Shyster: One who is professionally unscrupulous: a pettifogger-to do a law business in a petty or tricky way.
My first recollection of this is when I was a kid and the great Joe DiMaggio who just had another fantastic year was asking for a raise and GM George Barrows wanted to cut his salary because "our young boys are fighting a war".
So who is fighting a war now? The NHL owners under the leadership of Gary Bettman want the players to cut their share of the revenue by 17% so the big benevolent owners can continue to live the good life and the joke is that most of them can't spell or understand negotiation.
But I'm not taking sides here. I'm not stepping in front of two millionaires to say who is right and who is wrong. It's Buffett vs Trump. There are no losers. The losers here are the fans. Oh yeah, they are doing this for the fans. It's like the school teachers union striking for the kids. Give us more money and we will love your kids more. Cut your share players and the fans will be more happy.
So we sit and wait as Bettman orchestrates his third work stoppage in eight years. Bettman the commissioner. I always thought that commissioners were supposed to represent the entire league, owners and players. Not so. They are the pawns of the owners and there is no place more evident of this, than the NHL.
Scotty Hockey has put out a post identifying other areas of hockey to checkout during the lockout. Read the post. Me, I'm all set and it starts tonight at the Rinx in Hauppauge where my grandson Nicholas takes the ice with his T/Birds teammates of Connectquot/Sayville High School freshman team opening game against West Islip, my home town. Should be interesting.
One sad note. I read Hockey Rodent's farewell blog. I hope it's not true. The Rodent is a big force in the Ranger blogsphere and it would be a big loss to miss his insightfulness and analysis. Rodent you are the best. Say it isn't so. Don't let these bums drive you out.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Shysters
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I have always respected the Rodent. As the years have gone, he has shown a consistent and remarkable understanding of the game and the business of hockey. Once again he is ahead of his time.
I will not watch the winter classic. I will to watch NBC hockey broadcasts. I will hit Gary where it hurts, in his dream of making the NHL the NBA. I will still bleed blue, but not hockey. The passion is gone.