On the cancellation of the Winter Classic, which was supposed to be played at The Big House in Ann Arbor this year, had it not been cancelled because of the lockout. There were a myriad of events scheduled for downtown Dee-troit, too. On that subject:
Visiting fans from Toronto would have been perfectly comfortable in this bar, with Sara as their guide. Not just because it's the name of a "Hockey Night in Canada" segment either. On the walls, there are black and white photos of old hockey fights at what looks like Olympia Stadium. The railing to the upper level of the bar is made entirely of old wooden hockey sticks.Read the whole thing. I've said it before and I'll say it again: a pox on both the league and the players association. You bastards.
And that's the thing that bothers Farmer. There's so much right now in Detroit to show off to the thousands of visitors. The turnaround in Downtown Detroit is advancing beyond the artists and the hipsters.
The giant Christmas tree next to the public skating rink at Campus Martius would have been the perfect place for a Leafs fan to grab hot chocolate and hang out next to outdoor bonfires between Winter Classic events. There are new restaurants and bars opening all the time now in Detroit. Farmer has worked downtown for 20 years and has witnessed firsthand the fits and starts that came during attempts to rebuild her city.
Right now, there is momentum she believes in. It's momentum that really could have used the Winter Classic to push things forward. But then again, in Detroit, it's never easy.
"You have a downtown that's being revitalized," she said. "Then all of a sudden, you suck the life out of it."
Why is it that negotiations on just about everything have to turn into a pissing contest?
ReplyDeleteNobody wins.
"Nobody wins" is right.
DeleteYou'd think that, having painfully stepped all over their fore-skin once...
ReplyDeleteAnd have they not noticed the economy? This is something from which the league might not ever recover from opportunity cost-wise in terms of long-term lost fan support and revenues..
This is something from which the league might not ever recover from...
DeleteYup. ALL the pundits are sayin' that, some of the players are sayin' that, and more importantly, a LOT of the fans are sayin' that.
Damn, damn, damn. I had forgotten about the Winter Classic. Damn!
ReplyDeleteGreed, innit a wonderful thing?
Stupidity rules supreme!
In re: stupidity. It's so stupid it's fucking criminal.
DeleteI dunno, Buck; it seems to me the writer somewhat overstates the 'recovery-in-progress' in Detroit. But yeah. . . cancelling the Winter Classic sure don't help. The whole thing just woulda been all kinds of cool, and Detroit would've shown where the whole 'Hockeytown' thing came from. It was set up to be crazy awesome (and that's even acknowledging that the centerpiece was gonna be at That School Down the Road). Alas. . .
ReplyDeleteI'm already on record as saying they should just blow the damn league up and start over, with folks who have a clue. Anybody who buys an NHL ticket anytime in the next three years is just enabling the bastards. They've made it perfectly clear that they simply don't give a shit about their fan base (they think we're morons who just can't function without their games), and they don't understand the fundamental economics of their own business (ie, where their money comes from in the first place). . .
I haven't been in Detroit since 2000, so I'll take your word about the recovery. Your word and the words of others who have written about the state of affairs in my former beloved city. And you're oh-so-correct about the basic economics of the game; this lockout is REALLY gonna hurt the NHL.
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