Antitrust? The Leafs and NHL asked for it

From The Rink has linked to a Reuters article which said Jim Balsillie is going to have ground for an antitrust suit vs. the NHL.

Wait, there's more: Balsillie and the boys, according to a court filing transcribed by James Mirtle, have "discovered evidence that, despite the NHL repeatedly telling this Court and the Canadian Competition Bureau that the territorial veto rights provision in Article 4.3 of the NHL Constitution is no longer operative, the Toronto Maple Leafs take the exact opposite view." That could be kind of huge, especially with what business experts have said in the past 24-72 hours:

"By offering to buy the Phoenix Coyotes for $140 million in the hope of then flipping it to a buyer of its choice, however, the North American sports league risks hemorrhaging money and an antitrust lawsuit, sports bankers and analysts said.

" 'It's a way to prevent the court's becoming the de facto new commissioner of the NHL,' said Roger Noll, a professor of economics at Stanford University."

" ... Several sports bankers also expect Balsillie to sue the NHL on antitrust grounds, arguing the league is preventing a team in Hamilton for no valid reason.

"In the end, a settlement with Balsillie remains the best option, said Mark Conrad, who teaches sports law at Fordham University's School of Business.

" 'Stranger things have happened,' Conrad said. 'If you want to replicate Middle East peace talks you may have that possibility happen.' "

It is not as if the Toronto Maple Leafs and NHL had no inkling this might be coming. As noted in June, "A court has found that Major League Baseball's infamous antitrust exemption does not apply to the sale of franchises, so speaking as a layperson, it could be a legal tempest." It might go double if MLSEL believes it could act unilaterally to restrict competition. (Actually, in antitrust ruling, it goes triple if the court finds for the plaintiff.)

(You have no idea how long the wait has been to bust out that Rachael Leigh Cook reference.)

This has nothing to do with any decision handed down just now by Judge Redfield T. Baum

The dream never dies ... just the dreamer.



Now that the Phoenix Coyotes' status is still uncertain, can Dany Heatley buy them for $1, install himself as captain/coach/GM/president/owner and play himself for 60 minutes a game? Someone was asking about that on Ottawa's The Team 1200 today.

A little levity, a little Gary and little coming from MLSE

A little levity is always good with regard to the Phoenix Coyotes situation. Seeing Gary Bettman represented by Nathan Thurm, the chain-smoking lawyer character whom Martin Short played on the mid-'80s Saturday Night Live is almost as funny as the commish himselfclaiming the Coyotes "were never in jeopardy."



Meantime, and it's not as if people are unawares about this, but there is nothing-but-nothing coming out of MLSE about the possibilty of a team moving into Southern Ontario.

One would expect that to be the case, of course, and perhaps people who read the business section faithfully would have heard about the following. However, this section from a Phoenix Business Journal profile of Richard Rodier, Jim Balsillie's legal eagle, really shows how defensive MLSE is about the A-word, antitrust.

"At a 2008 sports business conference in Toronto run by then-Anaheim Ducks General Manager Brian Burke, several people in attendance recount a tense moment when Rodier posed an antitrust question to Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President Richard Peddie at the end of a panel session.

" 'Why, if I’m in the city of Toronto, can’t I watch the Ottawa Senators?' Rodier asked.

" 'I’m not going to debate antitrust law with you,' said Peddie, who did not return calls requesting comment for this story.

"Rodier defended the question last week, saying that it was legitimate. 'To ask a question that makes someone who may be operating outside the law uncomfortable is not in my view a bad thing,' he said."

That can be backed 100 per cent. No doubt a few people have wondered about an antitrust suit against the NHL at some point down the line. A court has found that Major League Baseball's infamous antitrust exemption does not apply to the sale of franchises, so speaking as a layperson, it could be a legal tempest.

Also on this topic, this site's own Andrew Bucholtz was on a conference call where former CFL commish Tom Wright talked about Balsillie's application. Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

That's about it from here. It would be remiss not to pass along something from the article on Rodier that seemed funny, since it furthered the stereotype that all Canadians know each other.

"(Rodier) then went on to the University of Toronto Law School, earning a law degree in 1984 and coming to the Canadian bar in 1986.

"Balsillie graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984 with an undergraduate degree, but Rodier said they didn’t know each other at the time."

The U of T only has 60,000 students. There's a good chance a law student and an undergrad would not be acquainted.

(Pretty please keep in mind a much lazier man was earlier to the game with the Bettman-as-Thurm comparison. Granted, this space has also likened Bettman to the Chip Diller character in National Lampoon's Animal House ("Remain calm! All is well!) and the NHL to Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)

Cooking the Books: Feschuk, Grange lampooning Leafs

Mike Myers failed to wring great mirth from the Toronto Maple Leafs' 40 years in the hockey desert, but Toronto sportswriters Michael Grange and Dave Feschuk are going to try.

Hockey Book Reviews has the low-down on their joint effort, which will be published at the start of the 2009-10 NHL season:

Leafs AbomiNation: The dismayed fans' handbook to why the Leafs stink and how they can rise again - Dave Feschuk and Michael Grange have an interesting book coming. It looks like it could almost comical - the listed price: $19.67.

This could be a big seller in Ottawa, especially at that price.

It is the first book for the Star's Feschuk and The Globe & Mail's Grange, if memory serves. Each of them, as you know, usually has the basketball beat at their papers, so they probably should bring a fresh take on MLSE's hockey operation.

Their vigour and willingness to take this all the way should be saluted. It beats becoming passive-aggressive about the Leafs, or having to pretend not to care about Canada's dominant sports franchise, save for occasionally being prolix about the permanent stain of Harold Ballard or the legacies of Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour.

Incidentally, on the sports publishing front, you should check out the excerpt from Jeff Pearlman's The Rocket Who Fell To Earth, his biography of Roger Clemens. All efforts are being exhausted to secure a review copy.

Snark break ...

First things first, SB Nation has merged with Yahoo! Sports, which is presumably huge for people such as that James Mirtle guy ...

The Yankees organization really is a bunch of jerky-jerk-jerks. Eighty-five dollars to sit behind the foul pole? To quote their former assistant to the travelling secretary, "Am I seeing Sinatra in there?"

At least the Bronx Bombers are going to have to fight with the condo builders in Toronto for elbow room in the 10th circle. There's no other way to feel about learning that the Leafs plan to raise ticket prices. Seriously, why can't there be a second NHL team in Toronto?

The Ottawa Senators having "good seats still available" 48 hours before a game against the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks is mainly a reflection of:

(a) the economy
(b) being 13 points out of a playoff spot with 23 games left
(c) Not having everyone follow the example set by Mike Fisher
(d) Figuring Joe Thornton will just choke in the playoffs again
(e) All of the above

It's a little rich that, "most of Ottawa has missed the quality that Fisher believes is at his core: his Christian faith," when there's a story about it in the paper or on the TV news at least once a year.

No one should doubt that Fisher is completely sincere in his convictions about how, "Day to day, I try to have my time with God." However, when asked to confirm that, apparently Jason Spezza said, "Actually, Fish and I don't hang out that much," then laughed to himself for 25 minutes.

A private member's bill that would establish a National Hockey Day in Canada. That's as gratuitous as, well, potshots at Jason Spezza.

Last but not least, Conan O'Brien's Vintage Baseball bit. Did you hear Andy Richter is joining him on the new Tonight Show?

Conan O'Brien 1864 Baseball
Uploaded by Youpinadi

Ryan Hollweg ... lovely

Alex Pietrangelo was playing in his third NHL game and he might be fortunate that there will be a fourth.

Related:
Blues rally to beat Leafs in shootout (National Post)

Snark break...

Pierre Berton, you sly dog ...


Who says there's no difference between the Conservatives and Liberals in Canadian politics? One has a leader who can't answer questions phrased in English and one who won't answer questions phrased in English.

The Florida Panthers are literally giving tickets away, and your friends probably think you're frugal because you won't fork over $200 to watch the Leafs.



Most boring and thus most honest headline of Canadian federal election campaign: "No hotly contested ridings in region."

There is one way to watch Minnesota Vikings games. You just leave the room when they go on offence. (Never before has a NFL team looked less exultant over a win. Brad Childress gave himself a golf-clap.)

It's rough all over for senior quarterbacks in the NCAA.

(Rams kicker Josh Brown evidently watches a lot of Seinfeld reruns, not that there's anything wrong with that.)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.

Snark break ... Al Davis is getting old, Raiders jokes won't till next week

Two million people have watched a Human League video on YouTube ... we are officially doomed as a species.

Warren Sapp says, "Al Davis knows football -- it's just '60s and '70s football." In fairness, that's all Al can remember at this point.

During a lull in the Dodgers-Cubs game TBS' Dick Stockton said, "The Boys and Girls Clubs of America are the official charity of Major League Baseball." No, that would be the Cubs infield.

If Luke Schenn stays with the Leafs, won't he still be playing for a junior hockey team? Cliff Fletcher describes himself as a Republican, so yeah, he can live with a 27% approval rating.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya getting a contract extension to 2012 -- which is about the time the Washington Nationals will have recovered from the damage he did to the franchise when he was running the Expos.

Taylor Hall has scored or set up 10 goals already this season. The Kingston Frontenacs team has scored or set up seven. (That's half-scheduling, half-Springer. Remember, they will win tonight at Guelph.)

Snark break... oh my freakin' ears

At the rate he's going, Chad Ocho Cinco won't have a jersey to put his new name on.

A feeble-minded attempt at headline-writing for The Onion: "Congress seeks bailout for sports blogs in wake of Matt Millen resignation."

One possiblity: The Washington Nationals.

Have the Chicago White Sox, whose AL Central lead is down to a half-game, asked the Twins to join them in suspending their season?

(Ex-Lions coach Steve Mariucci went to town on Millen.)

There was no advertising signage on the boards during the Leafs' game at Pittsburgh last night. For once, the Leafs' play wasn't the only reason the game looked like something out of the early 1980s.

The Claude Lemieux comeback story might make sense. He didn't finish off Kris Draper.

A fraud artist has pled guilty to several scams, included a few where he pretended to where he pretended to be ex-Hab Stéphane Richer. They knew he wasn't the real Richer when they say him play in a beer-league game and actually backcheck.

Does anyone the CBC erred by using the word "deafening" Hockey Anthem Challenge? (Picture Norm Macdonald on the late '90s SNL: "Note to self: Go deaf.")

Joking about the former Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Thunder Collins being arrested for murder are out today.

It's just too sad a story -- Nebraska football, that is.

MLSE is evil, part 5000: The Fans vs. The Al-ighty Ollar

Once again, not at all surprisingly, MLSE rears its disfigured, ugly head...

At one point you could buy tickets to Raptors games at Shoppers Drug Mart, when that changed there were still affordable tickets that could be bought up for the "Sprite Zone". The Sprite Zone being a more family - and cost efficient- area of the ACC to catch a game, with special in-game promotions just for that section and people walking the aisles to pump up the crowd in that section specifically.

After that they introduced "flex packs" where you could reserve 15 games in the same seat, it included 3 preseason games however it still allowed you to catch a lot of action on the year. Now the 15 game flex pack has been removed, replaced by a 10 game pack (with a fair hike!), and the lower portion of the Sprite Zone - once part of the Sprite Zone - is now a prime seating balcony area.

It never ceases to amaze when I see the efforts the MLSE brass makes to ensure that major sporting events in Toronto become even less accessible to the average person, and more filled with suits as far as the eye can see. My friend, who has had a season ticket for a couple years now, even said she was amazed with the price increase in her tickets just from last season. Apparently, the ticket price has grown by 20% over the past 2 seasons!

Over at the AltRaps blog one poster earlier in the offseason lamented the fact that, despite following the team since back in the days of the 'Dome, MLSE has priced him out of continuing on with following the team live at games:

I seriously now have to question the direction of management, both on the floor and off. If MLSE is looking at this as purely a money making machine, fine, come out and say it. If, however, you are looking to use this franchise as a seed, as a starting point of growing this product and game in Canada, then you need to seriously consider not pricing yourself out of the market. It pains me to say that once I receive my renewal, I too will be ripping it up.

It’s the end of an era for me. I will continue to support this team, but I’ll be
doing so from the comfort of my home.

This was posted back in March, around the time my season ticket holding friend was griping about yet another increase too. I was prepared for a hit with the price of my own flex pack tickets, never expected they'd be wiped clean entirely though. It's going to take a little while before I come to any admittance that I won't be buying into any Raptors ticket packages as I love the environment and atmosphere at the games - especially as of late, as they've been getting rowdier, smarter, and more involved!

But then again, an MLSE product IS an MLSE product, and when push comes to shove a good thing can only last until there's an option for more than a quick buck to be made from it. In my opinion the less ventures the MLSE have any control over the better for EVERYONE in Toronto! Time to dissolve the worst partnership this world has seen since...well, this!

Hopefully the Raptors are stopped short of the Maple Leaf syndrome. However I'm getting the feeling that path has already been paved and there's no turning back.