Friday, April 21, 2006
The problem with Planned Economies, Pt. 874,869
Mudcrutch notes that the Flames are opening a new "world class restaurant, bar and hybrid entertainment facility in the heart of downtown Calgary." I'm sure he's right that the venue's revenues are non-hockey-related, meaning the players will not (nay, cannot) receive any benefit.
And that's still probably better than the converse: if the club had to accept all the risk firing up this venture, knowing that a good chunk of the revenues and/or profits from the thing would automatically go to the players or weaker NHL franchises (none of whom are accepting any risk), it wouldn't happen at all.
The cherry on top of this delightful tale is that this will probably be the only joint in town where the proprietors can't give Flames players a free steak. If the NHL's CBA is as much like the NFL's as I understand, then all compensation -- salary, bonuses, incentives, etc. -- are subject to the salary cap, meaning that the team, joint ventures involving the team, and people involved with the team just can't go around giving stuff to the players. Laughing? Don't forget that a couple of years ago, Dick Vermeil had to welch on a promise to Morten Andersen on NFL say-so: Vermeil had offered Andersen a nice bottle of wine (from his own cellar) if he made a game-winning kick; Andersen made it; and the league reminded Vermeil that uncontracted bonuses were a strict no-no -- sorry Morten.
Good! I mean, what kind of a level playing field would it be if one wine-loving coach could go around giving away free bottles for this and that.
NHL.com chat transcript where Gary Bettman uses the word "partnership" 9 times here.
Now, where were we again? Oh, yeah: F**KING PLAYOFFS!!!
And that's still probably better than the converse: if the club had to accept all the risk firing up this venture, knowing that a good chunk of the revenues and/or profits from the thing would automatically go to the players or weaker NHL franchises (none of whom are accepting any risk), it wouldn't happen at all.
The cherry on top of this delightful tale is that this will probably be the only joint in town where the proprietors can't give Flames players a free steak. If the NHL's CBA is as much like the NFL's as I understand, then all compensation -- salary, bonuses, incentives, etc. -- are subject to the salary cap, meaning that the team, joint ventures involving the team, and people involved with the team just can't go around giving stuff to the players. Laughing? Don't forget that a couple of years ago, Dick Vermeil had to welch on a promise to Morten Andersen on NFL say-so: Vermeil had offered Andersen a nice bottle of wine (from his own cellar) if he made a game-winning kick; Andersen made it; and the league reminded Vermeil that uncontracted bonuses were a strict no-no -- sorry Morten.
Good! I mean, what kind of a level playing field would it be if one wine-loving coach could go around giving away free bottles for this and that.
NHL.com chat transcript where Gary Bettman uses the word "partnership" 9 times here.
Now, where were we again? Oh, yeah: F**KING PLAYOFFS!!!
# posted by Matt @ 12:54 pm 
