Posted on 06/14/2005 1:22:01 PM PDT by airborne
This is not going to be a hatchet job.
Many of the denunciations of Gary Bettman's tenure as National Hockey League commissioner rely on tired, clichéd and unreasonable assumptions from those who can't reconcile the sport's roots and traditions with modern reality. I often have been a Bettman defender over the years, and in many ways will continue to be.
Yet this also is inescapable: For the good of the NHL, the game and even of Bettman himself, the commissioner should step down once a new collective bargaining agreement is signed.
That would allow the relaunch and the healing to take place without his lightning-rod presence as a distraction. The same goes for NHL Players Association head Bob Goodenow, whose dogmatic and principled inflexibility on the salary cap issue was admirable yet ultimately unproductive given the likely terms of the upcoming settlement.
Bettman brought the NHL into the 21st century, literally and figuratively, which was quite a leap considering that on many fronts the league was operating in the 19th century when he took over.
Primarily because his lockout strategy "worked" – the league brought the NHLPA to its knees, forcing the union to accept the unacceptable – Bettman can leave with the reputation of having obtained what the hard-liners demanded and having "won" this battle.
He can retire on top, so to speak.
All along, he said the system needed to be fixed, and only a blinkered fool wouldn't admit that a hybrid salary cap/luxury tax system with a ceiling in the neighborhood of $36 million is a victory for Bettman and the owners. Of course, that raises the question of whether franchises whose payroll costs will be drastically cut will roll back ticket prices – and roll them back significantly, not just with slight and mostly cosmetic markdowns
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Hockey Ping!
Bettman must go ping
Sounds like Bettman is the big winner. He beat the union and brought some sanity to the league. Why retire? He needs at least a year of gloating.
Nothing like a sport full of Canadians and Euros where you can't even see the friggin' ball. I can't imagine why they are having problems!
Put me on the hockey ping, please.
Hockey?
Oh yeah, that's that sport they play in college...
Why wait? Now seems like a good time.
Did I miss the hockey season again.
darn thats three years in a row :(
By the way, here's my idea to revolutionize the sport! I got the idea when I discovered goalies get to have a beverage on the ice with them. I thought, why stop there? Why not also have snacks? Then it hit me! What if you got one of those super immense fat guys to be your goalie? Just lay him down in front of the goal! What's the goal size? 4 x6? Imagine this guy laid on his side:
You feelin me?
I think his point is not to upset the status quo.
Once the deal is complete and things are back to 'normal', both step down to give the appearance of starting with a clean slate.
Yeah. You don't like hockey.
Consider yourself on!
There's your problem right there! Stop looking for a ball, and follow that flat, black rubber cylinder everybody seems to be chasing. It's called a puck.
No I mean the fat guy idea. It would be a huge draw. Put a big bucket of KFC on the goal. Think of the endorsements. All he's got to do is move his top flabby arm up and down to guard the top part of the goal.
On a side note, we may actually see an agreement very soon. Maybe within the next week but definitely before the end of the month.
BTW... Please add me to you Hockey ping list.
On a side note, we may actually see an agreement very soon. Maybe within the next week but definitely before the end of the month.
BTW... Please add me to you Hockey ping list.
Well that was weird. I had a post but there was nothing in it. Now there are two. Sorry about the double.
Bettman(a democrat BTW) needs to go back to the NBA, and Goodenow needs to go as well.
A sport without a friggin ball. Another great idea.
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