COMMENTARY: A LOT OF SLURPEES
Photo: Dan Robertson
(Listen daily for the RP Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)
We hit a nerve in Winnipeg on Wednesday, without meaning to.
A viewer to the RP Show asked my thoughts on the 4,000 empty seats at the Jets/L.A. Kings came Tuesday night.
Without hesitating I mentioned that the clock is ticking on the Jets 2.0’s time in Winnipeg. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
I mean, c’mon. When the Jets returned in 2010, moving from Atlanta as the Thrashers if you recall, many of us wondered how long it would last.
It’s been a very good run; over a decade of sellouts and the Jets have largely been a very good team in that time. Thanks to GM Kevin Cheveldayoff for that, and seemingly owners David Thomson and Mark Chipman for opening their cheque books to be competitive because as hockey people know, the Jets have challenges many other teams don’t.
In fact a quick Google search of David Thomson reveals he’s listed by Forbes as the fourth-richest sports owner in the world with a net worth of $52-billion.
That’s a lot of Slurpees.
But if there’s one thing I know about rich guys, and I’ve been around a ton of them in sports, they don’t like blowing money. That’s how they, or their families, got rich in the first place.
I realize that in 1996 when the Jets left Winnipeg for Phoenix it ripped the heart out of the city. Any thought of that happening again is unthinkable for Winnipeggers. However if you can’t afford the NHL anymore, that’s the way it is. Don’t blame me.
And I’m not afraid to talk about subjects people don’t want to talk about. In fact, when it comes to sports, that’s rinkydink compared to the life and death stuff I deal with daily in my other career.
The Jets have sent out some veiled threats via the media the past couple of years that that rink needs to be filled. Costs of running an NHL team keep going up, the Canadian dollar certainly doesn’t help, and declining revenues are there for us all to see.
Sorry for hitting a nerve. But the truth always hurts.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)
When the Jets came back it gave hope to the idea the Nordiques would come back. At the end of the day since 2010 a lot has changed in life most of all perspective. First off, nobody can go back, and the good ‘ol days are not necessarily the good ‘ol days. Here Here!!!! “And I’m not afraid to talk about subjects people don’t want to talk about. In fact, when it comes to sports, that’s rinkydink compared to the life and death stuff I deal with daily in my other career.” #MeToo – I am just finishing Beth Macey’s… Read more »
spot on fella spot on
WPG – we’ve got better things like the bombers, sea bears, gold eyes, great live music venues and dive bars. whose paying 14 dollars for a beer when a tall boy is two toonies tax in @ vendor?? The ice left here and no one noticed . get em while you can
If anyone has the time to read the Winnipeg Sun. Have a gander at what that Province just elected lol. The Province should be renamed NDP Titanic and that’s what will come here you people. If you’re living in Winnipeg – between their civic policitics and now Provincial situation. The mandate is clear. Do no own property, do not start a business, and do not move their for any reason – the taxes are going to sky rocket, business will be turned away, and the money is not going to support the addicts, deadbeats, dregs on society and when that’s… Read more »
” scottie moe in the middle “