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NHL now in a slushy mess
By Tom Zulewski September 15, 2004 |
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In seven years as a sportswriter, I've been the butt of my share of jokes when it comes to being a passionate fan of the National Hockey League. The common theme of the jokesters' ammunition comes from their belief that living in California means "no one cares" about the game. I care, but the NHL has given me a reason bigger than Patrick Roy's goalie pads to turn off the joy. Mark the moment down. Sept. 15, 2004 will forever be known as the day the NHL died courtesy of an owners lockout and a players union that only cares about making the most money it possibly can. See NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (or is that Butthead?) explain away the problems the league is facing without some form of a cap. See the NHL Players Association call it all a load of crap. Bettman apologized during his Wednesday afternoon press conference to "our millions of fans and the thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on our game" as a way of perhaps placating hurt feelings. Apology not accepted, sir. From the time of the last lockout 10 years ago, NHL fans have endured garbage from your leadership. Remember? - When Fox had the NHL television contract, we got the famous glowing puck as a means of trying to increase fan interest. Who are we kidding? It was a joke from the moment it started. - Instead of the legendary names of the NHL divisions (Norris, Patrick, Adams, Smythe) and conferences (Wales and Campbell), we get generic directions. From unique to boring. Thank you, Commissioner. - The NHL has too many teams in markets that just don't give a damn. Florida had one Stanley Cup run in 1996, but the fans haven't shown up since. Nashville got in the playoffs for the first time last season, but the three home games didn't sell out. Fans even stopped showing up in San Jose. After packing HP Pavilion on a regular basis since it was built in 1993, the Sharks sold out just 10 times in 41 home dates last season, reaching that total only in the final two home games with the draw of playoff seeding being in doubt. Ticket prices that have reached obscene proportions - $35 gets you a seat in the middle of the upper bowl at HP Pavilion, for example - which also plays in the madness going on. - No one watches the game on television. ABC and ESPN were routinely outdrawn in the ratings by everyone, including (oh, the shame of it!) the WNBA, the same league that was one players strike away from disappearing from our consciousness altogether. Now NBC has stepped into the fray, but its new TV deal was constructed with the NHL in a similar fashion to the arrangement with the Arena Football League. NBC doesn't have to pay the league any money, but it will share in the ad revenues. Good luck, NBC. Can't charge Super Bowl-size prices for ads when the target audience is doing other things. I don't blame one side over the other in this. Both the NHL and NHLPA have war chests of more than $100 million that make me wonder if the intention to resolve the impasse quickly is sincere. There were 103 days lost in the lockout 10 years ago. A full season - or more - may be lost this time around. Remember when the World Series was lost in 1994 - ironically as the NHL's last lockout was just getting started? That was sacrilege of the highest order. Now the Stanley Cup, the greatest trophy in all of the four major sports, may likely suffer the same fate in 2005. Tragic doesn't begin to describe what this lockout will do to the NHL for the future - both immediate and in the long term. Like Tinkerbell used to do on the Wonderful World of Disney, this lockout is a wave of the wand that should make the last of the league's microscopic fan base disappear. Maybe for good. |
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