Tawnos said:
And how many players didn't do that? How many players settled during training camp in time for the season, which is really all that matters? How many players were content to negotiate the best contract they can get through fair negotiations. The VAST VAST majority of players do that. So those who hold out become the exception to the rule.
As AM so eloquently put it earlier, the exception proves the rule. How many players seriously hold out in a given season? 6? 7? 10? Even if it is 2 or 3 per team, thats 90 max. Out of SEVEN HUNDRED?? Less than 15% at the most. Players get villified for a group that never even accounts for a 5th of their membership. And somehow the owners have no choice to cave when it's a very select group that holds out. The fans, the media... none of that matters. It doesn't now and it didn't then. So don't give me that garbage. If the fans mattered, we never would've had a cancelled season. Period.
If the owners really cared about the fans, the players would've been traded at fair market value long before some of the lengthier holdouts ended. Do you really think that the Sharks couldn't get a good return for Brad Stuart?
And if someone with the same statistics as you gets paid $4mil, why should you settle for any less? Most players aren't stupid. Given the business oriented aspect of the game, do you really think players care where they play? I know very few people who would turn down a job that pays them double what they're getting now, for the same job, out of loyalty to their employer. And still, a good number of players are deluded and misled by their agents as well. Both are causes of hold-outs. And both can be stood up to.
Para1 The holdouts have always won, either by the owner signing the player or trading him to someone who's willing to meet his demands. The exception to the rule just set a new benchmark for all the other members.
Para2 When two or three players per team holdout and win on a team of twenty players where only eight of them have contracts coming up for renewal, then it's closer to 25%, or one in four. And if they have been successful in moving the benchmark with their actions, their peers may not see the need to hold out, because their raise will be so large just by putting up average numbers.
The fans and the media do matter, because if the media rides you and fans believe what they see and hear, they may stop buying tickets to watch your product. And if fans stop buying tickets to watch your product, you aren't making any money. So you'd better sign someone to show the city you care, or you're going to be in Islanderville very quickly.
Para3 So the player gets traded, and the new owner signs him, essentially giving into his demands before the trade is consumated. So therefore the original owner always has to give in, especially if he had had to trade away a couple of key guys to get the superstar a couple of years ago. By letting a superstar he traded half the team to get sit in Europe while his team's racking up the L's and emply seats, you are telling me that the owner should just be strong for the good of the league while the business loans he has personally guaranteed to build the stadium threaten to go unpaid? And all the while he's watching other GMs improve their teams? Of course he's going to trade or sign, which means the player always wins.
How is it that the world suddenly changed on September the 15th, when players went from being businessmen in charge of their future to being innocent bystanders on the deck of the Titanic?
Para4 The reason the guy is making 4m is because he put a gun to his owners head and said sign me or you're screwed. So even though his stats were average, he got what he wanted because the owner had to either sign him or trade him for reasons mentioned above. You now get to use him as your benchmark when your contract comes up, and may want to send the guy a thankyou note while you're at it.
In the real world owners can't allow their businesses to fall out of favour with their markets and expect to survive. Fans in Edmonton have been forgiving, but elsewhere they aren't.
To state that the local media and fans don't matter is naive. Ticket sales matter, unless there's a big TV contract that I'm not aware of.