NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: Genius in Disguise
In 1981 Gary Bettman was recruited from the NBA to fill the position of Commissioner, a position formerly considered as the President. Not really sure what happened with John Ziegler, but in any case since Bettman has taken over he has been marketing the NHL hard in the U.S. The thought was that he would bring success to the NHL the same way he brought it to the NBA. But that's really an understatement. What he really has been doing is whoring the NHL to the U.S. market, trying to bring in as many fans as possible. And when you really stop and think about it he really didn't do anything to save the NBA. He helped develop the salary cap concept in the NBA, key word being HELPED. He didn't come up with this idea on his own, he didn't head-man the project, he "helped". And supposedly this helped save the NBA from financial disaster in the 80's.
Bettman's role in the NBA was pure coincidence. He was a guy in the right place at the right time. Why? It wasn't Bettman who saved the NBA at all, it was Jordan. Michael Jordan single handedly saved the NBA from ruin, and with the likes of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Shaq O'neal. The fans came out to see these guys play. Gary Bettman or David Stern didn't have to lift a bloody finger to get fans to come and watch these guys. I mean, let's use common sense. If you had a chance to see Michael Jordan during his prime when the Bulls were dominating basketball and just about every team they played, wouldn't you go watch just for the experience? Of course you would. And if the Nets were so horrible that they lost just about every game they played, do you think some geek in a suit could convince the masses to come out and watch the Nets play, regardless of how bad they were? Of course not. It's really the players that draw the fans out, not the marketing, or the new fancy cartoon uniforms, or the logos, or the cheerleaders (well, maybe). I mean, during the 80's and 90's, I wasn't even a basketball fan and even I knew who Michael Jordan was. He was that great. Again, nothing to do with Stern or Bettman.
Then they brought Bettman over to the NHL to do the same thing, to "save the league". Once, again. An idiot at the right place at the right time. Bettman didn't have to lift a finger in the 80's because who was there? None other than the greatest scorer and play-maker of all time who single-handedly destroyed all scoring titles in the record book, Wayne Gretzky. Again, you would have to be insane to pass up the opportunity to watch this guy play. And with the rest of the Oilers and how they dominated the league it was an easy sell. Then in the late 80's, early 90's guess who comes along? Only Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins. If anyone could have matched Gretzky and the Oilers it was Lemieux and the Penguins. Again, easy sell. Who wouldn't want to go watch these guys play? And so the NHL didn't do that badly in terms of finances. At this time, though, salaries were just starting to get out of control. Again, who saved the league? It wasn't John Ziegler, it sure as hell wasn't Gary Bettman, it was Gretzky, the Oilers, Lemieux, and the Pens.
FLASHBACK. In the 1940's, the NHL was going through some hard times financially. Some say the league was in trouble and was on its way to going under. Once again, who saved the league? It wasn't the coaches, it wasn't the NHL commissioner, it wasn't the president. It was the players! Maurice "the Rocket" Richard was a player so explosive and exciting to watch that who wouldn't want to come watch this guy play? And then you had the Golden Age of hockey that came after with guys like Jacques Plante, Andre Richard, Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull, and afterwards Phil Esposito, Ken Dryden, Bobby Orr, and Guy Lafleur just to name a few. These players were the stuff legends were made of, and rightfully so as they did go on to become hockey Hall-of-Famers and legends. During these times, salaries weren't ridiculously large and so financially the league wasn't doing too badly. Did it take a marketing genius to get people to watch these guys play? No. Did they have to make all these cutesy cartoon logos and characters on TV to get people to watch? No. Did they have to move teams around to different cities? Sometimes, but not to save the league. Did they have to put cartoon fireballs around the puck to get people to watch? No. Did they have to have a skills competition to get people to watch? No. Did they have to change the rules so that farmer Jones would watch a game after bailing some hay? No (am I getting my point across?). It was the skill of the players who brought the fans out.
Then the NHL took a hit in the 90's. Lemieux, one of the game's greatest players, got sick and retired, Gretzky was getting old and was being traded around like a sack of meat, Jacques Lemaire created the "trap" coaching strategy that slowed the game down so much and restricted finesse talent from shining through, salaries were starting to go through the roof, expansion teams further diluted the talent pool, and there was really no great star emerging. Sure, you had good up-and-coming players like Kariya, Sakic, and Lindros, but there was really no one out there who could fill the stands or that the fans really wanted to come and watch. And so guess what? With more teams and more players to pay and higher salaries and wanning interest the league was bound flounder financially. One way to keep things afloat was expansion. A new team would pay a hefty fee to start up a new team and so money could be generated in this fashion. But this would eventually lead to disaster.
Finally, in 04-05 the NHL lockout occurred and all hell broke loose. Way to go, Bettman. Since then, a salary cap has been instituted and it looked like the '06 season would prove its success. Since then the NHL has been doing better and better, financially. But was it Bettman? Absolutely! NOT!!! Guess who came around in the '06 season? Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, some the of the leagues most explosive and exciting players. And once again, as history has shown, it is the players and their talents that saved the league and drawing fans out to watch.
Again, Bettman had nothing to do with this. He was just at the right place at the right time. He looks like a genius, saving the league from financial straits but he really hasn't done very much at all. His marketing ideas and attempts at Americanizing hockey in to a pseudo basketball sport is ridiculous. Basketball is basketball, hockey is hockey. Hockey is not basketball.
Then there's that idea of his of expanding the NHL in to Europe. This makes absolutely no sense. Gary, for your information Europeans have been playing organized hockey at least since the 1930's and 40's. They have their own leagues over there, you moron. You're not introducing anything new to them. If you paid attention during the Winter Olympics you'd find that England and France have teams, Italy has teams, etc., etc. If you were really smart and he really wanted to get to an untapped fan base he would try selling the NHL in Asia (good luck with that one).
So Gary, you really haven't done a thing for the NHL except infuriate its existing fan base. YOU didn't save the league, the players did. So please, retire, get lost, have a heart attack, do something, ANYTHING that will remove yourself from office and let someone with at least half a brain take over.
Bettman's role in the NBA was pure coincidence. He was a guy in the right place at the right time. Why? It wasn't Bettman who saved the NBA at all, it was Jordan. Michael Jordan single handedly saved the NBA from ruin, and with the likes of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Shaq O'neal. The fans came out to see these guys play. Gary Bettman or David Stern didn't have to lift a bloody finger to get fans to come and watch these guys. I mean, let's use common sense. If you had a chance to see Michael Jordan during his prime when the Bulls were dominating basketball and just about every team they played, wouldn't you go watch just for the experience? Of course you would. And if the Nets were so horrible that they lost just about every game they played, do you think some geek in a suit could convince the masses to come out and watch the Nets play, regardless of how bad they were? Of course not. It's really the players that draw the fans out, not the marketing, or the new fancy cartoon uniforms, or the logos, or the cheerleaders (well, maybe). I mean, during the 80's and 90's, I wasn't even a basketball fan and even I knew who Michael Jordan was. He was that great. Again, nothing to do with Stern or Bettman.
Then they brought Bettman over to the NHL to do the same thing, to "save the league". Once, again. An idiot at the right place at the right time. Bettman didn't have to lift a finger in the 80's because who was there? None other than the greatest scorer and play-maker of all time who single-handedly destroyed all scoring titles in the record book, Wayne Gretzky. Again, you would have to be insane to pass up the opportunity to watch this guy play. And with the rest of the Oilers and how they dominated the league it was an easy sell. Then in the late 80's, early 90's guess who comes along? Only Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins. If anyone could have matched Gretzky and the Oilers it was Lemieux and the Penguins. Again, easy sell. Who wouldn't want to go watch these guys play? And so the NHL didn't do that badly in terms of finances. At this time, though, salaries were just starting to get out of control. Again, who saved the league? It wasn't John Ziegler, it sure as hell wasn't Gary Bettman, it was Gretzky, the Oilers, Lemieux, and the Pens.
FLASHBACK. In the 1940's, the NHL was going through some hard times financially. Some say the league was in trouble and was on its way to going under. Once again, who saved the league? It wasn't the coaches, it wasn't the NHL commissioner, it wasn't the president. It was the players! Maurice "the Rocket" Richard was a player so explosive and exciting to watch that who wouldn't want to come watch this guy play? And then you had the Golden Age of hockey that came after with guys like Jacques Plante, Andre Richard, Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull, and afterwards Phil Esposito, Ken Dryden, Bobby Orr, and Guy Lafleur just to name a few. These players were the stuff legends were made of, and rightfully so as they did go on to become hockey Hall-of-Famers and legends. During these times, salaries weren't ridiculously large and so financially the league wasn't doing too badly. Did it take a marketing genius to get people to watch these guys play? No. Did they have to make all these cutesy cartoon logos and characters on TV to get people to watch? No. Did they have to move teams around to different cities? Sometimes, but not to save the league. Did they have to put cartoon fireballs around the puck to get people to watch? No. Did they have to have a skills competition to get people to watch? No. Did they have to change the rules so that farmer Jones would watch a game after bailing some hay? No (am I getting my point across?). It was the skill of the players who brought the fans out.
Then the NHL took a hit in the 90's. Lemieux, one of the game's greatest players, got sick and retired, Gretzky was getting old and was being traded around like a sack of meat, Jacques Lemaire created the "trap" coaching strategy that slowed the game down so much and restricted finesse talent from shining through, salaries were starting to go through the roof, expansion teams further diluted the talent pool, and there was really no great star emerging. Sure, you had good up-and-coming players like Kariya, Sakic, and Lindros, but there was really no one out there who could fill the stands or that the fans really wanted to come and watch. And so guess what? With more teams and more players to pay and higher salaries and wanning interest the league was bound flounder financially. One way to keep things afloat was expansion. A new team would pay a hefty fee to start up a new team and so money could be generated in this fashion. But this would eventually lead to disaster.
Finally, in 04-05 the NHL lockout occurred and all hell broke loose. Way to go, Bettman. Since then, a salary cap has been instituted and it looked like the '06 season would prove its success. Since then the NHL has been doing better and better, financially. But was it Bettman? Absolutely! NOT!!! Guess who came around in the '06 season? Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, some the of the leagues most explosive and exciting players. And once again, as history has shown, it is the players and their talents that saved the league and drawing fans out to watch.
Again, Bettman had nothing to do with this. He was just at the right place at the right time. He looks like a genius, saving the league from financial straits but he really hasn't done very much at all. His marketing ideas and attempts at Americanizing hockey in to a pseudo basketball sport is ridiculous. Basketball is basketball, hockey is hockey. Hockey is not basketball.
Then there's that idea of his of expanding the NHL in to Europe. This makes absolutely no sense. Gary, for your information Europeans have been playing organized hockey at least since the 1930's and 40's. They have their own leagues over there, you moron. You're not introducing anything new to them. If you paid attention during the Winter Olympics you'd find that England and France have teams, Italy has teams, etc., etc. If you were really smart and he really wanted to get to an untapped fan base he would try selling the NHL in Asia (good luck with that one).
So Gary, you really haven't done a thing for the NHL except infuriate its existing fan base. YOU didn't save the league, the players did. So please, retire, get lost, have a heart attack, do something, ANYTHING that will remove yourself from office and let someone with at least half a brain take over.
posted by V-Hume at 3:21 PM
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