(yes, it’s been forever since I posted, this isn’t hockey talk alone though, so….)

How come, every time there is expressed outrage in the sports world, the fans cannot take it upon themselves to organize and petition or organize in one form or another for or against some tactic or move that has been undertaken by the powers-that-be of the sports world?

All of this jumped out into my mind Tuesday evening as a baseball fan complained about advertisements showing up on players uniforms while the players were in Japan for MLB’s opening series between the A’s and the Bosox. The horrid thought of MLB uniforms turning into NASCAR jumpsuits or stock-cars marred with stickers and advertisements was what led the person to post in the first place about the atrocity that is advertisements on uniforms.

Through my sports-fan experience over the years, I’m well aware of Baseball and other sports selling out where and when they can. Anywhere to make a few extra bucks — stick a sign and grab that cash you can. I’ve seen plenty of idiotic naming-rights battles (the freshest one being Wrigley Field in Chicago) and ridiculous names that come from it. I can understand fans being pissed off about this stuff…

…but has anyone noticed how little fans actually try to organize and openly revolt against such things in any given sport?

Why does cynicism or despair grasp the heart and mind of sports fans that they can’t find a common center and voice disgust together and show those powers-that-be their unified force? Why do we take such a lax view when we’re openly distraught over a change to the organized sports and pro franchises we love and cherish?

There are three examples I can think of off the top of my head — two from hockey, one from baseball. All have transpired the last ten years:

1) National Hockey League Fan Association: Probably the most notable organized attempt by fans in pro sports that I know of. The NHLFA was founded by a pair of disgruntled Ottawa Senator fans and gained traction in and around the hockey world for a brief time but never took off. In close to ten years the NHLFA claims under 30,000 members even with it’s repeated attempts to draw in the disenfranchised NHL fans that feel powerless to certain changes that Gary Bettman and others in the league have put forward. There is universal disgust among the hockey faithful at any given time, but there is no acceptance of a unified effort to give fans a say in the league.

1.a) The NHL Lockout of 2004-05: It was the biggest opportunity for a unified group to represent the fans at the bargaining table or perhaps gain Gary Bettman’s or Bob Goodenow’s ear. But instead of a unified effort, there were a number of small groups that would try to start fresh and organize there own anti-lockout faction. In the same light, I can re-tell a personal anecdote of creating a form email that would be sent to both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux pleading for their intervention in the lockout. When I brought up this form both on Boltsmag and on message boards I was posting on at the time, it was met with cynicism and apathy. “Why would they listen? They don’t care.” “it’s not going to do anything, nice try though.” Over and over again the same dissatisfied, despondent response to the attempt to organize in mass.

2) The Montreal Expos: This is the biggest example of how both the feeling of entitlement and a cynical attitude can only help bring an end to something you love. Where indolence and apathy brought on by disgust did not save somethign that was indeed beloved. Montreal did have a baseball fan base. It did have passionate fans that loved the Expos. But it also had fans that felt entitled to being treated better than they were treated. Fans that took that entitlement and would revolt from the luxury of their own personal computers and over the Internet (but no where else). Even then, they were apathetic to do this revolting widely online and instead prefered to bitch and whine in their echo chamber. You can’t sway opinions by complaining about Jeffery Loria in one forum and not enlightening people to yoru plight. You can’t rally yoru own fans by feeling entitled to the team treating you better BEFORE you’ll openly revolt.

3) Rory Fitzpatrick: 2006-07 brought one of the best viral marketing campaigns I have seen by pro sports fans. Unfortunately it was awash in absurdity, it still is the #1 example of fans organizing. It’s just a shame that they had to do it as a joke. Starting with a small group of fans on hockey message boards, this started grabbing much more light in the eyes of the blogosphere and th mainstream meadia just after I blogged about it. Yet the movement was real and was ultimately stopped at the top, and likely to the relief of Mr. Fitzpatrick who was said to be embarrassed about things, it showed a sports example of what can be accomplished when fans unite. The NHL had to intervene tos top things…

Looking at the three examples (four) I can only note the personal gratification in each case — fans do not jump out to do work unless they feel personally gratified by the results. How do fans accomplish that feelign besides chatting with other fans and getting kudos in their discussions? they see that gratification through their personal commitment to a sport or team. But beign active to prevent a change? Even that action goes beyond many a loyalists personal comfort zone. While the power of the Netroots (and I mean this broadly, not in a partisan political sense but internet organizing by and large) can accomplish much, one has to wonder if fans can find satisfaction while taking action for/against a change to something they love?

Of course, what to revolt against or unite against is always subjective… It’s tradition infringement that tends to unite fans of any given sport. if Major League Baseball infringes on it’s uniforms and starts placing advertisements upon battling helmets and jersey’s - will fans do more than express disgust online and go outside their personal comfort zones? What level of grievance must sports fans experience before collectively dissenting and showing the force which they yield as a voice, as an opinion and as a consumer?

Holiday Greetings to everyone out there! The NHLFA just sent out this press release that probably won’t get much attention until Wednesday:

We are pleased to announced an opportunity for two fans to bid and win opportunities to be public relations assistants at the 2008 NHL All Star Game weekend in Atlanta held January 25-27. Two fans will help the NHL’s public relations department and assist the game’s best players as they fulfill media availability. The two fans will also spend some quality, private time with the Stanley Cup.

Half of the proceeds from the auction will be given to the charity Hockey Fights Cancer. The other half of the proceeds will go to the NHLFA.

The NHL has stepped up and presented us with a wonderful opportunity for two fans to get up close to the game’s best players. It will be a very memorable weekend for two lucky fans.

The online auction begins on December 25, 2007 and concludes January 12, 2008 at 21:00 hrs (ET). Please (join us on) www.nhlfa.com to bid on these opportunities.

A merry opportunity for two merry causes.

Merry Christmas everyone.

It was announced yesterday that Oren Koules and Co. at OK Hockey have entered into exclusivity with Palace Sports and Entertainment to purchase the Tampa Bay Lightning, the lease to the St. Pete Times Forum and 5 and 1/2 acres of land:

“I am excited we were able to take such a positive first step today,” Koules said in his statement. “Most importantly, we established a clear and direct path so we can work together towards a definitive agreement as quickly as possible.”

I could get into other little factoids from the sale article (hoping for a January finalization of a deal, etc) but it was Tampa Lawyer (and representative of another interested group) Tom Scarritt’s quote that irked me:

“We’re disappointed,” Scarritt said. “But we wish them luck, the city of Tampa luck, and we’ll stand by.”

Seems pretty innocent, right? Disappointment, wishing luck all around… yet the City of Tampa being wished luck? Why would the city need luck on things?

It’s a continuing seed of doubt being laid - consciously or subconsciously (and seeing he’s a lawyer, you bet your ass he’s consciously doing it) - about OK Hockey and the “risks” involved (and when I say risks, I mean relocation) in having an out-of-town group buy a local sports team. You may recall that I touched on this being inserted in the Times story about the Lightning’s suitors. What I didn’t bring up, or print, was local lawyer Steve Burton pulling out the fear-monger card:

“The way I see it,” Burton said, “this is a bulldozer moving under its own inertia with a number of local people interested in stepping up and stopping some of this foolishness.”

Burton was referring to Koules’ attempt to buy the team.

lifted from Saturday’s St. Pete Times article about the competing ownership groups)

Even if, four months later, local would-be suitors would like you to believe that’s what’s being negotiated.

The St. Pete Times found it more relevant to update the fans about the Lightning suitor situation this morning — putting it on the non-Bucs cover of the Sports section. Within the article, you’re reminded of the fallout between Jeff Sherrin and Oren Koules, re-introduced to the fact Koules has formed OK Hockey (sidenote: It honestly took me a while to realize what OK stood for. True story) and not we learn that Sherrin as well as another potential group are ramping up bids for the Lightning.

This doesn’t ease my mind.

Damian goes on to write a post on his blog about local ownership — and plays down the local-versus-non-local ownership situation. In fact, I was going to take a jab at the print article — seemingly writing off Koules as an out-of-towner businessman and forgot the tidbit from this summer where Koules, MacLean and Sherrin all said they planned to move to Tampa.

Yet here’s the thing that Absolutely (pun intended) worries me about any and all potential ownership groups: Only one is involved in the entertainment industry and the rest are in real estate or lawyers. Sure, you need to start somewhere to get into this business but it bothers me that any new owner won’t have professional experience running an arena and running a pro sports team (for those of you who will argue about Jeff Sherrin having Doug MacLean — I submit to you the Columbus Blue Jackets as evidence on the contrary).

This falls squarely under the “WTF” category…

The sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning from Palace Sports and Entertainment to Absolute Hockey LTD. has fallen through

Palace Sports nixed the purchase agreement when Absolute Hockey did not come up with a required $5-million payment. Now the investment group has splintered as Coral Springs real estate developer Jeff Sherrin is suing Hollywood producer Oren Koules for allegedly failing on Nov. 13 to make a capital contribution of $4.16-million.
Sherrin is asking $50-million in damages.

…

While the deal as originally announced with much fanfare on Aug. 7 is no longer valid, don’t be surprised if a deal is resurrected at a later date with Koules or a group led by him.

Well, looking at the above alone, one can be thankful things fell apart (long term) because if they can’t get their act together to make a money payment - how are they supposed to cover player paychecks and other franchise bills?

This also paves the way for a group of owners minus Sherrin to purchase any other NHL franchise for sale. So the team being sold from Palace Sports to another group with Koules as part of it may or may not happen. Though a team sale would be likely if the right group came along (per Tom Wilson’s quotes from that faithful August 7th morning).

Hartley’s gone in Atlanta.

TSN.ca’s reporting Don Wadell has cut loose Bob Hartley and will take over duties behind the bench for the Thrashers. While TSN.ca notes the slow start, they should have made a point to stress the team has lost 10 straight if you include the Rangers sweep of the Thrash in the 2006-07 playoffs last April. One could have expected both Wadell and Hartley to be handed walking papers after a retooled-for-the-playoffs team fell down and went boom, but that wasn’t the case. Hartley survived, Wadell survived.

Now Bob is gone… And one has to wonder how much more time ownership will give Wadell to make something out of the team he’s been stewarding?

The NHLFA — National Hockey League Fan Association — is celebrating their 10th anniversary this season. For those of you who do not know what the Fan Association is, it is (or was?) an attempt to give fans a direct say in National Hockey League matters.

Jim Boone, one of the founders of the NHLFA, sent out this email:

This note is being sent to the 29,633 Members of the NHL Fans’ Association.

Welcome to the 2007-08 hockey season, hopefully the most exciting season of
NHL hockey ever.

This is a special season for the NHLFA, since it marks our 10th anniversary.
It seems like yesterday we recognized a lack of representation for NHL
hockey fans and decided to create a Web site and announce to the hockey
world we were accepting Members at www.nhlfa.com. Within a few short months
we had over 3000 fans join our team. Today we are inching close to 30,000
fans and are proud to say that we are the largest body of NHL fans in the
world.

Our colorful plans 10 years ago didn’t materialize as colorfully as we had
hoped, but nonetheless we skate forward and continue to nurture the NHLFA.
We have forged trusted relationships with the NHL, the NHL Players
Association and many hockey media. We are respected in this industry and
have gained a reputation as a valuable source of NHL fan opinion. Our
credibility is our strength.

Can you please take a minute to answer a brief mini-poll? Please complete the poll by Sunday, October 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET. We will share the results of the poll with you next
week.

I’m surprised the NHLFA has not grown larger than 30,000 members. There are no dues, there are no meetings (that I am aware of). With the power of the Internet, people join groups with ease. I’m wondering why there hasn’t been more of an electronic push to make the league relevant?

I mean, jeez, Rory Fitzpatrick got the Netroots (in this instance, grassroots-internet-based hockey fans) to almost land him on the All-Star ballot last season. Where’s the Myspace group? Where’s the Facebook community? Where’s the email list? Where’s the blog network of supporters? Or are hockey fans too apathetic to really take part in an organized coalition of fans? You saw these protest groups by the dozen during the lockout and yet how many of them can say that they are still around?

The NHLFA is not irrelevant in any case — simply look at the fans that belittle Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell and other league changes and issues and you will find a passionate fanbase that wants to influence the game of hockey… But with such a rabid base come volatility (”Get rid fo the southern teams! Add more teams to Canada! Ban the salary cap! Ban the New York Rangers!”) and a voice of moderation representing those fans is needed.

Now the question is, can the NHLFA take the next step forward and make itself more relevant to the fans and the National Hockey League? Or will it continue to muddle on and remain on the outside, looking in? I interviewed Jim Boone in 2004 at the beginning of the NHL lockout and he cited costs and time among other issues that hold back the NHLFA (a non profit entity). There are ways to get around those issues, of course, but reaching out to members and the Internet hockey community is the first step in finding that. Boone and Jim Spendlove (his partner) need to take that step.

At any rate, there is a mini survey being conducted at by the NHLFA with some current league issues being among the questions.

I was checking news feeds from my favorite blogs and David Singer’s The Ice Block got my attention… “NHL Network Coming to America” was a compelling post title seeing people have been waiting for this forever…

Well, forever is here. Forever is now. Especially in Tampa Bay.

I haven’t checked the other local cable operators but Bright House Networks offers the NHL Network as part of their Sports Tier package ($2.99 extra) on channel 808 on digital cable boxes. Note, the station is NOT listed in the above link — but it’s there from my own surfing-the-cable-box verification. I personally don’t subscribe to the sports tier — but that may change now that the NHL network (and how long before the NFL network?) is here.

Well, either the NHL thinks highly of the Tampa Bay Lightning or they’re trying to get even with us for something or other…

There’s a news piece out of Pittsburgh (covered here by TSN.ca) stating the NHL is interested in having the Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins open the 2008-09 campaign in Prague, Czech Republic.

Of course, there’s also this bit that shows you how much I’m reading the sports section these days:

A Lightning official confirmed in Sunday’s St. Petersburg Times that the Florida team has been approached by the league for participation.

Lightning vs. Penguins and vice versa is a thrilling match-up when both teams are playing up to their potential. It’s also a superb marketing tool. The only problem I see is, well, Gary and company? You guys still do a shit job marketing in the US — let alone in Europe. I know you need to make the NHL a global product but you also need to strengthen your exposure at home. Just saying…

I’ve been trying to focus on some responsibilities away from Boltsmag… Yesterday was a day especially where I was focusing away from the site and hockey in general.

Keith, my Calgary Flames fan friend, dropped an email to me that Bill Wirtz had died. It wasn’t a matter-of-fact email, it was a quip.

And yet reading the news piece itself, all I could do was smirk. The true “Dollar Bill” of hockey and his anal, tightwad, ancient ways were no longer going to rule the Chicago Blackhawk franchise… His grip on NHL leadership is gone.

Bill Wirtz reputation as an owner is comparable to Hugh Culverhouse and Bill Bidwell of the NFL (Culverhouse, since passed, was Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner — and a tightwad himself while pledging millions for philanthropic causes)… Wirtz had control of one of the Original Six NHL franchises and ran it into the ground — milking the team for what money he could get, alienating the fanbase and making the Blackhawks irrelevant in the hockey world. He didn’t just alienate fans but turned of generations of midwesterners to what should be one of the marquee franchises of pro sports.

Bill Wirtz is dead, and all I can do is smirk. This overlooks the mans own philanthropic deeds and how it improved lives (though I do not know what he has given to or who he has supported with his money). Just as well, his legacy for me will be handcuffing the ‘Hawks.