I don’t know if you heard about this, but the My Little Pony cartoon is very popular these days. They have a following of men called Bronies, and even their own convention called BronyCon. No kidding.

I thought about this when I saw the headline ‘Industry insider: “We will not play next year”‘ over at NBC PHT today. Because we don’t want to believe in something positive, we want to see the entire thing fall apart. There isn’t a Dazzleglow or Twilight Sparkle among us. No Bronies or whatever the female equivalent of Bronies are as hockey fans.

Why think the two sides can come together? Why believe that Donald Fehr can pull off what Bob Goodenow couldn’t? Why think that the owners aren’t going to budge, or that the counter offer from the players might be compelling enough to start a legitimate discussion on the actual points of the CBA?

From that post:

“Last time around, the NHL made its salary cap proposal and barely moved off it,” the source, speaking under the condition of anonymity, told PHT. “This is not an initial proposal. The league is shutting down and it’s ‘come back when you’re ready to accept.’

“This is exactly what happened last time. You heard it here first, we will not play next year.”

Yes, last time around. And any ‘source’ can say what happened last time around. Hell, we were all there for it. I could have told you what happened last time. Look, Ma, I’m a source now.

(this video isn’t embedding like I want it to, but it’s supposed to start at the 17 second mark. It makes more sense that way).

Remember, when it comes time to publish the news, and especially news that sells, no matter if it’s selling gold, slap chops, or clicks and page views, sensationalism sells. Gloom and doom is a sure way to get the fearful to read. And just because a source says something, doesn’t make it magically happen. Unless their name is Harry Potter. Then, maybe you should worry.