Hockey Labor Impasse: A Laughable, but Sad Battle of the Titans

I can only shake my head in disbelief and laugh as I learn that professional hockey has been cancelled through at least the end of November due to a battle of the multi-millionaires: the team owners and players.

Never satisfied with the riches that the vast majority of Americans could never imagine possessing, the players with athletic ability and the team owners who have financial savvy are always seeking to get the best of each other.

I wonder if "Enough!" is ever heard from the fans of this bloodsport, which has somehow been enshrined as wholesome family fare and fun. Would the fans ever desert the slashers of the game due to the arrogance and callous disregard that they have demonstrated toward those whose hard-earned dollars have ensconced them as kings of the world?

Also worthy of note for its silliness is the fact that the players who earn more for one game than many everyday citizens bring home in a year, are represented by a labor union. A labor union? Good grief! The noble founders of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) fought for basic rights for rank and file workers, such as a 40-hour work week, premium pay for overtime and safe working conditions. Surely they are turning over in their graves over the notion of the spoiled and rich prima donnas of hockey prostituting the phrase "labor union" to facilitate the purchase of another yacht.

A pox on both the houses of the hockey team owners and players, but primarily upon the players. It would interesting to learn what type of work these characters would be performing were it not for their unique ability to sling a puck, block a shot on goal and slam an opponent against the rail. The sad fact is that the fans will return when those involved in this senseless labor dispute snap their fingers and say that they are ready. After all, rioting would have broken out had our elected officials not permitted the Penguins, bolstered by the demands of hockey fanatics, to steal hundreds of milions of dollars of public money over a 30-year payoff period to build the new ice palace for the shameless "King" Mario Lemieux.  How smart does that mammoth investment look now, as basic human services are cut and shortfalls in education funding trigger massive tax increases? It boils down to the usual phenomenon: cockeyed priorities.