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CaptainYooh · 07-11-2013, 11:21 AM

In light of Tuuka Rask signing a new long-term deal and the general silliness of long-term deals in pro sports, my friend and I had an argument yesterday that had quickly escalated and become very heated. It was about Luongo's situation. Specifically, there was a rumour that Luongo is so upset about Gillis trading Schneider that he's contemplating sitting out until they trade him. Don't know if the rumour has any truth to it, but that's not the point. My friend was arguing that the whole situation is 100% organization's fault, because they've offered Luongo a stupidly sweet deal that Luongo naturally could not refuse and now the contract cannot be traded anywhere putting poor Luongo is in a dead-end trap.

I say BS! Luongo signing was organization's belief in his abilities and commitment to make him a franchise player. His own bad play resulted in him being moved to a back-up position. He can't blame Gillis & Co. for his own erratic play. (For the record, I myself believe that long-term deals are ridiculously stupid by any team for ANY player; this one was no exception.)

My friend further argued that Gillis all but publicly blamed Luongo for the team's missing Stanley Cup; thus, aggravating the situation and making the fans hating Luongo in order to divert the blame from himself for signing a silly long-term deal. So, because of that, they are 100% to blame.

I say, again, BS. Luongo is still under a giant contract and he must honour it 100% by playing as good as he can until the situation resolves itself somehow. He OWES that to the organization regardless of how he feels about staying in Vancouver. Plus, he himself made the situation worse by stating publicly that he wanted to be traded. I believe that players bringing public opinion and media into their own private contract negotiations have their own selfish agenda and they deserve the poor outcome if it doesn't go their way. Firstly, they make trading more difficult by weakening GM's bargaining position with other teams. Secondly, they try influencing their contractual arrangements by the factors outside of their team's control.

In summary, our argument came to completely opposite stands. My friend believes that the situation is 100% the Canucks organization's fault because of the bad contract and bad PR; while I believe that is 100% Luongo's fault, because of how badly he performed and how badly he handled that thereafter. I think that on a personal level, Luongo is the maker of his own destiny now. If he starts playing well at the level of his pay, he will be able to affect his future tradeability positively. On a professional level, he MUST do that same thing, because he is under contract.

Where do you stand on this argument?

07-11-2013, 11:21 AM	#1
CaptainYooh Franchise Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Calgary Exp:	Luongo vs. Vancouver Canucks In light of Tuuka Rask signing a new long-term deal and the general silliness of long-term deals in pro sports, my friend and I had an argument yesterday that had quickly escalated and become very heated. It was about Luongo's situation. Specifically, there was a rumour that Luongo is so upset about Gillis trading Schneider that he's contemplating sitting out until they trade him. Don't know if the rumour has any truth to it, but that's not the point. My friend was arguing that the whole situation is 100% organization's fault, because they've offered Luongo a stupidly sweet deal that Luongo naturally could not refuse and now the contract cannot be traded anywhere putting poor Luongo is in a dead-end trap. I say BS! Luongo signing was organization's belief in his abilities and commitment to make him a franchise player. His own bad play resulted in him being moved to a back-up position. He can't blame Gillis & Co. for his own erratic play. (For the record, I myself believe that long-term deals are ridiculously stupid by any team for ANY player; this one was no exception.) My friend further argued that Gillis all but publicly blamed Luongo for the team's missing Stanley Cup; thus, aggravating the situation and making the fans hating Luongo in order to divert the blame from himself for signing a silly long-term deal. So, because of that, they are 100% to blame. I say, again, BS. Luongo is still under a giant contract and he must honour it 100% by playing as good as he can until the situation resolves itself somehow. He OWES that to the organization regardless of how he feels about staying in Vancouver. Plus, he himself made the situation worse by stating publicly that he wanted to be traded. I believe that players bringing public opinion and media into their own private contract negotiations have their own selfish agenda and they deserve the poor outcome if it doesn't go their way. Firstly, they make trading more difficult by weakening GM's bargaining position with other teams. Secondly, they try influencing their contractual arrangements by the factors outside of their team's control. In summary, our argument came to completely opposite stands. My friend believes that the situation is 100% the Canucks organization's fault because of the bad contract and bad PR; while I believe that is 100% Luongo's fault, because of how badly he performed and how badly he handled that thereafter. I think that on a personal level, Luongo is the maker of his own destiny now. If he starts playing well at the level of his pay, he will be able to affect his future tradeability positively. On a professional level, he MUST do that same thing, because he is under contract. Where do you stand on this argument?