Jewish World Review Feb. 22, 2005 / 13 Adar I 5765

Dan Abrams

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Missing the goal


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | A serious question needs to be posed about the hockey situation. Did the National Hockey League have no other option than to call it quits before the season even started? For five months, representatives for the owners and players battled it out while the fans patiently sat and waited. The sticking issue was salary caps: the NHL was in favor of salary caps, but the players were not. There was actually a little progress early this week after the players complied with the proposed salary caps. Then, the NHL said the caps didn't have to be tied to the league's revenue.

By Tuesday, the difference between the proposed salary caps on each side was just $6.5 million. The NHL's final offer rang in at $42.5 million and the players put up $49 million. Both sides had come to the bargaining table and loosened up the supposed iron clad final offers.

The deadline for the deal was set for 11 a.m. Wednesday morning. Neither the owners nor the players attempted to make contact with each other. Out of nowhere, the owners announced the season would be cancelled.

Everyone knows hockey is a tough contact sport. So I would expect the negotiators on both sides to stand rigid and firm. But honest negotiating is all about contact — not avoiding contact. It sounds to me like machismo overrode the dispute of dollars and cents.

Hockey Legend Mario Lemieux, who is both a player and a team owner, couldn't believe it. He said, "I always thought that, at the end of the day, there would be too much at stake for both sides to not make a deal." I fully agree.

In the United States, hockey has been a sport on the ropes for the past several years. More appropriately, it's been a sport on the boards with ticket sales slumping and teams losing $1.8 billion over the past ten years. It ranked a distant fourth among major league sports in terms of popularity.

The sport has now taken a serious hit and may never fully recover. Many of the star players are already playing on teams in Europe. I admit, I don't follow hockey too closely anymore. But as a kid, I used to play and go to Ranger games. For diehard fans, hockey is a way of life and a defining part of who you are, especially for those young fans.

Negotiators in this case for both sides failed their constituents, their opponents and ultimately, the fans

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JWR contributor Dan Abrams anchors “The Abrams Report,” Monday through Friday from 9-10 p.m. ET on MSNBC TV. He also covers legal stories for “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,” “Today” and “Dateline NBC.” To visit his website, click here. Comment by clicking here.

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