Canadian Mike Fraser has created a petition website for NHL fans that are sickened at yet another potential NHL lockout due to current failed NHL-NHLPA contract negotiations. The statement (petition) is this:
Greetings, I just signed the following petition addressed to: NHL & NHLPA.
We as NHL hockey fans are currently dissatisfied with the pace, candor and urgency of the current negotiations to deliver a new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL & NHLPA by the September 15, 2012 deadline. This letter is meant convey our dissatisfaction to the NHL and NHLPA and to serve as reminder that FANS are in fact your most important partner in generating revenue. If both the NHL and NHLPA within 10 days of this
petition being delivered do not assign more urgency and focus to the current labor negotiations, I as an undersigned fan will act by A) Vigorously boycotting any NHL & NHLPA merchandise B) Vigorously boycotting any major sponsors of the NHL and NHLPA C) Contact all major media partners of the NHL and NHLPA and voice my displeasure with the current state of labor negotiations. We the undersigned fans will accept nothing short of a full 2012/2013 hockey season delivered on time and with an amicable Collective Bargaining Agreement in place.
Sincerely, [Your name]
OK, so let me comment on the petition and what-not.
First of all, I can see the fans' frustrations. Hell, we buy the merchandise and pay for the tickets to go to games (and in Canada primarily. for the most part you pay an obscene amount of money. We really are a big part of their generated revenue, especially with ticket pricing.) So why in the hell should we sit back and watch these millionaire/billionaire zombies duke it out while WE suffer through another potential lockout? Hey, these f****s could have started negotiations a lot earlier, right? I mean, the differences in sides / opinion were predictable. So you and I, the fans of NHL hockey, are potentially going to "suffer" because an agreement cannot be reached.
Flip the coin.
The players want to be treated fairly. They want this and that, they want more money and to not be dicked by the owners yadda friggin blah blah. I am not even going to explain it all because I am keeping this simple. Hey, they have a right to feel that way, and to negotiate accordingly. That is their perogative. Whether they are millionaires or not they still have rights and they need to protect them.
Flip the coin again.
But screw these guys. I am coming at you, the fans, from a middle class point of view. All we see and read about is the threats from owners / management and the response from the NHLPA / players that we have come to love and follow. How about we don't buy into this sh*t. Take a stand! I bought a couple of shirts and decals from the Canucks' store on Robson recently, on my vacation. Know why? Because I am an avid Canucks fan from a small town who cannot buy these things back home in Smithers. I will BURN that sh*t and post it here on NM if Mike Fraser gets his total amount of petitions. Bah! Screw that D. Sedin shirt! As fans, our voice is not heard enough throughout all of these negotiations, No, we cannot influence the particulars of the CBA negotiations and I get that. But we the fans are directly affected by a lockout, that is taking hockey away from an adorning fan that PAYS to watch their fave team play. So I can easily jump aboard Mike Fraser's petition.
Can you?
Nothing is mentioned that we watch the games on TV nor see them live. We do not get mentioned in all the damned CBA talks and updates that we see online or on TV.
Make a stand! I am with Mr. Fraser on this one! Don't be a passive Canadian / American NHL hockey fan. Let these parties know that a deal needs to be in place and that a lockout is not acceptable. We are NHL hockey fans, god dammit, and the last time I checked it is US, the NHL fan, that fills the seats at Rogers Arena or any other applicable venue or via satellite that are a major contributor to these guys' salaries.
Ryan Kesler comes back in December so I am ok with a work stoppage? F*CK THAT.
Yea yea the huge majority of us will be there when hockey resumes but screw it! TAKE A STAND! That viewership is expected by these rich f*cks.