For the Love of the Game?

The NHL lockout is now over 80 days old and all we've learned so far is a few fancy acronyms related to the business side of things, and that most people in the US still couldn't care less. As they days pile up fans grow more and more weary of the petty squabbling and finger pointing of millionaires and billionaires fighting over our money. Like spoiled children they put themselves ahead of the best interest of the game itself and do so under less than plausible premises. Is it necessary to look out for the long term viability of the league? Sure. Do the players feel obliged to get a fair shake and ensure future players will as well? Of course. But there has to be a reasonable way to accomplish both these means. Perfect? No. In such a situation there will never be a completely satisfactory resolution for everyone but there is no reason a practical and fair solution can't be reached. As I've said I don't believe a fifty fifty split is unreasonable, and that the players currently under contract should have those honored. If they need to give back some of their revenue share to help support the overall health of the league, that  isn't a bad thing, though I would suggest the league itself ought to contract or move several teams, but that's an entirely different column. The one thing they seem to have in common is that they're willing to let their egos get in the way of progress. Neither sides seems to want to cave and all this bickering is only proving that regardless of the lip service nobody in this argument is putting the game before their wallets. I understand it's big business and that the quaint notion of people playing for the love of the game is quickly quashed under the weight of such lofty revenues, but to what end? Where would they be without it? These rich owners need tenants for their building, and, especially in Canada, could they make a go of it without the game? As we wait hoping, praying that they will come to their sense and find a resolution, is it us who ought to be making one of our own? Should we stay away? Should we send these spoiled fat cats a lesson? Sure. If you want to. But the reality is they have done so well and will continue to when this is eventually sorted out because of the product. Because there are those of us out there who really do care about it. The fans, the people who truly love the game, will be back. Are we gluttons for punishment? Foolhardy? Naive? Sure. But it's because we care about the game, something larger than the individuals that draws us in. No matter what they say in their interviews, they're not bigger than the game, and they can never take it from us.