And you thought the WUSA had it bad: With a nod back to my post earlier on the problems soccer faces in our country, here's how well the NHL is doing. No surprise, the staggering collective loss is attributed to player salaries spiraling ever upwards, or the "save me from myself" complaint. But to be fair, there's no salary cap in the NHL, and it's been proven that in every sport, the owners can't help themselves, so a cap is put in place. Plus, the cap brings us "parity" which, we are calmly assured, is a good thing. That's right: every year, a different team wins the championship, while the one that just one it has to dump half of its players to get back under the cap for the following year.

Anyway, the collective bargaining agreement in the NHL runs out this time next year. What will happen? What always happen. Minimal negotations for 10 months, followed by panic, name-calling in the papers, and finally, lock-out. This proven pattern of mutual self-destruction should just about put the final clod of dirt on the NHL ever getting a good t.v. contract. Hell, the strike almost killed baseball (we can always dream) and that sport is actually watched south of Lake Ontario. Hosers.