Close Reading #3

Just Go Away, Gary

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8639525/just-go-away-gary

Bill Simmons is a writer for Grantland and he has become increasingly angry about the continued National Hockey League (NHL) lockout.  He blames the lockout on the NHL's commissioner  Gary Bettman, who he is very critical of in the article.  Simmons uses diction, imagery, and details to help emphasize his opinion that Gary Bettman should be removed from his position as NHL commissioner.

Simmons uses pejorative diction to describe the NHL under Bettman's control.  He uses botched when describing the leagues television deals, and epidemic when describing the NHL's concussion problems. By using words with negative connotations Simmons describes his anger about the way the NHL has been run since the last lockout.  Simmons also uses pejorative diction like idiot and failure to describe Bettman himself.  These negative words help support Simmons's opinion that Bettman isn't capable of being a good commissioner and he should be removed from his position.  

Bill Simmons also uses imagery to help his readers understand what Bettman has been like as the commissioner.  Using the image of a baby holding a chainsaw he creates and image describing Bettmans leadership "hockey fans were regarding Bettman's lockout leadership the same way you'd act if you were watching a baby play with a chainsaw."  This powerful image is used to explain how incompetent and frightening Bettman's leadership has been trying to manage the NHL during the Lockout.  By using the image Simmons is saying that Bettman isn't remotely close to being able to handle a situation as dangerous as the NHL lockout.  Simmons also creates the image of a "neighbor knocking down his house, then rebuilding it from scratch" and then seven years later saying "Yeah, sorry about that — we screwed up when we rebuilt the house, had too many flaws, we needed to do it over again."  This image represents what has happened to the NHL since the last lockout.  It describes how silly it is that the NHL is in this situation again after having to cancel a full year of games during the last lockout.  These images allow Simmons to describe the dire situation in the NHL using everyday things that people can picture easily.

Simmons also uses details to support his opinions about Gary Bettman.  Simmons uses details supporting his claim that Bettman is a horrible commissioner, "on the verge of losing two NHL seasons in one decade, with four work stoppages."  This detail supports Simmons's claim that Bettman has done a poor job of managing the NHL during his tenure.  Another detail that supports Simmons's opinion is, "team after team circumventing that cap by giving out guaranteed deals lasting as long as 15 YEARS."  This detail describes how NHL teams have taken advantage of the salary cap system that Bettman created durning the previous lockout.  It provides emphasis that Bettman's solutions to the previous lockout's problems haven't really been fixed.  Both of these details provide specific examples of why Gary Bettman should be removed as commissioner.

Bill Simmons is a Los Angles Kings season ticket holder and he loves taking his daughter to their games.  He uses diction, imagery, and details to describe to his readers why Gary Bettman should be impeached. His  goal is to call out Gary Bettman in an entertaining way to entertain his readers and encourage the NHL to end their lockout so he can continue to take his daughter to Kings' games.