They Are Persistent Part II

Now, Mr. Sigafoose isn't just complaining about there not being enough violence in the NHL, he also demonstrates an alarming stupidity about other things. He complains about the unbalanced schedule and how it is designed to save $$$$$.

DUH!

He missed the entire 2004-2005 lockout. He missed the statements from owners that they would lose LESS $$$$$ if the 2004-2005 season wasn't played than they would if it was. He's missed Ted Leonsis' constant comments about how he's losing less $$$$$ now than he was before the lockout, but he's still losing $$$$$. He missed Mary-Oh!'s comment/warning to Penguin Scum fans last year that he could sell every ticket for every home game in the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs and he would STILL lose $$$$$ on the Penguin Scum.

Nope, Mr. Sigafoose is too busy looking for the fights on the ice and lamenting that they are becoming a rare.

Why shouldn't the NHL do things to cut costs? The NHL has a national TV contract in the United States that is on par with Arena Football. Not the National Football League, Arena Football, not the National Basketball Association, Arena Football, not Major League Baseball, Arena Football.

Has the message gotten through yet?

The NHL is not like the other three major professional sports leagues in the United States. The NHL is entirely dependant upon gate receipts. The NFL, NBA, and MLB live off of their TV and radio contracts, both national and local; their gate receipts are gravy. Yet the NHL will only see $$$$$ from NBC IF the NHL and NBC can charge advertisers enough $$$$$ to make a profit on the broadcast and a vast majority of NHL teams HAVE TO BUY THEIR AIRTIME on local television and radio stations.

Simply put, the other leagues have the networks fighting/willing to buy their TV rights and local broadcasters shell out the $$$$$ as well. The NHL on the other hand has to give away its TV rights for free in the U.S. and buy their airtime locally. But the NHL is dead wrong to produce a schedule that cuts down on the travel costs for its teams coming off a year where the NHL didn't play a single game at all??? Am I the only one who thinks this does not compute?

Better yet, we get complaints from Mr. Sigafoose about the new NHL jerseys before they even come out. They're called "a slap in the face of the tradition of hockey." I mean, are you freakin' kidding me? Again, let's go back and repeat myself with the NFL. "Facemasks are for sissies." Better yet, let's look at the Super Bowl 19 years ago. Every player on the field was wearing a jersey that was "loose" by today's standards with give in the shoulders and torso that could be clearly seen on TV. Every single player had sleeves that hung down. Look at football players today. The jerseys are often at least two sizes too small. The idea behind that is that opposing players have nothing to grab onto in order to hold up a player or to tackle him. Mr. Sigafoose says he does not want to return to the "old NHL" of the clutching and grabbing and hooking and holding that clogged up and slowed down the game, BUT he's tired of the parade to the penalty box because the NHL players have not fully adjusted yet. (They're probably waiting for the latest "crackdown" to end...) Well, wouldn't "skintight" jerseys make it tougher to hook and hold and clutch and grab out on the ice? You'd think...

On a side note, my personal favorite in this stupid debate over the jerseys is Jonathan Cheechoo. He's complaining that the new jerseys shows exactly where the gaps in his pads are. First of all, every hockey player I've ever talked too already knows where the gaps in the players pads are, because they are wearing the same pads themselves. It says something to me that Jonathan Cheechoo needs to have it outlined for him or is Cheechoo currently wearing "non standard" equipment under his jersey?

To Be Concluded...