Bow and arrow... very weird.

This is the house where the NHL committed suicide.

They're about 15 minutes away from killing an entire freaking season... and now there's precious little reason for the owners and players to get together and talk again.

This is so stupid. It's a league with a niche (largely regional) following, horrendous TV numbers, and virtually no history south of Philadelphia. I was really hoping the owners and players would look around and say, "hmm... apparently no one is talking about the fact that we're not playing this winter. Maybe we should get our heads out of our asses before we risk alienating the last 14 people in the world who give a shit about our sport, before it's too late."

But that didn't happen. Frankly, I blame the players more than the owners, although the owners are certainly to blame as well.

I'm sorry... but hockey players can live off of $2.5 million a year instead of $5 million. Yes, you're a pro player and one of the best athletes in the world. That doesn't necessarily entitle you to make an eight-figure paycheck. The best field hockey players in the world don't earn that, and they're good athletes. Stop being idiots, and deal with the fact that you'll only be making 40 times what the average American makes.

That being said, the owners can get bent, too. If you're so stupid that you're going to pay these guys this kind of money (I'm looking in the general direction of 33rd and 7th right now) and you don't have the income to cover it... well... you're an imbecile. I want to know how the hell these owners made their money in the first place. Clearly their business sense is non-existant.

So to sum up; screw the players and screw the owners. You've both messed up an awesome sport, and I'm not sure it'll ever be the same.

Of course there is some good news. At least the Rangers didn't miss the playoffs this year.

By the way, this blog has some interesting stuff. It's a little more upbeat than the general media reporting... but as with all blogs, who knows how much of it is total crap? Take it for whatever it's worth.