I've been a hockey fan since, oh, about age 4 or 5. Having been a fan for over thir...well, for a very long time, you'd think I'd be nearly suicidal over the NHL lockout. But really, for me, it's just one big YAWN.

The NHL that is shuttered right now is not the NHL I fell in love with. It became too expensive and too boring to watch. I miss the NHL, but I miss the days of Bobby Orr, Terry O'Reilly and Phil Esposito, the days of Mike Bossy and Clarke Gillies, the days of Ray Bourque and Cam Neely (yes, I know I've left Wayne Gretzky off the list...I do NOT miss him!). I do not miss these days of multi-millionaire players playing chicken with multi-millionaire owners. Ah, but this dispute isn't really that simple, either. Really, the big battle is the Rich Owners v. the "Poor" Owners. The only real sane solution is contraction. Hockey in the Sun Belt, if it should exist there at all, is best left to the bus leagues. With NASCAR's firm hold on the fourth slot in the sport heirarchy (after MLB, the NFL and the NBA), there's little attention--or money--left for the NHL, especially in the South.

The over-expansion of the NHL--the root of the league's problems as I see it--is right down to owner greed: "Get those expansion teams in and get those expansion fees into our pockets and to hell with whether or not those teams can survive or if the quality of the talent is diluted beyond the NHL being a watchable product."

With contraction needs to come some kind of salary cap/luxury tax/revenue-sharing solution as well. Otherwise, assuming there is an NHL then, we'll be right back here in another ten years.

But enough of all that! What caught my eye today was this little ditty out of Philadelphia: Evidently, Flyers goalie Robert Esche referred to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman as a "madman". So, general manager Bobby Clarke phoned Esche and told him it's one thing to back his union but he was being disrespectful toward Bettman by making his comments personal.

Wow. Considering how absolutely classless Clarke has proven himself over and over again by disparaging Eric Lindros in the press when Lindros was suffering with post-concussion problems and his sickeningly scummy treatment of former coach Roger Nielson, he's the LAST PERSON ON THIS PLANET to be going all Emily Post on his players!

(Oh yeah, and let's not forget how Clarke supported one-time players union leader Alan Eagelson, even after he knew Eagleson was screwing the players over and essentially stealing their money. Yeah, Bobby sure knows all about backing his union...)