Hyundai hockey nation?

I'm watching Hockey Night in Canada, brought to me by Hyundai, the Korean industrial conglomerate. The Bruins are ahead of the Leafs 2-1 at the moment. Hyundai has some decent commercials on. They've scared up Kevin Weeks, one of the leagues few black alumni, to give tips to up and coming NHLers. The spots are called Hyundai Hockey Nation.

I suppose one way of ingratiating your foreign company into the fabric of a nation's consciousness is to sponsor the national pastime. When I was growing up Hockey Night in Canada was brought to me by the Ford Motor Company.

That was long ago. I knew folks who worked at the Ford plants. Back in the day it wasn't uncommon for line guys at Ford to have season's tickets at Maple Leaf Gardens. You won't find that happening anymore.

Globalization is a beautiful thing. There's nothing new about international trade of course. Marco Polo was a late comer to the action over seven hundred years ago. So what's new about the globalization we've been treated to this generation?

Tonight's game is coming from the TD Garden in Boston. Their home rink used to be called the Boston Garden. TD is a global banking concern based in Canada that figured they could woo Boston sports fans by putting their name on the arena. I suppose that's a legitimate way of ingratiating yourself into a community's consciousness.

Although Ford must be commended for not waddling up to the trough during the bail-out bonanza, they've not been reluctant to use the post bailout wage structure at GM and Chrysler to browbeat their workers. They have to be competitive of course, and they can't be competitive if they keep paying their workers thirty bucks an hour while the other guys are paying fourteen.

The other guys are aiming to keep wages competitive with what Hyundai pays it's workers in Korea. How does three bucks an hour sound? Looks like a race to the bottom to me. Average ticket prices for a Leafs game is over $100. Hyundai Hockey Nation will be watching on TV.

Bruins are up 3-2.