By Mac Engel
Staff Writer
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
11/19/2004                  

Red Line, Blue Line, Bottom Line: How Push Came to Shove Between the
National Hockey League and its Players
By Marc Edge New Star Books, $12

The NHL's lockout started Sept. 15, but its roots trace to the early 20th century.
That's when the league was still adding and dropping teams like stocks, when unrestricted free agency and arbitration weren't in the sports vocabulary, when sports unions didn't exist, when owners treated players like trash.
Other sports led the way in the evolvement of sports business, and the NHL is just catching up, which explains the league's current state.
Marc Edge's new book examines the past and current status of the business side between owners and players that so often has led to nasty exchanges and bitter relationships. It's not summer beach reading material, but don't be surprised to find it in the syllabus of a sports business curriculum at a university near you.
Edge, who is a visiting professor teaching journalism and news writing at UT-Arlington, wrote a 151-page synopsis of the hockey's current labor problems while weaving in the history of sports labor problems. He doesn't offer hard and fast solutions but says: "It should be obvious what the answer is: revenue sharing. The more you look into the economics of the NHL, it has a structural problem. I suspect [the NHL] has a hidden agenda. I think they will shut down the season next month, and open tryouts for replacements next September. Then I think the players will try to form their own league."
Having done his homework on the business history of the four major sports, Edge does a commendable job of illustrating how owners exploited pro athletes for decades. He also does a solid job of detailing the emergence of labor lawyers and agents in their quest to not only beat up the owners in return, but gain a big piece of the revenue for their clients, and themselves.
Even for people who aren't fans, the most interesting aspect Edge includes is the sad history of former NHL Players Association chief Alan Eagelson, who, for years, exploited the people he represented to expand his bank account. NHL players displayed a blind faith in Eagelson, who conned both sides before being caught and imprisoned.
Eagelson's presence stunted real player growth in salaries until the early '90s, Edge points out. The balance was so distorted that a guy named Dave Taylor was paid more than Wayne Gretzky when they played for the Kings.
Edge scolds the owners who decry a system they established and extended twice. Edge says the players used the system to their benefit, and doesn't much blame them for not wanting to revert to the '80s or '70s.
GRADE: B-

Mac Engel, (817) 390-7760
tengel@star-telegram.com