Drop the Puck,Please!

Like a lot of NHL fans, I was furious about the lockout, unsatisfied with watching AHL, Junior, and Euro leagues, and begging for the NHL to return. Thankfully, that is about to happen, with the Bruins hosting the NY Rangers on Saturday Jan 19.

I think the 48 game, conference only schedule and resulting playoffs will be fascinating, but hopefully the pace and intensity won't result in lots of player injuries - that would damper the season.

One thing i feel bad about is that the LA Kings were deprived, so far, of sharing their Stanley Cup victory with their fans for half a season. If the lockout had happened the year after the Bruins won the Cup, I know I would have been extra miserable.

I am glad that Nathan Horton got the time to recover, and hopefully he won't end up with another concussion. It is also too bad that Tim Thomas decided not to play, but at least he did not really miss much hockey. Hopefully his family issues, or whatever is bothering him, is mended by the time off.

I am also looking forward to seeing the impact that several rookies will have in the league, particularly Doug Hamilton, the Bruins rookie defenseman. I hope he will find a regular spot with the Bruins.

And of course, I hope the Montreal Canadiens have a miserable time of it.

So this blog post is hardly a revelation, just a humdrum recounting of some fan's Bruin-centric opinions about the upcoming season.

Bettman's Folly

I have trouble picking out what annoys me most about the NHL Lockout. I am basically a player guy, not an owner guy. That's as true in work and life and politics for me as it is in sport. My parents were both union members, as is my wife. I never was, just by virtue of the jobs I've held, not due to intent or avoidance. My sympathies are with workers by nature.

But when you look at the fact that some NHL stars are earning more in yearly salary than the franchise they play for earns in profits, that gives you pause as to whether you are rooting for the right side in this dispute.

Part of that, I believe, is that the NHL teams take their revenue and put it into a lot of different buckets, not all of which are purely expenses. I think it likely that the owners and their partners and family get their share, as well as access to games and events.

Also, many of the teams are able to financially separate the revenue from tickets, parking, luxury boxes, merchandise and clothing from the direct revenues of the team. They also get breaks on taxes and other sorts of favorable treatment and access.

So their financial disclosures and tears about losses remind me of a verse from Creedance's "Fortunate Son"

"But when the taxman comes to the door, 
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale"

For the players, their contracts are out there for all to see, and are looked at as if they were pure profit (just the  way my own wages are looked at as profit by the IRS, in that unlike a business, I can't deduct all my expenses (for example, a business can deduct rent payments, but I can't).

Still, I think all players in most pro sports are paid extravagantly. It is hard to feel sorry for anyone making that much money, regardless of the travel and wear and tear on their bodies and minds. And it is hard to fault someone who signs a contract in good faith, does the job he is contracted to do, and then has his employer try to chop money off of the contract. That's not fair regardless. 

It also rankles me to hear that it is likely that right after the lockout is resolved, the owners will vote to expand the league (THAT IS DOING SO BADLY!), and that the expansion fees they divide will give ZERO to the players, and that the two new franchise's fees will be higher than ever, ensuring that the new teams start out carrying a bigger debt than ever before.  

So rather than contracting some of the teams that are struggling, they will prop them up (and featherbed the rich teams like Toronto, New York, and Montreal). Stuff like this makes me more cynical about ownership, and makes me want to see Donald Fehr tuck it to them with a twist. Of course, that won't help hockey fans or people whose jobs depend on pro hockey. They are the true losers, not the millionaires and billioniares.

I am at the point where I really won't be happy if they settle and start a bastard season in January. I mean, it will be tainted, and I am not sure the stench will wash off by next season. I would hate just as much if there was no NHL hockey in 2012-2013. 

Back from the Shadows Again

I've decided to start blogging again.

I am embarking on some new work projects that I need to collect my thoughts on.

I am also participating (NDA in place) in a (mumble) for a new version of (mumble).
I was disappointed with my efforts the last time - wanted to do more and help more, and i think/hope that blogging about it, with sufficient mumbling so that I am not violating an agreement, will keep me focused.

I am also hopeful that the NHL lockout will soon be history, and that I will have lots to say.

I am spending off time playing Guild Wars 2 and having a blast, but sometimes I let the GW2 forum annoy me.

Thankfully the 2012 election is over, but there are still plenty of political and historical stuff to whine about.

Since last I blogged, I have considerably increased my reading of other blogs, mostly political. I peruse the Atlantic and Andrew Sullivan and Charlie Pierce daily if I can. That probably says all it needs to about my political leanings.

We are also coming up on the Holidays, so I am sure I will have things to say and more time to say them.

I won't make any promises or threats about frequency.  I write a comment or two daily on various blogs and other places, but that is a disconnected experience, and the comments scatter to the wind. Every once in a while I like to reflect on my thoughts and re-examine, and that is harder to do if I have to recall them from the Phantom Zone. I think that growth and progress will be easier if I have a stupidity collection at hand.

(obscurity - the blog title is from a Firesign Theatre parody of a Gene Autry song "Back in the Saddle Again", which probably has different implications than it did in 1939.)