Faith is an integral aspect of religion – without it, people would question the existence of a higher power without reservations. For many, religious faith is an order of belief in something unseen and unfelt. The difference between religious and sports-inspired faith lies first and foremost in their contradictory avenues of scripture. Religious writing is set in stone for most popular organized religions. Every action and moment that matters to the history of a given religion has, for all intents and purposes, come and gone – at least until the Rapture. Sports are an opportunity to invest those hopes and volitions in a visible, if not tangible, result. The presence of subjects of sports-based faith is indisputable – their faces, actions, and even salaries are all accessible. The allure of sports, for those with a vested interest in the outcome, is the opportunity to experience the range of emotions as history writes itself before your eyes. Faith is validated or proven futile in a matter of seconds.

Having a team to fervently cheer on adds to the sports experience, but is certainly not vital to it. One of the simpler pleasures is watching a highly-contested competition, regardless of the sport, without a favoured team or individual involved. The absence of faith alleviates the anxieties natural to a die-hard fan. Indeed, that’s how fandom starts for many people – but after a while, it’s hard not to pick a team to associate with. It’s a quality that makes the narratives of sports that much more compelling.

The return of a player once deified by a fan base only to turn his back on them, for example, is a recurring storyline in sports. This particular situation manifested itself again on November 20 in Montreal when former Canadien Mike Komisarek – who channelled Judas in spurning the team to sign with Toronto two off-seasons ago – continued the Sisyphean start to his Leafs career. With his new team down 1-0 in the third period, Komisarek gave away the puck to Michael Cammalleri, Montreal’s new saviour, whose signing was made possible in part by Komisarek’s departure. In poetic fashion, Cammalleri received Komisarek’s tape-to-tape gaffe and rifled it into the top right corner to ensure Montreal’s victory. Cammalleri proved his mettle again while the once-prodigal son was left to fume, chewing on his mouth guard under a torrent of jeers.

In the end, faith is a facet: one which religions use for growth, but also one from which people can find comfort. Faith is also the catalyst for myriad emotions. The strongest positive feelings arise when one’s faith has been rewarded. When it is abused, it causes one to abandon faith, in addition to generating a stark sense of betrayal. Faith in sports, however, just makes the process more engaging. Being a sports fan is often about the highs and lows of emotions in fandom, which is only accentuated by ardent faith in a team. And the good news is that you can’t go to hell for being a sports fan.

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Long before Dellow’s breakdown of the emails went public, many fans and media members harboured doubts about Campbell’s ability to accurately judge suspension-worthy offenses and were justified by his unpredictable track record on suspensions since. Boston Bruins’ play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards cites a lack of consistency when ruling on incidents with similar criteria and, more importantly, an utter failure to clarify for players what is and is not allowed. Edwards has long derided Campbell’s brand of discipline as “dartboard justice.”

Pittsburgh Penguin Matt Cooke’s elbow to the head of Bruin Marc Savard in March 2010 is arguably the most infamous incident under Campbell’s watch. Cooke was not suspended, while Savard missed a month and a half with a grade-two concussion. Savard returned for seven games in the playoffs, but has not played yet this year due to post-concussion syndrome. Even Cooke’s teammate Bill Guerin said, “You [have] got to pay a price for that. … I understand [Cooke] is on my team but, hey, he’s in a tough spot.” Indeed, fans and players league-wide were perplexed by Campbell’s inaction. Constant inconsistencies forced NHL general managers to propose what is now known as the “blind-side rule,” outlawing blows to the head on unsuspecting players.

In Campbell’s redacted emails lies a reference to a “little fake artist” he coached in New York, and according to Dellow’s heady research, the embellisher-in-question is Marc Savard. Conspiracy theories aside, is it in the league’s best interests to have someone so clearly biased against certain players be its judge, jury, and executioner? Observers such as theBoston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont have called for a panel of representatives from the league, the players’ association, and a referee to rule on suspensions and fines – an alternative that is looking very rosy compared to the status quo.

Campbell’s impartiality doesn’t stop at Savard or any other players he’s coached; his son Gregory plays in the NHL as well. The majority of the emails were conversations between Colin Campbell and then-Director of Officiating, Stephen Walkom. Dellow pins down multiple instances of games during or after which Campbell emailed Walkom complaining about officiating, with at least two instances involving a penalty call going against Gregory Campbell. After one of these cases, the elder Campbell suggested that Walkom “gas this shithead [referee].” When reached for comment by TSN, Campbell shrugged off the story. “It’s much ado about nothing. … Stephen knows I’m a (hockey) dad venting and both of us [know] it wouldn’t go any further than that.” Have you ever heard of a hockey dad calling for a referee to get gassed after a call against his kid?

Of course, it does go further than that. In addition to having the ear of the league’s Director of Officiating, the emails contain suggestions from Campbell to Walkom with requests from general managers for certain referees to officiate their games. With NHL officiating in poor regard as is, the public airing of Campbell’s dirty little game of “favourites” has cast the league’s referees in a crooked light. The NHL, while starved for attention south of the border, doesn’t need this notoriety in the least bit.

According to ex-referee Warren, Walkom confessed privately, “Look, if I gotta listen to Colin Campbell anymore I’m going to slit my own wrists.” Warren himself went on to say “Mr. Campbell was certainly ruling or making decisions on games involving Florida – his son’s team.” This frightening record of dishonest, borderline corrupt behaviour from a supposedly unbiased league official does not bode well for the NHL. While Campbell is prohibited from ruling on any disciplinary issue involving his son, there is no question that his influence, position, and rashness have altered the outcome of NHL games.

In any event, Campbell will likely remain in his current position for years to come, dictating punishments for league offenders with clueless abandon. Hockey’s “old boys’ club” of former players has already come swooping in to Campbell’s defence. Mainstream media outlets (especially those in Canada) have been asking the obligatory, cupcake questions on the matter, without so much as a peep regarding Campbell’s egregious abuse of his office in lobbying for calls for his son. “Oh, he’s just a hockey dad” doesn’t cut it when league integrity and, above all, players’ safety are at stake. He’s shown numerous times in the past that his poor judgment can affect his performance as league disciplinarian and as an ambassador of hockey.

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Much has been made recently of the Phoenix Coyotes’ financial situation. Since moving from Winnipeg in 1996, the team has yet to turn in a profitable season. Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie had his attempt to purchase the team and move them to Hamilton, Ontario thwarted by a U.S. judge in 2009. Recently, the NHL secured a deal with principal investor Matthew Hulsizer to keep the NHL’s dream of hockey in the desert on life support. “It has always been the league’s objective to secure ownership that will ensure the Coyotes’ long-term future in Glendale, [Arizona],” said Bill Daly, NHL Deputy Commissioner. However, the team’s 57.4 per cent home attendance figure asks the question: Why?

The recently-for-sale Atlanta Thrashers are following in the footsteps of the Coyotes. While NHL revenues have been on the rise, it is in spite of the burden placed on the league by teams south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Six of the bottom nine teams in attendance in the ’09-’10 season were southern teams. The league’s migration to the South has all taken place under Commissioner Gary Bettman’s watch after he left his post as Senior Vice-President of the NBA to run the NHL in early 1993. Bettman, at the behest of league owners, was expected to expand hockey’s reach, quell labour disputes, and ensure financial stability league-wide. Two team bankruptcies and two work stoppages later, it suffices to say that the NHL’s dream of success across the entirety of North America is simply a bridge too far.

While franchises such as Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, and Carolina Hurricanes are prime candidates for relocation, the NHL’s actions with Phoenix and Atlanta make the likelihood of a move slim. The league’s efforts to cement floundering teams in non-traditional hockey markets have been questioned by Canadian and American fans alike and many wonder if hockey as a whole will suffer for it. Bettman’s unbridled enthusiasm in retaining southern expansion has seen the league turn its back not only on stable ownership, but more importantly on hockey starved fans. The financial muscle from even a couple of teams relocating north would greatly increase league-wide financial security.

There is no denying the abundance of fans in the North that are being neglected given the respective lack of NHL franchises. The NHL now has an obligation to itself and its fans to return hockey to markets that can not only support it, but allow it to thrive. That can only happen if the league office’s blinders are removed.

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Many citizens of Quebec and Canada as a whole have shared the same aspiration: for hockey to return to Quebec City. Since the Nordiques left in 1995, there has been an uncomfortable void in the Quebec sports landscape, forcing many easterners to reluctantly root for the Canadiens, while others disengage entirely from NHL hockey. With recent reports of efforts to bring a team back to Quebec, the mere possibility of the league’s return to the city has many giddy with anticipation. Seemingly neglected, however, is Pierre Karl Péladeau – the potential beneficiary of a new franchise – whose political and moral background should give serious pause to Quebec residents and hockey fans as a whole. This issue brings up an important question in sports: as a fan, where is your money going? Franchise ownership for political purposes has begun to rear its head elsewhere, with Quebec’s candidacy making it the next target for this woeful practice.

Péladeau, head of Quebecor Media (the parent company of Vidéotron), has made no secret about wanting to own a prospective Quebec City hockey franchise. According to Canadian Business, Péladeau’s net worth is in the vicinity of $415 million after taking over his father’s company. Yet Péladeau wishes to not only own a Quebec franchise, but to have the Harper government provide upwards of $175 million to build the arena. This does not include the estimated $175 million in provincial funds and $50 million in local city funds proposed for Quebec’s new $400-million arena.

Indeed, on top of the modern standard of government-funded assistance, Péladeau’s potential coup strangely includes no funding of his own nearly half-billion dollar fortune. In essence, the Quebecor CEO’s proposal enables him to pocket the profits from a nearly guaranteed sellout crowd each game, all while repaying the province of Quebec nothing. Perhaps this is the going rate for the gracious gesture of hands-off ownership of an NHL team while reaping its profits. These profits would undoubtedly be used in part to get Péladeau’s TV network brainchild, right-wing news outlet Sun TV News – colloquially known as Fox News North – off the ground.

Not surprisingly, it is also widely assumed that (as with most owners) many of Péladeau’s expenses and assets related to the team would be deemed tax-free by the government of Quebec in exchange for “revitalizing” the economy of Quebec City; an economic practice that has not yet proven effective in the past. This blatantly unnecessary use of public funds reeks of right-wing, so-called “small government” hypocrisy.

This is not the first time that sports owners’ tactics have coincided with political interests. In exchange for the potential media support, Harper has expressed an interest in funding Péladeau’s viability as an NHL owner with taxpayer money. Dick DeVos, CEO of the Orlando Magic, is an outspoken member of the extreme right-wing portion of the Republican Party in the U.S., having funded groups that, according to sports writer Dave Zirin in Dissident Voice, support and aid “reparative gay therapy, anti-evolution politics, and other ‘traditional’ family values.” Reality, it seems, continues to elude DeVos’s political and social beliefs.

Other owners with controversial political ties include the Arizona Diamondbacks’ principal owner Ken Kendrick, who misled the public regarding his stance on the now infamous SB-1070 immigration-law in Arizona. Again according to Zirin, while stating that he was opposed to the borderline fascistic legislation, Kendrick hosted a fundraiser at the Diamondbacks’ ballpark, Chase Field, for Arizona state senator Jonathan Paton in his Congressional bid – Paton being one of SB-1070’s most outspoken supporters. Not surprisingly, Chase Field was built primarily (over 70 per cent) with public funds, giving Arizona taxpayers the privilege of hosting Paton’s fundraiser. Mercifully, Paton was defeated in the Arizona Republican primary a month ago. Nonetheless, given these precedents of sports team owners supporting social injustices, one shudders to imagine what Péladeau’s new arena and TV network would give him as far as political sway.

Perhaps repeated blows to the head from his silver spoon resulted in a concussion; more likely, Péladeau’s greed simply has no capacity or sympathy for the cut-and-dry economics of a publically-funded stadium. The onus now lies upon Stephen Harper to deny this blatant cash grab and prevent further usurpation of public funds. In a CTV News report, Harper’s former top aid, Tom Flanagan, said the proposed funding of an arena in Quebec “has the potential to create backlash not just in the West, but all across the country.” Indeed, public dissent will need to rise to the surface to prevent a heist of this magnitude by both Péladeau and the enabling Harper.

Sports are a funny thing. Blind hope normally has no consequences, serving only to either validate or ignore a fan’s faith. Though those desires may be granted, the outlook would worsen on a moral and economic level for Quebec. Under the current proposal, hockey’s return to Quebec would invoke much stronger emotions than nostalgia. If the public bears the brunt of the investment, should they not also reap the benefits? In the meantime, for those still in favor of a team relocating to Quebec under Péladeau, a simple word of caution: be careful what you wish for.

The original article wrote, “Dick DeVos of Xe (formerly Blackwater), owns the Orlando Magic. Every ticket stub used to see players like Dwight Howard also funds the mercenary organization whose presence in Iraq remains as substantial as DeVos’s enthusiasm for wealth disparity.” DeVos is not officially connected with Xe. The Daily regrets this error.

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