8/27/2009

Bettman's Hypocrisy

Damien Cox (of all people!) has a good rundown of how bad the whole Phoenix saga is for Bettman and the BOG.

Money quote:

"Why didn’t the Bettman administration buy the Jets or the Nordiques to make sure they wouldn’t move? Why was the league less worried about decreasing the number of Canadian teams to six from eight than it is about maintaining a position in a large market that appears to have a limited appetite for the sport?

“The fact is, the biggest litmus test ultimately was nobody wanted to own a team there. And when the marketplace decides that it doesn’t want to own a team there, it has no future,” said Bettman back in ’96 when the Jets were leaving Manitoba.

To those who would accuse Bettman of being anti-Canadian, this is useful stuff"

1 comment:

Templar said...

I found myself scratching my head when I heard Bettman's idea of bidding on the Coyotes for... $140 million?

Hmmm...paying 140 million, and loosing 30 million per year on a floundering franchise seems like poor economics to me. But I am not a financial wizard, do what do I know.

Aside from the dislike for Ballsy, and the perceived market hit the Leafs and Sabres might take, 220 million and moving the franchise to an area that would very likely make money, seems like sound economics to me.

Bettman is a superior braintrust. All hail the Big Giant Head which is Bettman.

He is in the same league as George W. Bush.

Can Bettman find the door at the back of the stage?

My head hurts.