A bunch of stuff..

Okay, imagine we had to pick one of the commissioners of the four major professional sports to be on the front page of some children's book. Our candidates are:
Bud Selig.

A controversial commissioner who dealt with one of the ugliest work stoppages in the history of professional sport, the 1994 MLB work stoppage. This stoppage was so ugly that "replacement players" were used. It was ugly enough that an injunction was filed that ORDERED baseball to continue, and replacement players were banished. Some may argue the charges of collusion that occurred prior to this injunction were a large reason as to why the judge ordered the 1995 season be played. 144/162 games were played.

Unfortunately this was near-lethal in the 1990s, since baseball attendance had plummeted, but it was necessary. Selig's legacy will largely be "The guy who got his power because another commissioner got fired, and instituted the wild card". He has a lot yet to prove. Some argue that the salaries will eventually become depressed and things will be okay, but we will see. Baseball has shown, recently especially, that big bucks aren't required to win the championship.

Get it done Selig.

Next up...
David Stern:


The man who has demanded a level of professionalism from his players that wasn't seen previously in basketball. Not only has the NBA been less-unsuccessful (not his fault, I'll explain a second) under his tutelage, but violence and behavior from the players has also been much-improved. The 1998-99 NBA lockout didn't achieve much, but it did cap the maximum salaries of the players and the "rookie wage scale", a term that's used to determine how much draft picks in the NBA get paid. His legacy will largely determined this offseason, when the 2011-2012 NBA lockout will occur due to ridiculous salaries and team owner's lacking the ability to show restraint. I feel that David Stern will "win" this lock out and probably restore the NBA CBA's reputation of being a "model" for professional sports.


Now, this is where things get interesting. Above we have proven Commissioners who have done nothing but grow the sport and improve it. In Selig's case, what he
Aaand, his sidekick that was whisked away in the early 90s by the NHL owners...

The Count, aka Gary Bettman:


Now, before I started writing a quick snippet on each commish and stuff, I had a point to all of it. Having to find a cheery picture of Gary Bettman is hard work though, and I am pretty sure this caused me to lose my train of thought. In any case, this is the best picture I could find of him.

Where to begin with Gary Bettman? Previously hailed as the "prodigy" behind Stern, the NHL owners thought they had a true winner on their hands. This man proceeded to move teams with good hockey markets that were NOT economically viable at the time, such as Quebec and Winnipeg to other locations such as Colorado and Phoenix, respectively.

Now I know what you guys are saying, "OMFG THIS LOSER WON'T LET THE JETS COME HOME, HES SUCH AN IDIOT" bla bla bla bla. Listen guys, Gary Bettman is not necessarily the most respectful professional out there. Look at his face, he's such a smug bastard. But the fact of the matter remains that he did do his homework.

1. Phoenix did have one of the largest TV markets in the United States.
2. Neither city was viable in the long term when compared to where they moved and the arenas these new locations had. One can argue that Colorados consecutive sellout streak was impressive. The Pepsi center is a nice arena, and I would say that Denver fans are pretty good.

The one thing that Gary overlooked was the fact that the move from Northern Phoenix to Glendale would destroy the long term prospects of the team. America West Arena, or whatever it's called, is the arena of the Phoenix Suns. It could accommodate a hockey rink but had limited capacity. As a result, this prompted a move to Glendale and also the huge financial crisis that's going on with the team. Simply put: Fans in Glendale don't give a rats-ass about "hackey".

What irks me is this:

"Commissioner Gary Bettman will be the face of the National Hockey League for a while yet, negotiating a five-year contract extension last November, The Globe and Mail reported on Friday.

According to the newspaper, the nine-member executive committee unanimously approved the extension.

The Globe adds that one of the biggest backers to get Bettman the extension was Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who is the league's chairman of the board of governors. As chairman, one of Jacobs's duties is to keep the commissioner and the other key executives under contract.

"Old news. I believe my contract has been extended four times, each time with the approval of the board of governors," Bettman confirmed to The Globe via e-mail.

One governor told the paper he believed Bettman also reached an understanding with the executive committee that deputy commissioner Bill Daly and chief operating officer John Collins will also be retained beyond this season.

Bettman's current contract, which pays him $7.2 million annually, was originally set to expire this summer"

When, at the same time that November of 2010 we also heard:

"Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks
Date: Monday, November 15, 2010, 1:48pm MST
Related: Sports Business

Prospective Phoenix Coyotes owner Matthew Hulsizer is putting together his own front office management group in anticipation of buying the team from the National Hockey League before the end of the year.
It’s not clear, however, how many of Hulsizer’s people will be brought in and what kind of impact that will have on the Coyotes business personnel.
If he buys the team, sources familiar with the situation say Hulsizer will bring some of his own people from Chicago, and possibly Milwaukee, to work on the management and business side of the team.
Hulsizer is CEO of Peak6 Investments in Chicago. His wife, Jennifer Just, is also a principal and cofounder of the firm.
Hulsizer did not respond to a request for comment. He’s not expected to make a lot of hockey-side changes to the Coyotes with coach Dave Tippett and general manager Don Maloney both receiving awards and accolades for last season’s playoff appearance.
The NHL has owned the Coyotes since last year and wants to sell to Hulsizer for between $160 million and $170 million.
Team president Doug Moss was let go over the summer and the NHL promoted Coyotes CFO Mike Nealy to COO. Vice president for communications Jeff Holbrook left when Moss did, and has been replaced by former Phoenix Suns marketing executive Jim Brewer. The Coyotes also have new media relations staff, and have seen some turnover in the sales department the past two seasons.
The Coyotes are trying to turn around lagging attendance and revenue numbers, and have their bottom line match up better with their improved on-ice performance.
Hulsizer needs to work out a new lease with the city of Glendale at the city-owned Jobing.com Arena and get a sale approve by the NHL and other owners. A deal needs to get done by Dec. 31 or the NHL will open the Coyotes sale to bidders who want to move the team out of the Phoenix market. "

Yeah, I forgot to mention that: Bettman had the owners buy and manage the Coyotes after Del Biaggio went to jail, and this resulted in the owners essentially accepting losses of a few million each per year because Phoenix is bleeding profusely.

Is it out the question that the owners got a bit excited that Bettman got them out of their collective ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes? Sure seems like it to me, and now they're on the hook for 35+M that some can successfully argue that Bettman didn't deserve in the first place.

Look, there are teams like Florida, Tampa, Atlanta, that are hard to break even on. Yeah the Lightning are doing well, but that market is unable to support the team when they dont' perform. Oren Kouleas and Len Barry thought they had it made when they got this team. Hell, they thought they could play fantasy hockey as owners and look what happened. They went from:



to: Selling the team and hating the eachother picture. I don't got one:(


Anyways, Bettman meant well but I feel at this point he has done a bit more bad than good. Especially when chasing away Balsillie. Was it wrong for Balsillie to try and obtain a team and then challenge relocation under anti-trust? Yeah, I would say that isn't the most attractive thing to do as a prospective NHL owner. It shows you have zero respect for the "wink wink nudge nudge" club, but still he is worth billions of dollars and was willing to take tens of millions in losses to operate the team in Phoenix for two additional years before debating relocation...

Anyways, it's really easy to question Bettman so let's move on.

Ah yes, Roger Goodell:


The "Sheriff". The guy who demands that players "act right". The man who has punished players for any sort of off-field issue that has caught public attention.

What will his legacy be? I mentioned what the current reputations of the previous commissioners is. For Roger Goodell, it seems like he didn't want to play the role of Commissioner. There is no reason the NFL should have any sort of work stoppage at all. Record revenues, record ratings, record everything...

The owners get 1B of the total 9B revenue PLUS 40 percent of the remaining 8B. They claim that their profits are decreasing and that they need an 18 game season to make up for this lost profit AND they want an additional billion for expenses that are unknown. The root of the problem? The owners refuse to release their books that show their financial health, and they're essentially asking the players to "trust them".

Kind of a hard spot to be in if you're a commissioner, but this is why you get paid 10+ M a year. You're supposed to put your foot down and get a deal done. The point of a commissioner is not only to listen to the owners, but to ensure stoppages that are ridiculous as this continue. I want to say that Goodell will find a solution, but I'm more inclined to believe he's a bit of a "yes man" and his appointment was a total mistake.

Time will tell, though.

Kovalchuk, and the arrival of Lemaire

So when I saw this:


I thought to myself: "Yeah, you're pretty damn clever milking the CBA. Especially with that deal for that sort of player". I understand the economics of the NHL do not allow every team to front load a deal to the extent that the Devils did. But if you can get an elite player like Kovalchuk, who is arguably worth Crosby/Heatley money on the open market, you do it.

I thought with the struggles Rolston had last year and with Parise being injured early on, along with a Coach who tried to "Tame" Kovalchuk (as if he was a bloody domesticated animal) were a perfect storm of how a team can collapse.

Fast forward 4 months, here we are discussing how the Devils are in the Playoff hunt. I actually called this, but I am going to lose a 100 dollar bet to a friend that consisted of me being such a Kovalchuk fanboy that I thought he'd hit a PPG average by the end of the season.

Yeah yeah, I picked the wrong bet. He would have taken "NJD making the playoffs" as a bet too, so yeah. Sometimes I get ahead of myself, ANYWAYS here's my proof that I called this well before Jersey was in the hunt:

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=30971825#post30971825

Yes, I am "DregerFan". I'm a big fan, Darren Dreger. Way to give me props for buying stock in your Hockey Insider skills WAY WAY before anyone else gave you a chance. That's right Bob McKenzie, I predicted depreciation of your "Inside" skills upon the arrival of D^2.

So, things have changed. Why did I think things would change? Simple, upon Lemaire coming in, he had the respect of his players. This is the same coach for whom Kovalchuk was disappointed didn't return for the beginning of the 2010-11 season. To show his commitment to Lemaire's style of hockey, which does nothing but produce wins and deep playoff runs, he started to play.

Now, I am an imaginative person, I make no qualms about it. But after the first 5-6 games and being comfortable in Lemaire's system, I believe Kovalchuk voiced his opinion to the locker room. I am paraphrasing, but I want to believe he said:

"Boys, we're going to the 'chip"

While the team might not have necessarily cheered loudly and emphatically, I do believe that Elias echoed Kovalchuk's words and Lemaire gave them something to play for. There is no better motivator for hockey coaches than Jacques Lemaire, he's seen and done it all. He knows what it takes to win, and these guys know it. Look at how Rolston's been playing too. This is clearly a locker room that believes it can not only make the playoffs, but win the championship if they make it to the playoffs.

Here's my vote, get it done Kovalchuk. There will be no greater underdog story in Hockey History if your Devils make it to the playoffs, and there will be no greater fable to regale young sports fans when we talk about the 10-30 devils making it to the playoffs, and winning Lord STanley under a leader who's heart was always questioned.

Spring Training and the Jays

I am not going to lie, when Wells was traded I envisioned this:


And boy, I was *not* happy. Considering how much of a man crush I have on Alex Anthopoulos, I felt disappointed. Wait, what? As a Jays fan, I was disappointed? Damn straight I was upset at the time. This is Vernon Wells, a man who, at one time, was a perennial ALL STAR, GOLD GLOVE, 30+ HR, 100+RBI, I daresay MVP candidate if the rest of the Jays roster ever decided to pan out the way Ricciardi envisioned. It hurt, a lot.

Considering how well Bautista played last year, and how he did make adjustments that aren't indicative of what you would call a "one year wonder", I questioned how much Bautista would do for the locker room.

I always thought that Wells' cool, calm demeanor was something that's healthy for a locker room. After all, it's always the quiet leaders who rake up the championships. I thought with his very-good season last year, especially considering he was batting behind the human broom Jose Bautista, that he was going to have a great year this year. Anyways, he's gone now and I'm over it.

Wells is one of the best catching outfielders in the game today, his arm isn't what it once was... His Wins above replacement (which is a metric that evaluates how many more wins your team will receive if a given player plays this position instead of an average player) is tied with Gutierrez, which is no small feat.
With all that being considered, I still love Vernon Wells as a player, but I understand that even if he got us 30+ HR, 100+ RBI, his OBP would still be 330 and that he'd still make some questionable decisions at the plate. And we would be paying 23M for this.

And this is where I'm giving AA a ton of credit, because I never envisioned that Jose Bautista would take control of a locker room so fast, and also be an incredible asset. He is helping the young guys, and also leading by example. He is helping in every way possible, which I cannot say for Wells.

I guess sometimes we're all served humble pie. Jose Bautista seems like a player who will lead this team to success like we've never seen. Considering how far our team has come in a year, we actually have a lot of promise for once.