Question for Conspiracy Theorists

[Taosuntzu 0]

Theres no conspiracy against the Wings. Theres a conspiracy against teams that dominate over and over again, and who offer little room in growth of the sport. Theres a conspiracy for teams that need winning reputations to help build their fanbases.

Bettman is all about parity. Bettman is all about showing prospective NHL team owners and investors that an NHL team can make money, no matter where they are. Bettman implemented the cap system so that team owners of s***ty small market teams could still make money, and NHL owners wouldn't go selling off their teams, or closing up shop.

Bettman wants to show NHL investors that even s***ty small market teams with no fanbases - like the Ducks - can make money. But the only way he can do that, is if those teams actually have success and thus, make money.

Think of it this way. Why would Bettman want the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup again? So he can go to small market owners and say "well, you don't really have a chance of success with big nasty teams like the Red Wings around. But please keep investing in your money-losing juggernaut." No. He wants to go to Anaheim and Tampa Bay and Carolina and say LOOK! "in this league ANYONE can win. So keep investing money into your franchise, and you too can hit the jackpot!"

I totally agree with this.

But, let me add to this: In the nineties when the RW's became dominate, it was a huge boon for the NHL. There was more attendance and more merchandising sold.

Hockey was cool again, until you saw what was actually going on. When the Wings played all these new expansion teams, they sold out. Great, until you saw the Wings score their first goal of the season, or made iffy call against the Wings. Other franchises were chearing for Detroit. No matter how good it is for the bottom line overall, it is bad for all the other teams.

This is where the media comes in. They consistently tell you how great everyone else is, and how the Wings get away with murder. You read stories about how they cheat at face-offs, and how Hossa (hailed as Mr. Honorable while on Penguins) is consistently dissed as diving. No mention of goalie interference on great *ucks goals, but Franzen is replayed again and again as interference. Then later a Wing white washes a goalie, and Pang complains about it. (So, if you can't run him over at the top of the crease, and you can't stop, WTF are you supposed to do.

Then comes the refs. In this case it is totally benign 'oops, I made the wrong call.' You see, they are asked to call every little penalty that happens, but that is immpossible.

So they find a little technicallity in the rules. Just like the players watch tape of their opponents, they watch tape of their performance. They find what the players tendicies are. And that is what they watch each player for. Pronger gets watched for cross checks and elbows, not interference. Neidermeyer gets watched for tripping and slashing. Not for interference.

The Wings are simply the victims of their own success.

The same thing happened once before. I would hope some one reminds Bettman of what happened with one of his predessors in Montreal. Maurice Richard snapped. Literally! He snapped his stick over a Bruins head a' la Bertuzzi. He just could not stand the bad calls any more. His actions rightfully saw him fined and suspended for the remainder of the season. The Montreal fans took it a little to personally. One of the largest most destructive riots of all time happened, and some unkown sabatore placed a home made bomb under Campbell's seat.

I defenitely hope it never goes this far again. I would rather see Mr. Holland take over GM in PHX rather than see this story played out again.

I mean really! Octopus poo!!!! Are you serious!? Really!?

I hope hockey becomes as popular as I think it can be. With a little more tweaking and an unemployed Bettman, I can see hockey as the number one sport in North America and the world.

[titanium2 867]

[BlakChamber 8]

If Bettman was really into parity, San Jose would be playing this round. The Ducks won in 2007. Just sayin'...

And I like how in the same thread Bettman is this mouth-breathing moron who can barely tie his own shoes, let alone run a professional sports league; and he's this evil, James Bond-like villan with a master plan to ruin the Wings.

I love LGW after a playoff loss. You can really see who needs to be on medication.

[Gizmo 21]

There's no conspiracy. Brad Watson just sucks ass as a ref.

This reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: "Never assign to malice what can be easily explained by mere incompetence!"

[Resetti 44]

I really cannot understand the mentality of conspiracy theorists in sports.

Do you really think that the referee was thinking to himself, "Uh oh, this is a great scoring chance for Detroit! Better blow the whistle now so they don't win!" Is he wearing a Bluetooth earpiece with Bettman on the other end feeding him instructions in how to sabotage the Red Wings? ...or is it part of a memo before the game, in a sealed envelope that self-destructs after reading?

Refs are human. They're going to make mistakes. What's amazing is that the fanbases of all 30 NHL teams scream "conspiracy" or "favoritism" when a call goes against them. Somehow, it's possible to do mental gymnastics to allow for a conspiracy from the villainous NHL commisioner's office to screw everybody over, and the time-honored tradition of whining about the officiating after a loss continues! According to the conspiracy theorist fans, these refs are so tuned into the game, so focused, that they can make split-second analysis on how to screw your team over as a play unfolds. As the puck is nearing the goal line, the referee cackles to himself as he pulls the whistle out to ruin your day. Of course, in the same breath about their grand calculated plan to ruin your team's chances, the commissioner and the referees are total boobs who don't know what's happening around them.

My brain always feels funny after reading conspiracy theories like this. I'm not sure if it's a tickling sensation or the awkward feeling of my brain oozing out my ears.

[hokike 1]

those who scream here "f*** Bettman!, f*** NHL, f*** refs!" need to be placed under careful mediacal examination first.

You simply have to live with fact that many things do not do not go in your way. And it has nothing to do with justice or whatever...

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

So are you conspiracy theorists saying that Watson saw the puck the whole time and still blew the whistle on purpose?

[BlakChamber 8]

So are you conspiracy theorists saying that Watson saw the puck the whole time and still blew the whistle on purpose?

Nooooo. Watson saw the puck but was ordered by Bettman not to blow the whistle because he wants the Wings to lose so he can disband the Wings and move them to Tucson. Sheesh, get it right.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

those who scream here "f*** Bettman!, f*** NHL, f*** refs!" need to be placed under careful mediacal examination first.

You simply have to live with fact that many things do not do not go in your way. And it has nothing to do with justice or whatever...

This.

I hate the blown call like everybody else here but the problem lies more within the officiating rules rather than the refs themselves. Things like this which have direct implication on a goal (intent to stop play, phantom interefernce, net goals, etc.) need to be at the very least reviewable.

There is no conspiarcy theory against the Wings wanting them to fail no matter how much some want to believe.