No NBA is good news for the NHL
Here's your real winner in the NBA lockout
It’s looking like the NBA season will be lost to the labor woes that are seemingly all the rage these days. NBA commissioner David Stern has already cancelled games through December, and if the players don’t come to their senses soon, Stern will pack up his balls and go home. The Nuggets will be the clear losers if their league is prevented from playing this season, because not only does a canceled season wipe out any good will with the fans, it takes a team that was already talent-challenged and sets it back even further.
You can probably cross going to any Nuggets games off your to-do list this winter. Nearly all of the players that came over in the Carmelo Anthony trade have shipped off to European or Asian teams. Kenyon Martin took a break from blasting haters with AIDS ridden tweets to bid farewell to Denver Nugget fans and pack his bags for China. Several other players, such as Wilson Chandler, are now playing in Asia behind stupefying contracts that don’t allow them to come back this season, even if there is a season. Just like the NHL before it, the NBA needs an economic reality check, and, while we lament the loss of basketball, it will probably be better for the game in the long run.
The NFL did the right thing. Realizing it was foolish to leave that much money sitting on the table, the players and owners made sure there was a season. That season is currently in full swing and seems to have not missed a beat despite its flirtation with cancellation. We have seen an increase in strange, non-contact injuries that could be attributed to the short amount of practice time, but really, the sport couldn’t be healthier. Sure, the Broncos aren’t that healthy—they’re busy selling off the farm to build for the future and should have moved a couple pieces by the time you read this. Still, as we ramp up for Full-Tebow-Ahead in Denver, the NBA should take note that the NFL’s labor problems are now just a memory as far as the fans are concerned.
Plenty of people will miss basketball, but a hockey blogger I know said that he wished that the NFL season had been canceled along with the NBA. That may sound like blasphemy to fans of either sport, but since the NHL has spent the past few years digging out of the hole its own canceled season put it in, losing those two major sports would have been nothing but a win for pro hockey.
If one league’s labor strife is another league’s windfall, the NHL is primed for a comeback. Your Colorado Avalanche is doing its part to win back your attention in a state that needs something—anything—to cheer about. The NHL lost a season a couple of years back and its players got a harsh dose of fiscal responsibility because of it. The league suffered greatly in terms of popularity and got bumped from ESPN, relegated to a channel that most people don’t even know if they receive.
The Avs suffered, too. The work stoppage brought about the end of the wild spending our home team enjoyed. Now that’s long behind us and the Avalanche has yet again started with a bang, posting a delightful 4-1 record thus far. The Avs did the same thing last season, before royally flaming out after the All-Star break and eventually settling in as one of the worst teams in the league, but there’s reason to be optimistic. If things keep going well for the burgundy and blue, things will start to get loud again down at the Pepsi Center.
No one is truly happy to watch a proud tradition like NBA basketball go down the drain, but if the focus comes squarely back on to the NHL, the fans will take it. After all, if that happens, you will only have two choices for your winter sports watching: learn Chinese or rediscover the Colorado Avalanche.
