Hockey Hates Me

Why should I care about organized hockey at any level, when organized hockey continuously shows that it doesn't care about me?

Three examples...

I had a show on my college radio station.  WUML at UMass Lowell.  I gave a segment of my show to the hockey coach.  We had a professor who wrote (probably still writes) for uscho.com and we'd talk to the coach and it was great.  We also did a segment with the basketball coach which also included the assistant athletic director.  On at least one occasion we had the athletic director on the air.  Free air time to sell his department.  In exchange, this athletic director sold our station to the Lowell Sun without our consent.  I haven't been to a UMass Lowell game since, and I never will go to another one.  At least not as long as he is the athletic director.  Maybe if he quits I might go back, but until that day... no friggin' way.

I had season tickets to an AHL team for many years.  In fact, during the season the NHL cancelled due to the last lockout, I went to something like 45 games.  I followed my team into the second round of the playoffs.  It was a great season.  Now?  The AHL is no longer an option because my team packed up their shit and moved to another city.  All the money and time and energy I invested in that team and puff all gone.  Screw you fans, we're out of here.

Now we come to the NHL who just seven years after they cancelled an entire season due to an ownership lockout, have locked out the players once again.  This is the third time the reinging commissioner has locked out the players.  What is the reason for the current lockout?  Simple.  A group of 30 billionaires are fighting with a few hundred millionaires over how to split up the money that I give them.

Now I know that only one of these issues affected me directly, and that my beef in two of the cases is with a specific team and not the entire league involved.  I get that.  Still though, why should I invest my time and energy and money into any of these leagues when this is the type of treatment I will receive in return?  How much shit am I as a fan supposed to take before I just tell them all to go to hell?