Mission:Impossible: (TSN)
For a Few Good Men this is their third lockout: (Sportsnet.CA)
Some fans are Losing it on the players:(Reddit)
Interview with the Vampire or Criminal: (Sportsnet)
The new OHL fighting rules are Far and Away an improvement:(Backhand Shelf)
Some Outsider hacked Guy Serota’s Twitter: (SN)
A look at the Top Gun’s that retired after the last lockout: (Down Goes Brown)
Not only did that picture fit with the title, but this is the level of intelligence I think the leaders that be are at.
Maybe it wasn’t the worst, but this was one of the worst weekends to go through as an NHL fan. Not only was the gaping hole where our Black Friday game impossible to ignore as I attempted to watch LSU-Arkansas or something just as non-sensical, but the amount of noise, bullshit, and downright stupidity ramped up even more in the past few days. Add to that the frustration we are feeling has piled up to the point where we are fighting with each other at a moment’s notice, and frankly I’m exasperated as to where to go from here.
Not only did that picture fit with the title, but this is the level of intelligence I think the leaders that be are at.
Maybe it wasn’t the worst, but this was one of the worst weekends to go through as an NHL fan. Not only was the gaping hole where our Black Friday game impossible to ignore as I attempted to watch LSU-Arkansas or something just as non-sensical, but the amount of noise, bullshit, and downright stupidity ramped up even more in the past few days. Add to that the frustration we are feeling has piled up to the point where we are fighting with each other at a moment’s notice, and frankly I’m exasperated as to where to go from here.
Well, if you were hoping that the NHL and PA would provide a bounce to your holiday weekend, you can forget it.
While the initial buzz about only being $182 million apart after this latest offer made it seem like things could change, it was what was burning under that smoke that should have led us all to believe this wasn’t going anywhere.
Because the PA still is getting to 50-50 far too slowly, no matter how they dress it up. Asking the owners to bare all the risk for down-turning revenues after his mess is a non-starter. These two things may be totally fair when viewed through logic, but fair and logic were never part of this negotiation and are never going to be. The PA would do well to finally recognize that, no matter how well they’re organized or transparent this time.
No contract limits? We went over this yesterday. If you’re brethren in the NBA have ’em, and they’re by far the more popular league with far more marketable stars, then you better get on the train that you’re going to have contract limits. Again, it’s almost certainly not fair. But fair and reality are often not drinking buddies.
Quite simply, the union has to decide which one it really wants to hold onto. Does it want to fight over the revenue structure or contracting rights? Because now they’re doing both, and that’s just not going to fly.
On the other side, it’s dispiriting and disrespectful to everyone who has any interest in the game for the owners to not even begin to try and talk off this proposal. Yes, we’re quite aware that they’re beyond pissed the Fehr wouldn’t negotiate off theirs, even though they gave him no reason to do so. It’s clear it’s about winning, not getting a deal. But this is going to be a pyrric victory, and there has to be some moderates on that side who recognize that. But they’ve been marginalized.
There’s a deal here. People with a clue could find it. But not when everyone hasn’t got the necessary plate of glass over the belly-button so they can see while having their head up their ass. And that’s the end of it.
Whenever the NHL gets back to the PA on their offer today and it’s in anyway worth our time to talk about, I’ll return this afternoon to do so. But until then, what’s on offer for you to watch this holiday weekend?
Wednesday Night
Bulls v. Rockets – If you really need to see Omer Asik turn into the player he couldn’t here and sweat a lot, and how much Jeremy Lin actually sucks. Because he does.
Thanksgiving Day
NFL Tripleheader – I mean, it’s part of the tradition now. You avoid talking to the members of your family you don’t like (i.e. all of them) by watching football. And for once, the NFL has tossed three at-least-decently-interesting games at you, with Texans-Lions, Skins-Boys, and Pats-Jets at night on NBC. We’re working on getting a webcam installed at Chez Killion back East so we can see how the balance between watching RGIII and having dinner as a family gets sorted out. We’re guessing a lot of thrown objects.
Friday
Sorry, not much here. Some college football, some non-Bulls NBA. Maybe you should go see your friends or something?
Saturday
College Football – Rivalry weekend. Michigan-Ohio State is the only college game I ever make time to watch. Auburn-Alabama could be a thing and important. Notre Dame giving the golden shower to USC is on at night. But really, whatever.
College Hockey – Only Michigan v. Cornell as MSG is available for you this weekend. Sorry. Well, that and if you have the dish you can get Minnesota v. Vermont as well and watch Justin Holl thrash about on the fourth line.
Bulls v. Bucks – Zzzzzzzz….
Sunday
Bears v. Vikings – At least they return to Sunday afternoons again after two weeks away. But after Monday….duck.
Ok, that’s it for me. If nothing breaks, you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we’ll reconvene here when it’s necessary. Could be Monday, could be later this afternoon.
Time for our spin around the Canadian backwaters and American college towns to find out what’s up with the Hawks kids this past weekend. Are you ready to fly? Let’s go!
Let’s do the normal snake pattern from the Quebecois to the cowboys and then back down through the US. That means the QMJHL to kick it off. Phillip Danault had two assists in tw games for Victoriaville against Chicoutimi and Quebec. I think I had some Chicoutimi on my burger last week, utterly delicious. Danualt now has 33 points in 22 games, both equally divisible by 11 which is awesome. Something great about the multiples of 11. I think it’s the symmetry. His teammate Brandon Whitney continues to see pucks whiz by him a little too consistently. He gave up five goals on 19 Chimchurri shots. But he backed that up with a 31-save performance on 33 shots against Quebec. Victoriaville is 4th in their division.
You’ll hear a lot about cliffs and brinks and the abyss in the coming days and weeks, both with the federal government and with the NHL. I won’t get into the federal budget fiscal cliff, and that might actually be messier than the NHL and with even bigger idiots. But we can stick with what we kind of know.
As we sit here and await whatever bouquet of flowers and candies the NHLPA cooks up in its offer tomorrow, you’ve already heard and will hear a lot about these contract issues. The union has made a big stink about how much they won’t budge on them just as the owners have. You have to wonder if it’s worth it. That’s if they can get to them, which they’d have to agree on revenue splits to do. No guarantees there.
I’m not sure some of it should really be that big of a deal.
We haven’t opened a thread in a while. Though to be fair there hasn’t been a lot for you to open a discussion on.
But tonight, it feels like there’s some stuff. First, you have what is shaping up to be a pretty awful football game. Two backup QBs against two very stout defenses, all with John Gruden yelling at you as he slobbers over himself about every player while he’s quite possibly stark naked in the booth. The absurdity of it is delicious.
Second, you have the resumption of “meetings” in New York between The Children and The Thumb Dicks. If common sense could crack the door and get on either negotiating committee, there might have been a chance for progress. Because the margin of victory either can achieve now is really quite miniscule from where they are now, and the answers are pretty much staring them in the face.
But are you counting on that? Yeah, me neither. All their dastardly tricks and antics have pretty much fallen flat, at least on the owners side. But that probably won’t stop them from trying and forcing themselves to the brink of the abyss. If they haven’t run right over that like an escalator to nowhere.
Discuss all the goings-on right here.
Before we get to what you can watch this weekend that isn’t what you’d rather be watching, a couple thoughts:
-You know it’s bad when I read the Twitter updates and instead of throwing something in anger or kicking a live animal, I just stare at the ceiling in utter disbelief — trying to wrap my head around something so bathed in stupidity that I’m not even sure I recognize the language or am totally confident I haven’t switched planets.
So it was when I saw this “moratorium” vaudevillian routine. Yes, I know it’s been suggested that’s exactly what a mediator would do if one were involved. But the complete lack of urgency or sense of what’s going on in the world outside of this thing…you’ll have to find a more talented writer than me to describe it accurately.
