RVJ Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick has some advice for hockey fans who blame the NHL lockout on players' greed: Once it's finally settled, stay home. ``We're going to try to make it better for everybody, period, end of subject. And if you don't realize that, then don't come,'' said Roenick, who spoke at a charity golf event he played in over the weekend. ``We don't want you at the rink, we don't want you in the stadium, we don't want you to watch hockey,'' he said Saturday at the Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational in suburban Pittsburgh. The NHL and the players' association have been in almost daily negotiations to get a new collective bargaining agreement after the lockout that canceled the 2004-05 season. ``I say personally, to everybody who called us 'spoiled,' you guys are just jealous ... we have tried so, so hard to get this game back on the ice,'' Roenick said. Like New York Rangers right wing Jaromir Jagr, who came out last week and admitted that the union's gamble didn't pay off, Roenick said he doesn't think the players can get a good deal at this point. ``I know we are going to give up probably more than any union has ever given up in the history of (professional) sports and, to me, I think that's enough to bring the fans back -- to know what their players are going to give up as much as they have in the last year,'' Roenick said. ``If people are going to chastise professional athletes who are making a lot of money they need to look at the deal we are probably going to end up signing in the next three weeks.'' They better understand that pro athletes are not cocky. Pro athletes care about the game... everybody out there who calls us spoiled because we play a game they can all kiss my (rear)."
Sound_n_Fury Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 ``We don't want you at the rink, we don't want you in the stadium, we don't want you to watch hockey,'' 369365[/snapback] Funny, I was thinking the same thing about Roenick. Stay home, JR, just stay home.
SilverNRed Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 The past couple weeks I've really been looking forward to them getting this thing settled. Now I could care less. Good job, JR. The ironic part is that he sounded like a cocky, spoiled little brat....exactly what he was admonishing fans for saying about him and his buddies. Screw the players. Screw hockey. We have about half a million other ways to spend our time.
Chilly Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 The past couple weeks I've really been looking forward to them getting this thing settled. Now I could care less. Good job, JR. The ironic part is that he sounded like a cocky, spoiled little brat....exactly what he was admonishing fans for saying about him and his buddies. Screw the players. Screw hockey. We have about half a million other ways to spend our time. 369378[/snapback] One man changed your opinion about hockey?
Dan Gross Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 ``I know we are going to give up probably more than any union has ever given up in the history of (professional) sports and, to me, I think that's enough to bring the fans back -- to know what their players are going to give up as much as they have in the last year,'' Roenick said. ``If people are going to chastise professional athletes who are making a lot of money they need to look at the deal we are probably going to end up signing in the next three weeks.'' I heard under the deal being worked out, the players will have to play 3 games a night for $12.00.
kasper13 Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 I think alot of people already had JR's idea and are planning on staying home once the NHL does come back. I think that the NHL and the players have no clue as to the damage done by missing a whole season. I also think that they had no clue as to how bad the game had become before the lockout. That's just another massive slap in the face to the people that pay for the frickin players salaries in the first place- the fans. The players are spoiled and are in for a rude awakening once and for all when they are playing in arenas that are not even a quarter full. The league is still going to lose massive amounts of money with a salary cap of $36 million and no TV contract. Where is the bulk of revenue still going to have to come from? Ticket sales. Prices will not be lowered and other than Detroit and Toronto, the fans are going to save their money and stay home. The only way I would pay to see a NHL game is if the tickets were $5 or less. It wasn't worth it before the lockout. How can it be worth it to pay big bucks to see an NHL game after the lockout is over? What changed exactly?
RJsackedagain Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 I heard under the deal being worked out, the players will have to play 3 games a night for $12.00. 369382[/snapback] And then work the drive-thru late-night hours at Taco Bell .... except in Buffalo where Mighty Taco rules!!!!!
MrLocke Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 I do not agree with what he syas, however I do like it when people speak candidly.
bobblehead Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 Bob Goodenow shouldn't expect a xmas card from Jeremy Roenick this year, I guess. One man changed your opinion about hockey? 369380[/snapback] Perhaps not about hockey itself, but I guarantee this blew any goodwill the players had in the minds of most, and it will hurt the box office. Roenick doesn't quite get that most of America has no clue who he even is - well, I'm thinking there are a lot of people in the league today who would have liked to have kept it that way after his little act.
Mark VI Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 Safe to say he won't be splitting the atom anytime soon. He confused fame with intelligence.
loadofmularkey Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 The past couple weeks I've really been looking forward to them getting this thing settled. Now I could care less. Good job, JR. The ironic part is that he sounded like a cocky, spoiled little brat....exactly what he was admonishing fans for saying about him and his buddies. Screw the players. Screw hockey. We have about half a million other ways to spend our time. 369378[/snapback] I would hope that Roenick's opinion doesn't speak for the rest of the NHLPA. He's a Grade A jackass to begin with. His comments don't surprise me. If anything, I'm more excited for the new season to start so he can get the hell booed out of him and maybe a little extra elbow or slash here and there by players who happen to disagree with him...which I would think (hope) would be most.
R. Rich Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 Safe to say he won't be splitting the atom anytime soon. He confused fame with intelligence. 369427[/snapback] For most of his statement (the parts that didn't make the 6 o'clock news), he put the blame squarely on the players. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave well enough alone and took shots @ the fans also. Roenick is actually a very intelligent person who just made a totally stupid remark.
Fezmid Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 Link please? People shouldn't be copying entire articles without posting a link for a variety of reasons.... CW
CoachChuckDickerson Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 The past couple weeks I've really been looking forward to them getting this thing settled. Now I could care less. Good job, JR. The ironic part is that he sounded like a cocky, spoiled little brat....exactly what he was admonishing fans for saying about him and his buddies. Screw the players. Screw hockey. We have about half a million other ways to spend our time. 369378[/snapback] JR is one of the few players who stood up to the union last year publicly and demanded they get something done to save the season. He cares more about the game than 95% of the players out there. If his comments hurt your "fan ego" then don't let the door hit you...
Coach Tuesday Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 JR is one of the few players who stood up to the union last year publicly and demanded they get something done to save the season. He cares more about the game than 95% of the players out there. If his comments hurt your "fan ego" then don't let the door hit you... 369468[/snapback] I agree that JR has done a lot to help the game, but in this instance his comments were just poorly thought out. A big part of the problem is the timing. We have kids dying overseas, and it just isn't the right time to be making K Winslow "we are the true warriors who sacrifice our bodies" kinds of speeches.
Realist Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 There's an article in this morning's Raeleigh News and Observer that Roenick is pissed that what he said was taken out of context. He called ESPN several times to complain and ask why they didn't show the entire interview, but ESPN never took his calls or called back. I think you should know the whole story before you B word about what one guy says.
Coach Tuesday Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 I think you should know the whole story before you B word about what one guy says. 369473[/snapback] Dude, it wasn't a one-sentence quip! Did you watch the clip? The guy went on for like two minutes about that stuff - there isn't much in the way of "context" that could come along and mitigate what he said.
Realist Posted June 28, 2005 Posted June 28, 2005 Dude, it wasn't a one-sentence quip! Did you watch the clip? The guy went on for like two minutes about that stuff - there isn't much in the way of "context" that could come along and mitigate what he said. 369480[/snapback] Roenick is the guy that helped get the Union to accept a salary cap. He's been trying harder than any player to get this thing resolved. From the Philadelphia Enquirer this was also the article that was in the News and Observer, I pasted it because you have to register to see it.: NHL | Roenick: There was more to his rant "The media picked out the negative stuff," the Flyers center groused. He said he complained to ESPN. By Tim Panaccio Inquirer Staff Writer Jeremy Roenick said yesterday that audio/video "snippets" in which he said hockey fans can "kiss my [butt]" were taken out of context. The Flyers center was quoted over the weekend at Mario Lemieux's charity golf tournament outside Pittsburgh. His remarks about the fans made national headlines. "Before I went into my rant, I was talking about the game of hockey, about getting it back on the ice, about what we have to do for the fans and telling people it's not about who wins or loses, it's about the game," Roenick said. "But the media picked out the negative stuff... . Don't show snippets of the interview; show the whole interview, the whole message. My message during the interview was: How do we make the game more appealing to the fans?" Roenick said his rant began when someone suggested the NHL lockout was the players' fault. "That got my gall," he said. "We gave more back to the owners in this deal than any other sport has done. Before that question, I was talking about the game, how it was important to make it up to the fans and do something for them, and then that question came." A partial video clip from TSN.ca shows Roenick talking very calmly about the game of hockey and even apologizing for its absence. In the clip, Roenick talks about how much "the players have hurt" hockey and "might not have been right" in the lockout, a position that certainly won't please the NHL Players' Association. Roenick says the new deal has to allow "the owners to make money." He then says that "fans should realize how much the players gave up" before blaming them as being spoiled. "We're going to make the game better for the fans," he says in the video clip. "If you don't realize that, then don't come." The next clip jumps to his rant. Roenick said yesterday the question that provoked him was whether fans should blame the players. In February, Roenick, Robert Esche and Chris Pronger attempted to salvage the season when they asked the union to consider a reasonable salary cap and mustered support for it behind the scenes. The union eventually conceded on the salary cap. "If the fans think Jeremy Roenick didn't try to get the game back on the ice, as some of us did, that is simply not true," Roenick said. "I'm not spoiled. I was reacting to a question. What I was saying was that if fans don't think that I care about hockey, care about the Flyers, then don't come out to see me. That's what I was talking about." Roenick said he left several messages with ESPN yesterday demanding to know why the network didn't show the full video clip of what preceded his rant. As for the proposed collective-bargaining agreement, he said: "It's not a great deal. But it gets the game back on the ice, and that is the most important thing."
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