The hot hockey news of the day is that the owner of the Edmonton Oilers wants a new arena for his team. I can appreciate wanting brand new and shiny and I can appreciate wanting his team to look their best but what I can't appreciate is demanding that the taxpayers of Edmonton fund the operation of the new arena to the tune of $6million a year. Who is he to hold the taxpayers hostage? And what is worse, not all of those taxpayers actually give a damn about hockey.
How much profit does this man make in a year by owning this team of hockey players? And now he is holding the taxpayers hostage to pay for his income, all of this for a hockey team. Now, I understand that the players do work hard to do what they do. One and all, when they are on the ice they are working hard and when they are off the ice, they work just as hard to keep in shape but this is a GAME, something that most of us in Canada played as a kid. Why is it they are getting paid millions a year to play a game? Other than a lot of sweat, they don't produce anything. It is really cool watch them skate, and I do appreciate watching a well played game but is it really worth the millions a year that is paid to the players? Is it worth everyone being on the hook for $6million to keep one persons profits up?
As a society, we are continually put on the hook for bigger and bigger sports venues, bigger and bigger salaries to the players, be them football or hockey or baseball, and having the sports becoming a bigger part of what is classified as news. The athletes are good at what they do, they work hard but what they are working hard at are GAMES. You want the price tag for a ticket to go down so you can enjoy a game? Until everyone stands up and says ENOUGH, it just won't happen. We all will be told we must pay more just for the privilege to have a team in our city.
It is your wallet that is being drained, for a GAME.
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