Enroth on possibly becoming the backup

[Stoner]

Yeah, but you deserved it.

 

All I try to do is learn nfreeman about things, and like a petulant teenager, he strikes out at dad. One day, he will thank me. And admit he was wrong. And apologize for the many hurtful comments. While I have to play the adult and keep the high road.

[korab rules]

Just my humble opinion on this one... The post seemed a bit out of character for you. To me it almost read as an attack.

 

I disagree - part of the problem with Al Gore's internet is that tone, sarcasm, etc, etc. don't come through. Sometimes our mood at the moment colors the way we read a sentence or the words we choose to put in it. Informal written communication like this will never accurately convey our true intent and meaning.

 

My guess is Nfreeman's intent was to rib him a bit, and he probably felt it would be accepted in good fun because Nfreeman, as well as I and a couple others, have stuck up for Bill when less enlightened members were expressing themselves in an inappropriate fashion.

 

I could be wrong, but that's what I took out of Nfreeman's original post. What followed seemed, to me, out of proportion.

 

My hope is that cooler heads prevail, and Bill returns to the site.

 

Personally, I have always enjoyed reading Bill's stuff. He doesn't always have earth shattering news to convey (who does?), but there is usually some nugget of information that separates him from his competitors, and more important to me, he is a much better writer than anyone at the snews or other sites covering the Sabres. Selfishly, I was sorry to see him leave, as I think he will quickly move on to bigger and better things. For Bill, I think its great that he is moving to a bigger stage, and I will gladly click on his articles to support him. ######, I was going to do it anyway because I enjoy his writing.

 

Bill - if you read this, please come back. You don't have to remind us to click. I am sure I am not the only one that looks forward to reading your stuff and interacting with you here on the site.

[SwampD]

I like reading his stuff too, but Bill turtled like Kaleta.

[nfreeman]

I disagree - part of the problem with Al Gore's internet is that tone, sarcasm, etc, etc. don't come through. Sometimes our mood at the moment colors the way we read a sentence or the words we choose to put in it. Informal written communication like this will never accurately convey our true intent and meaning.

 

My guess is Nfreeman's intent was to rib him a bit, and he probably felt it would be accepted in good fun because Nfreeman, as well as I and a couple others, have stuck up for Bill when less enlightened members were expressing themselves in an inappropriate fashion.

 

I could be wrong, but that's what I took out of Nfreeman's original post. What followed seemed, to me, out of proportion.

 

My hope is that cooler heads prevail, and Bill returns to the site.

 

Personally, I have always enjoyed reading Bill's stuff. He doesn't always have earth shattering news to convey (who does?), but there is usually some nugget of information that separates him from his competitors, and more important to me, he is a much better writer than anyone at the snews or other sites covering the Sabres. Selfishly, I was sorry to see him leave, as I think he will quickly move on to bigger and better things. For Bill, I think its great that he is moving to a bigger stage, and I will gladly click on his articles to support him. ######, I was going to do it anyway because I enjoy his writing.

 

Bill - if you read this, please come back. You don't have to remind us to click. I am sure I am not the only one that looks forward to reading your stuff and interacting with you here on the site.

Thank you sir.

[korab rules]

I like reading his stuff too, but Bill turtled like Kaleta.

 

At the risk of offending Bill, that was funny.

[static70]

Oh great nfreeman, now you made Bill take his ball and go play elsewhere.

After you and I have gone round and round you get Bill Hoppe to leave? Was I just not informed of the size of you sack, or is there a larger Fruedian situation developing here? ;)

[Stoner]

I disagree - part of the problem with Al Gore's internet is that tone, sarcasm, etc, etc. don't come through. Sometimes our mood at the moment colors the way we read a sentence or the words we choose to put in it. Informal written communication like this will never accurately convey our true intent and meaning.

 

My guess is Nfreeman's intent was to rib him a bit, and he probably felt it would be accepted in good fun because Nfreeman, as well as I and a couple others, have stuck up for Bill when less enlightened members were expressing themselves in an inappropriate fashion.

 

I could be wrong, but that's what I took out of Nfreeman's original post. What followed seemed, to me, out of proportion.

 

My hope is that cooler heads prevail, and Bill returns to the site.

 

Personally, I have always enjoyed reading Bill's stuff. He doesn't always have earth shattering news to convey (who does?), but there is usually some nugget of information that separates him from his competitors, and more important to me, he is a much better writer than anyone at the snews or other sites covering the Sabres. Selfishly, I was sorry to see him leave, as I think he will quickly move on to bigger and better things. For Bill, I think its great that he is moving to a bigger stage, and I will gladly click on his articles to support him. ######, I was going to do it anyway because I enjoy his writing.

 

Bill - if you read this, please come back. You don't have to remind us to click. I am sure I am not the only one that looks forward to reading your stuff and interacting with you here on the site.

I think you misunderstand the situation. Bill never wrote for SabreSpace. He wrote for the Olean Times Herald and then blogged for msg.com. So he's not "leaving" us except to perhaps not post here again. And he already was doing bigger and better things.

 

Bill's in an interesting spot, a young guy in the new media environment. Some of us dinosaurs might think of him "climbing the ladder" and maybe ending up writing for a big metro paper covering an NHL team. He could also go independent and try to tap into this large hockey base of passionate fans. I guess the question would always come down to how to make money and whether the team would still give him access.

[korab rules]

I think you misunderstand the situation. Bill never wrote for SabreSpace. He wrote for the Olean Times Herald and then blogged for msg.com. So he's not "leaving" us except to perhaps not post here again. And he already was doing bigger and better things.

 

Bill's in an interesting spot, a young guy in the new media environment. Some of us dinosaurs might think of him "climbing the ladder" and maybe ending up writing for a big metro paper covering an NHL team. He could also go independent and try to tap into this large hockey base of passionate fans. I guess the question would always come down to how to make money and whether the team would still give him access.

 

I am well aware of where he worked. I read everything Bill and Chuck Pollock write on the Bills and Sabres. As writers, they are both head and shoulders above the rest of the local hacks. If I understand things correctly Bill now works for MSG and not the Olean Times Herald. I meant leaving us in the sense that he now works for an organization with an interest broader than our Sabres, and with Bill's skill with a pen, I anticipate he will move on to the broader national stage in short order. The goal is not a Sullivan-esque desk job at a dying big city paper, but a national platform whether in house or as a contributing reporter. Either way, his coverage will necessarily expand beyond our Sabres, which will make it increasingly more difficult for him to provide us with those little nuggets of insider info he sometimes provides. That is what I meant, and I don't think I misunderstood the situation at all.

[shrader]

All I try to do is learn nfreeman about things, and like a petulant teenager, he strikes out at dad. One day, he will thank me. And admit he was wrong. And apologize for the many hurtful comments. While I have to play the adult and keep the high road.

 

Obtuse.

 

I am well aware of where he worked. I read everything Bill and Chuck Pollock write on the Bills and Sabres. As writers, they are both head and shoulders above the rest of the local hacks. If I understand things correctly Bill now works for MSG and not the Olean Times Herald. I meant leaving us in the sense that he now works for an organization with an interest broader than our Sabres, and with Bill's skill with a pen, I anticipate he will move on to the broader national stage in short order. The goal is not a Sullivan-esque desk job at a dying big city paper, but a national platform whether in house or as a contributing reporter. Either way, his coverage will necessarily expand beyond our Sabres, which will make it increasingly more difficult for him to provide us with those little nuggets of insider info he sometimes provides. That is what I meant, and I don't think I misunderstood the situation at all.

 

I'll apologize to Bill in advance if I'm wrong on this one, but he's now writing on the website of the company that has the Sabres tv rights. Their coverage reaches much further than just the Sabres, but I would imagine he's there to specifically cover them. Then again, I've only read what is posted here, so I haven't gone out of my way to look for non-Sabres related stuff that he may have put up on that site.

[Stoner]

I'll apologize to Bill in advance if I'm wrong on this one, but he's now writing on the website of the company that has the Sabres tv rights. Their coverage reaches much further than just the Sabres, but I would imagine he's there to specifically cover them. Then again, I've only read what is posted here, so I haven't gone out of my way to look for non-Sabres related stuff that he may have put up on that site.

This is what disappoints me. He follows in the blogging footsteps of Rick Jeanneret and Jim Lorentz. If Bill takes a story idea to msg.com that will put the Sabres in a bad light, what do you think the answer is going to be? The line has been blurred between sports journalism and sports PR. OK, the line is practically gone. Paul Hamilton does his thing on GR, then does games for the Sabres. Chris Brown leaves GR to become the bills.com's "lead journalist." Kevin Sylvester to the Sabres. The teams appear to be very adept at co-opting media talent.

 

I think this is why, from the viewpoint of the diehard fan, the coverage of the team is so abysmal. John Vogl 'bout busted one this morning in his story on Patrick Lalime. "Welcome familiarity." The phrase sums it up.

[That Aud Smell]

The line has been blurred between sports journalism and sports PR. OK, the line is practically gone.

what - like when espn's chris broussard "broke" the story this week about how "independent sources" advised him that espn was getting an exclusive prime time special with lebron to announce his free agency decision?

 

John Vogl 'bout busted one this morning in his story on Patrick Lalime. "Welcome familiarity." The phrase sums it up.

saw that too. pitiful.

[shrader]

This is what disappoints me. He follows in the blogging footsteps of Rick Jeanneret and Jim Lorentz. If Bill takes a story idea to msg.com that will put the Sabres in a bad light, what do you think the answer is going to be? The line has been blurred between sports journalism and sports PR. OK, the line is practically gone. Paul Hamilton does his thing on GR, then does games for the Sabres. Chris Brown leaves GR to become the bills.com's "lead journalist." Kevin Sylvester to the Sabres. The teams appear to be very adept at co-opting media talent.

 

I think this is why, from the viewpoint of the diehard fan, the coverage of the team is so abysmal. John Vogl 'bout busted one this morning in his story on Patrick Lalime. "Welcome familiarity." The phrase sums it up.

 

It's just sports. That industry is never going to be full of a bunch of Woodwards and Bernsteins. Like it or not, it's not important enough to draw that kind of attention. These teams can and will turn a cold shoulder to a writer so quickly if they feel slighted in the smallest of ways. I've seen it first hand. I know of one college coach who won't talk to a specific writer because one time the writer picked his team to lose a game in the prediction section of his column. They can be that petty. So if you're a writer, do you continue to press those buttons and risk being left with nothing at all? Short of the ESPNs and TSNs of the world, most of the rest have little to no choice. If they want to work their way up, they have to be slaves to leagues.

[shrader]

I just read the Vogl thing. What exactly was the problem with it? It was about 90% team and player quotes, the standard paint-by-numbers piece that you see league-wide any time a signing is made. Not every column is supposed to be an opinion piece. It's meant to be nothing more than an informational thing where you throw out a couple quotes. Bucky's the one the News pays to put together the opinion articles, not Vogl (I'm assuming, I never notice half the time who is writing these brief recaps).

[That Aud Smell]

I just read the Vogl thing. What exactly was the problem with it?

his gratuitous editorializing (franchise mouthpiecing) of how lalime offered "welcome familiarity" (which actually sounds like something he may have jotted down straight from a horse's ... mouth).

[Stoner]

It's just sports. That industry is never going to be full of a bunch of Woodwards and Bernsteins. Like it or not, it's not important enough to draw that kind of attention. These teams can and will turn a cold shoulder to a writer so quickly if they feel slighted in the smallest of ways. I've seen it first hand. I know of one college coach who won't talk to a specific writer because one time the writer picked his team to lose a game in the prediction section of his column. They can be that petty. So if you're a writer, do you continue to press those buttons and risk being left with nothing at all? Short of the ESPNs and TSNs of the world, most of the rest have little to no choice. If they want to work their way up, they have to be slaves to leagues.

 

I'd say they have to be slaves to their audience.

 

There's so little media to cover the Sabres, the Sabres need them, too. I don't see why the media can't be more aggressive in working for their audience. Call the "pull the press pass" bluff.

 

In the end, though, it always come down the c-word for me. Comfort. Every constituency in Sabres hockey is comfortable, even the media that covers it. Only the fans with half a brain are squirming.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot one -- Channel 4 sports director John Murphy as voice of the Bills.

[Stoner]

his gratuitous editorializing (franchise mouthpiecing) of how lalime offered "welcome familiarity" (which actually sounds like something he may have jotted down straight from a horse's ... mouth).

 

Dese, dem and dose.

 

It's the whole tone, right down to the headline. I know I can't necessarily blame the reporter for the headline. But come on. "Sabres put their money on experience."

 

Let's break this down a little. Vogl wrote, "The goaltender has played for 13 teams in four leagues since turning pro in 1994, so he feels he has a knack for sensing which organizations are going in the right direction. Lalime has that feeling about the Buffalo Sabres..." It's Vogl's opinion, because what Lalime actually said wasn't nearly that strong. "It's a special group in this room. I've been around the league quite a bit, and I think we have a good thing going on in there. We want to build on the good things we did last year, and I'm looking to be a big part of this."

 

"Special group" should make every fan gag. It's not really a comment about the direction of the franchise. Of course Lalime and the Sabres "want" to build on last year.

 

Here's what the story is lacking re: Niedermayer. The downside. Problem areas in his game. Recent inuries. Why was he still available? Balance. It comes off as a puff piece you'd see on sabres.com. Heck, I read Erin Pollina on sabres.com and she's tougher than Vogl is!