It's getting to be that time kids. This guys has had it up to here (hand reaches as high up as I can get it) with these assholes and their posturing. As most of you most likely know, talks were going nowhere and fast. The league brought in mediators to try and do something that could be considered a step in the right direction...worked just as well as it did last time. Talks broke down, no new meetings scheduled...blah blah blah. Then Commish had a lightbulb go off in his head and suggested that himself and the used tampon known as Donald Fehr sit out the next round of negotiations. I personally didn't know how that would turn out but the talks seemed to be going extremely well for the last couple days. I even caught myself being....hopeful. Bettman was confirmed to have said that he wanted a deal in place by tomorrow, coaches were contacting their players abroad and telling them to start making arrangements to make it back to the states. Everything seemed to be going right
Then the atomic bomb was dropped on the negotiations. Donald Fehr was insisting that he be allowed in to the bargaining today. Seriously, if People Magazine had a Douche Bag of the Year Award, this guy would win this year by a landslide. It took him half a day and he drove away all of the owners and tabled a deal that the owners deemed "unacceptable and no need to stick around tonight or Friday." I got it, you're there to get the players the best deal possible dude, but think about what you're doing. The owners hate this guy, the fans hate this guy, I bet by now the players and possibly his wife hate this guy. Fehr needs to understand one very important, very simple fact. He might be haggling with money that won't be there if and when the league finally starts back up again. I can't imagine that many of the sponsors want to stick around a league that is going to end up in a dick measuring contest every 7 or 8 years, not very good for business.
But the biggest thing that's gonna come back and give all these assholes a swift and stiff kick in the nuts is the fans. Yes, us, the fans. Let's start with me for example, I've been watching the Flyers now for almost 20 years. I have a sheet metal Flyers logo hanging up in my man cave, banners from the Bill Barber and Bobby Clarke nights given out a couple years ago, posters of Lavi and his angry pointer finger and of Groo just looking like a bad ass, a calendar from last season and tons of fan gear, including a customized pair of Nike shoes all orange and black with "Flyers" written on the tongue. Not to mention I played hockey for most of my adolescence, and loved every minute of it. And now I've come to terms with the fact that the sport I love has been hijacked with greedy egomaniacs who just see the game as $$$. The league arrogantly claims that the fans will return just like they did last time, don't count on it fellas. If you can drive a fan like myself away, it's certainly possible to drive other less hardcore fans away.
A buddy of mine is a huge Wild fan, whenever I see him in civilian clothes...he's always wearing that damn Wild sweater. I was talking to him the other day about how well the negotiations were going and his response echoed so many other fans who have simply given up and are sick of the bullshit, "Whatever, I've lost faith in these faggots to reach an agreement to save the year." Disregard the faggots part, not meant to be hurtful towards our gay readers. But anyways, he like so many of us, has just simply had enough. And I'm sure anyone in the Flyers universe has seen Eric before. Orange and Black Mohawk, Flyers tattoos on both sides of his head, and always wearing a Flyers jersey. I'm almost positive you've all seen him before. Anyway, I asked him for his take on what happened tonight and in one word I got "PATHETIC". When asked if he would watch again when it finally was back he replied "yea I'll watch but I'm considering cancelling my season tickets." That has to hit home not only to us but to the NHL and PA. If they can drive a fan like Eric to the point to where he doesn't want to pay to see them anymore, they have a serious problem.
I'm not saying that I'll never watch again, or that I'm not secretly hoping that the owners and players wake up tomorrow and think "shit, I just wanna get back to hockey...lets get something done." But I will certainly never be the fan that I once was, I used to scrape together any money I could get just to get some shitty seats up in the nose bleeds and pay 8 dollars a beer just so I could get the pleasure of seeing some of the best players in the world. Now I wouldn't pay a cent to them, I probably won't even pay for NHL Center Ice so I can watch them out here in Kansas. Feel free to share your feelings on the matter, I'm sure most of you are feeling the same way I am.
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