Brunt touches on the well-traveled legend of Gretzky's youth, the forces that brought both the player and the Edmonton Oilers to the NHL and the chubby coin collector from California who bought a national treasure. One thing Brunt's reporting and 20 years of perspective does here is really peel back the various motivations behind the move, and piece together the events as they transpired. By holding up how the story's principles remember what happened against the media reports of the day, we're able to get a better sense of the fact and fiction, illusion and reality of the deal. Did you know Alan Thicke was involved? Yeah, the Growing Pains guy. Who knew?
We also see that there really wasn't one person to blame but rather view the whole circus as the manifestation of an emerging climate surrounding the sport (free agency, ballooning player salaries), combined with the financial circumstances of NHL owners and a variety of personal relationships. Some fans blame Peter Pocklington's financial woes (or the fact he was just an assh*le), others to Bruce McNall's slick business smoke and mirrors, and still others who put the blame square on Gretzky's own ambitions and/or his wife's needs. But really, they all contributed to create a perfect storm that would change the hockey landscape forever, and whose effects -- Coyotes, anyone? -- are still felt in today's headlines.
(Reading Brunt breakdown the money-moving monkeyf*cks of both McNall and Pocklington, pre- and post-trade, puts the current Coyote debacle, along with the NHL's vetting and Gary Bettman's moral high-horsery regarding Jim Balsillie in a much clearer perspective.)
Another thing the book does well is discuss the balance between being a fan and recognizing that hockey is a business. As Brunt points out, in the old days this wasn't a problem. Players were at the owners' mercy and fans were kept in the dark when it came to how the league was run. So which is better -- Knowing how things really work and still loving the game or is ignorance really a sports fan's bliss? At one point, the author steps back from the specifics of the immediate story to address just that:
Once upon a time, when athletes' private lives were off-limits in the popular press and the business behind the games was rarely discussed, it was relatively simple to cheer wholeheartedly for heroes whose virtues as human beings were equated with their athletic feats on the field of play, who were perceived to be out there giving their all as much for joy as for money. It was possible to think of owners as paternalistic curators of local cultural institutions, more concerned with winning silverware than turning a profit (and in any financial dispute with players, those owners would automatically be given the benefit of the doubt, because it was a game, because players played, not worked).
There is a more complicated process in the modern world, requiring large doses of fantasy. ans now understand that professional athletes are flawed, that they play for money, that they have agents and are represented by unions, that owners care most about turning a profit, that sport is an entertainment business. But the belief system remains, still. It is unbreakable. It isn't rational. It is about faith.
Indeed.
So while Gretzky's Tears lays out all the facts, hears all the voices and expertly tells the tale of the Trade, more importantly, it reminds hockey fans -- or at least this hockey fan -- that its not any one player that makes one's team mean something. The book's a quality read for anyone looking to engage that discussion through the lens of one of hockey's defining moments.
It was said there is a circulation of love in this world, the only thing can be seen is the beginning but no ending. Someone wants to make a start whereas someone wants to finish. It is all like that.
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Posted by: louis vuitton outlet store | Tuesday, June 01, 2010 at 02:56 AM
Oh I don't know, I think Gretzky DID make the team. He was the MAN! Just like Jordan made the Bulls.
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