simonus

you are actually totally wrong about that. The great majority of people I know who are doctors or medical students care deeply about helping people. Obviously they want the salaries that come with the position, but that in now way means that they didn't first look at medicine because of their fascination with the human body and their desire to help people.

richest surgeons are the cosmetic plastic surgeons, followed by the neurosurgeons doing spinal surgeries which have questionable benefit.

He didn't turn down 12M/year because he said he had a family to feed, he justified turning it down by talking about the need to support his children. I think Sprewell just had an unfortunate use of hyperbole thrown back at him. He turned down 12M because he thought his market value was higher. As far as athletes being pampered - I don't get that at all. Athletes get paid their market value - whether or not we think they are "overpaid", they are certainly paid at the rate the market values them at at the given time. When Mark Teixeira is 38 yrs old, he won't be "worth" $15M or whatever it is they are paying him, but the market price of getting Teixeira in 2009 is to promise to pay him that much when he is 38. And it is not like athletes don't work for their money... its not like a hockey player only works for 15 minutes a night or David Ortiz works for 4 at-bats. That is no more true than it is that Fanpuck works 1:30 a day for 6 months of the year.... or that I have only worked for 4 hours since that is about the aggregate amount of time I have spent in front of a court. Of course athletes make way more money (albeit over a very short period of time) than the average person does, but I don't see people getting so disturbed over how much actors make or - until very recently - over how much CEO's make. Why aren't you pissed off at how much surgeons make? I wonder if it is because one has some sense that an athlete is on "their" team... that there is so connection there. If I buy an iPhone, I don't feel like I'm part of Steve Jobs' team and as such I don't have a personal stake in whether he exercises his stock options... but maybe when I buy a habs ringtone for my iPhone I think I'm part of the group and I see more clearly the earning disparity between myself and Alex Kovalev? I honestly don't understand the cognitive dissonance.

I can see that there is little point in talking about the costs of such things, but BTH - this is one thing about which I am quite certain. First: we are not talking about how many cars you have at a given time - we are talking about buying cars over the course of your life. I would not say that you would need or want 6-8 cars at any given time, but over the course of your life you are likely (between your whole family) to buy at least 6-8 cars. Lets say you get a new car every 5-6 years and each one costs between $75 - $150k and you keep two cars (I know my family kept 4 or 5 cars when I still lived at home... but then again I got rid of my car when I moved to the city) - that is between $300k - $600k outlay every decade. A lexus ls460L costs around $80k-$90k. It's a very nice car and I'd probably not want something more expensive, but it is not at the top price for a sedan - it is much cheaper than than a Mercedes AMG, a 7 series BMW, or the Bentley Continental. Second: a million dollars buys you 1300sqft in the Trump International in Chicago, which is obviously overpriced... I was able to find 2900sqft for $1.1M in an old building in town.. I'm sure that place is quite nice, but it isn't exactly a mansion. Maybe it's not cars that you want to spend your money on... Maybe you are me and you start buying musical instruments, stereos and recording equipment... maybe if I were truly rich I'd want to build my own recording studio in my condo. Maybe you're Alex Kovalev or Joe Juneau and you start buying planes. Maybe you are Saku Koivu and you start buying MRI machines. Maybe you are a multi-multi millionaire like Angelina Jolie and you pay to have a few hundred acres of Cambodia de-mined. Maybe you are a billionaire like Bill Gates and you pay to have malaria wiped out...

I've always been intrigued by the politics of an NTC. I don't think I'd want to play for a team that wanted me gone. I'd want an NTC just to limit the number of teams I'd go to rather than block all trades outright - an NTC to me is like a no-Thrashers clause.

unfortunately, I think other teams might look at it the same way. I do think, sadly, that Koivu is becoming far less relevant to this team.

Fanpuck, first of all you weren't talking originally about the marginal difference of $10M, you were talking about giving up $50M. I would probably not do either, but there is a difference. Many of the numbers you gave as cost estimates were pretty low. What really stuck out to me was the housing number. $1M buys a very nice house, especially if you are away from population centers, but a truly awesome place? absolutely not. Also, if I were truly wealthy, I'd want more than one house - I'd probably want one in Chicago, Montreal, and the warm city of my choice. As far as cars go - considering that Sergei Kostitsyn was talking about owning a car that retails for over $125,000... and considering you need to get a car for your wife... and your kids... $1M does not cover lifetime car expenses. Add to that the fact that you probably want at least one extra car for each extra houses... $75,000 absolutely would not cover utilities, etc... on your houses. Add in that we could have hyperinflation for a few years? Suffice it to say that it is easier than one might think to blow through millions of dollars without realizing it. Obviously $25M is fantastic wealth, more than anyone on this board can probably expect to ever make, but there is an absolute difference between $25 and $75. Does that difference matter? Who am I to say. Between the two of use, I'm the tax and spender, but that doesn't mean I begrudge an individual his right to play the game as the rules have been set. I think it is plausible to love hockey and love the Stanley Cup and value it less than $50M (or ever $20M), especially considering that the lost money is not a guarantee of getting the cup, especially when you already have a cup, especially when the money goes back to the ownership so they can either a: pocket the money, or b: pay some other schmuck that same extra $50M to score less than you do. Asking for player/employee sacrifice has been a tactic of ownership over the last century to beat back gains by unions and employees generally. I have little sympathy for the owner who asks his player to be a "team player" and accept a discount while he takes a special dividend to empty the team of capital. If I were a player, my response to a plea for a wage cut would be "I'll cut mine when you cut yours... maybe." The bible says that you will eat by the sweat of your brow, not mine.

that would be insane. I do believe these guys play for the love of the game, but leaving $50-60M on the table is insane. Perhaps there is a point where the marginal value of a dollar is low, but $25M over 10 years is not near that point. Having $75M is better than having $25M - it represents far more security, the ability to be an somewhat self-sufficient entreppenneur without risk of going destitute, it allow people to have a greater ability to pamper their parents, to assure their children have all possible advantages, and to cap it off it allows a person to do all of that with an assurance that if they will not have to work for the rest of their lives. This is especially true for an athlete in a dangerous game where serious long-term injury is a possibility, especially with what we are starting to know about the effects of concussions over the course of a player's life. While it would be very good for me as a fan if a Zetterberg level player were to sign with montreal for $2.5M over 10 years, I would aboslutely not have more respect for the guy if he chose to do it.

would be nice to come out of the break strong. Let's swipe the collective purses of the Florida squads and bring their points and mascara back to the great white north! [insert joke about scoring here] GO HABS GO!

I did.

Vinny not loving the cheers, I don't think...

that song was just awful.

I don't think that's true and at the least I don't think that you can state this opinion with such apparent certainty. and while violence makes the MMA as popular as it is, it will always set a maximum on its fan base. I think that this kind of violence can be as much a hindrance as a help.

That was the point I was making about Grant. You ask the average person for a sentence about Grant and they will say "General in the Civil War... total drunk"

eh... two periods of exhibition hockey.... the youngstars game is two 30 minute halves, right?

While Bush may or may not be remembered for public gaffes and an apparent lack of intelligence (in the view of many), he has had significant political failures that will likely stand the test of time even if we don't think of him as "bumbling." As to Bush's personality - quick, what does the average person know about Calvin Coolidge? Or Ulysses S. Grant? Personal flaws, if large enough, can be remembered over the long term, even to the exclusion of on the job achievements (what few there are). Does anybody remember Caligula's infrastructure policy?

or that Obama turned rubble into gold. People might credit W in the same way people try to give credit to Hoover or Nixon. He might get a think tank named after him in 50 years, but the average person will remember him as a failure. Jon Stewart said it best when Bush cited Truman as proof that unpopular presidents can be rehabilitated in history books - "yeah, but we still think Harding was a dick."

the arena sounds so dead

can you remember getting so close to scoring so many times without actually potting a goal?

that's what happens when you don't cash in on your chances

jeez, pleks got so close

that's some straight up sloppy play there

of course

hockey and football have the worst all-star games in all of sports and I don't see the big deal either way. IMHO, having a fundamentally flawed election system just gives sports media and fans an opportunity to kvetch, which operates as free advertising for the event. Honestly - who the hell cares who goes to the all-star game? At best it is just for bragging rights. Knowing that a player is an "all star" is about as important to determining who played well in a given year as golden gloves are important in determining who is a great defensive shortstop. The event is in Montreal, let the fans have their fun and see their boys at the game. Ovechkin is going to be there, Kovalev knows how to put on a good show, and Carey will wow the casual fans watching on NBC with his engaging personality. Wales 12, Campbells 8. GO WALES!

I have yet to see Mason play, but stats aside, everything I've heard about him is absolutely glowing. There is no reason why only Montreal can have a goaltending phenom - and Mason's success in no way diminishes Price's value to the Habs. I will definitely have to endeavour to catch a CBJ game in the near future to get a better idea about the kid.