For The Love of the Game

Photo courtesy of Newlow/Flickr

By Rick Gethin

     As I sit here not so patiently waiting for the next twenty-eight days to expire in advance of the opening of Blue Jackets training camp, I’m wondering whatever happened to playing for the love of the game?

     Do you remember lacing up your skates on a crisp, cold morning; a gleam in your eye? Not a care in the world except for a game of shinny on the local pond. No kid ever starts playing hockey with the goal of making a boat-load of money. No, the only thing on their mind is the love of the game. The accolades you got from your friends for that way awesome slap-shot that flew between the pipes for the game-winning goal. The time you checked your buddy into a snow-bank; that was cool. Not wanting to come off the ice for something as trivial as darkness. The “Great One”, Wayne Gretzky, has said his first recollection of skating was on a frozen river that ran behind his grandmother’s house. Love of the game.

     Now, I’m not coming down on NHL players for getting paid. They should be paid for what they do. My beef with getting paid millions of dollars is that, bottom-line, they’re playing a game; albeit better than any of us could ever possibly hope to play it. Can we honestly be expected to believe that they can’t live comfortably on $500,000 a year? I can’t help but wonder if they have lost sight of why they started playing the game in the first place. This goes for all of the major sports (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL). It’s no different than some corporate executive being paid a bonus of $10 million.

     The salary cap is a good thing. My point is that it doesn’t go far enough. If the salary cap was lower, I mean significantly lower, it would produce many positives for each team and the league as a whole.

     Let’s start with payroll. If the salary cap was lower (let’s say $25 million) what would that equate to? For starters, lower prices across the board in every arena. From ticket prices to concessions, the savings would be passed on to the fans. “Joe (or Jill) Fan” would be able to then spend his (or her) hard earned scratch on going to games versus watching them on the television; experience the sights, sounds and smells of hockey over merely observing.  This would help generate an even more rabid fan base for each team in the league. Lower prices on merchandise would mean more fans would buy and wear their team’s colors. More teams would see financial stability, especially in these uncertain economic times.

     We all want our players to be role models for the children coming of age with sports. What better way than to show them that you can play hockey (love of the game) and still make a decent living at it. The salaries don’t need to be astronomical and exhorbitant; they merely need to be in line with the rest of society. The bottom line is this. They are entertainers, plain and simple. They take us away from all of the trials and tribulations of daily life; if only for a few hours.

     Do I blame the players for this situation? No. To me, it seems to be a societal problem. It starts with the leagues and team owners. Put your foot down, I say. The cachet IS playing in the NHL, not making a gazillion dollars.

     I’m still a fan at heart that grew up playing pond hockey. I still, to this day, love the game. I only wish I had a collective bargaining agreement that would guarantee me a minimum salary of $450,000 a year.

Posted by Rick Gethin on Aug 14 2009. Filed under Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL News/Commentary, Top Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.