ansar Kahn fool you. The players aren't dumb. Neither are the owners.
We're the dummies.
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Faucette, Gibbs Reinstated
How sweet it is.
After being fired last summer by Director of NHL Officiating Andy Van Hellemond, 19-year veteran Mark Faucette has been reinstated by the league, along with linesman Darren Gibbs. An arbitrator ruled that the two officials were unjustly released from their contracts because of personal differences with Van Hellemond.
I've been on this story like white on rice ever since reading
this commentary from Chuq Von Rospach, which discusses Faucette's termination prior to last season. In the comments section, a man who identifies himself as a friend of Faucette openly objects to Chuq's criticism of the official, claiming that Faucette's on-ice performance had absolutely nothing to do with Van Hellemond's decision to release him:
Mark WAS on the same page as the NHL, he just had a very personal issue with Mr. VH. After seeing all of his grades he received in the last two years, and understanding he was put on the ice with younger officials, to teach in live game situations, there were no grounds for dismissal!!He was fired because he had personal info on Mr. Van Hellemond that nobody wanted public and that is the truth. If I know Mark, this info will soon be public, which by the way, is very bad timing for the NHL. Mark loved his career and deserved to retire with dignity after officiating 1000 games. Now the "dirty ice" will become public and you will have to sign your name to that future article....
Looks like the cat is out of the bag now. But it doesn't end there. Apparently,
Faucette has filed a civil lawsuit against Van Hellemond and the NHL, claiming he was discriminated against because he's an American citizen. During his initial tenure with the league, Faucette alleges the NHL fired several American-born officials that had better performance records than some Canadian officials that kept their jobs.
Needless to say, this is going to get really ugly in the coming months. I really hope the press horde keeps an eagle eye on this story, because if the allegations from Faucette are true, the Commish will have some serious explaining to do.
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