Are you a Gary Bettman hater?

Question

If so, I have asked 5 questions (Welcome to the Real World #1 through #5) to give you, the fans, a chance to correct what you consider has been done wrong. The numbers used are very close to the actual numbers without crossing any legal lines.

2Eight8
There are no correct answers, but since people think Bettman is soing everything wrong, I have provided examples to see how others would deal with them

Answer 1

I think Zap covered it pretty well. Lost games and seasons. They were detrimental to the sport I love.
I do also think that no matter how you want to spin it, he is Anti-Canadian. He also is a pompous little goofball.
What is the #1 thing that makes the NHL thrive? Any player, owner or Bettman himself will tell you that the FANS make the NHL spin. He is hated by the fans, whether that is rightly or that is wrongly, is IMO of no consequence because they will not change their view. Therefore, with it in mind that the fans are the most important component, that they in fact hate him should be enough. So many numbers, I would like to see an accurate poll # of how many fans want and need him to step down, that is the one number above all others to me.
I don't believe a major sport ever lost an entire season to a strike or a lock-out. Is that the stamp he will leave on the game?
One needs only to see an appearance by him at an award show, a draft or a game to hear what the fans think of him. You can't hear yourself think over the boo-birds.

Then, when they hire the next commissioner, a pre-requisite should be that he has to know something, just something, anything about the sport. Many lawyers out there who can do the same thing have a vast hockey knowledge. Let me suggest Ken Dryden or Bob Nicholson as two who would be great candidates.
You do know it is said that back in the early 90's the NHL was quickly gaining popularity on the NBA and that the NHL was looking for a commissioner so NBA Commissioner looked to his right and recommended the NHL hire Gary Bettman. Conspiracy theory or fact? After 2 work stoppages, I am not so sure.

Answer 2

First off, great job with the questions themselves as well as the methodology in constructing your point. I've really enjoyed considering the challenges you've outlined, not to mention the informative figures you've shared in doing so.

The 'Game' as we know it is, in many ways, defined by the interdependant relationship between owners, players and fans.

It's hard to argue what Bettman has brought to the ownership side of the equation, particularly given the numbers you've shared. He has strengthened the economic foothold of the NHL, but there have been costs associated with that. Players aside, fans of the sport have absorbed quite a bit of those direct and collateral costs.

Breaking the union at the expense of an entire season is one of the things that will take some time for supporters of the league to recover from. Furthermore, seeing the hotly contested salary figures climb quickly back to pre-lockout levels does little to curb the fans' collective frustration.

Essentially, in addition to marginalizing the fans' interests in his endeavor to drag the NHL towards a more efficient, profitable and contemporary business model, Bettman's league strategy has largely marked the end of the league's innocence. I think that is the intangible element that subconsciously gnaws at hearts of fans.

While corruption and mismanagement were plenty prevalent in pre-Bettman days, the evolution of the sport to that point seemed more organic and natural. Talent got noticed because of talent, dynasties reflected superior management and teams played where they could sustain themselves.

Today's NHL seems far more artificial than even the league I grew up with just 25 years ago. Crosby and Ovechkin became the faces of the league before either had done a single thing on ice. The salary cap has skewed the business of running a hockey team more towards the 'business' side instead of the 'hockey' side. Rampant expansion put short-term dollars in owners' pockets without much regard for long-term ramifications.

I would have been happy with a 21 team league that only a minimal set of fans were aware of. That's not a reasonable expectation, however. Evolution is a natural and unavoidable phenomenon, particularly when money's involved.

Sometimes you have to take two steps step back to ensure you can eventually take five steps forward. I understand and accept that as a fact of life, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy the view during reconstruction.

Answer 3

Its not about numbers, its about passion for the game. Thats a large part of the problem right there. He's a tightass business guy who doesn't have any interest in the game itself.

Personally I couldn't care less about the money its all about the game. Even if there was no NHL I would still love the game, could you say the same about Bettman?

Oh and to answer your question: yes.

Answer 4

Bettman is horrible the sport has been on a steady downward spiral since he got there. Hes locked the players out twice!!! He is destroying the sport. He is trying to change the game to appeal to non hockey fans which isnt working plus the changes annoy hockey loyalists so everyone hates him. Should have been gone years ago!

Answer 5

I don't know if I'm ready to talk about how I feel yet. I thought this was supposed to be no strings attached?? Okay, well... I feel that Gary Bettman gets blamed for things that aren't only his doing. He doesn't make a lot of the decisions himself, you know. There's the player union (NHLPA) and the board of owners to answer to. Where to even begin with Sidney Crosby? Haha. To put it as simply as I can: I feel that Sidney Crosby grew up just another Canadian kid that wanted to play hockey. No kid grows up desiring a media circus to be around them at all times, or to be the poster-boy of the league. I think when people vilify Crosby too much, they dehumanize him. They see him as a player they hate, not a person who dreamed of and loves playing hockey. Haha, that sounds more melodramatic than I intended it to, but it's true. Love or hate him, he's good at hockey and he has a passion for it. Good hype or bad hype, he's one of the most talked about players.

Answer 6

I hate Gary bettman because he is more for the power then the NHL itself.

I mean come on you think with all his bullshit and fans booeing him last year at the end of the stanley cup finals when the Ducks won he would quit doing stupid **** to the NHL.

Somone seriously needs to kick his *** in a big way !

Answer 7

Perhaps you should be crunching numbers for Gary Bettman (not kidding) and as more of a businessman than a hockey fan he could have made it easier for all teams to stabilize and expand, not just the anticipated Winnipeg team.

Personally, I just hate him because he is not a hockey fan and you get the feeling he is more power hungry than interesting in the health of the NHL!

Go Hawks Go! ...and I live in Toronto.

Answer 8

I don't really know him, so I can't say I truly hate him. I also don't know the full details of his "bad decisions" so I can't hate him for doing/not doing something that I don't have any knowlege of, you know, the things so many accuse him of doing.

I guess I along with just about every other hockey fan in this world has jumped on the "We Hate Gary" bandwagon. A bandwagon that is many times larger than the wagons from Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Detroit combined.

So I don't have a logical reason to hate him, except for the fact that every one else does........I just joined the club, free of admission, and full of un-educated hate.

Answer 9

Yes, he doesn't seem to care about the game of hockey as much as his checkbook, and in the process, it has ruined the sport. I'd rather watch college or Olympic hockey than the NHL. Under him, there's been an overflow of ridiculous rule changes that just make the game that much harder to watch.

Answer 10

I don't hate bettman, but he's not a hockey guy and needs to get the game back on tv that reaches a larger amount of the population.
versus sucks.