Dropping the gloves

The news released yesterday that the Nashville Predators have a new local owner who intends to keep the franchise is good news for the few loyal fans that reside there, but to the rest of the state, most wouldn't even notice. It is also unfortunate that the franchise had a fire sale and the team will not be anywhere near as competitive this year. That being said, the most interesting part of all this is the drama between Craig Leipold the current owner and Jim Balsille the man who tried to buy them. Leipold criticized for his attempts to take the franchise away and the slick behind the scenes dealings of the lawyers trying to make this happen. The truth is that Balsille didn't really go about getting the team the right way and pissed some people off. This doesn't change the fact that there are at least half a dozen better, more competitive markets in Canada for this franchise. I know it would suck for Nashville to loose this team, well, a few thousand may care, and that Leipold was pissed off, but the fact is Gary Betman and his American friends who unfortunately run the league these days are to blame. They never should have moved here in the first place. Or many of the other southern markets for that matter. It detracts from the fact that people down there generally don't care about the game. Not all, obviously or these franchise wouldn't be there in the first place, but you cannot tell me with a straight face that there are not better markets out there, even within the United States, and that Gary Betman has not turned his back on Canada. He wouldn't have a league if it wasn't for Canada yet he continues to ignore us. It is pitiful, sad and shows no real leadership or foresight. He loves money, not hockey and no amount of slick word play on his part will ever ever convince me of this. He is not the right man for this job, but has somehow managed to maintain power. He must have some real powerful friends because it makes no sense to me. And yes, while the on ice product was good this year, that was the doing of the competition committee, not Gary. So, I will once again be forced to watch games with empty seats this year, and another team in a market far away make a run to a cup that the city doesn't know exists...sigh...and they wonder why Canadians like beer so much.