On The Lockout.
So, I don't mention it much, but the only sport I follow is hockey. No basketball, no baseball, no world series of poker. (Though, traditional football is fun in a pinch, just no american handball.) With the NHL in lockout, I'm quite the sad panda.
The owners have offered the NHLPA a 50/50 split of revenue. I think this is brilliant on the owner's part. The players can talk all they want about the "loss" of 7% of "hockey related revenue". The average person would be so LUCKY if their blue-collar employees were making FIFTY PERCENT of revenue. The owners have also said that it would not retroactively cut salaries - current contracts would be honored. Let's also not forget that the league has "grown" in the past few years, despite the previous lockout. So the 57% the players had previous is actually a bigger number than it was before.
But seriously, if the NHLPA doesn't take this deal, they're the ones being spoiled brats. Think for a second how much "work" a hockey player does a week. They'll play, tops, four games in a week. Each game is three hours, right? We'll not count the time on the bench as a "break". So, actually playing hockey, they "work" twelve hours a week. You want to count practices and morning skates? Go ahead, but you won't crack 40 hours a week. Don't even talk about travel - nobody gets paid to commute.
(Flying expenses are covered, it's implied. Oh wait, isn't that part of the owner's expenses? Hrmmm. But nobody gets bonus cash for extra miles in the air.)
Anyway, I don't know about anybody else, but as someone with a low-paying job, our target is 21% labor, usually hitting less than that. I know this is taken right off of net sales because, well, I run the numbers whenever I'm there. The other 79% has to pay for food, supplies, overhead, and upper management. Say - where do NHL players get their gear? Is that an owner expense or a player expense?
(Just saying, I actually don't know.)
I don't think the NHL is immortal. Leagues used to rise and fall all the time in the past. Let us not forget the fall of the WHL a mere thirty years ago. All it would take is one crazy guy with the right set of promises to the players to start a defection. As overpaid athletes in the defacto least-popular league in the states, they need to get some perspective. Shut up, and get back to entertaining us.
(Heck, even goons get pad 600K.)
Now. If they were smart, they'd get their act together as a union and tackle all the issues they have with the CBA and deal with it BEFORE IT EXPIRES. For example: Who dictates the salaries of coaches, GMs, etc? Why are ticket prices still going up, if "hockey related revenue" is going up? If they want to drop the player's share, why are they offering insane contracts? Should the NHLPA, on their own side, set a limitation for what players can "accept" as a contract? No, seriously. Don't the fourth-liners look at the million-dollar men and think, "Fuck this guy."
Whatever. The "precious game" either has to change, or it's going to fail. If the lockout goes on longer than a year, the league can and will use alternative sources of talent. I WANT HOCKEY.
The owners have offered the NHLPA a 50/50 split of revenue. I think this is brilliant on the owner's part. The players can talk all they want about the "loss" of 7% of "hockey related revenue". The average person would be so LUCKY if their blue-collar employees were making FIFTY PERCENT of revenue. The owners have also said that it would not retroactively cut salaries - current contracts would be honored. Let's also not forget that the league has "grown" in the past few years, despite the previous lockout. So the 57% the players had previous is actually a bigger number than it was before.
But seriously, if the NHLPA doesn't take this deal, they're the ones being spoiled brats. Think for a second how much "work" a hockey player does a week. They'll play, tops, four games in a week. Each game is three hours, right? We'll not count the time on the bench as a "break". So, actually playing hockey, they "work" twelve hours a week. You want to count practices and morning skates? Go ahead, but you won't crack 40 hours a week. Don't even talk about travel - nobody gets paid to commute.
(Flying expenses are covered, it's implied. Oh wait, isn't that part of the owner's expenses? Hrmmm. But nobody gets bonus cash for extra miles in the air.)
Anyway, I don't know about anybody else, but as someone with a low-paying job, our target is 21% labor, usually hitting less than that. I know this is taken right off of net sales because, well, I run the numbers whenever I'm there. The other 79% has to pay for food, supplies, overhead, and upper management. Say - where do NHL players get their gear? Is that an owner expense or a player expense?
(Just saying, I actually don't know.)
I don't think the NHL is immortal. Leagues used to rise and fall all the time in the past. Let us not forget the fall of the WHL a mere thirty years ago. All it would take is one crazy guy with the right set of promises to the players to start a defection. As overpaid athletes in the defacto least-popular league in the states, they need to get some perspective. Shut up, and get back to entertaining us.
(Heck, even goons get pad 600K.)
Now. If they were smart, they'd get their act together as a union and tackle all the issues they have with the CBA and deal with it BEFORE IT EXPIRES. For example: Who dictates the salaries of coaches, GMs, etc? Why are ticket prices still going up, if "hockey related revenue" is going up? If they want to drop the player's share, why are they offering insane contracts? Should the NHLPA, on their own side, set a limitation for what players can "accept" as a contract? No, seriously. Don't the fourth-liners look at the million-dollar men and think, "Fuck this guy."
Whatever. The "precious game" either has to change, or it's going to fail. If the lockout goes on longer than a year, the league can and will use alternative sources of talent. I WANT HOCKEY.