from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

The Answerman returns after a lengthy hiatus, to ponder the latest developments in the all-too-predictable labour dispute between NHL owners and players …

Q: What is it about work stoppages in professional sport that so ramps up your crankiness quotient? Usually you are the soul of even-handedness and understanding.

A: One simple reason: The coming NHL lockout is so unnecessary and so easily avoided, if only reasonable people would sit down, skip past the obligatory rhetoric, posturing and other stall tactics currently preventing meaningful negotiations – and get down to the business of give and take. Sadly, that’s not likely to happen until December at the earliest.

Until then, both sides will try to impress you with how firm their resolve is. They’re digging in for a long siege, and since they’re not actually moving very fast off their respective starting points, it’ll leave them lots of time to convince you – the fan – that they hold the moral high ground in this dispute.

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