I literally have no idea.
I'm known to a lot of people though as a hockey master so when they ask "Hey buddy, what's the story with next years' hockey season? Is there gonna be another lockout?" I'm unable to respond with the words I wrote above.
For a lot of people it's easy to just say "Bettman sucks" and side with the NHLPA in these labor disputes. But that's a clear cop-out and pinpoints the ignorance of some hockey fans. Sure, it's a great tradition to boo Bettman but it has to be a legitimate reason. As a Devils fan I have my reasons. But before you go to his house with pitchforks and torches over this dispute, learn what this dispute is all about.
Then you can boo him all you like.
What we have here is a failure to communicate. The negotiations started June 29th and they predictably didn't accomplish anything because the NHL and the Union are like school kids with a major project coming up. They weren't actually going to work on anything until things get down to the nitty gritty.
What we knew going into this was a few things. We knew that both sides were going to be rather greedy and pretty much be only interested in their own winnings. We also knew that both sides would NOT sit idly by and let this thing drag on too long, an optimistic point. Neither party is idiotic. If there is a stoppage in play of any length, everyone loses. The league, the owners, the players, and the fans. Also, the state of the parties involved were not as depressing as it was in 2004 prior to the crippling lockout close to 7 years ago. Both sides have been doing pretty nicely. Everyone was doing pretty well before these negotiations. The league was doing almost as well as it ever had. Everyone was getting their share of the pie. And the game in itself has been improving consistently, popularity-wise. Additionally, with the upcoming Winter Classic and the success of the HBO series coming up, there's no way this season would be cancelled. All of these things seemed like a good sign for hockey.
But then the talks started.
The NHL kicked things off with an almost comical proposal which basically said "we're literally going to try to rob you with our proposal" as it offered rather large pay cuts to players who would have come out losers had they accepted. I guess it's a good thing Scott Howson doesn't represent the NHLPA.
So once word got out about the details of the first proposal hockey fans everywhere kinda put their heads down realizing how far apart both parties were to striking a deal. The NHLPA essentially took the opening offer as a greedy insult by the NHL. Everyone was just kind of aggravated that the Union and the League couldn't get their act together instead of just trading ridiculous offers that would never actually be accepted.
We all just had a feeling that we were in for a lot of long arguments that could go on for months while we miss out on hockey.
But then Gary Bettman did something pretty smart. He simply put it out there that if there was no new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) by the deadline of September 15th, the players will be locked out (duh duh duh)
What that did was get everyone all amped up about getting this thing organized and finished with so nothing will be missed. Beforehand, everyone was just taking things slowly figuring there was time to get a deal settled. But after that announcement everyone started freaking out about the lack of time to get it finished with.
So the NHLPA started drawing up their counter offer. Donald Fehr, the executive director of the Players Association (he also served 23 years as the executive director of the MLB Players Association) drew up a long deal which he hoped would settle things once and for all.
Many players showed up for the next meeting including Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, and other current superstars (23 players in all). Donald Fehr stressed at first that they were going to bring in an alternative look at this dilemma.
The reactions to the NHLPA's counter-proposal seemed optimistic. Gary Bettman opened by saying that it was clear they thought this one out thoroughly and they would have to discuss what should be done. Fehr himself set off too much optimism when he said that the proposal should "lead to a new CBA". After hearing about this, fans everywhere (including myself) let out a deep breath because it seemed like everything would be taken care of. But oh how we were wrong.
Fehr also said that players were going to take reduced Hockey Related Revenue (HRR) for the next 3 years. He also said the Revenue sharing could reach $250 million a year. Another interesting part of the package was that they were going to allow some teams to go above the cap while other teams need to stay under. It was a creative idea to help out teams in the financial gutters. The cap was expected to end up at $78.93 million at the end of the 3 year deal. The package also had an expended revenue sharing program to help struggling teams.
So to sum it up, the players agreed to take a big cut from their slice in order to get a deal. They were prepared to surrender as much as $465 million in revenue under their proposal.
So ya. People were generally optimistic by the news of that proposal. It was a sign of things moving along. Even if Bettman doesn't like what he sees at least they're getting closer to getting a deal together. If anything, this was a sign that things weren't so far apart.
Right?
. .
. .. . . . . . . . . . . ,.-'". . . . . . . . . .``~.,
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. . . . . . . .. .,?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\,
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. . . . . . . /__.(. . ."~-,_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`. . . .. ./
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _
[epic facepalm]
When I saw what Bettman had to say of the most recent proposal, I almost fell off my chair. First of all, it was extremely disrespectful of Bettman, after proposing his insult of a deal, to call the NHLPA's a disappointment. While Bettman's first offer was all about himself and the owners, the players at least tried to sacrifice their own money in order to score a deal. But Bettman called this effort a disappointment? Ridiculous.
Fehr was quick to point that out, saying the only reason there's still a wide gap is because of the NHL's initial proposal which was nowhere near a compromise.
Bettman went on to say that the owners didn't like too much about the new deal which seemed fair to most third parties.
Now here comes the scary part. First of all Fehr told the players to prepare for the worst (a lockout). He said that they're still going to hope for the best but they should be prepared.
That's scary as hell, eh?
The next part was even scarier.
"The players gave up a lot last time and aren't prepared to do so again." -Donald Fehr
This is a scary idea. This pretty much states that the NHLPA might start getting as stubborn as the NHL. If both sides aren't willing to give anything up we will be arguing for quite some time. That means the September 15th deadline might come and go with no new CBA. Which means we'll be deprived of hockey again.
So if you're wondering who to side with in this, I think it's fairly obvious that the NHLPA has done more so far to strike a deal and it's just the NHL's greediness that's been getting in the way. Bettman has made a lot of people angry and hasn't done too much to help either. But like I said, the NHLPA might start getting greedy with their money also.
Sit tight folks. This may take a while.
I'm known to a lot of people though as a hockey master so when they ask "Hey buddy, what's the story with next years' hockey season? Is there gonna be another lockout?" I'm unable to respond with the words I wrote above.
For a lot of people it's easy to just say "Bettman sucks" and side with the NHLPA in these labor disputes. But that's a clear cop-out and pinpoints the ignorance of some hockey fans. Sure, it's a great tradition to boo Bettman but it has to be a legitimate reason. As a Devils fan I have my reasons. But before you go to his house with pitchforks and torches over this dispute, learn what this dispute is all about.
Then you can boo him all you like.
What we have here is a failure to communicate. The negotiations started June 29th and they predictably didn't accomplish anything because the NHL and the Union are like school kids with a major project coming up. They weren't actually going to work on anything until things get down to the nitty gritty.
What we knew going into this was a few things. We knew that both sides were going to be rather greedy and pretty much be only interested in their own winnings. We also knew that both sides would NOT sit idly by and let this thing drag on too long, an optimistic point. Neither party is idiotic. If there is a stoppage in play of any length, everyone loses. The league, the owners, the players, and the fans. Also, the state of the parties involved were not as depressing as it was in 2004 prior to the crippling lockout close to 7 years ago. Both sides have been doing pretty nicely. Everyone was doing pretty well before these negotiations. The league was doing almost as well as it ever had. Everyone was getting their share of the pie. And the game in itself has been improving consistently, popularity-wise. Additionally, with the upcoming Winter Classic and the success of the HBO series coming up, there's no way this season would be cancelled. All of these things seemed like a good sign for hockey.
But then the talks started.
The NHL kicked things off with an almost comical proposal which basically said "we're literally going to try to rob you with our proposal" as it offered rather large pay cuts to players who would have come out losers had they accepted. I guess it's a good thing Scott Howson doesn't represent the NHLPA.
So once word got out about the details of the first proposal hockey fans everywhere kinda put their heads down realizing how far apart both parties were to striking a deal. The NHLPA essentially took the opening offer as a greedy insult by the NHL. Everyone was just kind of aggravated that the Union and the League couldn't get their act together instead of just trading ridiculous offers that would never actually be accepted.
We all just had a feeling that we were in for a lot of long arguments that could go on for months while we miss out on hockey.
 |
| Bettman Sucks |
But then Gary Bettman did something pretty smart. He simply put it out there that if there was no new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) by the deadline of September 15th, the players will be locked out (duh duh duh)
What that did was get everyone all amped up about getting this thing organized and finished with so nothing will be missed. Beforehand, everyone was just taking things slowly figuring there was time to get a deal settled. But after that announcement everyone started freaking out about the lack of time to get it finished with.
So the NHLPA started drawing up their counter offer. Donald Fehr, the executive director of the Players Association (he also served 23 years as the executive director of the MLB Players Association) drew up a long deal which he hoped would settle things once and for all.
Many players showed up for the next meeting including Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, and other current superstars (23 players in all). Donald Fehr stressed at first that they were going to bring in an alternative look at this dilemma.
The reactions to the NHLPA's counter-proposal seemed optimistic. Gary Bettman opened by saying that it was clear they thought this one out thoroughly and they would have to discuss what should be done. Fehr himself set off too much optimism when he said that the proposal should "lead to a new CBA". After hearing about this, fans everywhere (including myself) let out a deep breath because it seemed like everything would be taken care of. But oh how we were wrong.
Fehr also said that players were going to take reduced Hockey Related Revenue (HRR) for the next 3 years. He also said the Revenue sharing could reach $250 million a year. Another interesting part of the package was that they were going to allow some teams to go above the cap while other teams need to stay under. It was a creative idea to help out teams in the financial gutters. The cap was expected to end up at $78.93 million at the end of the 3 year deal. The package also had an expended revenue sharing program to help struggling teams.
So to sum it up, the players agreed to take a big cut from their slice in order to get a deal. They were prepared to surrender as much as $465 million in revenue under their proposal.
So ya. People were generally optimistic by the news of that proposal. It was a sign of things moving along. Even if Bettman doesn't like what he sees at least they're getting closer to getting a deal together. If anything, this was a sign that things weren't so far apart.
Right?
. . . . . . . .. . . . . .,.-". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."-.,
. . . . .. . . . . . ..,/. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ":,
. . . . . . . .. .,?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\,
. . . . . . . . . /. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,}
. . . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`^`.}
. . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:". . . ./
. . . . . . .?. . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :`. . . ./
. . . . . . . /__.(. . ."~-,_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`. . . .. ./
. . . . . . /(_. . "~,_. . . .."~,_. . . . . . . . . .,:`. . . . _/
. . . .. .{.._$;_. . ."=,_. . . ."-,_. . . ,.-~-,}, .~"; /. .. .}
. . .. . .((. . .*~_. . . ."=-._. . .";,,./`. . /" . . . ./. .. ../
. . . .. . .\`~,. . .."~.,. . . . . . . . . ..`. . .}. . . . . . ../
. . . . . .(. ..`=-,,. . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . ..(. . . ;_,,-"
. . . . . ../.`~,. . ..`-.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..\. . /\
. . . . . . \`~.*-,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..|,./.....\,__
,,_. . . . . }.>-._\. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . ..`=~-,
. .. `=~-,_\_. . . `\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . .`=~-,,.\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `:,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . `\. . . . . . ..__
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`=-,. . . . . . . . . .,%`>--==``
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _
[epic facepalm]
When I saw what Bettman had to say of the most recent proposal, I almost fell off my chair. First of all, it was extremely disrespectful of Bettman, after proposing his insult of a deal, to call the NHLPA's a disappointment. While Bettman's first offer was all about himself and the owners, the players at least tried to sacrifice their own money in order to score a deal. But Bettman called this effort a disappointment? Ridiculous.
Fehr was quick to point that out, saying the only reason there's still a wide gap is because of the NHL's initial proposal which was nowhere near a compromise.
Bettman went on to say that the owners didn't like too much about the new deal which seemed fair to most third parties.
Now here comes the scary part. First of all Fehr told the players to prepare for the worst (a lockout). He said that they're still going to hope for the best but they should be prepared.
That's scary as hell, eh?
The next part was even scarier.
"The players gave up a lot last time and aren't prepared to do so again." -Donald Fehr
This is a scary idea. This pretty much states that the NHLPA might start getting as stubborn as the NHL. If both sides aren't willing to give anything up we will be arguing for quite some time. That means the September 15th deadline might come and go with no new CBA. Which means we'll be deprived of hockey again.
So if you're wondering who to side with in this, I think it's fairly obvious that the NHLPA has done more so far to strike a deal and it's just the NHL's greediness that's been getting in the way. Bettman has made a lot of people angry and hasn't done too much to help either. But like I said, the NHLPA might start getting greedy with their money also.
Sit tight folks. This may take a while.
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