LCS Hockey - Cynically Speaking

Cynically Speaking
by Chris Foreman, Correspondent

I'm scared.

Actually, I'm really scared.

I just can't hide it.

And, no, I'm not speaking of those garish Nashville Predators jerseys.

I'm speaking of the petrifying prospect of a winter in Pittsburgh sans the Penguins. Granted, I am at college in Athens, Ohio and can only keep up with the team via Internet radio and reading the Pittsburgh papers online, but the Pens are still my team.

Yes, Columbus is about the same distance from Athens as Pittsburgh is from my hometown of Greensburg, Pa., and the Blue Jackets enter the National Hockey League in 2000-01, my senior year of college. And maybe, by some manner or another, I'll end up in Columbus and may even root for the Jackets.

But, the Pens are my team.

I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed hockey even if I had grown up in Idaho or New Mexico, or some other hockey, ahem, hotbed. However, I don't gain the interest in, knowledge of, or love for hockey if I'm not raised with Mario Lemieux performing his magic on television and in the three times I was fortunate to see him in person before my astonished eyes.

Having begun to follow hockey in the mid-80's, it was incredible to watch the sport become "the thing" in the Pittsburgh area in the early 90's during the two Stanley Cup championship seasons. Penguins jerseys ruled the attire in schools, children braved the cold and, sometimes, even the snow to emulate their "Boys of Winter," and everybody wanted a Boston accent like Kevin Stevens.

Winter was fun. It was my generation's time. We didn't grow up with the storied Steelers or Pirates teams of the 70's. The 80's baseball and football teams lacked a superstar of Lemieux's caliber allowing Mario to dazzle the city and bring hockey to the forefront. The once-troubled past of the team was distant history. As we missed out on the glory of the Steelers and the Pirates, we missed out on the Penguins' economic miseries. Or so I thought.

October 13 was a scary day when I checked out the Pittsburgh papers online. "Bankrupt," the headlines blared. The team has apparently lost $37 million over the past two years and is more than $100 million in debt.

It was the ultimate realization that, indeed, this event was not a sport anymore, but a business. Yet, it's still a business that I care about.

As long as there is a business to care about.

Ownership rifts, unpaid taxes, unpaid checks, arena and television concerns dominate the talk surrounding the organization. All the while, the over-achieving team puts forth a strong effort each night on the ice. Granted, I have an interest in political science, and will probably minor in it, but I don't want to hear about those issues in regard to my team.

I've seen too much movement this decade. The National Football League Rams are in St. Louis. The Raiders are back in Oakland. Baltimore has football again as Cleveland lost its Browns. I see the hurt and disgust and disinterest that Clevelanders have in football. They will get an expansion franchise back next autumn. Should the Penguins leave, hockey is done in Pittsburgh.

Such is the case in Winnipeg, Quebec, and Hartford. Sure, they can throw a token minor league team in the vacated arenas, but it's not the same. Luckily, Commissioner Gary Bettman aims to keep the team in Pittsburgh, but I remember similar statements to the fans in Winnipeg, Quebec and Hartford.

Of all the bankrupt businesses about which one could read, the Pens are in better position than most, if not all. Co-owner Roger Marino's estimated wealth is $400 million. He is so rich, he doesn't even know how rich he is. He could eventually twist partner Howard Baldwin's arm enough to get a strangle hold of the team. But, does he want to keep the team in Pittsburgh. He is, after all, a businessman and seeks the most profit for this business. And, this is a business.

The Penguins have a lease to play in the Civic Arena through 2007. From my understanding, it's not exactly a lease they can break, but strange things happen in business today.

I'm scared because I look at the National Basketball Association, and I see its labor squabbles. That was the NHL just four years ago. It seems like ages ago. That's odd, because each winter day that passed along without hockey seemed like a light-year in and of itself. I have lost my interest in basketball for various reasons, but I fear the ramifications that the loss of a basketball season could have on sports. An ESPN/Chilton poll Nov. 6 reported that 62.7% of sports fans don't care if the owners cancel the NBA season. Among basketball fans, 37.4% said they don't care if the season is wiped out. Think the business of basketball is all right?

I look at baseball, and I see the 1997 World Series Champion Florida Marlins gutted one month after their victory. Their sale was completed Friday, but will the fans in southern Florida return to Pro Player Park after the organization was set back years after its horrid season and saw its manager, Jim Leyland, bail ship? Yeah, Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs and Sammy Sosa cracked 65, but what about next year? The New York Yankees bought their World Series, as the Marlins had the year before, but have the money to retain their nucleus. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a payroll of about $13 million; World Series Most Valuable Player Scott Brosius re-signed Friday with New York for more than $5 million per season. Still think the game of baseball is all right?

I look at football and the $17 billion dollar television package signed in February. I see three teams that have moved this decade, and various stadium deals that are at the crux of whether others may have to leave town. Stadiums become "obsolete" before they're even paid for. Voters keep making concessions for teams to secure new playpens, although I can't fathom how many people can actually pay to watch any of these games.

Nowhere in society but in the business of sports has inflation made more of an impact. The 90's have absolutely destroyed the way we look at sports. I remember a time when just two players earned a million dollars per year in the National Hockey League, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Now, Jeff Beukeboom can go out on the open market to a bidding war and earn more than $2 million. It's not an attack on players, as the prevailing notion of the American society is for one to seek out the best deal for oneself.

There are so many ways I can broaden this topic and warn of the impending Armageddon awaiting professional sports, but frankly, I don't care anymore. I'm sorry, but I'm selfish. An article in The Hockey News cited one team president who feels just five organizations, all American, are truly profitable. The cries in Cleveland, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Quebec, and Hartford have been heard. I feel for them and I don't want to experience what they have experienced. But. I've got my blinders on. I just want to know that my Pirates, Penguins and Steelers will be around. I just want to be assured that they will all be capable of fairly competing for a championship. I just want to know that I can afford to witness their play in person.

I'm scared.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Chris is a sophomore journalism major at Ohio University. He can be reached at cf346297@oak.cats.ohiou.edu)