It’s a well-known fact that Tier 2 Junior hockey has had more than its share of rich owners who invest in a team to ensure their son not only plays in the league, but plays often. To see that same situation occur in the high calibre Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is shocking to say the least.
It really doesn’t matter that the coach was quickly reinstated the following day. The damage has already been done. No use closing the barn door after all the horses, or in this case, all the Firebirds have left.
How dumb can one rich, egotistical, superficial, self-serving idiot of an owner be? Let me count the ways:
First of all, it makes an elite hockey league, respected around the world, look rather foolish.
Secondly, it makes the OHL’s recruiting battles against U.S. College hockey a little more challenging. You can be sure the vicious tug-a-war for players will see college recruiters reminding undecided prospects that “daddy†won’t be interfering with their development should they opt to go the college route ahead of the OHL.
In addition, the owner’s poor kid must be totally humiliated. As a rule, 17 year-old kids want to interact with their parents about as often as they want to interact with the swine flu virus. Along comes this kid’s daddy to ruin his kid’s chance to be accepted by his peer group as one of the boys. That should piss his son off for, oh, another 15 years or so.
Because his son is a defenceman, you can be sure that parents and/or player agents of kids playing the same position will shy away from allowing their guy to be traded or drafted to Flint for the foreseeable future. While the threat of a less than level playing field may no longer be there, the perception certainly is.
Not to mention the fact that the Flint team is a first year operation, having transferred the franchise from Plymouth to Flint over the summer. It’s going to be hard to sell potential new fans on the idea that the owner bought the team to reward the city with a new rallying point, when it is now quite obvious that he really bought the team to guarantee his son a place in the OHL.
League boss Dave Branch hightailed it into town today to do some damage control. But his fingerprints are all over this too. For years now, Branch has been more interested in turning the OHL into a big money machine, rather than give a damn about the slave-labour kids his operation manipulates in the process. Branch clearly brought this new owner into the OHL because he has deep pockets, failing to take notice of his rather shallow morals.
We’ve often been told that money can’t buy happiness. But a number of naïve rich people seem convinced that money can at least buy lots of ice time.
