This Week In: "Oh $%#$, We Messed Up"
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Sad news out of Toronto today as Jason Blake has been diagnosed with leukemia. I've been known to pick on Jason from time to time, and it's really all bitterness cause he didn't sign with the Islanders (Scotty, you were so right). Obviously at the end of the day it's all kidding around, and if you haven't realized that this site is one big joke, then I guess you haven't really been reading hard enough.
The point is; it's all a very serious situation, and I sincerely hope Blake is able to make a full recovery. The prognosis sounds good. Let's hope everything stays good. Get well Jason!
Hey leukemia (and me sort of), you messed up.
Bill Wurtz, owner of the Hawks died last week, and all in all there's been quite a bit of dancing on graves around the Chicago area -- or at least a lack of people caring. During a moment of silence for Wurtz and the national anthem at a Hawks game recently, the fans booed/cheered during a moment of silence. Well, jeez, that's one way to dance on a grave. Whatever was going on, they were surely not upset about Wirtz's death. I know the guy sort of crippled the hell out the franchise for the last couple decades, but believe it or not he was a human being with a family. Hey, I'm just saying.
Hawks fans, you are screwed up.
Today, Nike announced that they were pulling out of the hockey game. Among the reasons cited; a decline in the amount of recreational hockey players (but still more than there were 10 years ago), their skates being so crappy Sergei Fedorov cut his sponsorship deal, and finally, being dumb as hell by selling skates for $900. I don't really think I need to explain this further.
Hey Nike... Bauer... Nike/Bauer... whatever the hell you are, you messed your sales strategy the heck up.
Finally, there are a lot of different opinions about how well the debut of the Islanders Blog Box went, but if you're with Eric McErlain on this one... The inaugural blog boxers screwed up how people view hockey bloggers big time.
Personally, I don't see it as much more than a harmless fan identification endeavor laced with marketing and PR. Some exposure/acceptance for the blog world is better than none, no? Give 'em a break, too. This is the first incarnation of its type the world has ever seen. There's bound to be things that need improvement. That being said, wearing Islander jerseys? Look, I know you blog box guys and gals are fans, but come on. At least give people the impression that you're taking this seriously. At least they have all that Eklund/HockeyBuzz credibility to fall back on... What's that? They don't? Oh jeez.
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This Week In: "Oh $%#$,
We Messed Up"
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"At least they have all that PEklund/HockeyBuzz credibility to fall back on.."
ReplyDelete/made to deliver slight chuckles
But yeah...I think you summed it all up nicely, Kevin. I would have used the phrase "Bloody FUCK" a few times, but "Oh $%#$, we messed up" is a nice phrase to use
Ok, Kev, first off, you will learn that I am often right, and that sooner or later you will come over from the dark side and become a Rangers fan ...
ReplyDeleteBut on a serious note, with the blogger situation - Eric does bring up something interesting: are bloggers journalists? He handled himself with the Caps entirely professionally and they returned the respect he showed them. But he gets in a huff about the Blog Box. He shouldn't; the Isles aren't looking for professional writers, they want hardcore fans that will share their passion with other people and get them to want to come to games.
Unfortunately, the Blog Boxers and Eric and us for that matter are all seen in the same light by many people - bloggers are bloggers: normal people who write about what they care about in their free time, each with an opinion. I make no illusions that I am a professional, object newspaper writer. I am just a diehard Rangers fan who likes to write and take pictures. I address serious matters, often present both sides of the argument and then let my fandom show in my opinion.
Eric and his blog is taken seriously by the Caps, which is who he covers. So what does it matter that other people are getting a negative impression because of the BBers doing controlled interviews while wearing their jerseys? So who is right? Who should be allowed more access? Both teams get what they want - the Caps coverage and the Isles passion. The league itself has yet to decide one way or another on the matter and until then, there is no reason to get frustrated.
Scott- I agree with you to a degree. The Isles courted fans with blogs so no surprise they had on jerseys. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think its safe to say most hockey fans today get their news from online sources and hockey blogs. Sure there are pro-team sites where you can go an bullshit about your team but there is a burgeoning blogger base that seem to be outside the scope of newspapers but not fans (see, Mirtle, Eric on non-Caps issues, even the Globe & Mail's blog along with TSN's). The Internet is a significant part of hockey's future so it will be interesting to see how it develops. Clearly with blogs replacing newspaper and tv coverage, we want them to be treated well by the clubs which the Isles Box may not serve in the long run. This is in the infancy stages but certainly there should be some distinctions made between professional bloggers and fans with blogs in the clubs eyes.
Traditional media won't ever be replaced. I read blogs because they are delivering the same info, but with more of an edge and an unsupervised opinion.
ReplyDeleteNike had problems in large part because their gear was not very good. It looked flashy, but it fit, felt and performed badly - along with being overpriced.
ReplyDelete