TIME FOR NHL TO THINK ABOUT THE FANS.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Maybe one reason the NHL lockout The NHL lockout may refer to any of the two lockouts in the history of the National Hockey League:
adj. Damned. Adj. 1. darned - expletives used informally as intensifiers; "he's a blasted idiot"; "it's a blamed shame"; "a blame cold winter"; "not a blessed dime"; "I'll be damned (or blessed or darned or nice to threaten to turn their backs on the sport they love. When ballgames were stolen by quarreling owners and players, baseball fans fumed fume n. 1. Vapor, gas, or smoke, especially if irritating, harmful, or strong. 2. A strong or acrid odor. 3. A state of resentment or vexation. v. . Basketball fans raged. Football fans whined. Hockey fans worried. Would their little corner of the sports world ever be the same? ``I don't think the NHL NHL Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, see there is big enough in the U.S. to (survive) a strike,'' a young man in a Czech Republic jersey said in November when Staples Center opened its doors for a minor-league game. His tone wasn't hostile. More like fretful. Well, it seems the NHL will survive the lockout lockout, intentional closing up of a company, factory, or shop by an employer to prevent employees from working during a strike or labor dispute. The term lockout that wiped out an entire season. Management and players reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a six-year contract that pinches the players economically. Whatever happens next, I hope the first instinct of owners and athletes is to be good to the fans who were unbelievably good to them for the past 300 days. I mean the hard core of the fan base, not the soft fringe. We're going to witness a lot of hand-wringing in the days ahead about the need for hockey to win back the so-called marginal fan who makes the difference between a half-full arena and a sellout. Even the devoted seem to buy into this tired notion that it's the casual fans who hold the key to the NHL's financial future. ``I don't believe management wants to ignore the hardcore fans,'' Kim Southard, president of the Kings fan club, said on the phone from her office in Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs, city (1990 pop. 15,520), Los Angeles co., SW Calif., inc. 1957. The city lies in an oil and natural gas region and has diversified manufacturing. on Wednesday. ``But I think the survival of the league depends on more than the hardcore fans.'' How nice is that? A fan concerned about the league's bottom line. Right now, I don't give a bucket of melted ice about the league's bottom line. Whatever economic woe the owners and players may suffer, they brought it on themselves with the first contract squabble squab·ble intr.v. squab·bled, squab·bling, squab·bles To engage in a disagreeable argument, usually over a trivial matter; wrangle. See Synonyms at argue. n. A noisy quarrel, usually about a trivial matter. ever to consume a North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. sport's entire season. So, NHL, let's not have any talk of gimmicks like expanding the playoffs so more teams remain in contention longer. Or wiring coaches so TV viewers can hear what it's like behind the bench. Or opening practices to the public and dressing rooms to tour groups (it would take a Hazmat crew working overtime to get the typical foul-smelling hockey dressing room in shape for a pack of Cub Scouts). It was the NHL's attempt to overreach overreach the error in a fast gait when the toe of a hindhoof of a horse strikes and injures the back of the pastern of the leg on the same side. overreach boot its natural audience, expanding too fast and negotiating unsustainable television rights deals, that got it in trouble in the first place. What it must do now is to get back to basics and re-emphasize the natural beauty of the game and breathtaking skills of the players. Enact the rule changes, streamlining goalies' equipment and unclogging mid-ice, that will get the sport back to the speedy back-and-forth of old. Keep as many European players in the league as the new salary limits will permit. Forget the idea that Sidney (The New Gretzky) Crosby or any other single player will broaden the league's appeal all by himself. The hardcore, the long-suffering, the superhumanly patient fans, they don't need a marketing campaign. They want their game back and they want to know who's playing for the home team. ``This sport has tremendously loyal fans,'' Bob Miller, the Kings' television play-by-play man, said Wednesday from his home in West Hills as he happily prepared to get back to work. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if the building will be full (on opening night), but it will be exciting. ``The fan has to come back and get something for the sport having missed a year.'' The first thing the NHL must give the fans who stood by the league for the past year is the confidence that they have not been taken for granted Adj. 1. taken for granted - evident without proof or argument; "an axiomatic truth"; "we hold these truths to be self-evident" axiomatic, self-evident obvious - easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind; "obvious errors" . ``The scene will be different,'' Southard said, looking forward to the first game of next season at Staples Center. ``You'll have a mixed group of people. You'll have a group of people that are disgruntled dis·grun·tle tr.v. dis·grun·tled, dis·grun·tling, dis·grun·tles To make discontented. [dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see . But most people will just be happy to have hockey back, to be back at a place that feels like home. ``Everybody will be waiting to see where the NHL goes from here.'' ``Thank you'' and ``we're sorry'' would be a good way for the owners and players to start over. |
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