I’ve never lost a billion dollars.
It’s not easy to lose a billion dollars. It’s even harder for an individual to lose $1,000,000,000.00
Sure, there have been moves made by individuals that have cost more than a billion in stockmarket value, but how many canactually stand up and shout to the world that they let aBILLION DOLLARS in cash disappear into thin air?
I couldn’tname one off the top of my head that has lost cash money of 1 billion dollars or more, until today.
Congratulations Bob Goodenow, President of the NHL Players Association. You turned down 30 teams paying what would probably average out to 35mm dollars in salary per team for this year. That’s more than $ 1,000,000,000.00 in cash that would have been paid to NHL players this year.
That’s 1 Billion dollars that NHL players will never, ever, ever collect. Because of you. That puts you in rarified air. All you had to do was come off your high and mighty no salary cap horse in July rather than February
What’s ironic is that aBillion dollars is more than NHL teams will earn collectively over the next 25 years, under any deal.
The good news is that the NHL stuck toits guns. A strong financial foundation will make the league more viable in the short and long term. That will benefit NHL players far more than anything the NHLPA has done. Why was it so tough for Goodenow to realize that businesses that are at least breaking even can pay more money to more employees than businesses that are losing money?
In spite of Goodenow, the NHLs strength of conviction means that kids around the worldwho are putting their heartsand souls into hockey with dreams of playing in the NHL can rest easy. The NHL didn’t cave. They will survive.
People think the milestone to come out of this lockout was the first cancellation of a season. It wasn’t. That was a breakthrough.
The milestone was that Bob Goodenow joined a very exclusive club of people who have lost a billion dollars. Cash. That would have belonged to guys he probably calls his friends. Or at least used to.
Here’s hoping that the NHL players realize just how badly he abusedthem and make a quick change to save some of that money he lost for them.
I’m re-upping my Dallas Stars season tickets and if it comes to it, I will enjoy watching replacement players as much at the American Airlines Center as I did watching the Cowboys with replacement players in Texas Stadium.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come tothat andthe players realize that they should be the ones working and getting paid, not Bob Goodenow