Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Disagree. Winning is why we like the game. You could have a bunch of faceless robots out there and people would come and cheer so long as they won. You could have a team full of Anthony Deangelos out there and the crowds would come to watch so long as the team won. Winning solves all problems in professional sports.
This has become the evolution of team sports. Players have become very mercenary in their approach to the game and as a result you are better off having an attachment for the jersey, not the name on it. I started that mantra on this site a long time ago (I cheer for the jersey, not the clowns wearing it) and I stand by it. I don't get sentimentally attached to players as they are all replaceable. It's why I didn't care about Iginla leaving and was demanding we trade him two years prior. I saw the writing on the wall and I knew what was coming. Anyone who gets attached to a player is a fool. Players have more loyalty to their union than the teams who pay them, and that's all you need to know.
The last player I was really emotionally invested in was Lanny McDonald, and I learned a lesson from that championship team. We watched our heroes leave this team one-by-one for selfish reasons and that made me realize players are a cog in the machine and an asset that needs to be properly managed so the team continues to move forward toward success. So I really don't give a #### about any of the individual players on the team. They will come and they will go, as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Sam Bennett will be gone soon enough. Johnny Hockey and Matthew Tkachuk will leave too. Almost every player on this team is going to leave before their playing days are done. No need for sentimentality over it, it is the new nature of the game. So long as we can move the players when the time is right and we get value back, the cycle will continue. When the cycle is broken, that's when dark days will return.
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We watch sports very, very differently. Probably why we don't see eye to eye on some topics, which is all good - good to understand where you're coming from.