As I mentioned thrice in the links today, the NHL is back. As a hockey fan, you would think I should be excited about the return of hockey, but frankly, I’m not that enthused. There are a couple of primary reasons, I’m sure they are common sentiments within hockey fandom.
1) The Owners tried to screw the players. They couldn’t work things out with other owners initially. The issue was always income discrepancy between the teams, but rather than coming to an agreement that has worked in other leagues, they shifted the blame to the players. The players stood up for themselves, and the league wasn’t prepared for that. The league assumed the players would be easy pushovers and didn’t even negotiate until a month before the season started, which meant that in order to reach an equitable agreement, they needed to work deeper into the season. I want to find a way to express my displeasure at league ownership for the fact that they did this to us. Apathy towards the start of the season works.
2) I’ve moved on to other things. In the absence of hockey, I have taken a deeper interest in soccer and have even begun following the NBA. As @ChiTownSports noted in conversation on Twitter the other day, the competition for the NHL has always been other forms of entertainment. The league has made a bad business decision, and I have had no problem taking my business elsewhere
3) Some people just don’t enjoy long seasons (the biggest baseball, hockey and basketball complaints) but I enjoy them. There are more games in these sports, but the seasons are all similar in calendar length. To me, a shortened season on the calendar and in terms of games played seems inauthentic and cheap. Statistics aren’t comparable to previous or future seasons, storylines don’t play out, and it all just seems perfunctory. I feel like I am being obligated to enjoy the season because it’s there, even though it is incomplete and insincere.
So, this season, even though the season is back on, and I’ll keep track of the games, my heart’s just not in it. I’m just glad that this will set up a full season next year.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
