Verbal Cheap Shots

Jamie Fitzpatrick, about.com Pro Ice Hockey Blog:

"The tempest will pass in a few days. But it's a good reminder to Gary Bettman about the new dynamic he has created. Bettman and the NHL owners invested several years in a cynical campaign to paint hockey players as greedy, privileged fat cats. It worked nicely, as most fans stayed happily ignorant of the core issues in the labor dispute, bought into the myth that it was all about achieving competitive balance, and simply decided they had no sympathy for a bunch of millionaire jocks (and thus supported the NHL)."

And my favorite man on the hill, Senator Ted Kennedy, D-Mass:

"What has not ended is the resolution and the determination of the members of the United States Senate to continue to resist any Neanderthal that is nominated by this President of the United States for any court, federal court in the United States."

The similarity? Two men who are on the losing side of a heated battle, and stoop to calling the other side and its supporters ignorant cavemen for their stance. Indeed, it's quite impossible to understand the facts behind the lockout and support any of the NHL's propositions. At least that's what is going through the heads of a few (hopefully not many) NHLPA supporters as their fight sputters away; words of comfort for them. If you debate a PA supporter long enough, you might even hear them say that, if not out of habit, then out of spite for running out of answers. All I ask for is to be able to agree to disagree, and let's respect the other side, whatever side that is. Based on the facts of the lockout, I can see how one can chose either side, or no side at all. It'll be important to remember this when the CBA comes out, hopefully in the next week. If the NHL gets the deal they want, despite my support of their general stances, I will not be happy. I'm too calloused by this year-long process. It's no victory... UPDATE 10:38 Kara Yorio has a good article about the perception of fan ignorance, but keying more in on how the league wouldn't have cancelled the season if it didn't have an assumption that the fans were going to return no matter what. And that we'll forgot about promises for drops in ticket prices.