Mr Bettman, Apology Accepted!

BOSTON, January 19, 2013 - To Whom It May Concern Amongst the NHL's Ticket Holders, Vendors, Arena-Staff and Area Workers, Small Business Owners, Players, Coaches, Front Office Executives, Sponsors, Team Owners, and to you The Fan:

And to the distinguished Commissioner Gary Bettman and to NHL Players Association head Donald Fehr:

First and foremost, Commissioner Bettman, sir. Apology accepted!

Now, let's all move on as the season is underway and Bettman, the NHL's proprietor of pucks, declared open the lockout-shortened 2013 season as he munched on some "Humble Pie" when he recently walked up to a microphone and did what any CEO would do after a corporate disaster.

He apologized.

"I know that an explanation or an apology with not erase the hard feelings that have built up over the last few months, but I owe you an apology nonetheless," said the NHL commissioner.

Well, I was at the TD Garden in Boston for the Bruins' home opener and a legion of hockey fans seem to agree with my viewpoint. They were back, and they tweeted #BruinsAreBack or #HockeyisBack as though they were campaigning for office. These are the facts to be reported this 19th day of January in the Year 2013 as the NHL cranked up its engines:

• Every seat was sold.
• Occupying Causeway Street was a loyal, avid - maybe rabid - ice hockey fan, nearly all decked out in varying styles of Boston Bruins replica team jerseys.
• The passion of a loyal fan base was very apparent, smiles on faces signaling incredibly happy fans.
• The team's messages were straight and to the point. A sincere "Welcome Back" with some special promotions, beautiful ice sculptures on the grounds, a tremendous pre-game ceremony to introduce the 2013 Bruins and more.

Yes, the NHL season is underway and the NHL league and team Public Relations people, Broadcasters, Marketing, Ticket Sales, Game Presentation and every employee from ice dancer to Zamboni driver have all done a fine job relaunching pro ice hockey in North America, much to the appreciation of that avid fan base, all seemingly starving for a hockey fix.

Truth be told, lockouts and collective bargaining agreements, work stoppages, business deals and salary caps, the endless bickering and arguing between the Fehrs and the Bettmans of the world are the last things a fan wants to hear about. Sports fans want to watch their team play. Period. For many fans, the shortened 2013 season ends a bad dream, but the awakening brings hope their team can compete for a playoff spot or maybe even a title. While doing so, all the fan want is to enjoy themselves, buy a sweater, quaff a brew and maybe take their kids now and then to see the best brand of ice hockey the world has to offer, outside Moscow.

Whether it is "in-person" (and we know the NHL is the best "in-person" experience of the four major North American-based sports) or, if it's only on TV (where the NHL might be the "worst" of the major sports in terms of the ability to soak in the game on TV), sports fans just want to have two hours and 30 minutes of fun, excitement, while they can show their love and enthusiasm for the local heroes. Hockey fans want to display all of their built up, pent-up, competitive spirit and natural passion as they witness true competition in the most entertaining of any professional sport. Fans ask, only, that the players are prepared and play HARD. They want their teams well coached and to skate as hard as they can.

This year, it's a 99-day sprint to the Cup Playoffs. It's wide open and more than a dozen teams have a legitimate shot at carrying Lord Stanley for a ride.

To the contrary, though, some fans choose to heap some sort of discipline upon the league for orchestrating the terrible 2012 lockout. There are viral videos calling for a 10-game boycott to account for every game lost after the self-imposed December 21 line drawn in the sand. A group of fans created a Facebook page and a video message that went ultra-viral online.

One of the proponents of that cause is a good friend of mine - call him "Billy," who is one of the most avid, well-rounded hockey fans I've ever met. Billy played the game, knows the game and LOVES the game, yet he explained it well: "I'm in my parenting stage of life," said the father of a four-year old. "I know that I have to lay some type of foundation so he know what's right and wrong. And, there has to be some sort of consequence if he doesn't behave, listen or recognize there is right and wrong.

"I feel the same way about the NHL. The lockout was drawn-out and they were operating without any regard for the fans. We just have to do something to let the NHL know, we're just not going to take it. We have to show them some discipline."

A worthy argument, yes, but I tend to believe that lockouts are like hurricanes, stock market corrections, parking tickets and a slew of other things in life that annoy the bejeezes out of us. The lockout was a necessary means to get a 10-year labor deal that worked for the owners of the league.

Commissioner Bettman was under marching orders from hard-line team owners to get "the best possible long-term deal" and he did. Now that the deal is done, I refuse to look in the rear view mirror. I refuse to judge the owners or the players or try to decide if there was a winner or loser in this mess.

Like the 17,565 fans at TD Boston Garden, most of them dressed in Bruins Black & Gold, I stand ready to fully accept and embrace the 2013 NHL season for one and only one reason. It's FUN!

That's what a pro sport is supposed to be about - F.U.N. I wanted to lay a $20 on my favorite bar-keeper, as I know he felt the pain of this lockout far more than goal-keepers, owners or Commissioners.

So, dear National Hockey League, I'm back! You're back, so I'm back. Although, Mr Fehr? I wouldn't mind hearing an apology from you, too.

(This is the first of a series of three Blog Posts by Terry Lyons, editor of Digital Sports Desk as he analyzes the return and jump-start of the 2013 NHL season).

Follow Terry Lyons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@DigSportsDesk

http://www.digitalsportsdesk.com/

Puh-leeze?

The NHL is on the lockdown, drag-out, work stoppage, aka a LOCKOUT. The league issuesd a written statement (see DigitalSportsDesk.com) and the players issued a prepared social media campaign, complete with viral video. Somehow, this video message wreaks of insincerity:

You decide.

Ramble On ... Emptying out the Misc. Files

NEWS ITEM #1 - Barack Obama's op-ed in today's NYT:

If you haven't read President Obama's op-ed piece in today's New York Times, I recommend you click here and take a second, then - PLEASE - come on back.

Here are a few of the issues that stand out for me in President Obama's opinion piece:

This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor — not government bureaucrats, not insurance companies.

The long and vigorous debate about health care that’s been taking place over the past few months is a good thing. It’s what America’s all about.

But let’s make sure that we talk with one another, and not over one another. We are bound to disagree, but let’s disagree over issues that are real, and not wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that anyone has actually proposed. This is a complicated and critical issue, and it deserves a serious debate.

And, the key issue:

In the coming weeks, the cynics and the naysayers will continue to exploit fear and concerns for political gain. But for all the scare tactics out there, what’s truly scary — truly risky — is the prospect of doing nothing. If we maintain the status quo, we will continue to see 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance every day. Premiums will continue to skyrocket. Our deficit will continue to grow. And insurance companies will continue to profit by discriminating against sick people.

TL View: The last item in italics is where the whole issue stands in my view. Do we stand around, talk and debate and DO NOTHING (as has been the case since the early '90s and before)? Or, do we support the President and begin to take dramatic (and risky) steps, yes very difficult steps with difficult choices and dangerous forks in the road, to begin to institute some change that might not pay dividends until our children's children perfect a nationwide system for healthcare.

Taking it to a distant comparison that I remember from my days at the NBA, I can remember the criticism that followed our implementation of the very first Anti-Drug program in professional sports when the NBA announced its plans with a signing ceremony between then-Commissioner Larry O'Brien and then-President of the NBA Players Association Bob Lanier. That step, taken in 1983, has led to a very comprehensive Anti-Drug Agreement that is widely recognized as the best in sports. It began with small steps - legislating against the use of cocaine and heroine by NBA players and it included steps for education, prevention and a clause that allowed players to come forward without the risk of being penalized.

That program did not include a program against the use of marijuana and it did not address the steroid issue that has dominated the anti-doping issue of late, but it did put a very significant tent-pole in the ground for the NBA and its players and it sent a HUGE message to the youth of the world, that being, "If you want to be an NBA player, you better believe that the use of cocaine and heroine will eventually stop you from playing in this league. Now, it took the death of Len Bias to truly drive home the point, but - at least - in 1983, the first steps were taken to bring some type of system into the professional sports workplace with the goal to protect the players while all the while, other union labor leaders were burying their heads in the sand and doing further harm to the very players they represented.

Shame on Donald Fehr and Gene Orza. They should both realize the damage they've done to their clients and to the American sports psyche. Shame on them both.

***

In the past week, we've celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the "Wizard of Oz" and the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock. I've enjoyed posting some Monday Morning Maniac Music over the past month to recognize and celebrate the concert that defined a generation of Americans.

I will continue the 'tradition' for a few more weeks, at least. But, would love to get some suggestions for music links and the like. Please send them in as comments to The Blog @ TerryLyons.com

***

News ITEM: Globe to make online readers pay for boston.com content?

According to the cross-town rival:

The Boston Globe will soon begin charging for its Web site, publisher P. Steven Ainsley told the paper’s union bosses yesterday as the Globe’s parent New York Times [NYT] Co. confirmed in a regulatory filing that the money-losing Hub broadsheet is for sale.

News of the Globe’s intention to charge for Boston.com came a day after News Corp. [NWS] Chairman Rupert Murdoch announced his company would start charging for content at all of its news Web sites, including the New York Post, The Times of London and The Sun, a popular British tabloid. News Corp. already charges for some access to The Wall Street Journal’s Web site.

Globe spokesman Bob Powers said charging for Boston.com appears inevitable.

“It’s going to happen one way or another,” Powers said. “We are looking at several different options, and the goal would be to generate revenue.”

Ainsley also told Globe union bosses the combination of price increases and labor cost reductions, including $20 million in union concessions, have put the paper on better financial footing.

He said union concessions, plus $8 million in Globe management givebacks and the $18 million the company expects to save by closing its Billerica printing plant, have all helped, sources said.

The Times’ quarterly report filed yesterday shows the company spent $30 million to close its Billerica printing plant. Sources have told the Herald that at least one outside party was interested in the plant, but was rebuffed.

Ainsley refused to answer questions about the potential sale of the Globe at yesterday’s meeting, saying his Times Co. overlords had ordered him to keep mum.

TL View: I'll continue to pick up the paper everyday, but will be more apt to log into the Boston Herald site for free online content. Face it, the newspapers of the world have screwed up monumentally when you look at the way they fumbled over the changes in journalism since the advent of TV and the Internet. And, while they provided today's most interesting, newsworthy and thought-provoking piece of content, the NYT and its companies, trying to the industry leaders, have consistently proven that they have absolutely no clue as to where the future might be in terms of online business success and the revenue it promises to generate. It seems funny to me that the sports sites figured it out quickly (generating revenue and users via interactive fantasy games and online video clips (see Cinesport) and, I won't even go into the world of online gambling/porn/etc/etc, but the great collection of the world's most prestigious news gatherers proceeded to watch the bus go by at 60 mph.

xxx