Quote:
Originally Posted by valo403
Every league, with the exception of the NFL, is on a wire of sorts now. A crippled US economy will do that to an entity dependent upon discretionary spending. Heck, there are very few corporations period that aren't a wire of sorts now, let alone sports leagues. And yet despite that uncertainty in the general marketplace revenues are up, a TV deal heralded by media experts as great for the league was signed, and the CBA situation is relatively stable for the foreseeable future. In what areas would you argue that management is not doing the best that they could be doing? I'm certain that there are differing views on particular decisions, but that doesn't mean that the choice taken is necessarily incorrect or poor and I'm generally going to defer to the people who have the ability to know the true reality of the situation over those who are relying on fractions of information found online.
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A few comments on your response here:
First of all, this is an internet discussion forum. If we all just defered to people 'in the know' there wouldn't be much to discuss. If we all just believed the press conferences and interviews, there wouldn't be anything to talk about. It would be: Feaster said this is his final cut and it is the best solution for the team. Ok, well he would know. End thread. Bettman says this TV is the absolute best he could get and is a major step for the league. Ok, well he would know. End thread. Discussion, has to come from what we as observers are able to observe and research. Do I work for the NHL? No, but am I (and many of the others who feel similarly) doing the best with what I see, experience, and read about? Sure am.
Secondly, you can't take everything you hear in life at face value anyway. We all know that. If we did, we'd believe every politician, get suckered by every commercial, and fall to every business' said press release. Simply because someone closer to the situation says something is true, or their viewpoint is correct, doesn't make it so. In fact often it's the opposite as they are trying to save whatever interest they have in the situation, be it a job, a reputation, or even just an opinion. We all learn from an early age to sense when things are a little off, and we all need to learn to read between the lines.
Lastly, I didn't mean any different opinions aren't correct or valid, in fact many times I softened my arguments by saying the situation could appear worse than it actually is. However, I was only replying to your challenge to give reasons on why the league may not be the healthiest it's ever been (a phrase you used) and why I felt there might be bigger issues bubbling below the surface that might be linked to how the league has been managed. Now I believe I did the first. The second is more of an opinion that one can choose to adopt or not based on the arguments everyone has contributed for or against in this thread.
Now, I never did get to the reasons on why I felt it was mismanaged because there were many points to make just to show that there were indeed problems. I actually wouldn't use the term mismanaged. Perhaps just not managed well, or getting along with the bare minimums. It's kinda like when your kid comes home with a C. Did they get the job done? Sure. Is it anything to be proud of? No. And is it going to set them up for the future? 50/50. Would another kid have done better? Well, odds are just as likely that 1 kid would do better, and 1 kid would do worse.
When we talk about how the league has been managed, there is a TON to look at and it goes back quite a way when trying to diagnose our current problems. However, I imagine, you would probably only want to talk about the current commissioner and/or people involved. In which case I'd have to look up a few things first and then properly frame my argument. In truth, I'd really only want to talk about the current people too, (and am prepared to) but I still have to go back and get my dates right. As with many arguments, we often work off our base of knowledge to form our opinions, though where we got that base from or what exactly it is may be forgotten. That's not to say it's always untrue though, that's just the way our brains work. However, even without going back I would still say that purely from a situational point of view, if you have EIGHT teams (plus one just moved) in a thirty team league in serious financial trouble, one could argue the league hasn't been managed in the best possible manner.
Now how could you do it better? Well, that's the million dollar question isn't it? But see that's why I don't have the fancy degrees and am not getting paid the millions of dollars. It's not my job. But it doesn't mean I can't understand enough to add something to the discussion or have a valid opinion. Even if that opinion is that the people in charge aren't doing a good job. We've all come across people who have been trained or hired to do something we never have, or couldn't do, that have royally fataed it up. If my surgeon caused me to bleed internally while performing a routine surgery and it caused me problems I would have every valid right to tell him he screwed up.
You also compared the NHL to the NBA and MLB. (Basically the other leagues beside the NFL) Well, NBA is going through their lockout right now, so that's a strike against them. I will be honest and say I don't really know enough about MLB to argue for them being in a better or worse position, or being managed in a better or worse way. However, I'm not sure either are looking at 30% of their teams being in trouble.
To be fair, the NHL has a bigger problem than the other two leagues. They aren't as popular as the other leagues and are operating from a worse position. At least when it comes to additional revenues like those earned from TV. So in a way, managing this league would be harder. But does that mean we shouldn't ask for a certain level of success? Does that mean they get a free pass when it comes to making mistakes? Does that mean we shouldn't, as paying fans, shouldn't be disappointed or scared when we continue to hear about franchises in trouble? Does that mean we're not allowed to shake our heads when locales we knew would never work simply aren't working and are weakening the league?
As I said, I think I passed the first challenge. The second, is of course an opinion one can choose to take or not, nothing more. And while I do take it, I don't discount or feel strongly against those who don't. Both are valid. And probably neither can be known right now (if ever). If you do want me to clarify where I felt the mistakes were made to further strengthen that opinion, I'll be glad to do so but it will take me some time to get my dates and numbers accurate. But as I said, I don't think one can look at the situation we have now and say there weren't mistakes or other course of action would probably have worked better.