Is Gary Bettman The Worst Sports Commissioner We Have Seen In Our Lifetimes?

**mcaulay777** · 11-12-12, 07:00 PM

Cant not understand how both sides would let this happen.Looks like they are underway to becoming the first sports league to lose not just 1 but 2 seasons.Other then a few hardcore fans nobody seems to care other then USA Today which seems to to produce stories but other then that thats it maybe ferrall on sirius may have mentioned it because i know he is a fan.I listen to Francesa.Russo a little 670 out of chicago and a few Las Vegas shows like cofield and cokin and know one has said i word i miss hockey.I have caught a few AHL Games on computer and just got back from Peoria and caught some Hockey there older building but nice crowd was quiet.But your right sorry to babble but i do hate bettman.How come NHL Network does not show some ahl games i know they have shown some juinor games from canada.

**WvGambler** · 11-12-12, 07:26 PM

You can't not? Meaning you can? You're talking like my 4 year old here pal.

**DudleyDawson** · 11-12-12, 07:29 PM

2 words

Donald Fehr

**hels** · 11-12-12, 07:48 PM

He is 100% with the owners. He's not a mediator who looks at the players and owners as equals necessary for a successful business.

Guaranteed he receives millions in gifts from the owners at Christmas.

**byronbb** · 11-12-12, 07:57 PM

Originally posted by hels

He is 100% with the owners. He's not a mediator who looks at the players and owners as equals necessary for a successful business.

Guaranteed he receives millions in gifts from the owners at Christmas.

He is with the owners because they pay his entire salary. He has a pretty cake job imo.

**DennisGreen** · 11-12-12, 08:15 PM

He's horrible. Allows unprofitable franchises to survive that lose 20+ mill a year (FLA, PHO) because he refuses to admit his failure.

Doesn't give two shits about the players just about lining the owners pockets and then his own.

**Redman3693** · 11-12-12, 10:37 PM

The Bettman & the Fehr...

They don't care as long as they get paid.

They're fighting over $$$ that's shrinking daily because fans are fed up with their BS.

A$$holes

**tblues2005** · 11-12-12, 10:55 PM

He's been awful and the other guy Fehr is really bad too. They need to get rid of both.

**Rich Boy** · 11-12-12, 11:41 PM

He is a bitch

**TheMoneyShot** · 11-13-12, 01:33 AM

Even though I think Gary Bettman is a clown to begin with... I want to know why in the hell a 10 year or 15 year or 20 year deal wasn't done the first time we had a lockout? I think out of all 4 major sports... hockey should be the easiest to negotiate. Players don't make nearly as enough money as in the other sports... hockey players typically just want to play! Unfortunately the players believe they are worth more this time around. I blame this all on the players... not Gary Bettman. It just shows you that the NHL really isn't as strong as it use to be. Honestly, I could careless if they ever play again. Detroit fans don't really care about the Wings... a lot of people are hopping on the Detroit Tigers bandwagon.

**Marigold HD** · 11-13-12, 01:53 AM

Betman won't be fired by the owners.........he makes a ton of money too..D

**soul786** · 11-13-12, 01:56 AM

If play ever resumes I have a feeling quite a few fans will have already left

The guy is doing nothing except hurting his 'business'

**turtlejc** · 11-13-12, 01:58 AM

guy from ABC 7 chicago said on twitter that the lockout was over and they will be skating by Dec 2.

Don't know how I can believe an indian guy from chicago about a hockey issue but I hope hes right

**lunchbawks** · 11-13-12, 04:39 AM

bettman is fine. it's the players

gary made hockey cool in the USA which in 1990 was unthinkable, the guy is a hockey legend and is getting runaround by greedy players arguing over percentages

**floridagolfer** · 11-13-12, 05:02 AM

Bud Selig wins this race by open lengths.

**daimoshokage** · 11-13-12, 05:51 AM

No one gives a fukk about hockey..

**tto827** · 11-13-12, 05:51 AM

Originally posted by daimoshokage

No one gives a fukk about hockey..

I knew you had said that before I even opened the thread? Ever posted anything beneficial.... nope.

**lunchbawks** · 11-13-12, 06:36 AM

Originally posted by floridagolfer

Bud Selig wins this race by open lengths.

Bud Selig is a goddamn genius making a sport like baseball a billion dollar industry, give the guy some credit

**soul786** · 11-13-12, 08:05 AM

Originally posted by lunchbawks

bettman is fine. it's the players

gary made hockey cool in the USA which in 1990 was unthinkable, the guy is a hockey legend and is getting runaround by greedy players arguing over percentages

Those greedy players are the third least paid players on avg in the big four leagues (NBA,MLB,NHL,NFL), still never understood why baseball players are paid as much as they are.

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**RubberKettle** · 11-13-12, 08:26 AM

**k13** · 11-13-12, 09:17 AM

Originally posted by lunchbawks

bettman is fine. it's the players

gary made hockey cool in the USA which in 1990 was unthinkable, the guy is a hockey legend and is getting runaround by greedy players arguing over percentages

Hockey was already cool in the U.S. in the 90's, after 1994 hockey died in many ways.

**Red Dragons** · 11-13-12, 02:41 PM

Bettman definitely needs to go.

**Redman3693** · 11-13-12, 04:09 PM

Greed & poor business planning are killing what was once a great sport. Sad really...

**milwaukee mike** · 11-13-12, 04:12 PM

Originally posted by turtlejc

guy from ABC 7 chicago said on twitter that the lockout was over and they will be skating by Dec 2.

Don't know how I can believe an indian guy from chicago about a hockey issue but I hope hes right

this better be true, because i know where i'm gonna be december 2nd!

SUN DEC 2, 2012

SAN JOSE

CHICAGO

7:00 PM ET

WGN (HD)

TICKETS›BUY/SELL›

**Harry N. Lloyd** · 11-13-12, 04:55 PM

Originally posted by lunchbawks

bettman is fine. it's the players

gary made hockey cool in the USA which in 1990 was unthinkable, the guy is a hockey legend and is getting runaround by greedy players arguing over percentages

"......The guy is a hockey legend"? You must have Parkinson's or something, right? You typed it by mistake, please tell us. Bettman gets booed at every hockey stadium in the world. He got booed at Stanley Cup celebrations. He's despised by hockey fans! Gretzky made hockey cool. This is the 4th Lockout (not Players Strike) in the past 20 years under Bettman's watch. The NBA intentionally played a mean trick on their rival, the NHL, when they sent Bettman over with glowing recommendations. The OP was absolutely correct--the worst Commissioner ever.

**k13** · 11-13-12, 05:15 PM

Originally posted by Harry N. Lloyd

"......The guy is a hockey legend"? You must have Parkinson's or something, right? You typed it by mistake, please tell us. Bettman gets booed at every hockey stadium in the world. He got booed at Stanley Cup celebrations. He's despised by hockey fans! Gretzky made hockey cool. This is the 4th Lockout (not Players Strike) in the past 20 years under Bettman's watch. The NBA intentionally played a mean trick on their rival, the NHL, when they sent Bettman over with glowing recommendations. The OP was absolutely correct--the worst Commissioner ever.

Stern, Mcmahon, Selig, etc. All get booed by fans.

They are Jewish, they steal money. Exploit people. Players are puppets. They are doing a great job at what they do.

**Harry N. Lloyd** · 11-13-12, 05:23 PM

We can politely agree to disagree that Bettman is doing a fine job. Jewish, yes. Thief, yes. Exploiter, yes. Puppeteer, yes. The Blackhawks, Bruins, and Kings all won the Cup in the past few years. Great time to build US viewership, right? Not when he's got the boys sitting on the sidelines or, worse yet, playing for competing leagues overseas. A real friggin' genius!

**hockey216** · 11-14-12, 11:22 AM

Originally posted by DennisGreen

He's horrible. Allows unprofitable franchises to survive that lose 20+ mill a year (FLA, PHO) because he refuses to admit his failure.

Doesn't give two shits about the players just about lining the owners pockets and then his own.

How are you going to fix the problem if players keep getting overpaid?

**lakerboy** · 11-14-12, 11:49 AM

Bettman is a retard. Thge problem this time is Donal Fehr. He ruined baseball and now he will do the same to hockey.

**DennisGreen** · 11-14-12, 12:21 PM

Originally posted by hockey216

How are you going to fix the problem if players keep getting overpaid?

Thats the owners fault. How can you blame the players if the idiot owners keep throwing wads of cash at them? They're not gonna be like "hey bud I'm cool with 3 mill a year, 4.5 is a bit much."

It's pathetic that all these owners are now crying about having to pay the players these ridiculous contracts. Wtf did they expect when they signed them to these amounts. They made their bed now they have to go lay in it.

**hockey216** · 11-14-12, 01:21 PM

Originally posted by DennisGreen

Thats the owners fault. How can you blame the players if the idiot owners keep throwing wads of cash at them? They're not gonna be like "hey bud I'm cool with 3 mill a year, 4.5 is a bit much."

It's pathetic that all these owners are now crying about having to pay the players these ridiculous contracts. Wtf did they expect when they signed them to these amounts. They made their bed now they have to go lay in it.

Not Bettman's fault. He's trying to do the right thing now and get a deal done that will enable franchises to survive. We need a collective bargaining agreement that substantially reduces players income so these franchises can survive. You can't blame Bettman for trying to get a deal done that's fair to the owners. When so many teams are in bad financial shape, reduction in player income was inevitable. We need a deal that's fair to the owners so these small market teams can survive. I don't blame Bettman for this lockout. Owners are in bad financial shape. I blame players for being greedy and demanding money that exceeds fair market value.

**k13** · 11-14-12, 01:28 PM

NHL get more revenue % than the other major sports right now yet they have lower revenue overall, crappy tv ratings and NHL players don't bring any value to their teams compared to how much they get paid.

No one gives a shit about Zach Parise except local markets if that.

**bruceBRUCEbruce** · 11-14-12, 02:24 PM

Originally posted by DennisGreen

Allows unprofitable franchises to survive that lose 20+ mill a year (FLA, PHO) because he refuses to admit his failure.

yore right. the over-expansion, done totally in conjunction with the owners who again lined their pockets with expansion fees, has placed this league in quite the pickle, where the big-market owners are at odds with the small market owners. You think the owners in NY, Philly, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, MTL, Toronto, etc, etc are sweating a few extra points of revenue to the players?

those of you blaming the players...the NHL posted record profits of 3.3 billion last season and the players simply are pushing for maintaining the status quo. That is not in the least bit unreasonable when the league as a whole is making more money that ever.

**k13** · 11-14-12, 02:31 PM

Originally posted by bruceBRUCEbruce

those of you blaming the players...the NHL posted record profits of 3.3 billion last season and the players simply are pushing for maintaining the status quo. That is not in the least bit unreasonable when the league as a whole is making more money that ever.

That's not profit, that's revenue.