The Impact of a 2012 Lockout.
Posted 11:06 AM ET | Comments 17
What is the long term effect of a lockout? How about two in less than ten years?
I used to be one of the biggest, most attentive hockey fans out there. I would get angry when RDS or CBC did not show the actual face off and jumped straight into play. Outside of falling asleep during west coast trips, I would watch every minute of every game. When I got a PVR, I started recording games so I could analyze them myself.
Then strike one happened. No, not the lockout. Far more devastating to Habs fans, I'm talking about the Scott Gomez deal. Quite honestly, after that one deal I've barely been able to stomach more than a half hour of hockey at a time.
So...how much damage did the first lockout do? For myself, and I would argue for the people of Toronto where I live, there was a great sense of optimism around it. Under the new economic structure, all of Canada knew how much money it was going to cost them to buy a team. Superstars were finally going to have to consider coming to Canada to get their salaries. They would have to make the rest of their money through marketing themselves, and where better to do so than Canada.
So, in short, the 2004 lockout was a positive thing for the fan base. With the Habs under the guidance of wise Bob Gainey and the Leafs lead by Brian Burke, it was only a matter of time before both teams made the promised land.
Fast forward now to 2012 and the mood is very different. Neither the Leafs nor the Habs have had a superstar acquisition...except MAYBE Carey Price though the draft. Teams simply paid the mediocre players up to the cap limit. Despite the salary cap, nearly every single American team has driven their franchise into the ground though asinine contracts.
It's very hard to feel sorry for New Jersey not being able to pay their creditor's 20 million dollars they owe them after signing Kovalchuk to the ridicules $100 contract. They just made the Stanley Cup finals and made 4 rounds of extra revenue. How the hell were they expecting to pay the creditors? Here's a thought...if you can't afford it DON'T BUY IT.
A lockout will simply redistribute the revenue. It can't protect teams from this level of gross mismanagement.
And let us not forget that every single one of the contracts signed was also singed by a team's management.
I actually do have sympathy for the players. You know, outside of being paid millions of dollars to play a game we all love.
But the question is, will the fans wait patiently and enthusiastically. The Leaf fans I know are so down on their team that they probably won't watch hockey this your regardless. As a Habs fans, I've been weening myself from the product since the Gomez deal as I mentioned before, and I'm pretty much ready to give it up all together.
So here's my message to the NHL and the NHLPA...If you're not ready to go in 2012, don't bother coming back in 2013. This talk of a possible strike is enough to put me off this year.
I used to be one of the biggest, most attentive hockey fans out there. I would get angry when RDS or CBC did not show the actual face off and jumped straight into play. Outside of falling asleep during west coast trips, I would watch every minute of every game. When I got a PVR, I started recording games so I could analyze them myself.
Then strike one happened. No, not the lockout. Far more devastating to Habs fans, I'm talking about the Scott Gomez deal. Quite honestly, after that one deal I've barely been able to stomach more than a half hour of hockey at a time.
So...how much damage did the first lockout do? For myself, and I would argue for the people of Toronto where I live, there was a great sense of optimism around it. Under the new economic structure, all of Canada knew how much money it was going to cost them to buy a team. Superstars were finally going to have to consider coming to Canada to get their salaries. They would have to make the rest of their money through marketing themselves, and where better to do so than Canada.
So, in short, the 2004 lockout was a positive thing for the fan base. With the Habs under the guidance of wise Bob Gainey and the Leafs lead by Brian Burke, it was only a matter of time before both teams made the promised land.
Fast forward now to 2012 and the mood is very different. Neither the Leafs nor the Habs have had a superstar acquisition...except MAYBE Carey Price though the draft. Teams simply paid the mediocre players up to the cap limit. Despite the salary cap, nearly every single American team has driven their franchise into the ground though asinine contracts.
It's very hard to feel sorry for New Jersey not being able to pay their creditor's 20 million dollars they owe them after signing Kovalchuk to the ridicules $100 contract. They just made the Stanley Cup finals and made 4 rounds of extra revenue. How the hell were they expecting to pay the creditors? Here's a thought...if you can't afford it DON'T BUY IT.
A lockout will simply redistribute the revenue. It can't protect teams from this level of gross mismanagement.
And let us not forget that every single one of the contracts signed was also singed by a team's management.
I actually do have sympathy for the players. You know, outside of being paid millions of dollars to play a game we all love.
But the question is, will the fans wait patiently and enthusiastically. The Leaf fans I know are so down on their team that they probably won't watch hockey this your regardless. As a Habs fans, I've been weening myself from the product since the Gomez deal as I mentioned before, and I'm pretty much ready to give it up all together.
So here's my message to the NHL and the NHLPA...If you're not ready to go in 2012, don't bother coming back in 2013. This talk of a possible strike is enough to put me off this year.
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24 The Plan
Another Strike or Lockout and I'm done with NHL Hockey for good.
The more I think about it the more it pisses me off. The owners have the nerve to tell me they don't have enough of my money and they are shutting down the season? Screw them. How about ZERO of my attention of spending? How do you like my proposal?
They cannot seriously think that a strike or lockout is the solution here. That NBC contract is the first positive thing to come along in years. Another work stoppage will literally kill the NHL. Maybe that's what Bettman wants so he can go back to the NBA and say that he stopped hockey in its tracks.
The thinking is the owners have always had a lockout in mind and their own deadline of Nov 23, fitting in with an NBC availability and allowing time for the "yawn" winter classic. These jerks think they can hold out on me AGAIN and I'll welcome them back with open arms?
A lock out this year would be sickening for real hockey fans. I only wish we had an NHLFA! That is NHL FAN Association. If there is a lockout this year, then all should get behind the NHLFA and mandate that they will not attend a single game the following year. This solidarity should serve to wake up the greed and arrogance shown by the owners and pushed by Bettman.
Everyone of you will be back if you are true hockey fans. I get your pissed but come on.
Not this time. I've watched the game digress over the years. Not to mention I've found it difficult to watch my team since the Gomez deal. And I know many Leaf fans that aren't even paying attention as is.My regular hockey pool that I've been in for 10 plus years has been cancelled due to LACK OF INTEREST. That's not just my sour grapes. At this point I think I'd rather watch "American Dances with Animals".
The way the Leafs play I wish they had started the Lockout next year. Bring in the lockout! I doubt many people will even notice.
Wah! My team made a bad deal so I don't watch hockey anymore. Dude, think of the poor Islanders fans. Sounds like typical Canadian entitlement. Yeah - American teams like the Devils (which is not at all a typical American team or any team for that matter) have run themselves into the ground but Canadian teams pay guys like Jeff Finger reasonable rates. Pfft! Take off your maple leaf colored glasses and quit whining!
Canadian entitlement? We are entitled to what...support the league? To pay $200 for a seat, $20 a beer to watch a last place team play? If the 3 Islander fans out there can't support the millions of dollars it costs to run a team, perhaps they shouldn't have one.
As I Habs fans, it pains me to say this but I truly respect the business Burke has done as the GM of the Leafs so far. He has not caved and signed a ridiculous contract despite being a team that could afford to overpay and bury contracts.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/bettmans-gaffe-implies-fans-are-mere-doormats/article4496245/Watch:Video: NHL, union remain far apart in CBA talks“We recovered last time because we have the world’s greatest fans,” Bettman said. The commish meant this as a compliment, of course. An honest reading of this beauty is more like: “If you fans weren’t such doormats, I might be worried.”
AND the Devils were unable to pay their creditors despite 4 rounds of extra playoff revenue. Just how many rounds were they hoping to play to scrape together enough money to pay their debt?I can understand some organizations can use a little help to get on their feet, but at the same time you don't build an Opera House in the Ozarks.Bettman...admit you are failing in 50% of your markets. Canadians...stop being such douche bag doormats.
"I used to be a big NHL fan until my team made a bad deal - now I'm not a big NHL fan." Sounds like sour grapes and entitlement to me. You are not entitled to have a good team just because your market is the most storied in the NHL. And you cannot enmesh arguments about the state of your team with league finances just because it suits you and your agenda. I mean, you can - but you sound like an a$$. Suck it up, buttercup.
It's not entitlement...it's not being a chump. I'm sorry if your team runs your life. I cheer for a team, but they don't own me. I am a free man, and I can decide I it is not worth the time. I can decide hey, maybe I'm sick of watching games only to put myself in a bad move for the next day. And yeah, I can decide to walk away from a mismanaged team.Just how low is your self esteem that you allow a sports franchise to dictate your life?
Where did you learn to argue, non-sequitur school? When did I imply my team "runs my life?" To me, it seems more like your team runs your life if, like you say, it puts you in such bad moods for days on end and causes you to make belief altering changes to your life. If you're a fan, you stick with your team. But you sound more like a baby to me.
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/237664-you-get-nothing-you-lose-good-day-sir