Columnist Steve Carp: Fight against greed goes to the courts

Steve Carp

Thursday, Oct. 7, 1999 | 10:28 a.m.

Steve Carp is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at carp@vegas.com or 259-4087.

Does the name Leonard Potechin ring a bell?

Didn't think so.

But maybe we should all pay attention to what Mr. Potechin, a retired Realtor living in Ottawa is doing.

A season-ticket holder for the NHL's Senators, Potechin is suing star Alexei Yashin for $27.5 million while Yashin goes through yet another one of his contract holdouts.

Potechin is suing because as a Senators season-ticket holder, he feels like he's getting gypped. Yashin is arguably the team's best player and he is in the final year of his contract, a contract Potechin claims Yashin should honor.

After all, when Potechin agreed to invest in the franchise and help line Yashin's pockets with cash with his purchase of season tickets, he did so with the assumption that those he was helping make rich would fulfill their end of the bargain and perform.

So when Yashin, who pulled one of these stunts several years ago and spent a couple of months here in Las Vegas with the IHL's Thunder, balked at honoring his contract, Potechin said, "Enough."

Granted, his lawsuit smacks more of a publicity stunt than of substance, but he's trying to send an important message that fans, no matter how loyal, have their limits.

A lot of franchises, especially NFL teams, know they have their fans over a barrel. They continue to jack up ticket prices or force ticket holders to purchase those repulsive personal seat licenses.

My friend Harvey has had season tickets to the New York Giants since the early 1960s when they played at Yankee Stadium. His tickets once cost $7 per game. Now, he pays $50. And he has no intention of giving up his seats because he knows the value of being a season-ticket holder far outweighs the escalating costs for what is turning out to be an inferior product.

As proof, he points to his stubs from the two Super Bowls the Giants won and that he attended, thanks to winning the lottery conducted by the team for its season subscribers. No season seats, no shot at Super Bowl ducats.

So he pays and he grouses. And so do fans across North America. Of course, we do have the option to not pay the fiddler, not be subjected to the abuse of $20 parking spots, cold $6 hot dogs and warm $7 beers.

However, that's not going to happen. Because despite strikes, holdouts and lockouts, our hearts are bigger than our wallets. Loyalty, though oftentimes a one-way street, is a road we're comfortable traveling.

But at some point, the greed has got to stop. At least that's where Potechin is coming from. His annual investment on tickets for his favorite hockey team is in the high four figures. And he probably spends a lot more when you throw in parking and food and beverages. For that, he has a right to expect the players who are under contract to play and entertain him.

That does not seem to be an unreasonable request. It's one thing for Akili Smith, a rookie, to hold out during training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals because he wants to cut the best deal possible. You and I would do the same thing in that situation.

But once you agree to a contract, you should live up to your end of the bargain. Yashin did not and he's telling the Ottawa Senators' fans, the people who helped make him a rich man, that he doesn't give a damn about them.

Fortunately, one fan does give a damn. Perhaps more fans will follow Leonard Potechin's lead and draw a legal line in the sand. Or on the ice.