Follow @james_tanner123 The NHL is a business. As much as it sucks sometimes, I was just a kid when Wayne Gretzky was sold to the LA Kings by a bunch of crying, but never-the-less, profit hungry hypocrites, so I'm part of the first generation of people who grew up cynical and jaded about the game of hockey.
Whether we're talking lock-outs, fighting, concussions, the cost of putting kids in hockey, or it's hesitation to treat star players like everyone else when it comes to discipline, the NHL seemingly has no shame when it comes to making a buck.
But by far it's shadyest practice involves bilking tax payers out of millions of dollars in order to finance it's game played by millionaires for billionaires.
It's the oldest scam in the sporting world: blackmail the city you play for into financing your new arena so that you can make a profit on the backs of ordinary citizens.
If I wrote an article about how welfare payments to poor people should be trebled, how the war on drugs should be ended, how minimum wage should be raised and rich people taxed more, people would call me a commie, a stupid liberal and whatever else. This despite the FACT that all those things are PROVEN to help the poor and make the world a better place.
It's not my opinion that those things would decrease poverty. It is a fact.
But, a multi-millionaire can ask for a quarter-billion dollar handout from a place filled to the brim with poor people and no one tells him to go _____ himself.
Trickle-down economics do not work. If you finance rich people so that they open factories, what actually happens is they by yachts. This isn't up for debate - it's a known fact. It's also the main reason our society is so anti-intellectual. If more people understood this, then they would revolt.
So, a world was set up so that intellectuals could be mocked, statistics ignored and anything the slightest bit off-centre would be considered impossible.
Have you ever tried to explain to someone why renting is better than buying? The facts are 100% in your favor, but odds are, they told you that you were an idiot.
In this world, it might seem like a good idea to have a hockey team in your town. You would bring in some millionaires, have something to sell, the economy would be stimulated........and so on and so forth.
Except it's total bullshit.
But most professional sports teams don't own the place they play. They rent.
In most cases they try to get the government to fund it.
And in 100% of cases, tax payers get screwed.
If Gary Bettman wasn't a multi-millionaire with contempt for everyone who wasn't, he would be embarrassed to get on his private jet, fly to Phoenix and ask for government money.
You probably consider the guy you know on welfare to be a loser. But people on welfare don't get enough money to get out of the cycle. You could probably buy a house in Arizona for every single person currently on welfare for the amount of money the cowardly, immoral Gary Bettman just asked for.
Let's not even get into the waste of the Gila River Arena - one of the NHL's best rinks. One that is basically brand-new.
Is it in a bad location? Yeah, but whose fault is that?
Gary Bettman is asking the state of Arizona to pay $225 million dollars to finance a new stadium.
It's disgusting. He should be ashamed.
No public money should ever go to finance a game played by millionaires, for billionaires.
If you can't fund your league without handouts, then go away.
The NHL is nice. It's great to have a team in your city. But taking money away from hospitals and schools is pretty stupid. The NHL should be ashamed, but it's just business as usual.