That smile. Gary Bettman is a saucy fellow.
It’s Thanksgiving in the land of Uncle Sam, and after yet another setback in NHL negotiations, the hockey world refuses to smile back at Gary Bettman. Not that it ever did; but it certainly seems more palpable on a day of thanks.
With people taking to the twitter machine to broadcast what they’re thankful for to the world, it is clear that nobody — literally nobody, except for maybe 30 or so very wealthy people and a couple of internet trolls — is thankful for Gary Bettman. Here is a (very) small sample of said sentiment.
Oh hey props to that #Flyers fan for confronting The anti-Christ the other day. And by the anti-Christ I mean Bettman
— Mack, Philip (@pillerymack) November 22, 2012
In reality the only thing I’m not thankful for is Gary Bettman.
— Ashley Schroeder (@aamschroeder) November 22, 2012
Gary Bettman is what it would be like if Romney had won.
— Ben (@benhas19voices) November 22, 2012
#MentionSomeoneYouAreThankfulFor not bettman
— Krystal Williams (@kdrizzyallday) November 22, 2012
#MentionSomeoneYouAreThankfulFor not Gary bettman
— Jared Jacobson (@NyRfan123) November 22, 2012
#NotThankfulFor Gary Bettman aka enemy number 1 aka dumbass
— Joe benning (@Igotthe_MOJOE) November 22, 2012
Im thankful for gary bettman #shitnoonesays
— Travis John (@ND_Publin) November 22, 2012
Another proposal turned away by the NHL. How does going down in history as the elf who destroyed hockey feel Bettman?
— Brett Baker (@thebrettbaker09) November 22, 2012
I’m thankful for Jason Witten, Raul Ibanez, and Mike D’antoni. Not thankful for Gary Bettman whatsoever though.
— Skyler Gilbert (@SkylerJGilbert) November 22, 2012
(Note on the above: Jason Witten? Raul Ibanez? Mike D’Antoni? Seriously?)
I hope everyone has a really nice Thanksgiving. Except Gary Bettman. I hope his turkey falls on the floor.
— Dwight (@NiteClubDwight) November 22, 2012
#ImThankfulFor Gary Bettman bc now I know I’m not the biggest asshole in this world
— Rachel Greenstein (@ryan_nugget) November 22, 2012
I’m not thankful for Gary Bettman #endthelockout
— Nicole D’Ambrosio (@nicolealyssa25) November 22, 2012
Gary Bettman does not deserve a Thanksgiving dinner. #ThingsImNotThankfulFor
— Paul Fredenburgh IV (@phfrediv) November 22, 2012
In my holiday movie, @nhl Bettman’s wife tells him to stop acting like a douche bag and locks him out of the house on Thanksgiving.
— Hank Jumblee (@WordRighter) November 22, 2012
I would be thankful if Gary Bettman got fired and ended the lockout
— Derek Gilbreth (@dtgil13) November 22, 2012
Nothing makes a holiday happier than casual internet vitriol.
Unfortunately, for those of you who want him fired, I don’t think that NHL owners monitor twitter when debating important business decisions. In fact, if Barack Obama saying they need to sort it out didn’t get it sorted out, well… This isn’t going to end well.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
The players should publicly counter with a statement that says “We will sign your proposal today if Gary Bettman steps down and signs a formal agreement to leave the NHL forever”.
Bettman’s not really the problem and removing him wouldn’t change the message being said. He’s just a mouthpiece for the owners and a figurehead for the fans and players to villify in place of the owners themselves. Gary’s the proverbial ventriloquist’s dummy that allows the guy controlling the puppet to say all sorts of outrageous things on stage without fear of reprisals – the only difference is that Bettman has 30 different hands up his butt, instead of just one. Removing him is like taking away the ventriloquist’s dummy, only in this case, what you’re left with is 30 men looking rather awkward on a stage, all saying the same stupid stuff while waving their hands around.
You can call Gary Bettman many many unpleasant things (and I’d probably agree with most of them like the majority of hockey fans out there) but the truth is that virtually every bad decision he’s made in the last 2 decades has been voted on and given the green light by about 30 other people. At the very least, if the owners didn’t like what he’s been up to he wouldn’t still be here, so I say lay the blame where it belongs. Instead of falling for the same old red herring the owners have been throwing the fans way for years, we should be sending out tweets with #PUCKTHEOWNERS” on them, not “#PUCKGARY”…