Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Peddie On Bettman

10/19/2013 at 9:16am EDT

Excerpted from Dream Job

by Richard Pettie at the Globe and Mail,

What I have noticed is that newspapers love to run photos that cast Gary Bettman in a dark light. If they can make him look bad, they will. By 2013, he had been commissioner for twenty years. He is not a basketball guy – he is now a hockey guy, and he knows and loves the sport. Canadian media and fans are really down on him.

I read and hear the ugly things they say about him in letters to the editor or online comments or on talk radio. Yet Gary soldiers through. He gets it much worse than I ever did.

When he was badly booed while presenting the Stanley Cup in Vancouver, I immediately emailed him and apologized for the boorish behaviour of the Vancouver fans. Perhaps some of them were the same ones who rushed out and trashed the city after the game. I also found the way that Gary has been interviewed by Ron MacLean unacceptable (I’m thinking especially of the now infamous June 2010 exchange on Hockey Night in Canada, which was both vitriolic and confrontational). I guarantee that none of the NFL or NBA rights holders in the United States would ever treat a league commissioner that way. If CBC-TV loses its Canadian TV rights, that interview – it was an attack, really – might well factor in the league’s decision.

If he feels threatened by you, Gary Bettman may do something to hurt you, and he has many ways to do that: national broadcast deals, how many games he gives the CBC, the venue for the All-Star game, the venue for the annual outdoor game, another franchise coming into your territory.

continued

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by akwingsfan in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Mathematically… - 3 minutes ago
Comment by Cigar-Nurse in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Mathematically… - 5 minutes ago
Comment by Cigar-Nurse in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Mathematically… - 17 minutes ago
Comment by Bill_H in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Mathematically… - 18 minutes ago
Comment by bigfrog in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Mathematically… - 24 minutes ago