OT: Bettman strikes again
Was browsing ESPN (ugh) for a few minutes before going back to work and read that the NHL won't be sending it's players to the 2018 Olympics in S.Korea.
Way to go Bettman. You've always been so brilliant at marketing the game.
/s
Doesn't make a lot of sense when you consider the effort the NHL is putting into expanding viewership into China/Asia... announcing preseason games to be played in Bejing just this week... yet they won't send their players to the olympics in 2018 in South Korea and I'm guessing it'll be a no to China in '22.
Ownership thing, they hate taking time off in the middle of the season and the increased wear/tear it puts on their stars.
If there's one thing Kim Jong-un won't abide by, it's NHL players preparing for an invasion of the motherland! The Winter Olympics will be close to the North Korean border. It's all a ruse.
would like a word.
Not to diminish how much of an idiot Bettman is. But I'm guessing the owners were just too set against it this time around and there wasn't much he could do.
This is correct, it's an owner issue. Hockey is just a small part of the winter Olympics, it's not going to make a huge difference.
figure skating being the other, but whatever.
There's a reason hockey is always on the 3rd or 4th alternate channel, only your diehard sports fan will watch a whole hockey game. They watch regardless of NHL players being there or not. NHL players will not make a difference. Your average Olympic viewer wants to watch something that's easy to follow like figure skating, speed skating, skiing, bobsledding.
Definitely read the thread title as "Batman strikes again"
Some Bettman just like to watch the world burn...
Believe it or not, there are actually Bettman defenders. But they're wrong.
Seriously? I've never heard of this species you speak of...
Except for the money grubbing billionaire owners, of course...
On the one hand, there is a fine line between a mad genius and a madman, and Bettman is decidedly on the wrong side of that line.
On the other hand, Bettman is following the will of the owners, who don't like taking a break to send their players to the Olympics, and (in fairness) this is a Winter Olympiad where tv times won't make hockey a very intriguing product.
With all of that said, this is an absurd and idiotic decision by shortsighted owners who want to destroy the sport to save it.
Olympic Hockey with NHL players is the absolute pinnacle of the sport, and one of the best sporting events anywhere anytime in the world. It is great for several reasons, not limited to:
- Astonishing levels of skill and play level, a truly beautiful product. The Olympics in 2002 and again in 2010 were the two best hockey exhibitions I have ever seen on any level.
- A genuinely open competition with a half-dozen teams capable of winning, a sharp contrast with basketball
- The international sports spotlight.
- Americans who are otherwise indifferent to hockey invest heavily in the event, raising their awareness of the sport.
Olympic hockey with the best players elevates the entire sport. That "rising tide lifts all boats" theory absolutely applies here and the owners are insane to overlook this. Add to all of this that the best players are all from the NHL?
Bettman is a fool and the owners are idiots.
I agree with this whole-heartedly, and have said the same thing for years. The Olympic tournament with NHL players is the best sport I've ever seen. It eclipses college football for me.
Fuck the owners. Fuck the owners to hell.
Well done. It really cannot be said more succinctly than this.
I would change the last line though to "Bettman is a tool, and the owners are greedy, shortsighted idiots.
The international competitions are fun to watch, and I would have to imagine many of the players are all for playing for their country too. I would be curious to see how many players give the big 1 finger salute to the nhl to play for their respective national team...
Maybe it's time to start a hockey "world cup." If they had that competition in September/October every four years, I would think it would be a good thing.
Are you being humorous? They just did this last year.
The fact that nobody talks or even thinks about it suggests how relevant it was.
Man, Bettman has aged.
after a 16 year hiatus, there was one this past fall (September 2016). Canada won the event, the USA didn't win a single game. The plan is for this to occur every four years (in September, prior to the NHL season).
Not so coincidentally --- the NHL organizes (and makes $$$ off of) the World Cup of Hockey. I do feel that a portion of the NHL's decision to not participate in the Olympics is an attempt by the NHL to bolster their own event. The 2016 event got a somewhat luke-warm reception, which had to disappoint the NHL.
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where's the big boom in NHL viewership that you say will result?
the U.S. to win gold and Canada to not medal but other than that I just watch the Red Wing players in the relevant games (so mostly Sweden). The NBA players treat the summer olympics like a less intense training camp which they can do. The winter olympics being in th middle of the season in a sport so physically demanding, I can't say it's a bad idea to keep the NHLers home.
Even saying all that, let's fire Gary Bettman...in a rocket to the sun.
China #2.
commissioner Good? big ten? nhl mlb nfl ,,,,,no
Not according to mgoblog
Are any Coaches good, saban, dantonio, urban, mora,, kelly etc
hoke richrod even,,,,,,,how about crean, izzo matta, or Even Beilein.
none according to blog. they ALL cheat in the south and everywhere but M
As soon as Harbaugh loses 2 in a row, the wovles will be out.
Now Red is terrible.,,,,,,,,,,,,you people are worse fanatics than bama or osu.
THINK about IT.
You THINK about IT.
You may want to stop there. If not, the wovles will certainly get you.
Why do I have to think about information technology?
I think Dantonio is a helluva coach. He does more with 2* talent than any P5 coach out there. He gets more mileage out of "disrespect" than anyone in history.
Dantonio is a shitty human being. He's a lying hypocrite douchebag with selective morals and integrity.