ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

My earliest sports memories revolve around the TV. Specifically, I was watching Cubs games. Harry Carry and Steve Stone were just a way of life. Baseball was the first sport I played when I was a kid. My brother and I could be found outside running bases, playing catch, fielding grounders, and attempting to hit home runs onto the street and into traffic! Baseball was good back then. It was before we learned what a strike was.

In truth, the very first sport we tried to play was actually hockey. Our parents took us to the local skating rink and signed us up for skating classes. My father reminds us that the first sport he fell in love with when he came to this country was the violent sport they played on ice. My dad was an instant Blackhawks fan. He saw real hockey in his day. Makita, Esposito, and Hull. Hockey was so important to my dad and his brother (back in the day) that on the first day my mom came to this country she was left to her own devices while my father and his brother watched the Maple Leafs and the Blackhawks play on television. Yes, the ‘hawks were on TV back then.

Fast forward to today where we find the NHL owners locking out the players this season. There will be no hockey this year. No Stanley Cup either. That's my prediction. I honestly don't believe that you will see the NHL come out of this work stoppage. The owners want a salary cap to stop the bleeding. The players don't want to hear anything about salary caps. Neither side seems to want to negotiate. If this were football, or baseball, the federal government would get involved and arbitrate this matter. But this isn't our national pastime – it's Canada's. Or is it? In my lifetime I have seen teams from Winnipeg and Quebec disappear. I know Ottawa has come online, but when Canada can't support its own teams you gotta wonder. Chicago hockey isn't any better. According to the folks at ESPN, our hockey team is the worst team  in all of sport. All of sport. Worse than the Clippers. I just can't believe it.

Things can't be worse in hockey. People would rather watch NASCAR, or PGA golf and perhaps even ice skating – with short dresses and glitter, not masks and sticks. People don't consider the NHL part of the "big four" any longer. Tickets have reached astronomical prices. It borders financial suicide to take a family of 4 to an NHL game. ABC isn't very good at televising hockey games, and ESPN can't do it all. Besides, the knock on hockey is that it doesn't translate very well on TV. I agree with this to some degree – but since my team isn't on TV AT ALL, I can't really comment on this aspect fully.

So let's review the problems: The NHL is going broke. There are teams that are financially in the red. The recent owner-sponsored analysis of the books didn't look good. They seem to be using something like 75% of all their cash on salaries for players. Secondly, there is no interest in the sport any more. Part of this is because the game isn't on TV, and part of it is that the tickets are too expensive. Some would even say that the trapping defense that they play has slowed the game down that it makes soccer look like, well, football.

This is all pretty bad stuff. But I have suggestions to close out this article and hopefully bring back hockey to a state where we can all enjoy it. Here goes:

1. Cut the regular season back to 50 games. That last strike shortened season we had in the 90's was awesome. Every game mattered. 50 games means less tickets to sell, which means less revenue to generate. But it also means we have cut some of the expenses like travel out. We might even get a little more money to televise a season with less games -- especially if the product quality increases. At first, its going to be a tough sell
   
2. Get rid of teams that aren't financially viable, except for the original 6. I want the original 6 around because the Hawks are one of the originals. If I am to believe Bill Wurtz, he is losing his ass, and I can't take a chance the Blackhawks won't be around. Chicago can support this team -- if we get a better product
   
3. Get rid of the trapping zones and the two line pass. I can't really give you good reasons on why these should go, but my guess is that it would open things up. We need to open things up, a faster game with more scoring can only be good
   
4. Get bigger ice! Let's really open it up. I believe that the international hockey rinks are a tad larger than the NHL's. Big ice, means more skating, and hopefully better stick handling. No more two line passes, and bigger ice would be interesting....
   
5.  A SALARY CAP. Sorry guys, but you think I'm the only one that can get outsourced? If you think you can go to another league and get the 1.8 million average salary a year you are making -- then go. We need a salary cap and there is no way around it. If the owners aren't full of shit, they will go under. And then what? You players going to make those house payments on your unemployment checks? Or do you really believe that the money the NHLPA has gotten via video game sales is going to cover it?
    
   The bottom line is that I loved hockey. It was a fun sport. I miss the old Hawks: JR,Chelios, Amonte and Belfour and most of all I miss the playoffs. The sad thing is, the NFL is more than capable of filling this whole left open by your absence. And frankly, so are the once-every-four-years winter Olympics.