Dan Ellis and the Hotdog Flavored Water

by BReynolds on Sep 7, 2010 10:49 AM CDT

Look, it's not often that we at Hockey Wilderness criticize players. To be sure, we offer our opinion on their play, or on the level of talent they may or may not posses. However, we generally steer away from directly criticizing that player as a person, or for what they do off the ice.

Hopefully all of you have picked up on the story from any number of sites. The best recaps of the issue can be found at Puck Daddy, and from Hockey Joe over at ProHockeyTalk. Please head over there for those opinions, and then make the jump for mine. Also, share yours in the comment section.

This story will be everywhere today, and we apologize up front if you don't want to read yet another take on it. We are simply providing the story, an opinion, and giving you a place to discuss it, should you choose to do so.

For those who are out side the loop, Dan Ellis, back-up goaltender extraordinaire, made some rather... shall we say... non-thought-out-real-well comments on Twitter. For example:

If you lost 18% of your income would you be happy? I can honestly say that I am more stressed about money now then when I was in college.

That tweet started it all, and Ellis continued to try and dig his way out of the hole:

I can't explain it and I never thought it would be the case but it is true. $ in no way makes u more happy or makes life much easier.

If you don't make a lot of money I don't expect u to understand in the same way I could never understand what it is like to risk my life

Daily as a fire fighter or police officer...especially not a soldier. There r pros and cons to every profession. U r kidding yourself..

If u think money makes things any easier.

The response from his followers was exactly what his agent, his teammates, or my third grade daughter could have told him it would be. People from all walks of life making fun and pointing out just how ridiculous it is to complain about money when you make $1.5 million to be a backup goalie.

If you haven't already, read Wysh and Hockey Joe's post. They detail out where to find the comedy that sprung from all of this, and it is truly worth it. For what may be the first time in my life, I engaged the filter between my brain and my keyboard and did not join in. We'll call it growth.

Here is my take on this:

Ellis has been one of the better NHL player follows on Twitter. He does not tell us he is going to the rink to skate or what he had for breakfast. He has been candid, and that is greatly appreciated. However, being candid, and putting your foot so far into your mouth that your colon gets concerned is not a good idea.

For the record, I respect his right to say whatever he wants, and I recognize that even people with money have problems. I agree with him, to a point, when he says that you are "kidding yourself if u think money makes things any easier." Money is that the cure all for everything that is wrong in life. It will not make people love you, and it does not provide as much happiness as many believe it does. Money does solve one of the major problems that many people in the world have, though. That problem? Not having money.

Money provides the means to purchase food, it provides the means to provide our families with shelter and security. It provides the means to clothe ourselves and even to provide education. For the vast majority of his followers, and people in general, money is simply a means to provide the fundamentals to stay alive. For far too many in this world, money cannot even provide that.

What Mr. Ellis failed to realize is just how many people out there don't care about how difficult it is to manage large sums of money. It is, and I went to school to learn how to do it. Now all I need is the money to manage, and I'm all set. It's not that we don't understand, Dan, it's that we don't care. We're too busy worrying about if we should buy ourselves a new pair of $20 sneakers or if we should wait until next month so that our kids can have new shoes first. In other words... you want to know what is more difficult to manage than large sums of money? Small sums of money.

Sure, anyone who is reading Hockey Wilderness is doing much better than the people mentioned a couple paragraphs up. Anyone who has access to the web, and the time to partake in such frivolities as reading a hockey blog, likely is not starving. However, I am willing to bet there are readers that need to budget very carefully in order to retain that luxury, and I am certain we have lost readers due to the inability to pay the internet bill.

After making one comment on Twitter last night, I was challenged to back off, since Mr. Ellis was supposedly right. That if my financial house was not in order, that I should not be throwing stones, and that he has the right to discuss whatever he wants in whatever manner he deems fit.

I do not disagree.

My financial house is mostly in order, as would be the case with most people in this country. Sure, there's some dirty laundry lying around, but nothing an extra $1.5 million couldn't clean up. I have made my choices in life, and continue to deal with the consequences of those choices (both positive and negative). I have few complaints about money. I understand I will never be able to afford the Shelby 500 Mustang I want. I understand I will never be able to purchase everything I want to buy. Would it be nice to have those things? Sure would, but my life is full without them.

The thing that bothered me most was when I was told that Mr. Ellis has the right to complain about money if he wants to, but then I am told that I should not criticize him for doing so. Sorry... it's a two way street. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences for that speech. If you believe it does, you are deluded.

Perhaps he deserves freedom from criticism because he is rich and famous. I disagree, and if anyone else would have said the same thing, they would have met with the same response.

Mr. Ellis touched a nerve, and made one of the most remarkably stupid comments some one of means can make in an economy that is as bad as nearly everyone alive has ever seen. The lesson here is not "keep your mouth shut." The lesson, as Hockey Joe said, is "know your audience." Want to complain about how bad it sucks to lose 18% of your million dollar paycheck? Call a teammate, your union rep, or your agent. Don't turn to the wage slaves living with choices of who gets shoes first.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Ellis tweeted this:

RT @HockeyBroad: @33dellis What is the "K3" seal on the back plate of your mask?...wife and kids all start with K. Nothing more important!

If it were me, I would have stuck with that, Dan.

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Comments

Mo Money Mo Problems

I get the point he was trying to make – kind of. Like Joe said “know your audience” Don’t sit on Twitter all summer posting pictures of your house, your car, your brand new rims, etc and then complain that you are worried about money.

People turn to sports to escape their every day worries.

When these fans turn to their escape and see a professional athlete complain about money – when they themselves are trying to figure out how to get new winter coats for their kids this winter – I see how it struck a nerve with the fans on Twitter.

At the same time are fans now going to tune in to Lightning games when they are facing teams that are know for annoying goalies – Rangers with Avery or even the Red Wings with Franzen ( don’t know what I am talking about – go to you tube and look up Frazen kneeing Jonas Hiller in the head in the 2009 playoffs). With more peopel tuning in to watch if Ellis gets ran, that increases views, that brings in more money, etc etc

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity.

by MMcAlister on Sep 7, 2010 11:02 AM CDT reply actions

Patrick Ewing said it best. .

You know back-up goalies make a lot of money, but they also spend a lot of money.

by darksaga on Sep 7, 2010 11:23 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

The thing that bothered me most was when I was told that Mr. Ellis has the right to complain about money if he wants to, but then I am told that I should not criticize him for doing so.

So you’re saying you should have the right to say that he doesn’t have the right to say what he has the right to say?

Well… I guess I agree with that.

by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 7, 2010 12:08 PM CDT reply actions

Ha ha. I suppose I would put it this way: I have the right to say that what he has the right to say wasn’t right.

Hockey Wilderness
Assistant Editor:SBN Minnesota

Rule #17: You may not impersonate representatives of Hockey Wilderness and handout NHL themed wrist bands.

by BReynolds on Sep 7, 2010 12:36 PM CDT up reply actions

Just Saying Dan...

by MMcAlister on Sep 7, 2010 12:51 PM CDT reply actions

Well done Bryan

I agree, it’s like rich people complaining they have to pay more taxes than poor people. They want to be equal in that department. Well, they have two options: 1) Share some of your money with poor people so that everyone is on the same budget, or 2) Make less money so you’ll pay less taxes. They don’t realize that 10% of a million and 10% of 100000 is still 10% both ways, so it’s technically the same. I realize that’s not how it works, it was just an example.

JS, Champion of the first ever Hockey Wilderness Playoff Bracket Challenge! WHOOOOOOOO!

twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on Sep 7, 2010 1:19 PM CDT reply actions

I get your point, but feel it’s important to note that rich people fall into a 38% income tax bracket while poor people don’t pay federal income taxes at all. If you go a step above poor to the lowest tax bracket, it’s 15%.

Yes, I know that rich people can afford to pay 38% of their pay in taxes while the lowest taxable bracket struggle to pay up to their 15%. Please don’t misconstrue that as an absolute value judgment, but rather as a statement of fact. We can save discussion for the merits of a flat tax system or general consumption tax to a different arena.

by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 7, 2010 1:46 PM CDT up reply actions

Wow, there is so much to say about this.

If you lost 18% of your income would you be happy? I can honestly say that I am more stressed about money now then when I was in college.

18% of 1.5 mil is a lot of money ($270,000 to be exact), but it’s your own fault that you’re not prepared for that. It’s ludicrous for him to complain about his “meager” 1.5 mil a year contract. I personally don’t know how I could even come close to spending that much money a year.

My lifestyle (albeit one of a college student) requires 1% of his salary, and I’m perfectly happy. Don’t complain that you’re “cursed” when in fact you screwed your finances yourself.

by ADN on Sep 7, 2010 2:09 PM CDT reply actions

Overreaction

18% on top of the 38% in taxes and 5-10% in agent fees…plus keep in mind he has maybe a 10-year window to “get paid” before he will retire.

Let’s say Dan Ellis has a lifetime earning of $10 million…take 38% (taxes) + 10% (agent) + 18% (escrow) and you’re down to keeping $3.4 million. Yes, a lot of money, but that money has to last the rest of your life. Average that out over forty years and it’s $85,000 a year. Not bad money, but not exactly like he’s going to be bathing in $100 bills the rest of his life.

And yes, I stress about money far more than I did in college. Simply, college was living on student loans and one or two part time jobs to pay a few hundred dollars in rent and food scraps and beer money. Now, I make three times as much money easily, but I have to pay a lot more in rent, car payment, feed an entire family, pay those student loans, and pay for health care for an entire family.

Mo’ money, mo’ problems.

by Jarick on Sep 7, 2010 2:41 PM CDT reply actions

Escrow does not just disappear. It is paid back if the league does what it is supposed to do, which it has since the inception of the idea.

Don’t give me the crap about he only has so many years to get paid. He has more earning potential than 99.9999% of the population of this planet. After his playing career he has the potential to be an analyst, or start a company, invest in any number of opportunities. $3.4 million isn’t “a lot” of money, it’s a shit ton of money, and it is more than you or I will make in our entire careers before we retire, so I don’t rightly care about how long it takes him to make it.

It is only $85,000 a year if he does nothing with it. That amount of money can be invested at higher interest rates, in bonds, in CDs, in stocks… he has the ability to make more money investing it than he ever will while earning it. I don’t know a single retiree that makes $85K a year. Hell… I don’t know anyone who makes $85K a year while they are working.

I stress about money more than I did in college, too. But that is because when I was in college I had student loans to live on, and I was responsible only for me. Of course that make me, and you, stress about it more. Do you really think that you would have more worries about money if you had $3 million? You’re fooling yourself if you think having more than enough money is more difficult than not having enough.

Save your “over reaction” for someone who gives a damn.

Hockey Wilderness
Assistant Editor:SBN Minnesota

Rule #17: You may not impersonate representatives of Hockey Wilderness and handout NHL themed wrist bands.

by BReynolds on Sep 7, 2010 3:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Do you really think that you would have more worries about money if you had $3 million?

Is this really what this boils down to at it’s core, that there’s some kind of built-in fairness earnings threshold above which a person isn’t allowed to say they want their money or that they may actually be concerned?

I have no idea what my life would be like if I had the budget and responsibilities of an NHL player. I don’t suppose it would be much better or easier than it is now, but that’s only because I’m in a place where I’m really enjoying life, despite knowing that it wouldn’t take a series of outrageous events to make me and my family monetarily struggle.

What I do know is that even if I had the budget and the responsibilities of an NHL player, I’d be upset if my boss and his buddies who make 1800% more than I do (based on Ellis’ salary and the league’s share of $2.7 Billion in revenues) wanted me to take an 18% pay cut.

This isn’t even about escrow. Ellis was talking to Reggie Bush about salary rollbacks. The players are not the greedy ones in this situation (at least not the greediest, rather). Just remember the players’ percentage of revenues is fixed. It’s not them who are raising ticket prices for the fans and it’s not because of them.

by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 7, 2010 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions

To clarify on the first sentence

Since you did cover this in the post and we have established that you also have a right to criticize here… The criticism is that he shouldn’t complain about the concept of an 18% rollback in his salary if it were to come to that, isn’t it? That’s what it seems to boil down to: that Dan Ellis makes enough money so that even when he’s treated unfairly, he has enough money left over to make it so that he can sit in his ivory temple and shut the hell up about it, regardless of whether that money ends up in the pockets of an even richer person.

I mean, have I grossly missed the point of the criticism against Ellis?

by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 7, 2010 3:55 PM CDT up reply actions

My criticism is that he suggests that people who don’t have a lot of money don’t understand his problems. If it has to do with them taking 18%, so be it, but they haven’t taken it. Escrow is not money they have taken away, at least not yet. If I remember correctly, every dime of escrowed money has been paid back. I could be wrong on that, I only am guessing on the fact that the NHL has reported such glowing numbers since escrow was established.

His comments were without tact, and suggested that despite the fact he makes $1.5 million a year, that his life is so hard, with all of his stress about money issues.

To your point, it would suck for anyone to lose 18% of their income, but I think the impact on lifestyle to someone making $40K a year is much larger than to someone making $1.5 million. If the people making $40K a year lose 18%, they now have to worry about their mortgage, feeding their kids, etc. If Dan Ellis loses 18%, he has to worry about not buying his wife a Lexus for Christmas.

I do not for a second begrudge him his worries. Everyone has worries, everyone has things in their lives they cannot control, and thus stress about. Illness, injury, death, etc. However, when a rich person complains about their money problems, it is disingenuous.

Eventually, in the way of the world, everyone’s boss makes 1800% more than they do. CEOs make at least that much more than front line employees, but no one would think for a second about tarring and feathering him if he complained about his money problems.

Hockey Wilderness
Assistant Editor:SBN Minnesota

Rule #17: You may not impersonate representatives of Hockey Wilderness and handout NHL themed wrist bands.

by BReynolds on Sep 7, 2010 8:24 PM CDT up reply actions

That’s the most well-said I’ve seen the criticism against him made. Thank you.

For this:

If I remember correctly, every dime of escrowed money has been paid back. I could be wrong on that, I only am guessing on the fact that the NHL has reported such glowing numbers since escrow was established.

For the first few years, escrow either kept a very low amount (2.5%) or even returned in full with a slight bonus, but the last two years, he players’ escrow not returned to them equaled around 12% of players’ salaries. Despite what Bettman has said about rising expectations, the league has brought in less revenue than before the economic downturn. I can’t particularly blame the league for the plight of the entire country, but they have sold their economic situation more highly than they should have.

Then again, the only reason the salary cap has gone up is because the players have voted on a mandatory 5% inflator on the league’s calculations of expected revenues (a broken system which encourages more dishonesty than it should). The players are partially to blame for their own escrow problems, but there are better solutions out there than to simply point fingers.

by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 8, 2010 7:33 AM CDT up reply actions