09-18-2004, 04:14 AM
I wish we could strike but since the state owns the building we are considered state workers and the law here is state workers can't strike and we are hearing that this lockout may last 2 seasons and to answer your questions about the way things work at arenas we cover the ice we don't take it out except when the circus comes other then that the ice is down for the whole season we use homosote which is a type of insulation made from ground up newspaper with a wax coating so it doesn't stick to the ice and the only time the ice is listed as bad ice is when the home team loses they always blame the ice but both teams have to play on the same ice sometimes we do a double day a basketball game in the afternoon and a hockey game at night on the same day we have to run around real quick on those days it takes about 8 hours to make the ice at the begining of the season the lines are tissue paper the logos are all hand painted and so is the goal crease ( the area the goalie stands in) the only good thing about this strike is that the basketball court is easier to put together without the ice and homosote down it slides much better on the concrete the bad thing is they aren't releasing enough of the cancelled hockey dates so the building can book other events we need at least 2 months to book an event they only gave us 1 month and the devils managemetn still hasn't released those dates to us there is alot more money to be lost by this mess then the public knows about hopefully both sides will wake up and smell the coffee soon I don't think that the league can withstand the loss of fanbase that they will face in a long lockout they still haven't fully recovered from the lockout in 1995 when they cancelled half the season we just have to hope that they come to their senses my union has told us to expect the worst case which is a long dragged out fight I think the next time they do play and they break a glass I'll refuse to go out and replace it until they compensate me better
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