Jamie Nye: A tale of four commissioners

Gary Bettman and Adam Silver deserve credit as the commissioners in sports who have led their organizations slowly, cautiously and diligently to a return to work.

The NHL and NBA have had few outbursts and fights with the players’ associations for one reason: They’ve been walking side by side with their respective player unions.

Now, we have to acknowledge that it was a lot easier to negotiate when much of the players’ salaries was already paid out.

But Major League Baseball and the Canadian Football League have been in the headlines far too often, with the players’ union annoyed. Whether it’s salaries in MLB or communication in the CFL, it has been a struggle for Rob Manfred and Randy Ambrosie.

The reason, however, is simple: If you don’t treat your players like true partners, the more you’re going to tick them off.

And with social media, the more you’re going to have to deal with plenty of backlash from each of your members.

And if you were Ambrosie on Thursday, it was another bad day in trying to control the message. In fact, it was an ugly fumble.