What A Dreary Valentines Day

I must say, with today being Valentines Day, I thought it was just going to be another ordinary day, another day, and that's all that I wanted to recognize it as since I'm currently very single. No parties, no nothing, just to be able to watch 24 this evening like I do every Monday. However, this Valentines Day will go down in history for me. It will go down in history because it is the eve that Gary Bettman, the commisioner of the national hockey league, will cancel the NHL season tomorrow afternoon at a 1 pm eastern time news conference from New York. When this happens tomorrow, barring any significant changes between now and then, it will be the first time in the US that a professional sports league would've canceled an entire season and playoffs due to labor differences. It will also be the first time the Stanley Cup will not have been awarded since 1919, and that only occurred because of an outbreak of the flu. I must say, this is most depressing to me, it makes me sick that both sides seem to not be able to come to any semblance of an agreement and a new CBA. I'm also disappointed as I am a Washington Capitals full season ticket holder. Granted, I have been very busy with work during the course of the season, and I might not have been able to make it to some of the home games, but at least hockey would've still been played. Instead, we have to go off what ifs. And, when the season is canceled tomorrow, I'll owe my coworker a beer.

I'm most displeased with both the owners and the players. The NHL does not have the fan base, nor the lucrative television deals that the NBA and MLB had, and don't have the financial resources to recover from a canceled season. I'm not even sure if the NHL has the wherewithal to recover even if there is a shortened season, of say, thirty games. The damage to the sport, if there isn't any semblance of a season, would be irrepairable. I guess we'll have to see. In my dream world, I would like to see Bettman announce a new CBA and that the season will be starting in a couple of weeks. But that will only be in my dreams. I suppose I can only hope.

There is one bright side to tomorrow though, especially if the season is canceled. Tomorrow spring training starts, with catchers and pitchers reporting. That means we have little more than a month to go before baseball season starts. Spring is almost here! Baseball is almost here! It will certainly break up the boredom of basketball. Well, I hope we'll have hockey, but at this point, I'm not very optimistic at all.