I have a new approach for the hockey lockout. Let's hope it lasts forever. Yes, I'm serious. Let's let these two groups of morons, the NHL's owners and players, shut down the league for good. You may rightfully wonder how this helps? Well, perhaps, the best way to get professional hockey back is to eliminate the only two obstacles to that end-the current owners and players union.
The only way to get Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow out of the equation is to have the National Hockey League go belly up. (Do any two people deserve to be unemployed more than these two?) Yes, that's dramatic. Yes, there is a high cost. There is also a cost in letting these guys continue to lead this dog and pony show. A cost, that in the end, may be the same.
Leaving Bettman and Goodenow at the helm of a sport that is slightly above a cottage industry is darn near suicide, anyway. If Bettman and Goodenow have proved nothing else, they have given us ample evidence that hockey is not headed in the right direction. Work stoppages. Lower quality of play. Terrible public relations. Even worse television ratings.
Need more proof? Recently, Mr. Bettman said in a radio interview, and I paraphrase here, "We are not trying to save the season, we are trying to correct the league's financial structure". That sounds like a solid plan. Toss a season away for a salary cap. That won't be a public relations disaster of unequal comparison.
All Bettman and Goodenow do well now, other than not talk to each other, is hammer one another in the media. They also do a great job of dragging the league's image even further into the mud. Given an entire year to not negotiate a deal, cancel the whole season's schedule and call each other liars should make the barely visible NHL hard to find with radar, a GPS system and a shovel by 2006.
In this political season, here is the question every single hockey fan should ask themselves. Is hockey better off today than four years ago? How about ten years ago? Twenty? If the answer is yes, you probably disagree with me completely and that's fine.
If the answer is no, maybe it's time we considered letting go. Let Bettman and Goodenow destroy the league and we will wait for a new one to take it's place. (Trust me, if the public demands pro hockey, another league will form in the NHL's absence.) I'm willing to let these guys go down with the ship and wait for the next ship to come along. I'm willing to wave bye-bye to the NHL and the-powers-that-be for good.
You may not be willing to go that far yet. I understand. The NHL is cool sans the labor rhetoric. It's has a glorious history. One none of us wants to see disappear. Just keep in mind that Bettman and Goodenow might be willing to follow my example.
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