No Sympathy

The NHL locked out the players this week.  Big surprise.  We all saw it coming, we all knew it was inevitable.  Like the hockey fans we are (or maybe now were) we tried to pretend that it wouldn't happen.  We tried to pretend that much like our beloved teams, they could stage a late rally and win it all.

Foolishness.

My thoughts on this are many.  I sympathize more with the players than the owners.  While the players make more money in one season than I will likely make in a lifetime of work doesn't bother me as much as I think it should.  There are lots of overpaid people (Gary Bettman for one) in all industries, not just pro sports.  If only we could lock out some political leaders or senators.

Hockey players want to play the game of hockey.  They've been doing it all their lives. and now that simple thing is denied them (along with their large salary)  Some will go play in Russia or parts of Europe.  Hopefully some of those games will be broadcast on TV for me to watch.

Watching the owners of well to do teams sign players to long term deals on the eve of the lockout seems to me to be dealing in bad faith.  You know that the players are eventually going to have to take some kind of rollback, so if that was calculated in the contract....that seems a little dishonest, or at least a little nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more kind of way.  I can't really stomach them claiming that they have no money when they sign these contracts.  The hypocrisy is mind-bending.  Maybe they need to learn a little thing called restraint.

It is like watching an obese person claiming they want to lose weight while overeating.  Yes, there might be psychological problems that cause this behaviour--the desire to win is a strong one, but in this analogy the players are the super extra large pizzas.  Neither the food, nor the players are to blame.  Bettman's idea is to lock the fridge, but that won't change the behaviour.  It didn't work last time, why would it work this time.  You're going to unlock the fridge eventually.

Some teams are too poor, or play in markets where they don't draw a crowd.  There are only three choices.  Fold, relocate, or get the richer clubs to share their revenue.  Bettman doesn't like the first two because he keeps hoping that hockey will get the same ESPN deal that the NFL got.  As far as pipe dreams go, that is a pretty good one.  As for sharing revenue.... the rich owners certainly don't want that.  However, it can be don.  If they paid a 100% luxury tax for exceeding the cap, the money that they overspent could be sent to teams that qualify for financial support.

I would love to hear what everyone thinks.  As you know, since there won't be any hockey on television, I have plenty of time to talk about it.