Is it time for Gary Bettman to leave?

[Ted Hoffman]

Yeah, okay, Mac. Thanks for the info. And when Bettman finally drives the league into the ground and leaves empty arenas dotting the North American landscape (especially that new luxurious one in Newark, NJ), be sure to check in with us about what a great Commish and hockey fan he was.

So ... are you going to be avoiding spending any money on the NHL from now until the day Bettman is fired by the owners, or are you going to ***** about how bad a job he's doing while you plunk down $125 for a jersey, $25 for a ticket, $3.75 for a hot dog, $5.50 for a beer and $20-30 for miscellaneous souvenirs?

Because if you're going to hold fast to the "Bettman has to go" mantra, then you might want to take actions that will really hit the league where it hurts and force that exit to happen sooner rather than later.

 

[ShooterMcGavin*]

Bettman is doing his job, as fans I think it's our job to get friends co-workers and associates into the game. I do it all the time.

 

[Stoney La Rock]

So ... are you going to be avoiding spending any money on the NHL from now until the day Bettman is fired by the owners, or are you going to ***** about how bad a job he's doing while you plunk down $125 for a jersey, $25 for a ticket, $3.75 for a hot dog, $5.50 for a beer and $20-30 for miscellaneous souvenirs?

Because if you're going to hold fast to the "Bettman has to go" mantra, then you might want to take actions that will really hit the league where it hurts and force that exit to happen sooner rather than later.

You pretty much nailed it. I haven't been to a game since before the lockout. Haven't bought any merchandise since before the lockout. The only thing I haven't given up is shelling out five bucks a month for a subscription to Versus so that I can see the ten Ranger games Cablevision is screwing the MSG viewers out of, but I know at least ten long-time hockey fans who haven't even done that.

I have become a follower of college hockey, local high school hockey and whoever else happens to be playing at the neighborhood rink. I turned off the coverage of the All-Star Game because I thought the red carpet was annoying - this is a sport, not Hollywood (another thing that Bettman seems confused about). Yeah, it's entertainment, but coddling overpaid athletes does not make them actors and actresses, and we already have enough of them in the world anyway. I'm willing to wager that if anyone asked the players how much they enjoy having to put on monkey suits and trot around for the general public, the majority of them would say they'd rather be home having a beer. The only things that were missing at that circus masquerading as All-Star Week were Apollo Creed and Bello the Clown. Oh, no, wait...I'm pretty sure I saw Bello there, dressed up as Gary Bettman.

 

[Titan124]

Huh? Baseball does not have the same degree of movement. The Expos were the first team to move since the last time baseball left Washington. Football has had more, but basketball has only had 2 teams move since Bettman came to power in the NHL. Bettman had 4 and right now looks to be 70/30 that number will rise to 5. Football has only had 4 as well.


And 'awareness' in the States....No. Not at all. I got people telling me they don't even know the all star game was on a Wednesday.

I have had hardcore hockey fans tell me that they had no clue what channel it was on.

 

[AdmiralPred]

I have had hardcore hockey fans tell me that they had no clue what channel it was on.

They musn't have been hardcore enough.

 

[Borschevsky]

Unhappy anniversary

Everyone has a favorite conspiracy theory about the NBA. Some like the idea that David Stern fixed the 1984 draft lottery. Others favor his supposed secret suspension of a star player for gambling problems.

Mine dates back to the early 1990s, when the NHL was white hot with fans and never better on the ice. Wayne Gretzky was in Los Angeles. Mark Messier was with the New York Rangers, who were on the verge of ending their Stanley Cup drought. Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy and many others were hitting their prime.

Anyone who doesn't think hockey can work in America is forgetting this era. All of a sudden, hockey was challenging, if not beating, the NBA in a number of major U.S. markets – including New York. It's almost impossible to imagine now, but it happened.

As the conspiracy theory goes, Stern sensed the potential trouble in 1993 while the NHL was in search of a new commissioner. So he looked around his own office for someone so incompetent that if they got the job, the NHL would be marginalized by their mismanagement and never again be a threat to the NBA.

Naturally, Stern recommended one of his assistants, Gary Bettman, for the job.

True story or not, it worked.

Bettman is set to begin his 15th year as commissioner Thursday, and like most hockey fans I feel the need to mark the occasion by popping a bottle of champagne, chugging the entire thing in an effort to drown my misery and then smashing the empty bottle over my temple to black out the memories.

There has never been a commissioner of a major North American sports league this inept, yet the league's board of governors keeps employing him, keeps giving him another chance to sink this once-proud, once-vibrant league to new depths.

rest of article here
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=dw-bettman012907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[Free Probie]

Bettman is the devil, want a recap of his incompetence;

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_y...LYF?slug=dw-bettman012907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[ColdNorthBoys]

Wow quite a few comments on Buttman or is it Bettman since I began this thread last week. Of all the moves Buttman (from the movie) has made that are terrible and as this tread certainly points out there are a great deal how could the NHL believe four more years with Versus makes any sense. Has anyone tried to guess why not ESPN -- here's a guess, ESPN buys into the Arena Footbal League, buys more college basketball, buys into Major League Soccer -- and there's no time or place for the NHL. Too bad but enough is enough, Buttman has to go

 

[DevFan-RU-]

The league needs a management change in order to finally see some growth.

Gary Bettman has finished his job. He brought the league under the new CBA (which I strongly agree with).

However, The league has changed, yet the faces in charge have not. It is time for a new leader, and soon.

If not for his incompetence, but for a change overall.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Wow quite a few comments on Buttman or is it Bettman since I began this thread last week. Of all the moves Buttman (from the movie) has made that are terrible and as this tread certainly points out there are a great deal how could the NHL believe four more years with Versus makes any sense. Has anyone tried to guess why not ESPN -- here's a guess, ESPN buys into the Arena Footbal League, buys more college basketball, buys into Major League Soccer -- and there's no time or place for the NHL. Too bad but enough is enough, Buttman has to go

Why not ESPN?

How about this - ESPN has no interest in hockey.

Tough for a lot of the hockey pucks around here to fathom, but EPSN places no priority.

I know people think that somehow Bettman & Co should have been able to put a gun to ESPN's head and get them to make an offer, but ...

And, by the way? Virtually every thing that people have alleged in this thread that Bettman has done "wrong" has been refuted.

 

[Big Phil]

I like Bettman. I think he is doing a good job and should stay commissioner.

You must be a young fan, there is no other explanation for that

 

[Drewr15]

rest of article here
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=dw-bettman012907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

the problem with that article is that it assumes the NHL was ready to burst. There is no evidence of that, just because we had a team in LA in the cup and a team in NY win it the next year everyone has this fantasy that the NHL was more popular than ever. Based on what? TV ratings? The nhl wasn't even on national TV. I don't like Bettman but these assinine stories talking about how popular the NHL was in the early 90s are just full of it. Sorry. And please don't give me the big market BS story, the NFL has had just average teams in NY and no team in LA for years and they are stronger than ever. Big market does not equal success.

 

[Big Phil]

Bettman has no Hokcey knowledge, never did and never will. Ask the fans in Winnipeg, Hartford and Quebec if they are for Bettman. If any fan likes Bettman and supports what he's doing you just have to walk out of the room and pay no attention to that plug! He doesnt know what he's talking about. Whoever says that was not a fan of the NHL prior to 1993.

 

[Big Phil]

the problem with that article is that it assumes the NHL was ready to burst. There is no evidence of that, just because we had a team in LA in the cup and a team in NY win it the next year everyone has this fantasy that the NHL was more popular than ever. Based on what? TV ratings? The nhl wasn't even on national TV. I don't like Bettman but these assinine stories talking about how popular the NHL was in the early 90s are just full of it. Sorry. And please don't give me the big market BS story, the NFL has had just average teams in NY and no team in LA for years and they are stronger than ever. Big market does not equal success.

Well how about the fact that a Sports Illustrated article back in 1994 after the Rnagers won the Cup suggested that Hockey was moving up in popularity ahead of posibly even basketball. SI is hardly a hockey-central magazine so it says something coming from them. Whoever you are you've got a short memory man. Maybe you're younger I dont know but those of us who were around before that remember the way hockey was.

 

[AdmiralPred]

the problem with that article is that it assumes the NHL was ready to burst. There is no evidence of that, just because we had a team in LA in the cup and a team in NY win it the next year everyone has this fantasy that the NHL was more popular than ever. Based on what? TV ratings? The nhl wasn't even on national TV. I don't like Bettman but these assinine stories talking about how popular the NHL was in the early 90s are just full of it. Sorry. And please don't give me the big market BS story, the NFL has had just average teams in NY and no team in LA for years and they are stronger than ever. Big market does not equal success.

To add: it wasn't until the 92-93 season the NHL was able to return to ESPN after the SCA run. It was also the early heyday of the Jordan-led NBA so I'm not sure where the author thinks the NHL ws ready to overtake the NBA.

 

[ColoradoHockeyFan]

Bettman has no Hokcey knowledge, never did and never will. Ask the fans in Winnipeg, Hartford and Quebec if they are for Bettman. If any fan likes Bettman and supports what he's doing you just have to walk out of the room and pay no attention to that plug! He doesnt know what he's talking about. Whoever says that was not a fan of the NHL prior to 1993.

I've been a fan for nearly a quarter century.

Gary Bettman has plenty of "hockey knowledge."

Keep making stuff up.

 

[AdmiralPred]

Well how about the fact that a Sports Illustrated article back in 1994 after the Rnagers won the Cup suggested that Hockey was moving up in popularity ahead of posibly even basketball. SI is hardly a hockey-central magazine so it says something coming from them. Whoever you are you've got a short memory man. Maybe you're younger I dont know but those of us who were around before that remember the way hockey was.

Says to me that they do not know, or have a pulse on hockey. SI bandwagoning the sport of hockey could be deemed the equivalent to Forbes reporting on the business of hockey. (*Oooo another thoughtless zing aginst Forbes*)

The NHL was peaking in popularity, I'll give you that, but to think that it could eclipse the Michael Jordan era of the NBA? Or to blame Bettman for a decline in popularity?

 

[Drewr15]

Well how about the fact that a Sports Illustrated article back in 1994 after the Rnagers won the Cup suggested that Hockey was moving up in popularity ahead of posibly even basketball. SI is hardly a hockey-central magazine so it says something coming from them. Whoever you are you've got a short memory man. Maybe you're younger I dont know but those of us who were around before that remember the way hockey was.

So because a magazine that hardly covers hockey predicts it makes it so.
You can't be serious.

Hey where was thier prediction about Nascar or poker becoming so popular.

 

[AdmiralPred]

So because a magazine that hardly covers hockey predicts it makes it so.
You can't be serious.

Hey where was thier prediction about Nascar or poker becoming so popular.

The magazine is called Sports Illustrated.

 

[kdb209]

Well how about the fact that a Sports Illustrated article back in 1994 after the Rnagers won the Cup suggested that Hockey was moving up in popularity ahead of posibly even basketball. SI is hardly a hockey-central magazine so it says something coming from them. Whoever you are you've got a short memory man. Maybe you're younger I dont know but those of us who were around before that remember the way hockey was.

Unfortunately that SI article (Why the NHL's Hot, The NBA's Not - June 20, 1994) was long on hype and short on any facts to back it up. It was as much a lamentation on the state of the NBA in the post-Bird/post-Magic/post-Jordan(retirement #1) era as it was an NHL puff piece in the wake of Messier carrying the Cup. There was no hard facts - attendance, ratigs, revenues - to really back up their assertions.

Unfortunately, my copy of that SI issue is long gone. I've actually tried a few times to pick up a copy on Ebay - including once about a week or so ago - with no luck.

And, yes I remember the way hockey was (in the US) when Bettman took over - which might be a bit different to the state of the game as viewed from up north.

 

[Cawz]

Unfortunately that SI article (Why the NHL's Hot, The NBA's Not - June 20, 1994) was long on hype and short on any facts to back it up. It was as much a lamentation on the state of the NBA in the post-Bird/post-Magic/post-Jordan(retirement #1) era as it was an NHL puff piece in the wake of Messier carrying the Cup. There was no hard facts - attendance, ratigs, revenues - to really back up their assertions.

Unfortunately, my copy of that SI issue is long gone. I've actually tried a few times to pick up a copy on Ebay - including once about a week or so ago - with no luck.

And, yes I remember the way hockey was (in the US) when Bettman took over - which might be a bit different to the state of the game as viewed from up north.

Thats a good point. For the amount of times that article is mentioned here, I wonder how many people here actually read it.

I remember the magazine, but I dont remember if I actually read it (I think I read it waiting at a barber shop, but that was too long time to remember)

 

[GSC2k2*]

You must be a young fan, there is no other explanation for that

I am 44, have been a fan for 35 years and I know Bettman is an astute businessman and was a virtual miracle worker as a commissioner in maintaining solidarity in the lockout. Few, if any, could have done that job.

YOU most likely have zero business experience, and certainly zero in the big leagues of business.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Bettman has no Hokcey knowledge, never did and never will. Ask the fans in Winnipeg, Hartford and Quebec if they are for Bettman. If any fan likes Bettman and supports what he's doing you just have to walk out of the room and pay no attention to that plug! He doesnt know what he's talking about. Whoever says that was not a fan of the NHL prior to 1993.

Bettman has no hockey knowledge?

You have no Bettman knowledge. Educate yourself a little before you post next time.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

1. Bettman was hired by the owners; he'd have to be fired by the owners as well, and they have no desire to do that at the moment - especially since he helped them win significant concessions from the players in the lockout.
2. Bettman can't force Bill Wirtz or any other owner to give up control of their team barring fraud or illegal activities. Being an ******* owner isn't enough.
3. As much as everyone *****es here about Bettman, ... how many of those people have either (A) quit going to hockey games, or (B) quit watching hockey? I'm betting the answer is "damn few, if any".
4. kdb209 has rolled out numbers showing how revenues have grown tremendously since Bettman became commissioner. That's irrelevant to the anti-Bettman group, it's the fact that he's not doing what they think he should be doing that's proof enough in their minds that he should be fired.

When the league actually starts seeing revenues drop, then maybe you'll see it - until then, as long as the money keeps pouring in those who hate him have a better chance of passing out holding their breath than they do of seeing him get canned.

Finally a voice of reason.

Hockey is a game for the tough...time for some fans to suck it up and realize Bettman from a business perspective has done right by the league and it's owners. He's not very personable but he's done a decent enough job.

Nobody likes to see a work stoppage but it was a necessary evil to get the kind of dramatic concessions from the players to really make an impact on the league's financial situation.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Well how about the fact that a Sports Illustrated article back in 1994 after the Rnagers won the Cup suggested that Hockey was moving up in popularity ahead of posibly even basketball. SI is hardly a hockey-central magazine so it says something coming from them. Whoever you are you've got a short memory man. Maybe you're younger I dont know but those of us who were around before that remember the way hockey was.

Would you be interested in knowing that, in the four years prior to Bettman assuming office, the NHL's attendance had been on a steady decline from 14,975, to 14,695, to 14,510 to 14, 045? Then, in the first year of Bettman's reign, 1993-94, attendance increased to 14,748, when NYR won the Cup. Mind you, that attendance figure, supposedly when the NHL is at a "peak" (per your vague recollection of a 12 year old SI article), merely reversed most - though not all - of the NHL's losses over the preceding four years.

The lesson? The first sensible business analysis that I read from a sports reporter will be the first. Generally sports writers or sports media in general have an idea what they want to write/broadcast and will do what they want whether or not the facts fit.