Welcome to the Bridgestone Winter Ordinary

I try not to be one of those people who hates everything for no other reason than that's what we all do now. But man, I'm really not a fan of the NHL's decision to add an additional five outdoor games to the Winter Classic. It's irrational to decry the cheapening of tradition when the tradition itself is only five years old and the entire enterprise was full of faux nostalgia and quite contrived to begin with. But since when have sports fans been rational?

The NHL very successfully built up mystique around the Winter Classic and it quickly became an exclusive event that every team wanted to host. Reports abound about what a cash cow the Winter Classic is for the league and the teams involved. But for the fan it felt like this was a reward for them as well. Participating in the Winter Classic was validation that your team was an important and respected franchise. And you could feel a part of that success because the fan-base had been deemed worthy to support such a big event. This was not an All Star game in Columbus, Ohio or an entry draft in Nashville, Tenn. This was the WINTER CLASSIC.

But already the announcement has made the outdoor extravaganza feel more routine, more ordinary. To attend the Winter Classic most teams require you to buy tickets to all of the supporting games and events. Hundreds of thousands of fans have been willing to pay the price, because after all, you'd be able to say you were one of the lucky ones to see that rare game in person. But will that still be the case when this changes from a once-a-decade phenomena to something that you'll have the opportunity to attend a few times a season (at least if you're the New York Rangers)?

What will these changes mean for the partnership with HBO? Probably my favorite part of the Winter Classic has been the fantastic 24/7 series. Even when I despised both teams involved, seeing the inside the dressing room view drove up my interest in the actual game. I doubt HBO will be doing a series for each outdoor game, and if the novelty of the Winter Classic itself wears off, how long will they continue with the original series?

And I just can't shake the feeling that this is somehow Gary Bettman's pay back to the rich franchises for going along with his lockout.

But in the end, the biggest thing that annoys me about this is the NHL again taking for granted something great for short-sighted gain. Last Sunday's episode of Mad Men captured this problem perfectly when a local car dealer tried to push Don Draper away from the sophisticated national campaign on Jaguar to include local radio spots to boost dealership walk-ons. Don knew Jaguar was a luxury product, that it should feel exclusive, that what makes it great is precisely the fact that average Joes aren't buying it. Sometimes it's not about how many dollars you're bringing in, but where those dollars are coming from. It's not hard to imagine how the NHL's dilution of the Winter Classic actually results in the end of outdoor games. Four years from now when every team in the league has participated in one, how many people are really going to show up to the Rose Bowl to watch the Ducks play the Seattle Coyotes?