By Brittany Burke
No sport is perfect. Players, fans and coaches realized this fact this past summer when labor disputes for the NFL were still brewing and again most recently with the latest NBA lockout. The notion of imperfection and turmoil in the sports world was also present when the 2004-2005 NHL season was cancelled due to unresolved issues.
The National Hockey League was the first professional sports league in North America to cancel an entire season. No season meant the Stanley Cup wasn’t awarded for the first time in 76 years.
Like any other lockout, certain things were shaken that season. Most noticed by everyone was that Alexander Ovechkin wasn’t allowed to make his major debut, which led to a rivalry with Sidney Crosby that could never be broken.
As a result of the labor disputes the teams were given a $39 million salary cap, which has moved upwards to $64 million this season … this is pocket change to some professional athletes in other leagues.
During the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season more than 300 NHL players traveled overseas to play in Europe or tried their skills in other leagues because, above all else, the players remained passionate and wanted to play the game that they loved.
In the seasons since, viewership of the NHL has declined in the U.S. mainly due to the fact that the league was sent to Versus rather than ESPN.
Personally I believe that this NBA lockout was one of the best things to happen in the sports world. With the NBA out of the way and baseball season through, sports fans were forced to fill the void with NHL games. For once the general sports fan cared about Crosby and Ovechkin outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It was obvious that the NHL players wanted to play hockey. It is still evident based on the amount of money that they get played.
I’m adamant in the fact that hockey players are some of the hardest working athletes, so it’s hard to find sympathy with the players in the NBA. It seems as if this entire lockout was based on money. The multi-millionaires were convinced they weren’t getting paid enough and the multi-billionaires were convinced they were giving up too much.
I believe it all boils down to this: the NBA athletes should want to play the game they love. Instead they are more concerned with the amount of money that gets put into their bank accounts, despite the fact that the majority of them gain revenue from other avenues … does Lamar Odom and Kris Humphries ring a bell for anybody?
I didn’t care about the NBA lockout when it started, I was more worried about the Bruins Stanley Cup hangover, and I’m not ecstatic that the players and coaches have now come to an agreement.
Most NHL fans will agree with me when I ask, who cares about the lockout ending? In fact, I’m a bit upset about it. Sports coverage will now be divided between football and basketball with hockey taking a back seat.
The NBA was no great loss, so why will it now be any great gain?
