Any Given Day Is a Day to Watch
We gather by our TV sets every night in search of what they call the “best sport in the world”. It has been a tradition in my house since I even knew what it was. It’s just such a disappointment that every eight or so years we have to deal with this same unorganized bargaining scheme that not only puts the players out of a job, but in the same breath destroys a passion that unites us all. If you haven’t guessed it already the NHL lockout is a very controversial topic that is on the minds of current hockey players, fans and hockey players to come.
Hockey itself is no casual walk in the park, men of all walks of life go out on the ice every given day to battle. Whether it be for the money, for the fans or for self-glory these men go out on the ice every day to compete and to entertain and to prove to the rest of the world why this is the “greatest game”. Who are these young men you ask? These men are Sidney Crosby, from Cole Harbour Nova Scotia, or Drew Doughty from London Ontario, and even Pavel Datsyuk from Moscow Russia. They come from every region, every province state and country to play this beautiful game.
Players and managers and the diminutive one Gary Bettman meet almost on a weekly basis in the Big Apple to discuss how they’re going to get the hockey season back on track. To date we are already on day 7 of this dreadful lockout and seems like it is getting worse and worse by the day and that no progress in reaching a final agreement will happen prior to the start of the 2012-2013 regular season. All I hear when I turn on the TV or radio these days is the players want this, the managers want that. What has hockey come to was it not always about the love of the game, or has it been about something completely different all along? I know growing up I was told to play this game, not for the amount of money you make but for the love and passion you have for it, right now all this foolishness is about which side is going to succeed and get the most money out of this scenario. It is what it is, a duel to the death between both sides the NHLPA and the Managers and the shameful one Mr. Gary Bettman. The fact of the matter is that in these bargaining talks no side ever gets what they want. One side will propose, and the other will deny, after already experiencing two of these in my short life no significant strides are ever take. These are how the facts and figures break down at the negotiating table. The Owners and Bettman have a platform in place that includes the players get from 45% of the revenue share this being reduced from the previous 57%. Along with this the salary cap will only be approximately 50 million dollars maximum and 33 million dollars minimum, this stat