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VIEWPOINT: RON MACLEANThe
Art of the Deal
In Leonard Koppett's book The Rise and Fall of the Press Box, he offers two fine points on labour strife and pro sport commissioners.
The famed sportswriter contends, "In any dispute serious enough to produce a strike possibility, resolution is not possible until the deadline hour approaches. Only at that point can each side be sure that the 'final offer' really is 'final.' It can be accepted or rejected, but only then can the adversarial jockeying process be concluded."
He goes on to point out, "Whose ultimate influence counts most, for a settlement before or after a strike actually occurs, is seldom obvious. Usually it comes from someone, or some factors, outside the formal bargaining."
I'll get to the point he offers concerning commissioners in a moment,
but with respect to the current NHL/NHLPA situation [a lockout, not
a strike] it's clear outside interests are playing a role in these
talks, and I believe it is the agents with a vested interest who may
be pressuring the Players' Association.
Here's how my favourite source in these matters, Rodney Fort, an economics
professor at Washington State University, sees our present situation:
"First, the NHL has accepted the NHLPA's 24-per-cent rollback offer. They have announced it and it is built into all of the subsequent calculations they do at the NHL web page.
"Second, in addition to that rollback, they now demand a 'Floating Limit' proposal that really is their previous cap demand, to the dollar, in a thinly-veiled disguise."
Fort can show how, had this system been in place last year, nine teams (Detroit, Toronto, Dallas, Philadelphia, St.Louis, Colorado, New Jersey, Anaheim and the New York Rangers) would have had to slash their payrolls to get down to the "floating maximum" of the cap at $38.1 million.
Nine others (Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Minnesota, Chicago, Florida, Pittsburgh and Washington) would need to move up to the lower "floating limit" of $24.9 million.
After these teams moved to the end points, and supposing the other clubs stayed where they were, the average payroll in the NHL would have been $31.4 million. Sound familiar?
As Fort sees it, the owners smell blood. Player dissatisfaction
with the alternatives they currently enjoy has not been lost on the
NHL, which has added to owner optimism.
It's my view that the noble effort by Trevor Linden also heartened ownership.
Bob Goodenow really has his work cut out from him.
His principal question, "Why should labour accept a system that doesn't permit management to pay an individual as much as it wants?" has always made sense, but without leverage it will require remarkable pluck to survive this battle.
That brings me to Gary Bettman.
Again, I'll touch on something Leonard Koppett wrote: "In one sense,
commissioners are important forces and the official spokesmen for
the activities we cover. In another, they are less relevant than ever,
as only one source -- of a predictable nature -- of information. Having
said all that, they deserve respect and acknowledgment of their position
in any face-to-face contact, and personalizing criticism of their
actions is still bad journalism [which can help career advancement]."
I've had many terrific run-ins with Gary in our televised
get-togethers and I'm very aware that "challenging the boss"
seems brave in our world of perception-beats-reality, but let me say
how much I enjoy and respect the man.
I also know he's a vicious negotiator. He's attempted to shape my interviews, trying to force me off topics, demanding limits on the numbers of questions per subject, etc. He is a master of rhetoric.
Rick Horrow and Larry Bloom produced a book in 2003, entitled When
the Game is on the Line, which sheds light on Bettman's methods.
Horrow is a dealmaker who has brokered contracts that brought the NBA's Heat to Miami, the NFL's Browns back to Cleveland, and close to 100 major arena, stadium and team deals.
In the book he discusses Bettman's gift of enthusiastic vagueness.
Horrow compliments Bettman's media work. However, after having worked with Bettman on the Miami Heat expansion, things turned sour on the NHL front when Gary and Rick addressed the potential transfer of the Quebec Nordiques.
Bettman called Horrow in April, 1995, 11 days after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Horrow maintains in his book that his group was used for leverage – a concept he certainly understands – but was shaken by the experience.
He wrote that its use of leverage was "particularly unfortunate – it even seemed malevolent – in the wake of the Murrah bombing."
I know the story seems harsh. It is. Gary's as committed to the deal as anyone I know. He'll do whatever it takes. That, coupled with the fractures I sense in the NHLPA, reinforces the difficult task confronting Goodenow.
February 15th should be the final hour.
Enjoyed your views. As a Nova Scotian living in Carolina Hurricane country, I can say that you are right that the owners smell blood. I am glad I held off getting that satellite dish so I could tune you and Cherry back in, as it will be a while before the NHL resumes, I am afraid. In the end today, the players lost the bluff with the poker hand they had to play. It was called by the NHL owners, and the offer will not be as good as they would have got in the end today.
I know from between the lines that Bettman may not be the greatest
to interview, but in the end he did not write a letter that ended
saying we will give no more. Hope the players enjoy their time off
from the NHL, and can look themselves in the mirror every time one
of them signs to play for another team at lower money, taking a
job away from someone that was not good enough to play in the best
league -- the NHL. Mark my words, in the end, Bettman will be left
standing and Goodenow will be put out to pasture by the players.
Sad to think players like Yzerman, Stevens, and Francis may have played their last game.
Chris Baker
Durham, NC
Thanks for your undying professionalism and contribution to our sport.
It's too bad that the title "Dumb and Dumber" was already used, because it
would fit the movie version of this labour dispute perfectly.
NHL players make a larger percentage of league revenues than any other major
North American sport, but refuse to tie earnings to revenue even while it has
helped other major North American sports that are thriving as the NHL slips
further and further into the back of the consciousness of the common fan.
A high school economics class will show us that the market sets
the price. The owners didn't have to pay the ridiculous salaries
they have paid. In the chess match between owners and agents, the
owners have been beaten badly.
Gary Bettman talks endlessly about how the league is losing money and not
doing well. Mr. Bettman, under whose watch did this happen? Who fought for
expansion? Bettman is fighting to reverse many of his own mistakes. He is
not the only one who dug the hole in which the NHL finds itself, but he is
certainly holding one of the shovels.
Nick Farrell
Scotts Valley, CA
What an absolutely stunning article! I watching remember the NHL All-Star Game in 2003 where Mr. Bettman continually kept avoiding a question you prompted him. To me, that was the first sign that this lockout was to be a very ugly one, one filled with rhetoric and media-play. As this lockout continues, I think all the fans continue to lose their support for either side, no matter how entrenched you were for one side or the other. Castles made of sand ...
Brian Sommariva
Plymouth, MI
Having never written to a columnist before, hope this doesn't bore
you to much but I would like to offer a few thoughts on some hockey
topics.
As the commissioner of the NHL, would it not be in Bettman's job
description to institute an operations cap rather than a salary
cap? If all teams operated with the same budget, allowing them to
spend their monies on the needs of their specific teams, be it draft
picks, free agents, farm teams or current roster players (as no
two teams are in the same development stage) they could then bypass
the current stalemate of salary cap on players.
For instance, if a team's current salary was at say $33 million
but overall budget was set at $50 million, they could increase or
decrease their player budget depending on their specific team-building
philosophy.
Kevin Horsman
Calgary, Alta.
What a great summary of the intention I think Bettman had all along. It's
an
old way used to break solidarity amongst unions: they start with a lockout,
then after no deal is met, a strike which brings us to arbitration.
Bettman will get what he wants. There is a sour taste left, Bettman is not on
the fans' side or on the league's side, it's just business. He shouldn't
pretend it to mean more than that to him ... his true colours are showing.
I miss hockey and I
miss CBC's (Ron's) observations on the game and events surrounding it.
It's the entertainment business, but being a bully in business is really
not that entertaining, just annoying.
Christel Gallant
Ottawa, Ont.
As a European viewer of NHL hockey, who has in the last two years been introduced to the delights of Hockey Night In Canada, I have to say the the current lockout situation is painful.
What I struggle most with is the league's decision to expand into non-traditional U.S. markets rather than expand into the hockey hotbeds of Europe. Elsewhere I read CBC correspondents discussing whether English soccer needs a salary cap. It doesn't, because of the general competitive balance across Europe. So what the NHL needs is some actual competition from European leagues and teams, or for the NHL to move teams in Carolina, Florida, Phoenix, Nashville, etc. to Sweden, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, etc.
I will also never understand why the North American NHL fans seem to side with the owners in this dispute. Without the players, who we ultimately pay our money to see, there is no game. OK, so this dispute is millionaires versus billionaires, but didn't we all dream of being out there on the ice making the big money ourselves?
Rich John
United Kingdom
I always enjoy your comments and insights ... the saga of the lockout continues ad infinitum. While the chess game continues between the main players, scarce attention is ever given to the additional fallout that may come post-Feb. 15 in the absence of a deal.
For instance, with no
NHL hockey, what is to become of all the supporting cast -- the sports commentators who will shortly have little to write about if there is no hockey, and no negotiations to write about, the sports stores in 30 arenas and their staff,
the trainers, physiotherapists, the arena maintenance staffs, and a cast of hundreds more whose livelihood is directly tied to NHL hockey; even the players' agents are going to feel the pinch with no deals to negotiate. And what of the CBC?
How much revenue has already been lost and what of the long-term plan to regain hockey interest, our former national
passion?
Can there really be any winners in this one? Even if the NHL breaks the union and forces its agenda (cost certainty) on the NHLPA, what will be the mindset of NHL players now disgruntled and bothered with the (potential) failure of their union? Could they play at a high level in the near future, an absolute must to try and win back fans whose entertainment dollar has gone elsewhere?
My own view is that while I mistrust Gary Bettman's tactics, I do think that the plan to fix the league's finances
is a solid one.
Shane Glenn
Inglewood, Ont.
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Ron MacLean's career began in 1978, when he took a part-time position at CKRD Radio in Red Deer, Alta. In 1984, a producer saw MacLean doing an ad-lib weather forecast and hired him to host the Calgary Flames telecasts. He was hired by CBC in 1986 – a year later he was named the full-time host of Hockey Night in Canada. Over the years his role has expanded to include hosting the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
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