Editorial: A season melts away

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 | 8:57 a.m.

The National Hockey League received a dubious distinction Wednesday, becoming the first major sports league in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. The NHL's team owners and players couldn't resolve a salary disagreement, an impasse that couldn't be bridged with a compromise. It is mind-boggling that hockey, which has just a fraction of the fan interest in the United States compared to other sports such as football and baseball, would potentially jeopardize its future. One of the most eye-opening developments to watch over the past few months, as the dispute dragged on, was the collective yawn by even diehard hockey fans to the prospect of a lost season -- and that includes fans from Canada, where hockey is the national sport.

The apathy by fans to the loss of an entire hockey season should concern all sports leagues and shouldn't be minimized just because hockey isn't one of the premier sports in the United States. Fans of all professional sports leagues have grown disenchanted. The high cost of ticket prices is a big turnoff. Not far behind are players whose wealth -- and, in too many cases, their thuggish behavior -- has alienated their fans. And don't forget the enmity created by owners who apparently don't have enough discipline to prevent themselves from paying astronomical salaries to their players, as they demand that players accept caps on their salaries.

Players and owners in all major-league sports should think long and hard about their deteriorating relationship with fans, and start putting the interests of fans first for a change -- before it's too late.