It takes two sides to make a deal, two sides to negotiate and two sides to make it go bad.

Our economics are not baseball's economics. Our game is not baseball's game. Our owners are not baseball's owners, with one or two exceptions. Our union is not baseball's union. What we do has to be crafted and suited to address hockey, to address the NHL, to address our 30 teams and our 700-plus players.

My take is that J&J would still like to do the deal but that Guidant is unwilling to negotiate the price enough so that J&J is satisfied.

If accommodations have to be made, they'll have to be made in how the tournament is scheduled.

This multifaceted partnership will create exciting opportunities for our fans and us.

If you want to know how I feel, I'll summarize it in one word - terrible.