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Little Gary: “They Love Me In Hockeytown”
by IwoCPO on 11/17/09 at 03:46 PM ET
Comments (80)
Or something like that. The emperor posted a MacLean’s interview with Rosby’s Daddy today and one portion of it stuck out even more than the rest. Don’t get me wrong, every answer is filled with lies and ineptitude. But this one hits home for many of us.
Q: You were booed when you presented the Stanley Cup—and that was in the United States.
A: I was booed presenting the Stanley Cup in Detroit to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Had I been presenting it in Pittsburgh I probably wouldn’t have been booed.
You were booed in Detroit because every single one of us knew you got exactly what you wanted. And you’d gone out of your way to make sure it happened.
But it wasn’t just the scheduling, the officiating, the blind eye toward what should have been an automatic suspension. It’s much more and much longer than that Gary. You were booed in Detroit because there are real hockey fans there who know what you’ve done to the sport and what you’ve tried to do to the Ilitch family and the Wings.
You can call it “parity” in public Gary. But we know better and so do you. In your little office, beneath your Rosby and Kane posters, when the fire is lit and the brandy comes out? It’s called “watering down the Wings.” Well. Nice try bitch.
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Comments
Sorry for reposting my comment - had i seen Iwo’s post first i would have posted here instead:
Bettman passionate about the game? My a**!
When Gary speaks he delivers his message as ice cold and detached as a slimy politician. You want to see passion, look at Alexander Ovechkin - that’s passion and enthusiasm right there (never mind the slew foots). AO’s kind of passion is contagious and spreads to teammates, owners and even fans. Heck even Capitals owner is passionate about his team, i’ll go a step further and say Basillee shows more passion than Gary.
Unfortunately, Gary’s passion probably lies in cashing the fat paycheck and keeping the owner’s happy. He maybe passionate destroying what made the NHL great, that i do get from him. He gets pleasure shaking down NHL teams that do things the right way, punishing them for being successful, and giving handouts to crappy markets and teams that are run into the ground.
Why is Bettman still in the NHL? Why won’t Obama bring him on board? Probably because Gary would have to take a paycut, but maybe that would be offset by having the pleasure of screwing a much bigger percentage of people.
Posted by Simian on 11/17/09 at 03:55 PM ET
Nicely done Chief. I cannot stand that little turd. That nervous twitch he has comes from all his little lies. He deserves a night with Darren Garcia here in lovely Colorado.
Posted by Jeff from Loveland, CO on 11/17/09 at 03:56 PM ET
When Mike Ilitch refused to shake Lil’ Gary’s hand after last years Finals he cemented his stature in all Wings’ fans eyes. The guy’s (Bettman) a creep and won’t be satisfied until he turns winning the Cup into a yearly Bingo contest. Parity=Blandness=Boring. What a douchebag.
Posted by calquake on 11/17/09 at 03:59 PM ET
Jesus, reading that shit made my blood boil. I don’t want to pick apart everything, but suffice to say that he’s a politician first and a steward for the game of hockey fifth.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 11/17/09 at 03:59 PM ET
Lil’ Gary is booed everywhere he goes. At the draft. Handing out any trophy in any building. At any game he attends. And probably in his local supermarket.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/17/09 at 04:01 PM ET
I do like his little dance around the quesion that perception is that he’s trying to keep a team out of Canada.
Who says that?
The media
Where did they get such a crazy idea
The fans
Well they’re just skewing what the fans are saying
Are you saying that the media is skewing what the fans are saying
No, not at all, I’m saying that it’s just a perception… now, if you’ll look over here at this nice strawman I’ve created, I’d like to show you how well I can karate chop him in the head.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 11/17/09 at 04:09 PM ET
Have to hand it to David Stern. In 1994 the NHL was kicking the NBA’s ass in popularity. He hand picked a little POS Troll from his own office to kill the sport we love. Two lockouts, over expansion, and an endless string of tv and pr messes later and the little prick still has a job.
Hey, let’s use glowpucks! What a douche.
Posted by AvsRock from My timeshare in insanity... on 11/17/09 at 04:10 PM ET
Bettman isn’t a politician. Hate to say it, but to say that he’s a politician gives politicians a bad name, as if that’s somehow possible. No, Bettman is *shudder*...a lawyer.
Look it up. Lies and sleaze are his education and his professional obligation.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 04:11 PM ET
In 1994 the NHL was kicking the NBA’s ass in popularity.
Avsrock, you may be a Dive fan but you’ve got that right. It take real skill to turn a huge sport that has been made entirely popular in the world’s largest media market by a recent Stanley Cup win with a place on the largest sports network in the world into a niche sport on a network that is devoted to largely unrelated subjects. Skill.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 04:15 PM ET
I was saying “Boo-urns”
Does Li’l Gary’s refusing to answer critical questions directly by deflecting criticism and using selective interpretation of the question to skew an answer, remind you of anybody?
Here’s a hint: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 11/17/09 at 04:26 PM ET
The fact that Gary Bettman still has a job makes me sick when I look around at all the good (and competent) men and women who are unemployed right in my own neighborhood.
Posted by Kris from MI on 11/17/09 at 04:28 PM ET
Bettman is the biggest(smallest) ass in pro sports!
Posted by bassgowings from rural tn on 11/17/09 at 04:47 PM ET
The most telling part of the interview for me was the last question. The question was wheather gary ran into balsille in the restroom while in court in Phoenix.
Q: Is it true you ran into him in the bathroom at the courthouse in Phoenix?
A: Yeah. I said, “Oh, hello.” I mean, where else should you be more cordial than in the restroom? 
Posted by Down River Dan on 11/17/09 at 04:48 PM ET
Too bad they didn’t follow up that question and ask why he was booed when he presented the Cup in ‘97 and ‘02.
Posted by WingInTO from Toronto on 11/17/09 at 04:50 PM ET
Let’s rock wing fans,I am so sick of Bettman,Sorry Gary Ass!
Posted by bassgowings from rural tn on 11/17/09 at 04:51 PM ET
I have no love for Gary Bettman at all, but to think he some how hates the Wings are that he orchestrated the entire CBA and salary cap as an effort to undermine the Detroit origanization is nonsense bordering on the paranoia.
As a Wings fan sometimes this little blog makes me a little embarassed. The 19 have sandiest va-jay-jays I have ever seen from hockey fans. You guys are constantly on the look out for any perceived slight. I really don’t understand your persecution complex. The Wings are pretty much considered the best franchise in the NHL, if not, in all of sports.
The NHL does not promote the Wings like it does some of the other teams in the league of players because it doesn’t have to. The Wings sell themselves (well, they sell themselves in any hockey market that is not Detroit).
Posted by Spuds17 on 11/17/09 at 04:52 PM ET
What a stupid thing to say.
He’s been booed every year when he’s presenting the Cup, regardless of who won it or where it’s at. He’s booed at the draft. He’s booed if fans even see him on TV or the jumbotron.
He’s just merely fortunate that he gets out of Detroit alive after every visit. And for the record, Flint is the only city I’ve ever been to or seen that has graffiti reading “F*CK BETTMAN” scrawled all over town. Canada who?
Have to hand it to David Stern. In 1994 the NHL was kicking the NBA’s ass in popularity. He hand picked a little POS Troll from his own office to kill the sport we love. Two lockouts, over expansion, and an endless string of tv and pr messes later and the little prick still has a job.
What does it say about Stern then, if he did indeed do that and the NHL is on a “network nobody gets”.... and yet the NHL is still outdrawing his sport at the gates? Stern must be an absolute failure of even more epic proportions than Bettman.
Posted by Primis on 11/17/09 at 04:53 PM ET
Bettman needs to meet an automatic weapon!
Posted by bassgowings on 11/17/09 at 04:54 PM ET
As a Wings fan sometimes this little blog makes me a little embarassed. The 19 have sandiest va-jay-jays I have ever seen from hockey fans. You guys are constantly on the look out for any perceived slight. I really don’t understand your persecution complex. The Wings are pretty much considered the best franchise in the NHL, if not, in all of sports.
In my family, we’re embarrassed by my uncle. Nobody visits him, capische?
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 11/17/09 at 04:54 PM ET
The Count got downright defensive at some points, didn’t he?
Posted by MrsOtW from Wyoming, Mi on 11/17/09 at 05:19 PM ET
Bettman needs to meet an automatic weapon!
Posted by bassgowings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTodQ6Svo9A
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 11/17/09 at 05:20 PM ET
Bettman needs to meet an automatic weapon!
Posted by bassgowings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTodQ6Svo9A
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Sunny SoCal on 11/17/09 at 05:20 PM ET
What!??! There were NHL highlights on ESPN?!??!?!?
Posted by pgoody on 11/17/09 at 05:28 PM ET
Stern must be an absolute failure of even more epic proportions than Bettman.
Yeah, no one said he was smart either.
Everyone always says the refs are calling for the other team and on the take. The NBA is the only sport with proof. That and drive-by drill safety cards handed out to the rookies at the beginning of every season…
Posted by AvsRock from My timeshare in insanity... on 11/17/09 at 05:31 PM ET
I don’t see a lot of Bettman interviews (and there’s probably good reason for that), but I like to see people putting the screws to him. Versus is always too busy patting him on the back and congratulating him for giving birth to Crosby and Ovechkin to get to any real poignant questions.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 11/17/09 at 05:33 PM ET
No, Bettman is *shudder*...a lawyer.
Look it up. Lies and sleaze are his education and his professional obligation.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 04:11 PM ET
Andrew - - et tu?
The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.
Wait, that would be me - - I’ll disavow the lies part, sleaze, um maybe - depends what kind 
Parity sucks, salary cap sucks, OLN sucks, oh wait, it is V’s t.v. now, expansion is killing the product, and they are thinking of adding a 2nd team in ONT?
Wings will never get to the E.C., thanks Gary, ass.
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 11/17/09 at 05:53 PM ET
No, Bettman is *shudder*...a lawyer.
Look it up. Lies and sleaze are his education and his professional obligation.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 11/17/09 at 04:11 PM ET
That sure does look like the definition of a politician to me. Bitches.
Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!
Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 11/17/09 at 06:00 PM ET
The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.
Wait, that would be me
Cap’D too…. just kinda sayin’.
To quote Chris Rock on the NHL after the lock out “it’s a game nobody watches on a network that nobody gets”.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 11/17/09 at 06:02 PM ET
Cap’D too…. just kinda sayin’.
Also Rumbear IIRC. There’s a bunch of us scum sucking bottom feeders amongst the 19. We’re kinda like the V.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 11/17/09 at 06:05 PM ET
Bettman is always, always, always booed - by everyone and at every event.
Why does the commish even present the Cup, anyway? It has it’s own posse as it is - just give one of them a speaking part (or pick someone with a resonant, dignified voice) and have him congratulate both teams, give a few words on the history of the Cup, and present it to the winning captain himself.
From the Hockey Hall of Fame and Hockey history directly to the hands of the man who lead his team through a two month battle of attrition - no extraneous suits, not corporate bullshit, no managerial spin - just the Cup from its home base to the new winner.
No one would boo that, I think.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/17/09 at 06:13 PM ET
And I’m tempted to say something about Jimmy Howard, but with all the back and forth in the earlier thread I’m a little nervous.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/17/09 at 06:14 PM ET
The Wings are pretty much considered the best franchise in the NHL, if not, in all of sports.
The NHL does not promote the Wings like it does some of the other teams in the league of players because it doesn’t have to.
Sure, that makes perfect sense. If you’re a douchebag, an idiot, or a 12-year-old. In business, you build off your strengths - you don’t marginalize them.
I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, I’m not a Wings apologist, and up until recently, I had fewer issues with Gary than most of the 19. Officiating, regular season scheduling, whatever, I can give the benefit of the doubt. And yet even I was at a loss to explain the Crosby commercials following the 2007-08 season. Or the Datsyuk/Lidstrom suspensions. Or some of the comments he made after Z’s contract was signed last year. Or the back to back games from last year’s finals. Or the 25-minute, blade-dulling hike from the dressing room to the ice for the Winter Classic. Or a handful of other comments and decisions he’s been directly behind that never quite seem to favor one of the most popular teams in the league. And that’s just from last year.
But forget that for a minute. By your logic, nobody needs to promote Crosby either - afterall, he’s not a bad player and the Penguins do enough of it themselves. And yet the NHL chooses to make him the face of the league, despite some significant character and leadership flaws. Meanwhile, to the best of my knowledge, the Wings never punched some guy in the jibblescribbits on national TV.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 11/17/09 at 06:19 PM ET
I mean, where else should you be more cordial than in the restroom?
Hmmm. For Lil’ Gary? Mario’s basement comes to mind. 
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/17/09 at 06:26 PM ET
Andrew!?, Cap’n, Jeff….....
What can I say? I am deeply saddened. 99% of all lawyers give the other 1% of us a bad name. Yet perhaps we could narrow the shooting profile. Something like “let’s kill all of the bald lawyers, under 5’ 2” with a “Sid” tattoo on their buttocks.”.
We’re kinda like the V. Yup, V-Men.......hey, hey.
Gotta run, I hear an ambulance.
Posted by Rumbear from Top O da Hasek, sippin rum & catchin some rays on 11/17/09 at 06:27 PM ET
I’m back, it was a false alarm…...fire truck.
I mean, where else should you be more cordial than in the restroom?
Well, there are those rules posted inside the Jacketorium. Maybe that’s where he picked up the social skills.
Posted by Rumbear from Top O da Hasek, sippin rum & catchin some rays on 11/17/09 at 06:32 PM ET
Jeff, Capt. D and Rum. You’re all .... lawyers? But everything I’ve learned from cable television tells me you guys are suppose to be unequivocal assholes. And everything I’ve learned from trolls on A2Y tells me that you guys are actually jobless bums. My world has crumbled upon me today.
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/17/09 at 06:43 PM ET
I’m a law student too.
And Bettman probably would be booed at the airport if he came to Brazil for vacations.
Sure, nobody would know who he is, but people would just feel the need for booing. It exhales from him, like Carrie.
Posted by Guilherme from Brasil on 11/17/09 at 06:58 PM ET
Gotta run, I hear an ambulance.
Posted by Rumbear from Sandy Eggo on 11/17/09 at 06:27 PM ET
+1, a spewer.
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 11/17/09 at 07:04 PM ET
I’m a law student too.
Whaaa…? What is going on here? Next thing we’ll find out is that Chief is one of those JAG lawyers.
I will go on record as being a non-lawyer, which may or may not be the minority.
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/17/09 at 07:08 PM ET
Jeff, Capt. D and Rum. You’re all .... lawyers? But everything I’ve learned from cable television tells me you guys are suppose to be unequivocal assholes. And everything I’ve learned from trolls on A2Y tells me that you guys are actually jobless bums. My world has crumbled upon me today.
Actually, a lot of lawyers are assholes and jobless bums because over 15,000 people (attorneys and staff) have been laid off from law firms in the past year.
And another thing, lawyers are nothing if not equivocal.
Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 11/17/09 at 07:11 PM ET
Versus need a new Ventriliquist.
Whoever was moving Ovechkin’s lips in that interview never came close to what he was saying.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/17/09 at 07:13 PM ET
By your logic, nobody needs to promote Crosby either - afterall, he’s not a bad player and the Penguins do enough of it themselves. And yet the NHL chooses to make him the face of the league, despite some significant character and leadership flaws. Meanwhile, to the best of my knowledge, the Wings never punched some guy in the jibblescribbits on national TV.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 11/17/09 at 06:19 PM ET
It will all even out in he end.
Five years from now, Crosby will be on some feel good medication from trying to figure out why he’d been playing in Malkin’s shadow for the last 3 years.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/17/09 at 07:19 PM ET
Jeff, Capt. D and Rum. You’re all .... lawyers?
I vote present. I am also a recovering politician. Times were hard.
And another thing, lawyers are nothing if not equivocal.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Then again….
Law students! Wellllll, pull up a chair. Have they taught you that the yellow ambulances get all the good victims? Don’t bother chasing red ones, except in a recession….think loss leaders.
Posted by Rumbear from Top O da Hasek, sippin rum & catchin some rays on 11/17/09 at 07:31 PM ET
Is anybody else watching this Leafs v. Sens game….they’re playing it like it’s game 7 of the stanley cup finals, and the fans are going crazy….great fight just a sec ago…theres already been 2 in this game.
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/17/09 at 07:56 PM ET
I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, I’m not a Wings apologist, and up until recently, I had fewer issues with Gary than most of the 19. Officiating, regular season scheduling, whatever, I can give the benefit of the doubt. And yet even I was at a loss to explain the Crosby commercials following the 2007-08 season. Or the Datsyuk/Lidstrom suspensions. Or some of the comments he made after Z’s contract was signed last year. Or the back to back games from last year’s finals. Or the 25-minute, blade-dulling hike from the dressing room to the ice for the Winter Classic. Or a handful of other comments and decisions he’s been directly behind that never quite seem to favor one of the most popular teams in the league. And that’s just from last year.
But forget that for a minute. By your logic, nobody needs to promote Crosby either - afterall, he’s not a bad player and the Penguins do enough of it themselves. And yet the NHL chooses to make him the face of the league, despite some significant character and leadership flaws. Meanwhile, to the best of my knowledge, the Wings never punched some guy in the jibblescribbits on national TV.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 11/17/09 at 06:19 PM ET
==============================================
I was going to post my complaints about Gary “I only know Basketball” Bettman…..but the above says it all, and more.
Bravo, Gabriel
Posted by Z4Captain from Detroit, MI on 11/17/09 at 08:00 PM ET
Is anybody else watching this Leafs v. Sens game….
I am now,
Thanks
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 11/17/09 at 08:06 PM ET
they’re playing it like it’s game 7 of the stanley cup finals,
Sloppy and out of sync?
Posted by Triple Deke Tyler from Lansing on 11/17/09 at 08:14 PM ET
Sloppy and out of sync?
Hahaha, +1.
Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 11/17/09 at 08:17 PM ET
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I wonder if he has an answer for the icy cold glare he gave a certain hockey fan last January 1st at Wrigley Field when he was loudly booed and told how much he sucks to the tune of cheers from the other nearby knowledgable hockey fans and confused sideways glances from the idiots who didn’t even know the Wings and Hawks had played just prior to that game?
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 11/17/09 at 03:53 PM ET