Ordinarily at this time of year with baseball over, football on Thursday night through Monday evening, the temperatures falling, the leaves off the trees and more darkness than sunlight, nothing pleased me more than coming home and flipping through the NHL Centre Ice games to watch some hockey.
Of course, I can’t do that since the NHL lockout continues with no end in sight. I had believed The Hockey News, who said at the outset that neither training camp opening nor the start of the regular season were drop dead dates to the owners to seriously negotiate with the players; it was the Winter Classic. This year’s New Year’s Day game was to be held in “The Big House;” the University of Michigan Stadium between two Original Six teams – the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the latter the first Canadian team to appear in a Winter Classic.
The Winter Classic is a big deal – it starts NBC’s hockey coverage for the year; provides an alternative to the college bowl games, and this year, from what I hear, all 109,000 tickets had been sold and there has been strong interest in jerseys and other collectables. But the NHL would owe the university a large sum of money if the game isn’t played, so stories have it that the game will be cancelled tomorrow. Meanwhile, the sides aren’t talking and no talks are even scheduled.
One of the things that also makes hockey so appealing to many of us is its underdog nature. It isn’t as popular as football or basketball or baseball. It’s easy to be a fan of baseball or football – there are tons of games broadcast on free television or basic cable. But you have to pay for hockey or search for it on regular TV. In this way, the fans feel even married to the product – in order for us to have hockey, we want the NHL to prosper. We want the owners and players to make money – we pay it willingly.
But, once again, Commissioner Gary Bettman and the owners don’t care. The league is in better shape than it was at the time of the last lockout, which cost us the 2004-2005 season. But they want to crush the union and will cancel yet another season to get their way. However, the league is in better shape, and it is very hard to cry poverty when “small market teams” like Minnesota are spending almost $200 million on the top two free agents last summer. And the players can play in Europe (and in a slap in the face, ESPN3 is going to show some games from Europe, but this is definitely an 80-20% split in blame between the owners and players.
So, I’m going to go out on a limb; if the owners cancel this season, let’s have the KHL and the European Leagues be the only professional hockey leagues. I know I won’t be able to attend any games live, but let’s just tell Bettman and the owners to shove it up their collective asses.

Just when you thought that George Lucas couldn’t get any richer, it was announced that Lucas sold Lucasfilm Ltd., Industrial Light and Magic, and the rest of the Lucas film empire to Disney for $4.05 billion, $2 billion reportedly in cash.
The first announcement from “The House of Mouse” was that Star Wars – Episode 7 is scheduled for 2015 beginning a new trilogy of new films “every two to three years” according to the press release.
Now, that’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that, of course, the second trilogy, the “prequels” if you will, instead of ending the story, only set us up for more films, more toys, more tie-ins, etc. And considering that only parts of Episode II and most of Episode III were worthy of the quality of the first trilogy (IV – A New Hope; V – The Empire Strikes Back – the best of the whole series; and the lesser finale – Episode VI – Return of the Jedi), looking forward to more doesn’t make a Sci-fi lover like myself feel all warm and fuzzy.
Lucas himself said after the end of Episode III that he could now go back to making smaller movies, but all he’s done since is another sequel to his Indiana Jones series, and a special effects laden story of the Tuskegie Airmen called “Red Tails.” Not exactly “Ordinary People,” and besides, “Star Wars” hasn’t ended with the animated “Clone Wars” still running on Cartoon Central cable channel.
But then, George Lucas has never been known for humanity in his films. He has always been more comfortable with machines than men (the stories of how he mistreated actors in the Star Wars films are legendary), and as a writer, he may be the worst major filmmaker in history in writing dialogue (the scenes between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in Episodes II and III are , at best, funny, at worst, cringe-worthy). In many ways, Lucas has had a greater impact on film through ILM and Skywalker Sound than in the Star Wars movies anyway.
Plus, George Lucas is a one (or two) trick pony. Once he found the story of Star Wars (at first, it was Luke Skywalker’s story, but really, it is the story of Luke’s father Anakin Skywaker/Darth Vader, that is the basic story. He has certainly had the money/time to do something else, but instead, he keeps going back to that well, probably because he doesn’t have anything else to say.
On the positive, there is a whole universe of books and comics that have taken the story forward covering the life of Luke, his sister Leia, her children with Han Solo, and so many made up characters. While no fan of the expanded Star Wars universe, I’m sure that plenty of these stories are better written than Lucas’ screenplays. In that way, new blood, ideas, may be a shot in the arm for the franchise.
No matter what happens, it can’t be any worse than Episode I.

If athletes leave their youthful professions with some of their riches, their brains intact, and the rest of their bodies in relative good shape, they still aren’t safe from people who try to steal their money. A few months ago, Cal Ripken, Jr’s mother was kidnapped and forced to drive around and use her ATM card until they were stopped and the kidnapper captured. In her case, thankfully, Mrs. Ripken was unhurt.
The same can’t be said for former All-Star pitcher Pascual Perez. The 55-year-old Perez was killed during a robbery at his Dominican Republic home. One report said that a possible motive for the attack/robbery may have been the fact that Perez had just received his Major League Baseball pension payment. Local police are investigating but there are no suspects in custody.
In 11 seasons, Perez went 67-68 with a 3.44 ERA. He was an All-Star with the Braves in 1983 and also pitched for the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees. Perez may be best known for missing a start while pitching for the Expos on Aug. 19, 1982, because he was circling Interstate 285 in search of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
All too often in other countries, former players are robbed, killed, or current players have loved ones kidnapped. Many of these athletes have a tough enough time getting acclimated to the world after sports than to also have to deal with people with designs on what remains of their money.

I’ve been extremely busy with work and the Indignant Family, so I haven’t had the opportunity to comment on the biggest story in sports this week – a very bad week for former Chicago White Sox.
First, let’s discuss the DUI arrest of former catcher Carlton Fisk. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – Fisk wouldn’t be the first ex-player to try and replace the roar of the crowds with drugs and/or alcohol. I think that it may happen more often to those players who were more of the “old school” types, who played hard and partied hard. They had a definite opinion on how the game should be played and a sense of their own commitment and drive, and when it’s gone, it’s an even bigger hole in their psyches? It’s sad and will play out in the usual way – court, some sentence, perhaps rehab. Let’s just be glad that no one was hurt or killed, least of all Carlton Fisk.
Now, let’s get to firing of Ozzie Guillen by the Miami Marlins. Everyone could see the writing on the wall; Guillen was hired to be another draw for the new stadium, and to be a positive PR move to the areas huge Hispanic population. Plus, the formerly moribund financial franchise was spending money to contend in the NL East. We all know how that turned out: Guillen royally pissed off the Cuban population by being quoted that he admired Cuban dictator Fidel Castro; he was very close to being fired then, but he “apologized” and the season began. But the Marlins severely underachieved, finishing 69-93, last place in the division and fourth worst in the National League.
And the Guillen circus roared across South Florida: Guillen ripped lots of people, including owner Jeffrey Loria, and a couple of players said that they hoped that Guillen did not return to the dugout because he blasted them in the media, not face to face. Meanwhile, Guillen’s Chicago White Sox nemesis, Ken Williams was promoted to director of baseball operations and promoted Rick Hahn to General Manager. Williams refused to gloat in an interview I read the other day, but he doesn’t have to – he’s promoted, Guillen’s is out of work.
Ozzie Guillen is likely to stay that way. His mouth has gotten him in tons of trouble. My friend Rick Telander says that Guillen is a 49-year-old who needs to grown up and stop acting like a 17-year-old. I think that’s true, but I think this is a situation of ego gone wild.
As the only manager in over a century to bring a World Series Champion to Chicago, he was suddenly a God of baseball. No longer an up-and-coming manager, he was suddenly the talk of Chicago, so he could turn off the tact monitor and just say, Tweet, anything he wanted about anybody; and he did. Often, Guillen was amusing; sometimes he elicited groans from the fans; many times he had to apologize later to players, the team, the fans, the world.
Will any owner take a chance on giving Guillen the reins of a major league team again? That depends on him of course. Will he learn to be more humble in his dealings with players? Will he learn what he can say and shouldn’t publically and privately? In other words, will Guillen mature?
Only he knows. Will Ozzie Guillen become a better manager by learning restraint? Or will he be the Latin version of Bobby Valentine, whose manner and attitudes got him banished to television until the Red Sox gave his a chance last season? Valentine alienated his veteran team and the multimillion dollar salaried club limped to its worst record in decades. Will Ozzie Guillen end up in a dugout or as the longest serving analyst on ESPN Desportes?

With the NHL holdout now over 1 month old, the players’ association tried to restart negotiations with the league this week, but the league declined. Commissioner Gary “Labor Stoppage” Bettman said this week that it is getting to be unlikely that a full season will be played this year, even more so now that the league has cancelled all games through November 30th.
How about another cancelled season? We remember Bettman and the owners pulling the plug on the entire 2004-2005 season, and that was when the outlook for the league was grim. It is now much brighter, but the union busting tactics haven’t worked, and many players, including Blackhawk star Patrick Kane are signing to play in Europe. And ESPN, who passed on a deal to broadcast the NHL is planning on showing European games on ESPN3 to hockey starved fans.
It just seems like the owners are not interested in the starting the season, at least perhaps until, as The Hockey News speculated at the beginning of the lockout, the Winter Classic. Over 100,000 tickets have already been sold for the New Year’s Day game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and The Detroit Red Wings from “The Big House,” the University of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The tickets are sold; NBC wants a game and a season to follow. Perhaps a couple of weeks before that is the “drop dead date” that will spur the owners to get serious about a settlement that BOTH sides can live with?
The owners tried by publishing their last proposal online to alter the fans’ opinion of owners in the court of public opinion, but the fans aren’t stupid – they know which side has been the sticking point in things.

Several short stories:
• First, I don’t understand cheating and losing. I mean, if you are going to all the effort of breaking the rules, your rules breaking should be successful. So, I don’t understand the San Diego Chargers.
Apparently, the NFL is investigating whether the San Diego Chargers used a banned sticky substance during the October 15th loss to the Denver Broncos. During the game, an equipment manager came onto the field with an illegal substance on hand towels, according to Fox Sports. Line judge Jeff Bergman saw the towels and tried to confiscate the substance. When the equipment manager wouldn’t give it up, the officials made him empty his pockets and found a skin colored or clear type of tape. It wasn’t clear whether the Chargers were on offense or defense when the substance was confiscated.
The Chargers blew a 24-0 halftime lead and lost 35-24, their second straight loss in which they blew a double-digit second-half lead. In 1981, the NFL banned the product Stickum and other sticky substances. If the league determines the Chargers used the substance, they could be fined or lose a draft pick.
OK – cheating happens, especially in the win-at-all-costs world of professional sports. That is why PEDs and secret cameras exist. But usually, when one cheats, you win the game.
• I don’t understand why this doesn’t happen more often, especially in The Big Ten Conference. Last week, the Atlantic Coast Conference issued one-game suspensions to North Carolina freshman linebacker Shakeel Rashad for colliding with a Duke player during a substitution, and three officials from the Duke-UNC and Florida State-Miami games.
In the Duke-UNC game, Rashad knocked down receiver Conner Vernon – who was already lined up – from behind while running in at the last moment from the sideline. Vernon returned to the game on the next play.
The league also suspended head linesman Tyrone Davis and side judge Angie Bartis “for failure to adhere to correct mechanics of the game and rules related to player safety.”
Last week, the officiating at the NU-Nebraska game was abhorrent, and not, not because NU choked and lost. Missed calls against both sides made a mockery of the game, and all of the officials should be suspended if not fired for gross incompetence. But they won’t because Commissioner Jim Delany is too busy counting the money from the Big Ten Network to concentrate on the adequacy of the officials.
• Finally, I don’t understand a futile gesture, especially two. Yesterday morning, I took the train to work and as I was standing there, a small man came up to me. Turns out he was Timothy Wolfe, Republican candidate for the 9th District of the U.S. House of Representatives. Why do I say futile? I have to give the guy credit for running against incumbent Jan Schakowsky, a fairly liberal representative in an area that is filled with Obama and Democratic yard signs, but the poor man came up to me, a large black man in an Obama cap to talk with me. I would think that the Obama cap would have driven him away like Raid to flies, but it didn’t. Now, I know some people are waiting for the verbal argument to ensue, but I just told him that I had already voted (which is true) and he went away.
• Then, on the train home and still wearing my Obama cap, a guy interrupted my iPod music revelry to ask me if I “saw the black helicopters.” At first, I didn’t know what he was talking about, then I said that since I didn’t live in the paranoid fantasy world he lived in I didn’t see any, but that I would be much more worried if Romney and his “see the world our way or else” folks got into the White House. As if you needed reminder – Republicans are fucking nuts.

First, RIP to boxing trainer Emmanuel Steward. Steward died this week at the age of 68. He was arguably the third most popular boxing trainer after the legends – the late Angelo Dundee and the late Eddie Futch.
Steward and his Kronk Gym in Detroit first gained attention when lightweight Hilmer Kenty who won the WBA title in 1980. But Steward’s most famous pupil was Thomas Hearns. The “Hit Man” was the first man to boxing win titles in four divisions (he won five overall) and went 61-5-1 with 48 knockouts as a pro.
Still, Hearns will be known for two of his losses – the Sugar Ray Leonard in 1981 and the best fight ever, the three round loss to Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1985. It was easy to see what the story was with Hearns – he was very tall for a fighter not in one of the bigger weight classes, but he had a big punch. However, if his opponent could withstand the big punch, Hearns lost his composure. That and a suspect chin in what kept Tommy Hearns from being one of the greats.
Steward was still heavily involved in the fight game after Hearns retired. Steward also trained Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya and Wladimir Klitschko among so many others.
But his biggest impact may have been on the other young men in Detroit who spent time at the Kronk Gym and took their aggression out by boxing, not drugs or gangbanging. We will never know how many of those young men there are, but that is the true sadness of losing a man like Emmanuel Steward at such a young age.
On February 1, 2014, David Stern will end his 30 year career as commissioner of the NBA, it was announced this week. Stern has had an epic run: he came to the league when it was nearly dead – a nearly non-existent television contract, lots of empty seats. Then Stern and the league got lucky – two guys entered the league named Larry Bird and Ervin “Magic” Johnson. That they went to Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t hurt – the Bird vs. Magic rivalry made the league and Stern and the owners rode that train all the way to the bank.
That is not to say that Stern didn’t have an impact – he brought lots of money to the league, six franchises moved during his tenure, but there are also seven more teams than there were when he took the job. The NBA had the first salary cap; the first to negotiate a percentage of revenue sharing with the players. Still, the ultimate mark may be that he presided over the 1998-1999 and 2011 lockouts of the players. Perhaps in these days, that will be the ultimate test of a sports commissioner – the relationships with its unions and how often were the fans deprived of the product.
As I wrote on Facebook, it seems to me that Stern has become more harsh to the players over the past few years, treating them like children or slaves. It may be that as the age difference between the players and Stern has increased, Stern has become less patient and more patronizing. It would be a shame if his legacy was that of a stern, out of touch curmudgeon.