Diary of an enabler

Sometimes, sports make you feel like a chump.

I’m not talking about heartbreaking losses, or cheap owners, but the times the curtain is pulled back and fans learn just how little the people running things think of them.

Tomorrow, the NHL is going to lock it’s players out.  By all accounts, it will not end swiftly.  This is the second time this decade the league has gone down this path, the last one stole a whole season of hockey from us.  That makes a football lockout, a basketball lockout and a hockey lockout, all within the last 18 months.  Baseball is apparently only exempt due to it’s lack of a salary cap and obscene amounts of revenue.  After all, why bother striking when there are no limits on what can be made, and why bother locking players out when you can still turn a profit?  Everybody wins, right?  Oh yeah, except the fans, we take it in the shorts every time.

But I’m not going to write a “woe-is-the-poor-fan” post here, because the root of the problem is the fans themselves.  Tabloids and reality television exist because people can’t get enough of the lowest common denominator.  The political system is a mess because the electorate prizes style over substance.  And sports can jerk their fans any which way they please because they know when it’s all over, they’ll come crawling back.  As usual, the problem is us; for all our angry words when this stuff goes on, we can't bring ourselves to stay away.

I’ve compared sports fans to abused spouse before, but perhaps it's closer to the enabler of a drunk.  Not to make light of those situations (I'm aware that real life carries a tad more gravity), just to point out the parallels.  The teams and players you root for care nothing of your wishes beyond winning games, at all other turns you’re at odds.  Fans want intimate venues with affordable tickets, owners want luxury boxes and premium seats.  Fans want a dedication to winning and incentives for performance, players want lighter workloads and guaranteed money.  Most importantly, fans want to games to go on.  

These lockouts are clear evidence that owners and players unconcerned about your wishes, and know you’ll come crawling back whenever they get around to getting back to business.  Nobody ever stops to ask the question "Is this going to do long-term damage to our game?" because they already know the answer is no.  There might be a slight blip, but give it a few years, and things will be fine, that's what they're banking on.  They keep treating you like crap, you keep coming back not matter what they do.  After they try to destroy themselves, you pick them up, dust them off, put cash in their pockets and make things right.  The definition of an abusive relationship.

Like I said, this isn’t intended to bitch and moan about the tough luck we’ve drawn, because we do it to ourselves.  The proposals delivered and battle lines drawn don’t matter.  You can make a case for either side being in the right, and they’ll eventually land somewhere in the middle, as they always do.  But as one of those moments where you’re forced to confront the reality that something you love cares nothing about you, this isn’t too fun. 

That reality is always present, lurking in the background.  In order to enjoy these silly little games, you need to detach yourself from it and lose yourself in the experience of the event, the camaraderie of being a fan, the fun of being part of a collective consciousness.  Right now, that’s impossible to do, and it’s lousy to be reminded that they can f*ck with you any time you like, and you’re not going to do anything about it.

But hey, we got Parise and Suter, no way I'm jumping ship this year!