Whose side are you on?

[Ravin]

With the lockout in full swing, it makes me wonder whose side people are on. Players or owners?

Twitter has been on fire with players complaining, and fans ripping them a new one for it. The latest victim is Devils tough guy Krys Barch, who says he has broken bones, gone through all this and that and the owners haven't, so he should get more. This guy is just an idiot. Here is just some of his great quotes from a tsn article.

"I have played approx 5 1/2 years in the NHL and have worked for every second of it," said Barch. "I haven't been a 1st round pick, bonus baby or a son of a hall of famer. I have made it through sweating, bleeding, cut Achilles, broken hands, concussions, broken orbital bones, 8 teeth knocked out, etc, etc, etc."

With all the physical sacrifices Barch has made over the years, he asked if the NHL owners have an appreciation for what players go through.

"I wonder how this work stoppage affects the owners? I wonder if the owners of Boston, New York, Washington, etc, etc, have endured any of the injuries that I or any other player in the NHL have endured. Still they probably sit there smoking the same brand of cigar, sipping the same cognac, and going on vacation to one of five houses they own while we sit here knowing they want to take 20% of our paychecks."

He just signed a $1.5M 2yr agreement with the Devils, and he claims that NHL players are hurting for money. When you do the simple math for this guy, I have very little sympathy for him at all. He makes $750,000 a year with his contract. Working a standard 40hours a week, 52 weeks a year like normal human beings do, he would be making $360.58/hr. Hell we tend to think if someone makes $70,000 a year they are well off. That would take over 10 years for that person to make what this bench warmer makes in a 7-8 month season.

This is where I don't care for the players who want more. The NHL is a business, and NHL players, while big names, are nothing more than workers. Like the guy who fixes your A/C or people working in the plants, they have a contract and they work under those. Once it is done, they sign it again. Only thing is, normal people are going for $35/hr while these guys are making millions and complaining about how they can't afford to live. This quote pissed me off:

"One half to 3/4 of my peers will have to work for the next 50 years of their lives," tweeted Barch. "Congratulations to the lucky select few that I have played with who have made salaries that they can choose to do whatever they want when they are done. But I have played [with] most who do not!"

Hey asshole, every fan in the seat watching you play is having to ork 50 years in their lives, and I would say a good % of them are living pay to pay. So stop your complaining if after hockey is over, you have to settle into something else for the next 20 years. Even if you were just smart enough to put away 10% of your salary every year, that is stil $75,000 over however long as a good nestegg.

The owners own the teams and they contract workers to play for them. Sports is a business. Players are just workers. They apply their trade in the NHL just like a plant worker applies his trade in a factory or something. Only difference is people want to see these guys work.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Im on whatever side Donald Fehr isn't on. The guy is a professional douchebag who nearly killed baseball, and make no mistake, he will have no qualms about killing the NHL.

 

[killgod]

I have issues with both sides.

Owners are douchebags because they planned this all along. They gave excessive contracts to their star players with the full intention of reducing their value this season. That's fucking slimey and disgusting.


Players are also dicks. They had more than their fair share during the last CBA and teams are losing money...but provide them jobs, so wtf? They clearly are also retarded as outlined in the Barch article. Irresponsible athletes can fuck themselves, no pity.



In the end, we the fans get no hockey. We the fans, won't get any price cuts on tickets, regardless of how this plays out. So fuck them all.

 

[wr50l]

Sorry Maple Leafs and Rangers owners but revenue sharing is good for the league. Wouldn't have to pay so much if they would send their man Bettman to work on undoing his shocking commitment to doomed and failing American teams. Taking the money out of the players share is silly, as their financial pot is not the fundamental financial flaw of the NHL.

I'm just not sure in what world a 54% share of the income going to the people who actually do the work and give the league any value whatsoever is unfair. The owners are the least essential part of the equation. They aren't on the ice like the players, and they don't contribute to the prestige of the league like the history of the NHL shield or the clubs themselves do.

Comparing players to a factory worker or you and me is embarrassing. Thousands of people can replace Joe Bloggs' skills but only a small collection of men can replace even a 4th line NHLer to the same standard. None of us have to concern ourselves with living an athlete's lifestyle either; which is a 24 hour/year long responsibility.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

I'm on the side that gets me hockey back the soonest.

But seriously, both sides are in the wrong. Players still make tons of money than most of the world's population to play a game, and as KG said, it seems that the owners planned this out, and that's especially no good.

 

[MrBill]

I have issues with both sides.

Owners are douchebags because they planned this all along. They gave excessive contracts to their star players with the full intention of reducing their value this season. That's fucking slimey and disgusting.


Players are also dicks. They had more than their fair share during the last CBA and teams are losing money...but provide them jobs, so wtf? They clearly are also retarded as outlined in the Barch article. Irresponsible athletes can fuck themselves, no pity.



In the end, we the fans get no hockey. We the fans, won't get any price cuts on tickets, regardless of how this plays out. So fuck them all.

I was going to respond to the thread with my thoughts but KG pretty much nailed it. The fans are always the losers in the fight between players and owners in any sport.

 

[ralaw]

I was going to respond to the thread with my thoughts but KG pretty much nailed it. The fans are always the losers in the fight between players and owners in any sport.

The fans are the losers in any sport.....lockout or not.

 

[mgoblue2290]

In any lockout, the appropriate position is a big fuck you to both sides. Owners shouldn't be so greedy and players should realize that they play a game for a living. Most fans would take 10%, some might even do it for free, just to be a pro athlete yet these guys have a massive sense of entitlement.

The last part really bugs me, about having to work for 50 years. What do you think everyone else does? Because you are skilled at a game you should only have to labor for 10-15 years?

 

[killgod]

Following the cancellation of the first two weeks of the NHL's regular season, San Jose Sharks defenceman Dan Boyle said he thinks not all 30 NHL owners are on the same page when it comes to locking out the players.

Boyle told CSN Bay Area he thinks the lockout is being controlled by a select group of owners and commissioner Gary Bettman and that the majority of owners are looking to get a deal done.

"It doesn't make any sense to me that eight teams can control the fate of 22 other ones," Boyle told CSN Bay Area. "I think when players make comments, sometimes it's directed towards 30 owners, but I think a lot of us feel that it's not across the board. It's a certain group of teams that are controlling 30 others."

Boyle believes the fact the NHL requires just eight owner votes to veto any proposals from the players allows a certain group of owners to control the process.

He said the players are willing to provide concessions and thinks the majority of owners would be willing to negotiate, but a select group of owners and commissioner Gary Bettman will not allow a deal to happen at this point.

"I don't see anything happening for the next couple months," he said. "I know that's very pessimistic of me, and I really hope I'm wrong. But the eight guys…what if there's 22 teams out there that want to play right now? How do eight teams control their fate? That bothers me the most."

Boyle said the players would give back, but doesn't think the owners are willing to do the same until regular season games and paychecks are lost.

"I think we have to give back. There are a lot of things that we need to fix, and we want to give back," he said. "I don't think they're serious about doing anything until we start missing some checks."

Fuck Toronto, New York, Montreal and whoever the fuck the other 5 are

 

[wingsfan77]

Philly and Detroit are probably in there