archromat

"Quasi GM"

Moncton, NB • Canada • 37 Years Old • Male

Nobody wins with resentment

I'm starting to wonder if the NHLPA resents that the NHL had a plan for a full 82 game schedule with a pretty good offer on the table.

In our culture, we seem to have this problem and resentment towards other people trying to make our decisions easier for us for our own good, even if the agenda isn't always pure. Unfortunately, when we start thinking that the helping hand is always trying to secretly drop us off a cliff, we stay in one spot and wait for help forever without ever getting it because we don't trust anything anymore. I remember the story of a flood and a man waiting on the roof of his house... helicopters and boats came for him but the man said, "God will save me, God will save me" and when he drowned, he asked God why he didn't help and God tells him, "I sent boats and helicopters but you refused them!"

If someone makes a sweet enough offer for me and then expect that I'll take it, then I'm going to take it, even if they planned for me to make that decision. It's not so bad to be a little predictable, because it shows you that you're ruled by order rather than chaos. And if the second paragraph is true, then most of us are never going to develop the maturity to know whether the helping hands that come along are any good or not, because that's the nature of mistrust. Trust is an adventure that drags you through swamps and pits but can also take you to pretty far out places, and most of the time, it won't kill you. I hope the players don't resent the owners in taking a deal that fits for them, because it seems to me the deal is there to be made and resentment and fear of being manipulated should never get in the way.

I understand the owner's strategy and so should the players. Now when we talk about Stanley Cup history, we have to embarrassingly skip over 2005 because it wasn't awarded. And for what? So that Goodenow could fight that losing battle of turning the NHL into a marketplace system and let the Rangers and the Leafs try to buy a Stanley Cup. Now, finally, the Rangers are drafting from within the organization, how's that working out for them? And Buffalo tried to buy their team last year, how did that work out? Except in the proposed marketplace system, Nashville gets to farm up future superstars but never watch them play in their prime, except when they score on them as the visiting team.

And they say the owners won that deal. Laughable. Nobody won. We all lost a year. The players, the owners, the fans, and they say the owners won the deal even though players have been receiving the lion's share of revenues. Yes, declare the owners the victors and turn them into the enemies, because it's easier to make a deal with someone whom you think is your enemy! It's not the owners or players fault, though, they stopped teaching rhetoric in high school so naturally most people are rather uneducated about it, and seem to think that they'll get their way if they're angry and stubborn enough.

But now, here, yes, the owners made their awesome move and the players further show off their resentment. This speaks to me loud and clear that they don't want to make a deal unless it's on their terms. It's increasingly probable that they're too proud to accept anything the owners offer because they're resenting the owners for embarrassing themselves with their last round of negotiation. Well, Goodenow was an idiot, and Bettman is not going to pay for it... if they continue down this road, the fans, the players, the owners are going to pay even more and more. The NHLPA must swallow their pride... because as Patton says, "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." A good deal now is better than a perfect deal two months down the road. And also applicable by Patton, "The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." Quit resenting the owners, put 2005 in the past, and get this sh!@ done.

After all, the thing that manipulates us all the most is self-generated fear (or in this case, Fehr).

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