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Gary’s Agenda
by IwoCPO on 05/28/09 at 05:56 AM ET
Comments (83)
It doesn’t have to be a sinister thing. There is no Deep Throat, no Jeff Gillooly, no Shoeless Joe giving in to a little fiscal temptation.
It just boils down to this and it’s real simple: Gary Bettman does not like the Detroit Red Wing organ-I-zation and he would like Sidney Crosby to hoist the Cup.
It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just a deep burning hatred that Bettman feels for Mike Ilitch, Jimmy Devellano and Ken Holland.
And it might have something to do with the fact that he tried to adopt Crosby, dress him in footies and share Yoohoos with him most afternoons after Pens practices.
That’s not true, as far as I know. I made that up.
But Bettman’s infatuation with Crosby’s success is not fiction. He vaulted him to the forefront from the beginning as the face of the NHL. He’s kept him there despite the painfully obvious fact that Crosby has the personality of a gnat and the petulance of a napless five year old.
Is Gary Bettman starting the Finals this Saturday, then continuing on Sunday for the first back-to-back since the ‘50s as an intentional means of stifling the Wings?
Not that he’d ever admit and certainly no one could ever prove it. But he very well could have considered, going Saturday, Monday…or Sunday, Tuesday…because it would have been better for the game. But the “game” has never mattered to Bettman. His little man syndrome, his bitterness and his ego are all that matters to Tiny Gary Daddy.
Oh, I know…the television thing. I get it. But if he would have gone Versus on Tuesday, Thursday and NBC on Saturday, Sunday? What’s the significant difference? A back to back in Games 3 and 4 would still allow a bit more rest for both teams at the front end of the series.
Why am I even bringing it up? Because the Red Wings defeated Chicago in five games and get two full days of rest. If they’d gone six they would have had what? 9 days? Too much. I agree. But the fact remains, they’re being penalized for winning too quickly, too efficiently?
Now. This. Should a commissioner give consideration to a team’s injury situation? Not publicly and certainly not officially. For fu**‘s sake, he didn’t do it around the All Star Game, when who was hurt?
Oh, that’s right. Datsyuk and Lidstrom.
But giving a team less days off for winning quickly, and thereby guaranteeing they won’t be as healthy to start the Finals as they would be with two more days rest?
Bettman despises the Wings. He hates what Holland did to sign Franzen and Zetterberg. Long term deals to circumvent his pet CBA. He despises the fact that the Wings are so popular, make the league so much money, but dictate gates and memorabilia sales…that they are bigger than he is, almost as big as the league itself. Bettman hates that Jimmy D and Mike Ilitch resisted the lockout, that they sided with their players. You think that doesn’t have a lot to do with why Detroit is favored among all NHL players?
There is no way the Final should start on Saturday, and go straight to Game 2 the next day. No one does that. It hasn’t happened in nearly fifty years. But, coincidentally, here we are. Detroit has six (potentially seven with Hossa) injuries. Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Draper, Ericsson, Lilja, Kopecky. Three of those players would be the number 1 or 2 guy at their position on any team in the NHL. That’s right. Any team. And, yes…coincidentally…there is a remarkably short turnaround, followed by a game 24 hours later.
Gary Bettman is so beholden to NBC, so deep in their pocket, that he has absolutely no ground to stand on. That’s the public answer and it’s the one league officials will probably whisper when pressed. But what they will never admit, and what drives Bettman from time to time, and what affects his decision making and has for years, is this…
...the little bastard hates him some Red Wings.
It’s not a conspiracy. It’s just a little man who’s held an important job for too long.
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Comments
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Bettman easily predicted many injuries to key wings players… he thought to himself, “I know they are going to get injured. They are a bunch of pussies. Better schedule a back-to-back… THAT’LL SHOW ‘EM!” If you honestly believe that Bettman had anything to do with this, you are retarded. I’m sorry. NBC controls the league with respect to televison. If you want to blame him for anything, blame him for entering into a stupid contract.
Take the Pens outdoor screen for example. NBC forced the Pens to take it down for all of the games that they broadcast, completely ruining one of the coolest scenes in playoff hockey for almost an entire series. If Bettman was so concerned about keeping his ‘new puppet fan base’ happy, he would have never let this happen; alas, he has no pull whatsoever.
In conclusion…
Suck it.
Posted by grundlesnack from oxford on 05/28/09 at 10:31 AM ET
Babs doesn’t seem too happy with it either but still the consumate classy guy he is, he only says .... ““Normally when you win in five games, you get this little break. But I think they’re trying to jam. I don’t know if we’re making up for lost time in the previous three series by jamming this all in 10 days or whatever we’re doing. They don’t ask me these questions.””
Buttman is pathetic ..oh well, we know our Wings can do it as they have been unlike the other teams (without the refs help) all playoffs long
Posted by MsRedWingFan on 05/28/09 at 10:35 AM ET
NBC controls the league with respect to televison. If you want to blame him for anything, blame him for entering into a stupid contract.
I think that’s what most of us are doing here (aside from a few who are a little more fired up about this)... at least, that’s what I’m doing. NBC didn’t even have to pay a rights fee to the NHL, and yet they’re still dictating the schedule. I know Little Gary was desperate to get a network TV contract after the lockout, and the networks wouldn’t have touched the NHL with a 10 foot pole if they had to pay for the rights. But, that doesn’t mean the NHL is completely powerless to alter the schedule. If they are, that’s a terrible contract. Little Gary is a favorite target of the 19, and you must admit, deservedly so. If the league can’t go with a NORMAL SCF schedule (i.e. one without a back-to-back game 1 and 2) like they’ve had for decades because of a contract they’ve signed… and didn’t get any rights fees? Well, tha’ts LG’s fault.
If Bettman was so concerned about keeping his ‘new puppet fan base’ happy, he would have never let this happen; alas, he has no pull whatsoever.
And I’m not so sure Bettman really cares about the Penguins fan base. In terms of size alone Pittsburgh, like Detroit, isn’t at the top of the list. What he cares about is the marketing basket in which he put nearly all of the league’s eggs: Sidney Crosby. Gary wants the marketable star(s) to win a Cup, for obvious reasons… it’s good for the league’s national visibility. LG’s job is to raise the profile of the league as a whole, and marketing Crosby as the face of the NHL is the way he chose to do so. Looking at his entire tenure, he’s obviously been a failure in that respect, but he presumably thinks that a cup for Crosby will help erase that.
I might be completely off-base, but I’m trying to bring some rational thought to a place that it probably doesn’t belong. I should know better than that.
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 05/28/09 at 10:52 AM ET
Before you blame Bettman, blame the owners for keeping this butthead on for too long. It’s not like the owners do not have a choice in replacing this moron.
As far as the Crosby hype, the NHL did go way overboard until last year. But, come on, it is clear the NHL knows just hyping Crosby alone was not such a great idea. Just compare the promos this year to last years.
Crosby is not to blame for the idiocy of the NHL’s marketing department. I am glad he is finally delivering in terms of goals scored instead of being a glorified Adam Oates.
Last time I checked, it was the Red Wings games that got shown on NBC in the conference finals, not the Pens games. Of course, a big factor was that Chicago was a more attractive team to market than the Hurricanes.
I did not see much whining from Anaheim fans when one Red Wings-Ducks games was played at 7 eastern 4 pacific when the logical thing to do would have been to play Boston-Carolina at 6:30 and the RedWings-Ducks at 9 to make fans of all teams happy..
Posted by Dead Fred from Atlanta, GA on 05/28/09 at 11:11 AM ET
Chris Pronger Rosetta Stone
How goes the Golfing season Buttnugget??, Still think Ovenchicken is Better ??
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE !!!
Posted by Evilpens on 05/28/09 at 11:20 AM ET
Man it actually makes me feel bad for the Penguins to know that the trolls on here are there fans. By far the most pathetic trolling I’ve ever seen by any team’s fans. Nothing funny, nothing even that holds any merit or makes any sense. No wonder you have to have white outs every game, it distracts from all the pathetic individuals that are at the game that have no idea about hockey at all.
Posted by John W. from a bubble wrap cocoon on 05/28/09 at 11:58 AM ET
No wonder you have to have white outs every game, it distracts from all the pathetic individuals that are at the game that have no idea about hockey at all.
Posted by John W. from Lansing, MI on 05/28/09 at 12:58 PM ET
Now what is the deal with that? I thought their colors were black and gold - white is just ... very uncreative. Unless they figured everyone has a white tee-shirt around somewhere, so it would be easy to do on short notice.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/28/09 at 12:07 PM ET
Now what is the deal with that? I thought their colors were black and gold - white is just ... very uncreative. Unless they figured everyone has a white tee-shirt around somewhere, so it would be easy to do on short notice.
I remember Phoenix did the white-outs back in the ‘90s when the league did “home whites.” Fans of other teams probably did the same - the Phoenix example was the easiest for me to recall. It’s not like they couldn’t do a black-out, where it would be easy for people to grab a black t-shirt.
Posted by Aphaea from Pennsylvania on 05/28/09 at 12:18 PM ET
No doubt Little Gary hates him some Wings. Having trouble with the conspiracy theory though. Seems that the Conan’ late night debut not getting shorted makes more sense. NBC is all about the benjamins and has to protect their new diva.
Chief, what’s with all the Penguin crap around the Hasek? Gonna need shovels to deal with this much sh**!
Posted by Rumbear from Top O da Hasek, sippin rum & catchin some rays on 05/28/09 at 12:26 PM ET
The White Out thing just proves Detroit has the better fans, and not just a bunch of band-wagon followers. I hate to say it, but I was Game 2 against Anaheim, and they gave us all stupid white shirts with the Belle Tire guy on em and told us we had to put em on for the “white out.” Well, if you watched that game, you probably didn’t notice a white out, because only a small majority actually put them on, because it’s freaking stupid. I think they learned their lesson, and Wings fans don’t need pansy ass white outs in a real Hockeytown.
Posted by John W. from a bubble wrap cocoon on 05/28/09 at 12:56 PM ET
I don’t buy the whole conspiracy thing on this one, but it definitely is very unfortunate for the Wings. Rare that losing in OT may actually be better than winning.
The real issue here is lack of foresight by JLA management. They should just booked a Yanni concert for this weekend to ensure some extra days off.
Posted by Nick on 05/28/09 at 01:00 PM ET
All you really need to know about bettman is that rather than be present to award the confrence trophy last night, they instead sent Jim Gregory. Gregory nearly died after suffering a heart attack a couple monthas ago. So while gary and daly sit on there fat A###S in New York having a little circle jerk, they send a guy in his 70’s recovering from a heart attack, just to save themselves the shower of boos they surely would have recieved from the crowd at the JLA.
Posted by dbcooper from parts unknown on 05/28/09 at 01:00 PM ET
One word: Delusional
PS learn to count (9 off days if it went 6?)
Posted by ua from elsewhere on 05/28/09 at 01:22 PM ET
The real issue here is lack of foresight by JLA management. They should just booked a Yanni concert for this weekend to ensure some extra days off.
That’s f—-ing hysterical. One instance where Caesar had a lack of foresight. 
Posted by beardChamp on 05/28/09 at 01:30 PM ET
I remember Phoenix did the white-outs back in the ‘90s when the league did “home whites.”
They actually were doing that in Winnipeg before the Jets moved to Phoenix. There it makes sense… frozen tundra and all that. In Phoenix… well maybe it was for the average resident’s hair color? Although I suppose that would be more bluish…
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 05/28/09 at 01:33 PM ET
I might be completely off-base, but I’m trying to bring some rational thought to a place that it probably doesn’t belong. I should know better than that.
You did a reasonable job until the rather predictable “Bettman wants to give Crosby the Cup”-nonsense turned up. Then it was business as usual.
Man it actually makes me feel bad for the Penguins to know that the trolls on here are there fans. By far the most pathetic trolling I’ve ever seen by any team’s fans.
I think you need a mirror or a new set of goggles.
Admittedly, there are a few undesirable comments by mostly one Penguins fan. But the blog itself and several supporting commentaries defies common standards of rationality and evidence in support of controversial views. And respond with absence of grace when the rather obvious paranoia is pointed out. Perpetuating irrational beliefs, innuendo and accusations without merit has a tendency to attract trolling.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 05/28/09 at 01:35 PM ET
The White Out thing just proves Detroit has the better fans, and not just a bunch of band-wagon followers
Yeah… that’s why all their home playoff games are sold-out right? Oh wait…
Anyways, it’s nice to know that the editor of the blog along with have the people here will already have a built-in excuse for the Wings if they lose the series. Must be nice to have that feeling of security. And I was surprised at Babcock whining about it. Lost some respect for him.
Oh no, the team you’re facing got ONE extra day of rest than you did? Because they finished their series quicker? Dear God, that is a travesty… Seriously now.
Posted by meecrofilm on 05/28/09 at 04:48 PM ET
Uhhh, they won’t let versus have game 2 because they decided weeks ago that NBC would get the first two games.
I hear nothing from this blog but constant whining.
Posted by TheTaxidermist on 05/28/09 at 05:11 PM ET
You did a reasonable job until the rather predictable “Bettman wants to give Crosby the Cup”-nonsense turned up. Then it was business as usual.
If, hypothetically, Bettman chose Ovechkin, Dion Phaneuf, or *gasp* Henrik Zetterberg to be THE face of the post-lockout NHL, then he would be pulling for that guy instead. He didn’t. Crosby was given center stage before playing a single game. Even Ovechkin has had to earn a lot of his press. And I’m not saying that Crosby hasn’t earned a good deal of the publicity he’s received, but that was given to him from day 1. So Little Gary put all the marketing eggs into one basket, and now he’s got to hope it works. Seriously, ask yourself if you were Gary Bettman (Ass), who would you prefer to see win this series? The Detroit Red Wings, whose players are not promoted as individuals by the league to the world and have already won 4 cups in 11 years… or the Pittsburgh Penguins led by your self-chosen Golden Boy, upon whose shoulders you’ve put the fortunes of an entire league?
And even though it may sound like it, I’m not complaining. At least not about Crosby himself. I think he’s an elite talent (there’s that word again). What I have a problem with is the league’s moronic handing of post-lockout publicity, and the hype machine that has been built around one player, no matter who it is or what team he plays for. If Datsyuk or Zetterberg were the face(s) of the league, I’d be just as annoyed with the morons in the NHL’s PR dept.
But, if you don’t think Bettman would prefer that Crosby and the Pens win the cup this year, you’re effing delusional.
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 05/28/09 at 05:33 PM ET
This “Crosby is a baby” and “Gary Bettman has an agenda” bullshit is as tired as the 1998 template of this blog. Show me one incident of Crosby complaining during these playoffs. You won’t find it. He’s busy scoring goals at a record pace, leading the league in playoff points and exacting his revenge on Detroit. Oh, and speaking of Detroit, nice to see empty seats at a home and potential series clinching game in the Western Conference Finals.
um, how about the incident where crosby specifically bitched and whined about one of the greatest traditions in hockey, throwing hats on the ice after a hat trick? the only people who are delusional are the people who try to deny that the nhl has been shoving crosby down everyones throat. fans of EVERY team agree. i have tons of friends who are fans of different teams and every single one of them absolutely despises crosby because of it. the only people who like him are bandwagon penguins fans who only know hockey exists in the past two years since the team started being good again. hell i even have a good friend who is a penguins fan, has been since he was a kid. “i wish crosby wasnt such a douchebag” straight from his mouth.
Posted by stayouttamalibu from Temporarily in Tempe, AZ on 05/28/09 at 06:13 PM ET
He’s NOT claiming “conspiracy!” in the sense that the NHL is fixing games, people - he’s merely pointing out that Bettman would be very pleased if the golden boy gets his name on the Stanley Cup, because it would be a tremendous story line that even a group with the marketing acumen of a flock of retarded gnats could figure out how to publicize.
Same way that the NHLPA guy a few weeks ago said that sweeps aren’t as good for the league financially as longer series are.
Same way that David Stern once said that the ideal final series would be the Lakers vs. the Lakers. Probably the same way he would be happier if the NBA finals is Kobe vs. Lebron instead of some other matchup.
The NHL marketing efforts have been focused primarily on one player and one player only since before he was drafted. That makes sense for basketball because although supplemental talent is important, a one or two-man team can work. Hockey is different and one player (unless it’s a goaltender) is going to be off the playing surface for a good part of the time. One individual isn’t enough. It’s like MLS putting all their hopes for winning over the US market on David Beckam.
Bettman would be thrilled if Crosby led the Penguins to the Cup. That doesn’t mean he’s pulling any strings - just that if something hurts the Wings, he doesn’t worry about it as much as he might if it hurt the Penguins. He’s not looking at it from a competitive sports standpoint in that case, but from a pure business standpoint.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/28/09 at 06:23 PM ET
Oh no, the team you’re facing got ONE extra day of rest than you did? Because they finished their series quicker? Dear God, that is a travesty… Seriously now.
Hey genious, it has nothing to do with how much time the 2 teams got off with respect to each other, but rather the extremely short turn around in general, and the fact that this will be the first SCF with back to back games since the 50’s.
This is what happens when you just read what you want to read, and ignore all the facts.
There is an art to trolling, and none of the Pen trolls here seem to grasp the concept, kinda disappointing really…
Posted by John W. from a bubble wrap cocoon on 05/28/09 at 06:41 PM ET
I did not see much whining from Anaheim fans when one Red Wings-Ducks games was played at 7 eastern 4 pacific when the logical thing to do would have been to play Boston-Carolina at 6:30 and the RedWings-Ducks at 9 to make fans of all teams happy..
You mean like how they did Wings’ fans a favor by starting all games in Anaheim at 10:30 edt??
Posted by John W. from a bubble wrap cocoon on 05/28/09 at 06:46 PM ET
As I’ve said before, I don’t hate Crosby; I hate the NHL marketing dummies shoving him down everyone’s throat when there are other just-as-marketable players like Ovechkin (who in my opinion is probably the NHL’s most engaging and effusive personality), Datsyuk (who has a wicked wit), Lecavalier (a good looking, Madison Ave kind of guy), Luongo (with his Hollywood dark looks), Zetterberg (along with his superstar fiance Emma Andersson who are some calling the Beckhams of the NHL), and many others.
I’m sure Crosby is sick of the shit but to his credit, he puts on his best face for the NHL off the ice. In secret, I think he wants to just be a kid and play the game and I think he’s being robbed of that “innocence.”
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 05/28/09 at 06:54 PM ET
I’m sure Crosby is sick of the shit but to his credit, he puts on his best face for the NHL off the ice. In secret, I think he wants to just be a kid and play the game and I think he’s being robbed of that “innocence.”
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 05/28/09 at 07:54 PM ET
Oh, I’m sure he’s sick of it too. Imagine the disapproval that would result if he got lit up at a bachelor party like the Staals did. Chuckles and rolled eyes for them (thank goodness they didn’t drive anywhere - someone could have gotten hurt), but if Crosby got into such a fix the tut-tutting from the prudes would be deafening.
Expecting him to do everything to “save” the entire league is not only stupid, but does him a disservice as well.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/28/09 at 08:02 PM ET
Hahahaha… I gotta be honest here. I’m a huge Red Wings fan. Always have been, always will be. But all the talk about irrational, immature Pens trolls on this board is a little hypocritical. I think I’ve managed to find only a handful of rational people through all this garbage that is comments.
Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. Every organization has it’s classy fans and they also have the complete idiotic fans. Like the saying goes “it’s better to be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt’. Majority of people on here should stick by that saying.
Incognetis: It’s truthfully a pleasure to actually see someone with rational thought. Every point you’ve made is well thought-out and put to words nicely.
Funny thing is all the Pens fan come on here talking about how we’re whining yet if you go to ANY other blog, or even a Pens blog, you’re going to find the exact same trash.
There’s just as much trashy Pens fans as there are Wings ones.
Posted by Dave B. on 05/28/09 at 10:10 PM ET
this whole blog has to be a level, because you cannot be as dumb as this post makes you sound.
Posted by intelligent from common sense on 05/28/09 at 11:20 PM ET
You guys have a serious obsession with Gary Bettman. I’m not sure I’d even remember who was commissioner of the NHL unless Red Wings fans reminded me twice every day.
When you wake up in a cold sweat at night, is it Gary’s face you see?
Posted by Sir Winpleton-Barksby on 05/29/09 at 01:41 AM ET
@ HockeyinHD
O’Halloran is not an official for this series so you an throw that lame conspiracy theory out the window.
http://nhlofficials.com/display_news.asp?articleID=375
Did you guys think that maybe the Pens got an extra day off because they won their series in 4 games, as opposed to the 5 it took the Wings? I don’t see what isn’t fair about this.
Why didn’t Bettman suspend the Stanley Cup last year until Geno got over the flu? He must be conspiring against the Penguins. What a douche.
Posted by Matteo from Italy on 05/29/09 at 02:43 AM ET
Perpetuating irrational beliefs, innuendo and accusations
YOu want to talk about irrationality, innuendo, and accusations, lille bror, take a look in the mirror. You’re the ones trolling on our playground and expecting grace and rationality. Nobody’s forcing you to read this or to hang around here, yet you do and then you complain about the content. Who’s being irrational now? And better yet, who’s whining now?
There’s just as much trashy Pens fans as there are Wings ones.
You mean that, among all groups of people, there are trashy people as well as classless people? Shocking.
Read the post in its entirety people before you pick it apart. The salient points are not the amount of rest the Pens get vs. the amount the Wings get, but the fact that the scheduling is a complete clusterf*ck (albeit one that favors a younger team in both the beginning and end of the series) and that this will be the first SCF series in nearly sixty years to feature back-to-back games. Additionally, you’d do well to pay attention to this sentence, repeated twice in case you missed it the first time:
“It’s not a conspiracy.”
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 05/29/09 at 03:12 AM ET
Poor Wings fans…when should the finals be scheduled? August?
Posted by Vern from Fort Lauderdale (Shuffleboardtown) on 05/29/09 at 08:41 AM ET
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Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 05/28/09 at 10:29 AM ET