I have to admit. I bought into the optimism, I bought in to the momentum. Now I look at the wreckage from last night and wonder why. Especially when I start hearing how and why this whole thing blew apart.
Let me start by saying, I have tried my best to keep to the middle here. As someone that walks in the business world, I understand the owners side in this dispute… as someone that also walks in the entertainment world the players points in this make sense as well. What follows is not a rip on the players, I know that the players want what’s best for the game, the problem is, they are being led by a person that had to “learn the game” and while he may have learned it... he doesn't understand it. This mess… this I lay at the feet of one person.
Donald Fehr.
Donald Fehr ruined one sport that I used to be incredibly passionate about. He can claim the Marvin Miller mantel… but this man is no Martin Miller, never has been, never will be. When the MLBPA struck, causing the loss of the World Series in ’94, I was basically done as a baseball fan. It was the end of season strike trying to use the Series as a bargaining chip. That’s why it is incredibly disingenuous to lay the lockout off solely on the owners. History shows that, if the NHL started the season without a CBA, you could’ve counted on a strike in March to put the playoffs at risk. I know that as well as I know my own name.
What crystallized all of this in my mind was a tweet from respected hockey writer, Adrian Dater. Now, if you have been following Adrian on Twitter… he is absolutely not a shill for either side of this dispute. He has been critical of both sides and is a highly respected journalist. If anything, he has been more supportive of the players side.
His tweet from last night…
From deep inside players side: "We were ready to play again. But Don came in (Wed.) and told us we could get more and to hold out"
“We could get more and to hold out” Unbe-frickin’-lievable.
Dater’s take on this is that there is a split developing in the player's ranks, he characterized the player who made the comment he tweeted out last night as a “depth player.” The other key piece of the information Adrian sent out was that “top players still in Fehr camp.” This does make a little sense, considering that the PA is fighting hard for something that doesn’t happen very often… the beyond five year contract. Who gets those contracts? It certainly isn’t the “depth player.” Adrian wrote a great blog on this, here's the
link.
The reality is this, Donald Fehr’s membership did an incredible job in doing
his job, creating the bridge, opening the communication and moving the process along. Does anyone else find it interesting that as soon as Fehr came back into the room (upon his insistence)the process blew apart?
The attitude of “we could get more” is the biggest problem on both sides of this issue. The constantly shifting priorities (if true) put forth by the NHLPA is designed to drive frustration and is not bargaining in good faith. Did anyone else hear how important pensions were prior to Wednesday? Yeah, me neither. "We could get more" by losing more games and more time and more pay... flat out silly.
The “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” appearance in Donald Fehr’s first press conference last night was cold, calculated, manipulative and disgusting. It was also a stupid move on his part. Further proof in my mind that Donald Fehr doesn’t give a (expletive) about the game that we love. At least NHL commissioner Gary Bettman showed some emotion, some passion about our game in his press conference last night… and by the way, for those haters, Bettman understood that he needed to stay out of the room in order to get a deal, Fehr hasn’t learned that lesson yet.
The players want to play, that is undeniable. The owners want to get games on the ice that is also undeniable. The only one who doesn’t want a deal here seems to be Donald Fehr, and he continues to play upon the emotions of his charges. He plays the “owners don’t respect you” card with skill and relish. Fehr understands the mindset of the athlete and is now playing on it for all it is worth. I can imagine Fehr doing his best Reg Dunlap impersonation in a PA conference call… “those owners challenged the Cheifs… errrr… union!” The only problem with this strategy now is that it is exposed. Donald Fehr has now pissed off the moderate owners in this league. How does that help the players get more?
The endgame is now solidly underway. I know that... The shills are out in force on Twitter, blathering on depending on their agenda, casting blame depending on their bias but one thing is true. This is all part of the dirty little game being played out in front of TSN’s cameras, all part of the filthy underside of business negotiations. This process does undermine the fan’s belief and passion for the league, a necessary evil that should never have gotten to this point.
We like the sausage, we just don’t like seeing it made.
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Random Notes
- Greg Wyshynski’s latest Puck Daddy post said it very well… “What a [expletive] how this League has become.”
- I love it when a hockey snob is brought down a peg or two… Ryan Lambert (on Puck Daddy) has been having a good ole time crackin’ on Phoenix… Ben Shroyer in his excellent post on the Coyotes blog
Five for Howling tears Lambert’s latest “anti-anything-outside-of-his-idea-of-where-hockey-should-be” screed apart… with something called facts! Great takedown Ben!
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