Gary Bettman Went Ahead And Gave Biz An All-Time Pee Pee Whack About NHL Teams Benefiting From No-State Tax
Civilians have no idea what life is like for the true warriors of the world who spend their life with a camera in their face, and a microphone in front of their mouth. Some guys are buttoned up, well-trained assassins once the cameras get rolling. They know what to say at all times that'll keep them away from ruffling any feathers. Other guys, like Biz, just go full Leeroy Jenkins once the "on-air" sign lights up. They shoot first, and ask questions later. Chances are that by the time the segment is all wrapped up, they've forgotten most of what they said already.
All of this is to say that Biz was thrown into the Thunder Dome last night during the pregame broadcast when Gary Bettman showed up to the studio. I'm sure that Biz thinks there's something fishy going on with the No-State Tax advantage that teams like Florida and Tampa Bay get to operate with. But one moment you're firing from the hip railing against no-state income tax being the only reason the Florida Panthers are contending for another Stanley Cup, and the next moment you have to bring it up right in front of ol' Uncle Gary.
Tough barrel to be facing down.
Now here's the thing--obviously the argument is that "nobody said anything about no state tax while the Florida teams both sucked". Sure. That's definitely the case. Everything that Gary was saying about players wanting to sign with a good team, in a good location to raise a family, with great facilities is true. It's not like the only reason the Florida Panthers are playing in their 3rd straight Cup Final is because of guys not having to pay taxes.
But that doesn't mean they don't have a massive advantage now that they're good. It doesn't help them when they are dog shit, but it definitely gives them a bit of an edge to keep guys from hitting the open market every July 1st. I get that Biz wanted to eject himself out of the hot seat quickly on this one, but it would have been nice to see someone else at least press Gary a little here. You figure Gretzky spent so much of his career getting protected by guys like Semenko and McSorley that maybe he'd want to return the favor here to Biz. At least he jumped in and changed the subject right away. The rest of the guys just hung GoutNasty out to dry. Makes me sick.