Well, there goes the season......

[Alienware_Dude]

As football season gets underway, those of you who are fans of the game think of this whenever your team is doing poorly: at least they're playing.




DIE GARY BETTMAN! DIE NHLPA!

[doctorgonzo]

Everybody saw far in advance an NHL player's strike this year. Looks like nothing is going to change.

[mbossman2]

Originally Posted by doctorgonzo Looks like nothing is going to change.

something will change: the face of NHL hockey,not for the good and possibly permanently.

[fudtone]

Why do professional athletes need a union?

[doctorgonzo]

Originally Posted by fudtone Why do professional athletes need a union?

Same reason as anybody else: collective bargaining. Players don't get multi-million dollar contracts because owners feel generous. The economics may be slightly different, but when you get down to it there's not a lot of difference between a pro athlete and another blue-collar job in terms of collective bargaining.

[SonicVanguard]

Unfortunatly it seems the NHLPA union is proving what many have said - unions are great in theory (protecting the worker) but poor in application (greed of a small percentage of members/leadership). It's happened to the UAW, AFLCIO and many other unions.

I tend to agree with mbossman2 - the NHL will change and I doubt for the better.

Dave.

[Strider]

Don't follow hockey even though I live in Metro Detroit Area that has a team called the Red Wings and I could careless if this season is a complete washout. As a matter of fact I don't follow baseball like I use to because of all the stupid strikes they had. As far as I'm concern I don't feel sorry for those multi-millionare cry babies whining about a salary cap and the owners stupidity in paying them that much to begin with. At least for the bright side, more time for other news and stuff on the local news. :-)

[Strider]

Don't follow hockey even though I live in Metro Detroit Area that has a team called the Red Wings and I could careless if this season is a complete washout. As a matter of fact I don't follow baseball like I use to because of all the stupid strikes they had. As far as I'm concern I don't feel sorry for those multi-millionare cry babies whining about a salary cap and the owners stupidity in paying them that much to begin with. At least for the bright side, more time for other news and stuff on the local news.

[bigandy]

I have to say I'm not surprised. I was hoping that this wouldn't happen, but I was expecting that it would. I know the players want the money, and these guys do take a serious beating while receiving far less attention than even a mediocre football or basketball player, but they already get a higher percentage of the money their teams make than in any of our other pro sports leagues, and now they want more.

[Mr N8]

I'm upset that there won't be a season, since I'm a big fan of hockey. I knew that there wouldn't be a season, but I still have the AHL to keep me occupied.

[mbossman2]

Originally Posted by doctorgonzo Same reason as anybody else: collective bargaining. Players don't get multi-million dollar contracts because owners feel generous. The economics may be slightly different, but when you get down to it there's not a lot of difference between a pro athlete and another blue-collar job in terms of collective bargaining.

that is true, the players would not make the kind of coin they do know without a union, but on the other hand ticket prices, concession prices, parking prices, souvenier prices and any other sport associated prices probably would not have gone up as far as they have.

I am empathetic with the players: they are among the main reasons that people come to the game and generate the money and they should reap those benefits AND they have a very narrow window in which ply their trade. Unfortunately, the players and their association have lost sight of a basic business truism: the cost of acquiring/seeing a product can never exceed the perceived value of the product. Without a serious $$ TV contract to help subsidize the sport, that break point is looming closer and closer and disaster will follow as surely as night follows day when that line is crossed.

[Alienware_Dude]

Originally Posted by Mr N8 I'm upset that there won't be a season, since I'm a big fan of hockey. I knew that there wouldn't be a season, but I still have the AHL to keep me occupied.

Yes, the Albany River Rats play about 40 minutes away from me, and even though I hate them, I will still be going to plenty of games to fill the void. There's also RPI and Union College hockey, and I'll most likely be going to a lot of those games as well.

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by Alienware_Dude Yes, the Albany River Rats play about 40 minutes away from me, and even though I hate them, I will still be going to plenty of games to fill the void. There's also RPI and Union College hockey, and I'll most likely be going to a lot of those games as well.

We've got the GR Griffins here and MSU hockey an hour down the road. That will be more than enough to keep me happy considering how busy the fall is looking in the studio.

Dave.

[mbossman2]

I've got college basketball until the end of march (ACC hoops)

[Propain]

lets see ... they work about 80 hours a year. and make 3 to 7 million dollars. and they want more? hmmmm I work 2000+ hours a year and make 50 grand. we're supposed to root for the players or the owners who pay them? hmmm that a tough decision.......

[mbossman2]

Originally Posted by Propain lets see ... they work about 80 hours a year. and make 3 to 7 million dollars. and they want more? hmmmm I work 2000+ hours a year and make 50 grand. we're supposed to root for the players or the owners who pay them? hmmm that a tough decision.......

your comparison is not a fair one for a few reasons:

1) While I am sure that you are very good at what you do, would you say that you are one of the top 300 in the world at what you do?

2) How much of the revenue of your organization are you directly responsible for generating and how much revenue does your company take in?

3) you fail to take into account the amount of practice time that is put in. SOme numbers of top performers are approximate 100 hours of practice to every hour of performance.

People who are the top performers in their chosen skill field are generally paid top dollar and those who generate the income of the company should share in that largesse

[Propain]

Originally Posted by mbossman2 2) How much of the revenue of your organization are you directly responsible for generating and how much revenue does your company take in?

so if my company rakes in alot of cash I should stop working for them and ask for a raise? Theyre just a bunch of crybabies who want more more more . Other sport franchises have gotten the salary cap and are well off , dont tell me a salary cap is gonna hurt them either..

[mbossman2]

Originally Posted by Propain so if my company rakes in alot of cash I should stop working for them and ask for a raise? Theyre just a bunch of crybabies who want more more more . Other sport franchises have gotten the salary cap and are well off , dont tell me a salary cap is gonna hurt them either..

if you are directly responsible and a portion (some or all) of that revenue would leave if you left then possibly yes. The key component is that the "owner" of the business recognizes your intrinsic/irreplaceable value. If on the on the other hand the owner can go out and get another person of similar quality who will generate the same revenue, then it owuld not be a good idea.

The salary cap is the key but the players aren't going to accept one as long as they distrust the accounting of revenues by the owners. The players have an excellent point: Why are these smart business owners investing/buying teams if all the teams do is lose money? My guess is that there is a lot of shady book keeping going on behind the scenes to make it appear that revenues are down. This serves 2 purposes: 1) keeps the players, to some extent, off the owners back and 2) it is a lever for the owners to use against local governments from whom the teams lease their stadium to drive that cost lower.

[compusport]

I've been a hockey fan for 29 of my 33 years and I see a simple solution for this:

Have an salary cap for both the players and the owners!!! Take a number, lets say $40 million. 40 to the players, 40 to the owners. The remainder going back to the community. THE PEOPLE WHO PAY BOTH OF YOU!!!

I know its way too idealistic and will never happen, but you gotta admit that it makes sense