2005-02-16 13:35![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitaldiscipline
digitaldiscipline[crossposted from a locked entry in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trystbat's journal]
I respectfully disagree with her allocation of blame.
The owners got themselves into this mess by overpaying the players. It's within their powers to say, "You know, Dave, you're not worth $9mil a year as a free agent. Here's $6.5." If some other owner steps in and ups the ante, that's capitalism at work.
I'm sure she did at least as well in Economics class as I did, and remembers this little maxim: "If there's nobody willing to pay $X for something, nobody will buy it, and the price will come down to something people -will- pay."
You think ownership for one instant has considered how low ticket sales are going to be in the wake of this, and thought about lowering prices to entice fans to come back, if and when play resumes?
The players -are- playing for relative peanuts these days - overseas.
I have no sympathy for billionaires who are trying to bilk millionaires for their own avaritic reasons. They've cooked their books in such patently cheesy ways that even -I- can smell the bullshit and know that they're not losing money. King Kaufman in Salon has a field day pointing at the fiduciary follies of NHL ownership; I take it one step further to make this point:
You don't make the quarter-billion dollars it takes to purchase an NHL franchise by being a fucking moron; who, exactly, do you think you're going to fool when that's exactly what you claim to be when it comes to your inability to run that franchise profitably, especially with the huge public monies that are often subsidizing stadium construction and tax breaks to keep the franchise from being spirited away?
Bettman looks pissed-off and defensive at the press conference, as well he should. He's the bad guy (or at least the figurehead on the bad guys' side of this conflict). Don Fehr is an asshole of the first rank, but at least he's on the right side in this one.
If I was in the players' position, I'd do exactly the same thing. I'm not going to take a pay cut because the rich fucker who hired me can't keep his fly buttoned when it comes to the free agency market. I'll play for less, but not for that collection of greedy, selfish assholes.
Financial responsibility begins at home; it's a damn shame ownership can't be evicted, because their "offers" were patently ridiculous, and their stubborn insistence on a salary cap has succeeded in doing nothing more than earning them the animosity they so rightly fucking deserve.
Sucks to be a hockey fan today.
trystbat's journal]I respectfully disagree with her allocation of blame.
The owners got themselves into this mess by overpaying the players. It's within their powers to say, "You know, Dave, you're not worth $9mil a year as a free agent. Here's $6.5." If some other owner steps in and ups the ante, that's capitalism at work.
I'm sure she did at least as well in Economics class as I did, and remembers this little maxim: "If there's nobody willing to pay $X for something, nobody will buy it, and the price will come down to something people -will- pay."
You think ownership for one instant has considered how low ticket sales are going to be in the wake of this, and thought about lowering prices to entice fans to come back, if and when play resumes?
The players -are- playing for relative peanuts these days - overseas.
I have no sympathy for billionaires who are trying to bilk millionaires for their own avaritic reasons. They've cooked their books in such patently cheesy ways that even -I- can smell the bullshit and know that they're not losing money. King Kaufman in Salon has a field day pointing at the fiduciary follies of NHL ownership; I take it one step further to make this point:
You don't make the quarter-billion dollars it takes to purchase an NHL franchise by being a fucking moron; who, exactly, do you think you're going to fool when that's exactly what you claim to be when it comes to your inability to run that franchise profitably, especially with the huge public monies that are often subsidizing stadium construction and tax breaks to keep the franchise from being spirited away?
Bettman looks pissed-off and defensive at the press conference, as well he should. He's the bad guy (or at least the figurehead on the bad guys' side of this conflict). Don Fehr is an asshole of the first rank, but at least he's on the right side in this one.
If I was in the players' position, I'd do exactly the same thing. I'm not going to take a pay cut because the rich fucker who hired me can't keep his fly buttoned when it comes to the free agency market. I'll play for less, but not for that collection of greedy, selfish assholes.
Financial responsibility begins at home; it's a damn shame ownership can't be evicted, because their "offers" were patently ridiculous, and their stubborn insistence on a salary cap has succeeded in doing nothing more than earning them the animosity they so rightly fucking deserve.
Sucks to be a hockey fan today.
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Whats Hockey?
Sorry - feeling belligerent today. I have enjoyed every hockey game I've been to (maybe half a dozen) but I can't get worked up about this whole NHL thing. Like you said - billionaires screwing milionaires - who cares? I only feel bad for the fans. It's only entertainment anyway, no different than actors or singers or mimes or prop comedians. I never understood why athletes get such big bucks, or why we stupid Americans continue to give a shit/pay the ticket prices.