Why Gary Bettman Is the Worst Commissioner in Sports

A competent commissioner must always look out for the best interests of his sport.

The individual issues of the day are always vital, but they don't compare to the big picture and knowing what is good for the sport over the long run.

More than anything, the commissioner has to project intelligence and foresight and find a way to rise above petty debates. That's because a commissioner must show leadership to take the sport past the hurdles that have been key issues for many years.

Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, does not do any of these things.

Bettman is well known for handing out the Stanley Cup every year. As he stands nervously at center ice and makes his written speech that has been committed to memory about what a great show "both of these teams have put on," the boos rain down on his head.

Fans at the arena take that moment to treat the head of their sport as if he was an on-stage comedian whose jokes were flatter than pancakes.

An august and strong leader who has the skills to take the sports to new heights? Not Bettman. He faces the same issues, year after year, and never seems to make much progress.

Let's look at the current labor situation. The NHL lost a full season in 2004-05 due to a system that ownership viewed as one that made it impossible to be successful.

The NHL's ownership and management decided to play hardball with the players until it got nearly everything it wanted.

All it cost the sport was a full season of competition. There was no 2004-05 season and no 2004-05 Stanley Cup champion.

Major League Baseball went through its most difficult time in 1994, when a work stoppage halted the season in late summer that wiped out the end of the regular season as well as the playoffs and World Series.

There have been no work stoppages since. It seems that baseball learned its difficult lesson as the sport faded on the popularity charts.

In the NHL, the players and management once again have to hammer out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. It's only eight years after the last work stoppage, but it doesn't appear that the NHL has learned much of anything. The league has come to the bargaining table asking for significant concessions by the players (source: CSNNE.com).

It's not enough that management won the last round of negotiations in a rout. Management—meaning Bettman—wants to stick it to the players once again.

What about the big picture, Mr. Commissioner? What about the long-term health of the sport? How does pushing your players hard once again make the sport healthier in the long run?

It seems the commissioner is doing just one thing: Currying favor with his employers.

The NHL's labor situation is just one of the ways Bettman has handled himself poorly. Franchises are allowed to move from a hockey hotbed like Winnipeg to the desert in Phoenix.

Why? Because the population in Phoenix is larger than it is in Winnipeg. Never mind that the people in Winnipeg lived for hockey while those in Phoenix didn't even know what it was when the Jets moved there in 1995.

Hockey still hasn't taken hold in Phoenix. The team still lacks steady ownership and it faces battles with public interest groups on an yearly basis.

What's next for the Phoenix Coyotes? Another year in limbo and a possible move to a Canadian city that would embrace the sport?

Have you noticed the climb hockey has made in the United States in the popularity polls since Bettman became commissioner in 1993?

Of course not. That's because the NHL still ranks fourth among the four major sports behind the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA.

How about that increase in scoring that would bring new fans to the game? It hasn't happened.

What has Bettman done? He has put an end to ties.

Bettman has been commissioner for the institution of the shootout. Even the critics admit the shootout is an exciting way to end a game. Having skaters move in on goalies in one-on-one competition brings the fans to their feet.

However, it really has little to do with legitimate competition. It's nothing more than a sideshow. The player who can do the most tricks with the puck on his stick often succeeds.

Perhaps the shootout will be part of Sideshow Gary's legacy, along with labor unrest that nearly destroyed the sport once and may do it once again.