Special DElivery: 98 Degrees of lockout separation

By Darren Eliot –

Maybe I just want to believe because, like hockey fans everywhere, I’ve grown weary of the lockout blah, blah, blah. I just want our Red Wings back. In this state of looking for any kind of sign that the two sides will actually sign, I turn to Nick Lachey and Mario Lemieux. Let me explain.

First, almost eight years exactly, during the last NHL lockout, I met Nick Lachey at the UCLA vs. USC game. I was working college football for TBS, filing a post-game report that would air during their half-time show. That meant I roamed the sidelines during the game, taking it all in until the mad dash after the game to get my questions in with the head coaches and players of the game. As I stood at the south end zone of the Rose Bowl during halftime, a guy sauntered up beside me and just started talking about the first two quarters.

By the time we exchanged pleasantries, the entire UCLA cheerleading squad had surrounded us. Well, him. I was more just in the way. They all seemed excited as, well, schoolgirls to be talking to this guy. As I ambled away, trying to look like I was planning on moving on anyway, I asked the cop standing nearby if he knew who the guy was. “Nick Lachey – from the Newlyweds Show”. I nodded and understood. Lachey was married to Jessica Simpson at the time and their show Newlyweds was a reality TV hit. They were the couple of the moment in 2004.

So, that was last lockout and I hadn’t really heard Lachey’s name since that 2004-05 timeframe. That is, until this past weekend when Lachey was reportedly tossed out of the Chargers-Bengals game for cheering too loudly. He is a big sports fan, particularly when it comes to Cincinnati teams. Of course, my memory jogged, I knew that after seeing him at that college football game eight years ago. Meanwhile, as part of the media scrum surrounding the UCLA coach that same day eight years ago, I caught eyes with a guy that looked as out of place as I felt. He looked familiar, but all I kept coming up with is, “Who is that?”

When the media hoard dispersed, I went up to the guy, who – after my several glances over, probably thought that I was some sort of kook – and asked him, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows?” He smiled and said, “Just the guys in the band. Hi I’m Adam.” We chatted for a few minutes and I told him that I was a huge fan of the band, seen them a couple of times on tour and he said he was a huge fan of the Bruins (UCLA, not Boston, for those of you trying to interject some hockey in this story). When I asked him what he was doing down here in the bowels of the Rose Bowl, he shrugged, smiled and said, “Just Hanginaround.” Seriously, he said that.

Anyway, that was my ‘so cool So Cal day of Pac 10 football and pop culture’ chance encounters.  On my flight back east, I puzzled over who out of the contentious NHL-NHLPA taffy pull would fall out of lock-step and make headway in ending the lockout? The attempt I remember in early February of 2005 involved Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Both weren’t too far from their superstar player status, now in ownership positions. Reportedly, an agreement with a cap of $45M was “done in principle” and the hockey world was abuzz with the prospect of getting the teams back on the ice. History shows that the purported agreement never materialized from the “in principle” to the “in practice” stage and Commissioner Bettman made the unprecedented announcement to cancel the season on Feb. 16.

And here Lemieux is back as the last minute voice of reason, trying to apply his regal touch to a spiraling situation. Last time, the season was lost, but Lemieux and the Penguins reaped the benefits by securing Sidney Crosby in the rejiggered raffle that was the 2005 draft. With no standings to base it on, the criterion for the first overall pick was futility over the previous three seasons. The Pens won by losing and the rebirth of the franchise – aka the Crosby era – was underway. And even if Lemieux couldn’t save the league from itself, he saved hockey in Pittsburgh for the second time in his lifetime – the first being when he was drafted first overall in 1984.

The point being, I’m looking for any indication that this dispute will end soon. Nick Lachey may now be below B-list status, but at least he’s hollering and screaming for his beloved Bengals. The Counting Crows left Geffen Records and haven’t put out any new material since 2008, but for the mercurial Duritz and his band, being independent artists seems a good fit. Lemieux as the conduit of conciliation made sense last time and with Crosby in attendance at the recent owner/player meetings and Lemieux now well beyond figurehead status as an owner; maybe the timing is better this time. Last time it was February when Nick Lachey showed up on my radar. This time it is December.

For all of our sakes, let’s hope it isn’t “A Long December.”

Seriously, I just wrote that. It is my definitive “I really miss NHL hockey” moment in 2012.