Man Do I Get Around

I've been kindly invited to contribute to Cycle Like The Sedins in the past and was yet again. This time James asked me for some thoughts on the coming draft and the Rangers track record ... yeah. I managed to avoid all swear words too! I'm proud of me. Check it out here.

And, lest I forget, Patrick at Goal Line Report has linked and interviewed me multiple times so I want to throw a big thank you out there to him. Thanks!

Following Up: Hockey Blogs

Since my blog about the Hockey Night In Canada piece about blogging generated so much traffic and controversy, I thought I would follow up.

First off, for those of you that don't read the additional comments, I was called out by a fellow blogger for blasting the piece, saying "It sounds like a case of sour grapes. You were not chosen for the story so it must be bad." Its a valid conclusion but one totally offbase as I have had opportunities to be on television and have turned them down (face for radio, voice for the deaf ... thus I blog). But said blogger, from The Puck Stops Here, is also defending the CBC piece because he was in it. Some blogs, like his, regurgitate every hockey story and add their $0.02 and that's fine - I read plenty of them on a daily basis - but my point was the omission of team fan blogs from the piece. It spoke up the blogs that have MainStream Media (MSM) connections while tossing a few negative connotations towards the sites of diehard fans.

Rather than go over my individual responses, you can click on the first link at the top and reread them for yourself. Then head over to Tom Benjamin's page for his response to CBC's work. To cut to the chase, he sums things up so: "At best, we add to the existing coverage. At worst we keep the real media on their toes." And to add to that, I think that fan blogs like this one and this one and this one and even this one deserve mention when talking about the hockey blogosphere, and not with a negative connotation.

Why? Because basically we do the job of columnists better than the columnists themselves. Those MSM writers are beholden to their editors and the credentials they are given where we can call it as we see it. We help jumpstart those bar-room discussions and will call things how we see it. Does it mean that we have no journalistic integrity? Absolutely not. We still have to be correct, or we are called on it. Just look at the comments on my original piece where Taste_of_Flames pointed out that Heatley drove a Ferrari when he killed Dan Snyder, rather than a Porche. I was wrong, and owned up to my mistake. Henceforth I will be more cautious. When was the last time that you saw a MSM writer retract something incorrect? The only case I can think of recently is the one going on right now in Toronto, and that is only under duress of possible legal ramifications.

I think that blogging and the different forms that weblogs come in will certainly be a ongoing topic so I will just close this entry with this - CBC did a decent piece, but it looked like they suddenly discovered the internet despite it being 2007 and they didn't do a comprehensive news package. It omitted a major part of the story and then tossed negative opinions out there without allowing for rebuttal. If they are supposed to be an objective member of the MSM then that is simply not good journalism.

I hope they do better next time.

Analyzing The Hockey Blogosphere

So Hockey Night In Canada had a segment on hockey bloggers and, somehow, they left me out. I know, I know, its shocking! But seriously, in a five minute piece and three minute two-way (interview), they pretty much brushed over the entire segment of hockey bloggers who are, in fact, diehard fans. They concentrate on detailing the Caps bloggers and other writers who are either serious journalists or play them at night. If you want to concentrate on that portion of the blogosphere, fine, but don't ignore and even belittle the fan writers - which they did, and even did so sounding like old farts describing this whole new world on that there inter-web.



Is it any wonder that the talking heads appreciate the news-based blogs like Mirtle's and Kukla's? No, not at all as those blogs - which are affiliated with the Globe&Mail and NHL.com - are an easy, professional way they can get the biggest stories in the shortest time, which is great, but what about all of the good writers who are out-and-out fans? I think that they gave them (us) a very bad name, saying how they have no bosses and, thus, no ethics. They briefly mentioned the Isles blog box but essentially berated it because it allows bloggers who wear team jerseys. Those bloggers aren't there as journalists trying to sell newspapers! They are hardcore fans who have a passion for their team and want to share that passion. Most do not pass themselves off as Edward R. Murrow, they speak from the heart. What's wrong with that?

I'll answer: Not a damn thing!

Grantland Rice, one of the most respected and well known sports writers of all time (the Notre Dame 'Four Horseman' guy), had to have been a fanatical sports fan to write such lucid, passionate pieces. Professional writers today are so wrapped up in keeping their underpaying jobs and alleged ethics that most game stories are droll and boring (is it any wonder the newspaper is a dying medium?). Most columns are outrageous just for the sake of being outrageous and because the columnists are trying to outdo each other to get big money gigs yelling at other people on television. As for the aforementioned 'ethics', I have never, ever seen a sports writer turn down a free meal or even swag from a team. Ever. How is that ethical?

CBC asks Brian Pothier (was he the only player they could find??) about bloggers and he says they ask some inappropriate questions. So? They ask something that may get an answer that isn't the same boring cliche about losing that he spouted yesterday or the day before or the day before. If you don't like the question, don't answer it. Maybe if the bloggers wore the replica jersey that they paid for with their hard earned money, then he would be more willing to answer the questions, as he knew they helped pay his salary. Who knows?

As a fan blogger I don't make any illusions of impartiality. I am a diehard fan and I want my team to do well. I admittedly take it a bit far but at least I am honest (and colourful). Watching that feature, I thought it sounded like some bloggers (as long as they are well trained members of the media) are ok, but fan bloggers like myself are evil, illiterate fools who only write baseless lies and any 'respectable' journalist/player/whatever would do well to ignore.

What do you think?