The NHL Lockout Gets Personal

I love hockey, which is not exactly breaking news to those who know me.  So it should not be shocking that the latest NHL lockout has been a source of emotional angst for me from the day it was announced.

I know that a preponderance of the American sporting public is yawning and could care less that games are not being played.  Some may even be celebrating that fact.  I understand this with crystal clarity because quite frankly, when the NBA was going through this exact issue a year ago I could have cared less.

This however is personal.  I feel as if something that I love is being forcibly taken away and I am powerless to stop it.   All because some very short-sighted individuals on both sides are letting arrogance, greed, and a feeling of entitlement interfere with common sense.

I’ve tried from the beginning to take a pragmatic approach to this, at least as much as I’m capable.  Alas after last week’s promising talks broke down amidst juvenile sniping and seven figure bruised egos, I officially lost it.  The dueling news conferences held by Betteman and Fehr was the moment the NHL lockout officially jumped the shark.  It was the point where both sides essentially stated, it’s more important for us to WIN the CBA then it is to do what’s best for their sport.  A sport by the way that struggles terribly for mainstream acceptance in most of the United States.

Better yet, the moment Bill Daly uttered his infamous and patently moronic, “this is the hill we will die on” comment, the season was officially in jeopardy. 

I no longer want to make logical arguments even if they are obviously there to be made.  I just want to walk in to a room filled with all of these idiots and scream…DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW STUPID YOU ALL ARE!?!  Remember the age old question, if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around, does it make a sound?

So yes, I’m emotional.  Much more so than I was during the 2004 lockout and even when they ultimately cancelled the season.   I was devastated (in a strictly sports sense) when that happened but I GRUDGINGLY understood.  Regardless of any revisionist history being painted now, the NHL at that time was a financial calamity with an untenable business model.  It had to be fixed, no matter the cost. 

This time, it simply needs a financial nip and tuck.  That makes it impossible to justify nearly three months of lost hockey.

There is however a far more personal element for me this time, one that goes beyond simply my love for the NHL.  It involves the shared love and passion my wife Emily and I have developed for the sport, a love and passion that is woven in to the very fabric of our relationship.  To wit, four of our first five dates involved NHL hockey games.  Last month we drove to Rosemount in the height of Chicago rush hour traffic to watch a charity hockey game put on by the Blackhawks.  Those facts alone should give some insight to the depth of our commitment but there is more…much, much, more.

When we get a massive snow storm in Chicago most people worry about getting home from work and shoveling their driveway.  Emily’s first thought is that we can probably get a really good price on lower bowl seats at the United Center (she’s 100% right by the way). 

We spent the run-up to our late May wedding more concerned about a Pens/Hawks Stanley Cup final match-up (aka DOOM), then of wedding costs, bad weather or a catering mishap.  We were introduced as a new couple to the Penguins, “Boys of Winter” theme song and we danced to Chelsea Dagger during the ceremony.  Hockey memorabilia was everywhere.

My wife made it a point to purchase two tickets to a March 2009 game at the Igloo so I/we could make one last pilgrimage before they tore down the beloved old barn.  She suggested a weekend road trip to St. Louis so we could see the Haws and Pens both play (and lose to) the Blues on consecutive nights.  Heck she even planned a trip from Orlando to Tampa during our week at Disney just so we could root against the Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad.

We have all four episodes of 24/7 Penguins-Capitals on our DVR plus the entire catalog of Blackhawks’ TV episodes.  We have the 2009 and 2010 cup clinching victories for both the Pens and Hawks preserved as well.  These programs have been watched more times than I can remember, most often at Emily’s behest.

Our relationship goes 1,000 levels deeper than hockey and will survive and thrive with or without the NHL.  It does not change the fact that the NHL is an enormous part of our life together, more so than I can do justice to in this forum.  The league and the PA are not just taking hockey away from me or from her.  They are taking it away from us.  It’s yet another element of emotional collateral damage that the billionaires and millionaires ignore while fighting over slices of an enormous pie.

It breaks my heart when Emily laments that her love and passion for the game may be irreparably damaged by this ignorant dispute.  Keep in mind this is coming from a woman who went by herself to watch Blackhawk’s prospect camp this summer, proudly clad in her Antii Niemi jersey.

Certainly I understand and empathize with her disposition which rest assured did not develop overnight.  It started with the cancellation of the Blackhawks Training Camp festival and the associated 5K run.  It continued with the cancellation of the Penguins/Hawks game in November.  It crystalized when for the first time in our relationship we did not see a hockey game in Pittsburgh over thanksgiving.  And there have been countless wasted nights watching reruns of Friends that would otherwise be devoted to the Pens or Hawks.

No matter how much they claim otherwise, Gary Betteman, Don Fehr, and everyone else involved in this moronic conflict do not comprehend the depth of this emotional collateral damage.  They are blind beyond the economics and their selfish need to get the best deal for their side; when a good deal is more than good enough. 

I can accept that Fehr is a hired gun who ultimately could care less about the NHL.  The owners and more so the players however are stunningly ignorant to the reality that their sport and thus their livelihoods rely on the fragile emotional bonds they create with their fans.  Destroy those bonds and the NHL, at least in the United States, could just as soon be Arena Football, nothing more than a winter diversion for parents and their kids. 

It is solely the willing desire of fans to fully vest themselves, emotionally and financially, that allows everyone involved to make the money they do.  Remove that and Jonathan Toews is selling insurance and playing pond hockey in Winnipeg.  No matter how much they claim otherwise, no matter how much they thank us or appear to sympathize with our plight, nobody involved in this dispute truly gets that. 

The NHL and the NHLPA are arrogantly assuming they can survive a second cancelled season if it comes to that.  Their arrogance is rooted in the incorrect assumption that hockey fans are too devoted and passionate about their sport to walk away.  And they could not be more wrong. 

Even the strongest bonds can be broken if enough force is applied.  The same intense devotion and passion that hockey fans are known for could be the explosive instrument that destroys those bonds, if the league is foolish enough to shut down for another season.  There is NOTHING more dangerous in this world than a jilted lover.  Ask Major League Baseball (1995 to 1997) what happens when you overly abuse the trust of your paying customers.  And the NHL today is nowhere near as strong as baseball was when Don Fehr was involved in cancelling the World Series.

I hope both sides wake up to this reality in time to save the season and their sport.  For the first time I’m concerned they may not.

Charlie Batch’s Moment in the Sun

When I think about the greatest wins in recent Steeler history, excluding championships of course, almost every one of them is against the Baltimore Ravens.

There is nothing more fulfilling for a sports fan than a critical victory over a hated rival. Check that…a despised rival. With all due respect (or lack thereof) to New England, Dallas, Cincinnati and Cleveland there is simply no Steelers’ opponent that generates the visceral hatred of the Ravens. And I would have said that before my wife and I endured three horrific hours of emotional debauchery at M&T Stadium last September.

Think about those Steeler victories that make you pound your chest with pride at being part of the Steeler Nation. They are ALMOST ALWAYS against the Rat Birds and frequently in Baltimore. Remember the 92 yard drive and last second Santonio touchdown in 2008? How about the Polamalu strip sack of Flacco in 2010? There are also two recent classics at Heinz Field, the 2008 AFC Championship game and the 2010 divisional playoff comeback victory

“Greatest wins” of course is an extremely subjective measurement. So I use extremely unscientific qualifications for such a designation. How stressed am I during the game? How many times do I throw objects (thank you Limas Sweed) or bang my head off solid objects? How much am I dancing around my condo, pumping my fists and screaming (much to the dismay of Chicago’s West Loop) after the victory?

My wife (and Mike Tomlin) likes to say “a win is a win.” Statistically she is 100% right. And yet there are some wins that are just bigger, that just mean more.

Well we can officially add classic victory in Baltimore to the list.

This one will be remembered as “the Charlie Batch” game. The night the Steelers staggered in to Baltimore and pulled out a phenomenal, season saving victory over the Rat Birds. They did so not only without their star quarterback but with their third stringer as recently as two weeks ago. They did it with a QB who much of Steeler national irrationally and over zealously wrote off after last week’s ugly loss.

The only thing better than this highly improbable victory is the redemption story that came with it. Charlie Batch may never end up in Canton but he’s truly one of the classiest professionals to ever wear the black and gold. The man is the ultimate team player and the prototypical “Pittsburgh guy.” He has not played a lot during his Steeler career but with the notable exception of last weekend has almost always played well when called upon. He deserved MUCH better than to have his Steeler career end on that debacle in Cleveland.

I’m a Steeler fan which means I root for the logo more than I do the names on the back of the jersey. And yet I’ll be the first to admit I’m almost as happy for Batch as I am for the black and gold as a whole.

Let me start off by saying that I don’t think Batch should be the team’s number 3 QB. There is zero doubt in my mind that he gives the Steelers a better chance to win then Byron Leftwich. I made this point repeatedly at Heinz Field two weeks ago as Leftwich limped and gimped through a disappointing loss. I endorsed Batch to be the starter during Ben’s suspension two years ago and have never backed off my contention that he should be the number 2 QB. I simply do not get the coaching staff’s infatuation with Lord Byron whose throwing wind-up is an eerie combination of Major Harris and Bugs Bunny.

That said, Batch was the third quarterback. That means for the better part of eleven weeks he did not take a meaningful snap in practice. In today’s NFL the back-up QB rarely gets practice reps let alone the third QB. So after eleven weeks of inactivity Batch has to start in Cleveland. The Steelers employ a conservative game plan and the team’s running backs respond by fumbling an incredible six time. Let me say that again…six times. On top of which Batch had a 30 plus yard completion to Heath Miller early in the second half of that game that was wiped out by a holding penalty.

I’m not saying Batch played great against the Browns, he clearly did not. At the same time, the overreaction from fans and media was staggering. Batch plays one subpar game, with all the obstacles I noted above and suddenly he is washed up and done? I’m sorry but that’s not a fair evaluation. My honest opinion is that if the Steelers simply hold on to the ball against the Browns they win that game easily and Batch is not being bitch slapped by Rodney Harrison on national TV.

Regardless, it is what it is. The team played awful and Batch was part of it. It was a game they needed very much to win and did not. It was a truly ugly loss in every way.

Of course one of the reasons we considered it a must win game was we all assumed that a victory in Baltimore without Big Ben would be impossible. If the last two weeks, and for that matter this entire bizarre Steeler season has taught us anything it’s that nothing is a given in the NFL. I’ve always thought the “any given Sunday” mantra was a little hokey and overplayed. At the same time I will not deny that at this level, crazy things can and do happen.

I doubt even the most optimistic Steeler fan would have predicted this outcome before kick-off, or even at half-time.

The Steelers simply would not have prevailed without Batch’s strong performance. It was pretty obvious that Baltimore was playing 8 in the box all night to shut down the run. Cleveland did the same thing last week. The Steelers right now do not have elite running backs. Neither Dwyer nor Redman is good enough to succeed consistently driving head on in to eight man fronts.

This game changed when the coaches took the handcuffs of Batch and let him throw the ball. And to their credit they continued to show confidence even when he made a few obviously bad throws. Yes the overthrow of Wallace in the end zone was awful. So were about ten of Drew Brees’ throws on Thursday night in Atlanta. If Ryan Lindley is your third string QB maybe you bail on throwing; with Charlie Batch you let him make plays.

And that’s exactly what he did.

Batch was far from the only reason the Steelers won this game. I could easily devote an entire blog to the brilliant work of the coaching staff and the strong performances of James Harrison, Heath Miller, the offensive line and the defensive backs. Shaun Suisham deserves a major tip of the cap for yet another clutch kicking performance. I could also lament the latest implosion by Emmanuel Sanders and the continued disappointing efforts from Mike Wallace and Drew Butler.

Alas, those are stories for another day or another blog. To me the story of this game first and foremost was Charlie Batch.

This was his defining performance in a Steeler uniform, one we should never forget. It could not have come at a bigger time, could not have happened to a better guy. The victory provided some desperately needed confidence and momentum to a struggling team. And while their playoff hopes likely rest on the Cincinnati rematch, the game provided some critical breathing room.

With father time advancing and Big Ben hopefully returning this very well might be Charlie Batch’s final appearance as a Steeler. If so it was one heck of a curtain call; a deserving swan song for a true class act.