Friday, January 18, 2013
Well of Course I'm Coming Back
The NHL is starting their shortened season tomorrow: A 48 instead of 82 game schedule that was completely unnecessary and damaged the reputation of the league...to what extent, we'll find out as the season unfolds. But someone like me who's a passionate fan, how can I "get back" at the league and let them know I'm pissed?
Many have stated they are boycotting attendance at games. No merchandise will be purchased, and even phasing out games from their television sets are part of the plan. Kudos to them if they stick to it. But how long will they carry this out for: A week? A month? The whole season? The rest of their lives? How long would actually be necessary to carry this out to send that message and "hurt" the NHL and the players?
I'm a little bit different than your typical NHL fan, because most fans usually like other sports as well. I hear nothing but NFL talk among males aged 16-99 during the football season. And when that's over, only a couple of months before MLB training camp starts. But I don't care about that much, either. So what's a guy like me to do? It's not like I have an alternative that'll get my attention more because of this whole fiasco.
Should I punish myself more, as I stay inside my house when it's -25C outside, with nothing but lousy reality shows and awful sitcoms on TV, knowing my Ottawa Senators are playing the Leafs and ignore it?
Sorry, I can't do it. Yeah, maybe I'll throw up a small protest by not buying a ticket to a game (but that's really more to do with my reduced salary from being on parental leave more than anything else), but I'm tuning in. In the end, how much power does a fan like me wield? Will it really make that much difference refusing to buy tickets when most of the tickets are bought up by businesses anyway, since they're the ones who can afford to buy them in the first place?
I know the last lockout was somewhat different and fans were far more forgiving, mostly due to the fact Canadians read all the time how we're a lousy place to do business because of our 62 cent dollar and our crazy taxes every franchise is moving to the States, so things like a salary cap seemed like a way for Canadian franchises to survive. If a season had to be lost to obtain that, so be it.
And I know this lockout the issues weren't nearly as grave, revenues have never been this high before, and the owners and players were squabbling over these bigger pieces of pie. It was a real spit in the face to fans that they couldn't come up with a solution on how to handle their new additional wealth.
But, call me weak. Call me stupid. Call me abused, taken for granted...whatever. In the end, I'm glad the NHL is back, and I will remain a fan.
Many have stated they are boycotting attendance at games. No merchandise will be purchased, and even phasing out games from their television sets are part of the plan. Kudos to them if they stick to it. But how long will they carry this out for: A week? A month? The whole season? The rest of their lives? How long would actually be necessary to carry this out to send that message and "hurt" the NHL and the players?
I'm a little bit different than your typical NHL fan, because most fans usually like other sports as well. I hear nothing but NFL talk among males aged 16-99 during the football season. And when that's over, only a couple of months before MLB training camp starts. But I don't care about that much, either. So what's a guy like me to do? It's not like I have an alternative that'll get my attention more because of this whole fiasco.
Should I punish myself more, as I stay inside my house when it's -25C outside, with nothing but lousy reality shows and awful sitcoms on TV, knowing my Ottawa Senators are playing the Leafs and ignore it?
Sorry, I can't do it. Yeah, maybe I'll throw up a small protest by not buying a ticket to a game (but that's really more to do with my reduced salary from being on parental leave more than anything else), but I'm tuning in. In the end, how much power does a fan like me wield? Will it really make that much difference refusing to buy tickets when most of the tickets are bought up by businesses anyway, since they're the ones who can afford to buy them in the first place?
I know the last lockout was somewhat different and fans were far more forgiving, mostly due to the fact Canadians read all the time how we're a lousy place to do business because of our 62 cent dollar and our crazy taxes every franchise is moving to the States, so things like a salary cap seemed like a way for Canadian franchises to survive. If a season had to be lost to obtain that, so be it.
And I know this lockout the issues weren't nearly as grave, revenues have never been this high before, and the owners and players were squabbling over these bigger pieces of pie. It was a real spit in the face to fans that they couldn't come up with a solution on how to handle their new additional wealth.
But, call me weak. Call me stupid. Call me abused, taken for granted...whatever. In the end, I'm glad the NHL is back, and I will remain a fan.
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