Officially, I no longer give a flying puck about the hockey season. The latest round of idiocy has made me throw my hands into the air with exasperation.
THREE *&^%*&%^ MONTHS and only now did they think it was important enough to make serious concessions on their demands.
Neither the players nor the owners (like so many rich, spoiled and overpaid a-holes) thought about the little people. They did not care about the fans who pour out hard earned cash that pays ALL their salaries, nor did they consider the impact on the people who work at the arenas, local public transport, hotels, bars, restaurants, ticket counters, shirt stores and even the hot dog vendor outside.
At this point, I have but one thing left to say to the lot of them:
P-U-C-K Y-O-U!
Like I did when baseball did the same stupid thing, I will be boycotting hockey if they (when they) kill the season. Sure, I'll watch it like a good, tortured Leaf fan, and I will go to any games that tickets are given to me, but the Maple Leaf organization will NOT get money from me for a while. Maybe if we stupidly, blindly loyal fans did that a few more times than naught, they would think twice about pulling this kind of crap again.
As a last note, the hockey world should take notice that Congress was not convened for hockey like it was for baseball; this is not America's favourite pastime. People amazingly did not jump out windows or go on hunger strikes because there was no hockey on. Amazingly, people found other things to do.
To end on a positive note, what the strike did benefit were the small hockey leagues (the juniors, the minors, the schools). Maybe, the youngsters will take a page out of their history and learn from this. Then again, papa needs a brand new Ferrari, so ... probably not. :(
Ciao!
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4 comments:
My 2 cents worth... this is sad because the owners are asking the players to help them protect themselves from themselves. If the owners really wanted to put a salary cap on the teams they could have doen it without even asking the players... if they had any self control!
I call it the "Steinbrenner Effect". Good old George spent whatever he wanted, however he wanted in order to buy championships. He then bitched and moaned when the crew up in that frozen nether region known as Toronto went out and did it better than him for two years straight.
Him and all the ilk like him is the cause for the current problems. I am all for paying someone what they are worth. However, $25 million a year to hit a round ball with a round bat is bloody ridiculous. I also do not fault the players in any way for the pay scale. If someone is willing and ready to give you a bag of cash, would you say, "No thanks"?
The owners created this situation years and years ago in trying to buy their way to the top. now, they are scrambling to get Pandora back into her box.
The owners can not implement a salary cap amongst themselves without asking the players.
It is called collusion and it is illegal!!
It is an anti competitive attempt to fix a labour market.
This is the only to make it happen.
Agreed the owners created the situtaion. But to their credit they are trying to fix the problem in the only legal method open to them.
Famine
The owners may be trying to fix the problem they created, but I will not give them any more credit than I do the players. These people could have saved the season. Now, they have doomed at least a half dozen teams (and all the supporting jobs) to extinction.
THAT is not good for business and not good for the league. They have no clue how much they have hurt themselves. Word is already that a number of European players are now making enough (or will) that they do not NEED to return to the NHL. For a league already arguably thin on talent, they can ill afford the Sundins and Haseks and Vladimirs of the world to stay away.
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