Jerry Sullivan's low blow

[PromoTheRobot]

"Some of Carolina's deep thinkers would have us believe that the Duke men's lacrosse players are really just a bunch of misunderstood good guys."

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060526/1010931.asp

 

Maybe it's just me, but if Jerry was just trying to poke a little fun at NC hockey fans, bringing up the Duke lacrosse team was a low blow. That comment would lead you to believe that Jerry thinks the team is guilty. Considering the controversey, the lack of evidence in the case, and the fact that people's lives have been ruined, I don't understand Jerry's reason for mentioning it.

 

I guess Jerry Sullivan is one of those guys who gets off pulling wings off flies, or something. Misery is funny to him.

 

PTR

[X. Benedict]

"Some of Carolina's deep thinkers would have us believe that the Duke men's lacrosse players are really just a bunch of misunderstood good guys."

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060526/1010931.asp

 

Maybe it's just me, but if Jerry was just trying to poke a little fun at NC hockey fans, bringing up the Duke lacrosse team was a low blow. That comment would lead you to believe that Jerry thinks the team is guilty. Considering the controversey, the lack of evidence in the case, and the fact that people's lives have been ruined, I don't understand Jerry's reason for mentioning it.

 

I guess Jerry Sullivan is one of those guys who gets off pulling wings off flies, or something. Misery is funny to him.

 

PTR

A playoff rivalry is usually a chance for sports journalists to type for fun - it is a chance for them to bring their "C minus" game and prove that if they only raise their game a little, they might earn the right to be called a hack.

[UnionAMG]

Although I think that particular comment about the Duke Lax team was uncalled for, I liked this article by him. Liking an article written by Sullivan is a rarity for me and I shudder at the thought of liking his article, but he was right. A NC writer took some cheap shots at us, so he fired back a little bit. Nothing wrong with that.

[ExiledInIllinois]

"Some of Carolina's deep thinkers would have us believe that the Duke men's lacrosse players are really just a bunch of misunderstood good guys."

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060526/1010931.asp

 

Maybe it's just me, but if Jerry was just trying to poke a little fun at NC hockey fans, bringing up the Duke lacrosse team was a low blow. That comment would lead you to believe that Jerry thinks the team is guilty. Considering the controversey, the lack of evidence in the case, and the fact that people's lives have been ruined, I don't understand Jerry's reason for mentioning it.

 

I guess Jerry Sullivan is one of those guys who gets off pulling wings off flies, or something. Misery is funny to him.

 

PTR

 

I agree PTR... Seems to be a deep dig at the elitist NC establishment that exists there (and is probably the same establishment "marketed" by the Hurricanes)...

 

And I am siding with the team here... I really want to hear the case... Yet, the NC establishment is really taking the effort to combat things with spin... I see were JS is going with this though... Is it lost on most people???

 

Even I, with my deep political leanings, wouldn't have gone there... ;) :D ;)

 

Yet... From what history has taught me about NC and now this series and the way they act down there... Even know I have never been there... That area would give me heatburn if I ever had to live there. There seems to be a very, very entrenched elitist culture down there that is rolled around by the hoi polloi... I guess you can call it a "pig in the blanket" if you want...

 

As you know... I thrive on getting political... NO! :blush: :blush: :blush: Yet, this place scares the bejesus out of me... They got an very powerful traditional NC establishment down there.

 

Going through over 300 years of its (NC) history doesn't help either...

[inkman]

I thought the only good thing about the article was the name. The rest was weak.

 

 

If Laviolette is so smart, how come he couldn't figure out that Ryan Miller was one of the three best goaltenders from the United States?

 

To my knowledge, Laviolette had no input onto who was on the team.

 

 

The late Howard Cosell once made a big announcement that Bobby Orr planned to retire from hockey. It was actually Bobby Hull. Cosell was a native of North Carolina. It figures.

 

Doesn't this make a statement as to how hockey is percieved by the national media rather than by some yokel.

 

Some of Carolina's deep thinkers would have us believe that the Duke men's lacrosse players are really just a bunch of misunderstood good guys.

 

Johnny Cochran I'm not, but a lot has been questioned about this case, including the accusers credibilty. Isn't is innocent until proven guilty?

 

 

I'm not really familiar with Sullivan. I know he spouts his mouth with strong opinions, usually to the chagrin of the local teams, but this column is bad on many levels. To mistake periods and quarters is painful. I think since I was the age of 7 or so I knew hockey was comprised of periods. Where did he grow up, North Carolina? <_<

[wjag]

I liked the article but I take some mild exception to it.

 

I live in Maryland, but I was born in Buffalo and raised in Hamburg, NY. I went to school in South Buffalo. I have a bond with my birth city that defies description. It doesn't wan with age but grows more intense. Unexplainable, but true. It represents who I am to the core and I greatly care what happens there. Most of my family and all of my wife's family is still there.

 

I think the biggest difference between Southern States and hockey has nothing to do with loyalty but more about history. There just isn't any hockey history here yet. I am not much of a baseball fan anymore, but people who follow the Orioles are passionate about it. I think that is the case because there are traditions and history affiliated with the club, the city and the people.

 

The Carolina franchise is too young and is only now creating their history. Their franchise's history is steep but meaningless to a place who has no natural affinity to the sport. In Buffalo, we had the French Connection, No Goal, Hasek. Tradition, history and those oh so close to greatness moments that the team and the city have had have steeled the Sabres and Bills in our hearts.

 

Another issue in the south is the ever changing face of the population. People don't move to Buffalo, they leave. People are transplanted here in the south. They come from the northern cold states. Its hard to find people who are from here. So while the cities are on the rise, they don't have the communal feeling of digging out from a snow storm. Everyone leaves for the hurricanes. You don't go through it together.

 

I have been fortunate to travel all over this country and to many parts of the world. Don't trash Carolina or the south. Don't call them intellectuals as if that is a bad thing. Carolina has a lot to offer those who go there to live. As does much of the south.

 

It just that they haven't had the time to let hockey get under their skin the way we have. They grow up playing lacrosse and soccer here, not hockey. With time comes tradition. From what I could tell, they have a passionate fan base and it will grow in time.

 

Hockey isn't about their fans versus ours, its about their forwards versus our defense, their goalie versus ours, and our forwards versus their defense. Let's forget about who has a better fan and talk about how the heck we play defense with three minor leaguers on the roster in Game 4 of the ECF.

[jad1]

Just a couple of comments.

 

Miller was on the USA team, on the taxi squad. Could Laviolette have promoted him from the squad to the team? Did he have that authority as coach? He didn't pick the team, but he did pick the game-to-game lineups, and he decided to leave Miller at home.

 

If you put RJ on a national broadcast, would he have mistaken Hull for Orr? Definitely not. Do you blame the environment Cosell grew up in for him turning out as a hockey "yokel?" A case could be made.

 

And even if you drop the current case against the LAX team, they're still a bunch of priviledged kids who engage in underage drinking and hire strippers. A couple of them have a rap sheet. If anyone is defending these guys as being misunderstood, it's hard to argee with them, even exempting the current charge.

 

Anyway, it's more between-game b.s. To Carolina, Sabre fans are a bunch of drunken hooligans. Sulliven's article in that context, is par for the course.

 

I thought the only good thing about the article was the name. The rest was weak.

If Laviolette is so smart, how come he couldn't figure out that Ryan Miller was one of the three best goaltenders from the United States?

 

To my knowledge, Laviolette had no input onto who was on the team.

The late Howard Cosell once made a big announcement that Bobby Orr planned to retire from hockey. It was actually Bobby Hull. Cosell was a native of North Carolina. It figures.

 

Doesn't this make a statement as to how hockey is percieved by the national media rather than by some yokel.

 

Some of Carolina's deep thinkers would have us believe that the Duke men's lacrosse players are really just a bunch of misunderstood good guys.

 

Johnny Cochran I'm not, but a lot has been questioned about this case, including the accusers credibilty. Isn't is innocent until proven guilty?

I'm not really familiar with Sullivan. I know he spouts his mouth with strong opinions, usually to the chagrin of the local teams, but this column is bad on many levels. To mistake periods and quarters is painful. I think since I was the age of 7 or so I knew hockey was comprised of periods. Where did he grow up, North Carolina? <_<

[GGM]

And even if you drop the current case against the LAX team, they're still a bunch of priviledged kids who engage in underage drinking and hire strippers. A couple of them have a rap sheet. If anyone is defending these guys as being misunderstood, it's hard to argee with them, even exempting the current charge.

From this comment, one could infer that you think being "priviledged" is a crime. Nearly EVERY college kid engages in underage drinking. The stripper hiring was certainly poor judgement, but bachelor parties happen every day under the same circumstances. "A couple of them" may have a "rap sheet", but a few petty crimes does not make one a rapist, and it certainly doesn't mean that the entire team should be punished and the coach should lose his job. This "guilty until proven innocent" every time a woman (of any credibility) says a crime was committed crap has got to stop. That standard is strictly one-way.

 

It's funny. When I read the article this morning, I wanted to email Sullivan concerning the Duke LAX mention. I typically love Jerry's stuff as he doesn't pull punches, but I thought this piece was poor.

[inkman]

Just a couple of comments.

 

Miller was on the USA team, on the taxi squad. Could Laviolette have promoted him from the squad to the team? Did he have that authority as coach? He didn't pick the team, but he did pick the game-to-game lineups, and he decided to leave Miller at home.

 

If you put RJ on a national broadcast, would he have mistaken Hull for Orr? Definitely not. Do you blame the environment Cosell grew up in for him turning out as a hockey "yokel?" A case could be made.

 

And even if you drop the current case against the LAX team, they're still a bunch of priviledged kids who engage in underage drinking and hire strippers. A couple of them have a rap sheet. If anyone is defending these guys as being misunderstood, it's hard to argee with them, even exempting the current charge.

 

Anyway, it's more between-game b.s. To Carolina, Sabre fans are a bunch of drunken hooligans. Sulliven's article in that context, is par for the course.

 

Who are you, Sully's mom? You took exception with everything I said. :huh:

[twolinepass]

I liked the article but I take some mild exception to it.

 

I live in Maryland, but I was born in Buffalo and raised in Hamburg, NY. I went to school in South Buffalo. I have a bond with my birth city that defies description. It doesn't wan with age but grows more intense. Unexplainable, but true. It represents who I am to the core and I greatly care what happens there. Most of my family and all of my wife's family is still there.

 

I think the biggest difference between Southern States and hockey has nothing to do with loyalty but more about history. There just isn't any hockey history here yet. I am not much of a baseball fan anymore, but people who follow the Orioles are passionate about it. I think that is the case because there are traditions and history affiliated with the club, the city and the people.

 

The Carolina franchise is too young and is only now creating their history. Their franchise's history is steep but meaningless to a place who has no natural affinity to the sport. In Buffalo, we had the French Connection, No Goal, Hasek. Tradition, history and those oh so close to greatness moments that the team and the city have had have steeled the Sabres and Bills in our hearts.

 

Another issue in the south is the ever changing face of the population. People don't move to Buffalo, they leave. People are transplanted here in the south. They come from the northern cold states. Its hard to find people who are from here. So while the cities are on the rise, they don't have the communal feeling of digging out from a snow storm. Everyone leaves for the hurricanes. You don't go through it together.

 

I have been fortunate to travel all over this country and to many parts of the world. Don't trash Carolina or the south. Don't call them intellectuals as if that is a bad thing. Carolina has a lot to offer those who go there to live. As does much of the south.

 

It just that they haven't had the time to let hockey get under their skin the way we have. They grow up playing lacrosse and soccer here, not hockey. With time comes tradition. From what I could tell, they have a passionate fan base and it will grow in time.

 

Hockey isn't about their fans versus ours, its about their forwards versus our defense, their goalie versus ours, and our forwards versus their defense. Let's forget about who has a better fan and talk about how the heck we play defense with three minor leaguers on the roster in Game 4 of the ECF.

 

 

Excellent points. Imagine how Buffaloans would feel if they were overrun by folks from other parts of the county. I still get angry thinking about all those terrible towels at RWS in the season finale two years ago.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Excellent points. Imagine how Buffaloans would feel if they were overrun by folks from other parts of the county. I still get angry thinking about all those terrible towels at RWS in the season finale two years ago.

 

They wouldn't if RWS was properly sized for the market... Say 58k to 62k seat stadium... Of course you would have to pay more for a ticket...

 

And Leaf fans don't over run HSBC???

 

You learn to live with it... Again, fans that complain are nothing more than the "empty boat" story I posted elsewhere.

[jad1]

Who are you, Sully's mom? You took exception with everything I said. :huh:

 

Don't take it personally, I like your stuff much better than his! :) He's written some real crap, but like I said, in the context of the buffoonery that's happening in the media during this series, it's pretty much par for the course.

 

Did you know that the Hockey News printed a letter from a Philly fan stating how low class the Sabre fans were for cheering Umberger's injury? And that Philly was much more classy because the PA announcer encouraged the fans to cheer Dumont when he left the ice? :blink:

 

So we could sit here all day and try to debunk this b.s., or we can turn Sullivan (our idiot) on the opposition's morons and idiots and let them try to respond to his nutso logic.

 

If he'd wrote this in the middle of the season, out of the blue, I'd might buy that these are low blows. But after being called drunk, hooligan, know-it-alls by the Canes fans and press? What the hell; Sully have at it.

[inkman]

? What the hell; Sully have at it.

 

word

[Bmwolf21]

I liked the article but I take some mild exception to it.

 

I live in Maryland, but I was born in Buffalo and raised in Hamburg, NY. I went to school in South Buffalo. I have a bond with my birth city that defies description. It doesn't wan with age but grows more intense. Unexplainable, but true. It represents who I am to the core and I greatly care what happens there. Most of my family and all of my wife's family is still there.

 

I think the biggest difference between Southern States and hockey has nothing to do with loyalty but more about history. There just isn't any hockey history here yet. I am not much of a baseball fan anymore, but people who follow the Orioles are passionate about it. I think that is the case because there are traditions and history affiliated with the club, the city and the people.

 

The Carolina franchise is too young and is only now creating their history. Their franchise's history is steep but meaningless to a place who has no natural affinity to the sport. In Buffalo, we had the French Connection, No Goal, Hasek. Tradition, history and those oh so close to greatness moments that the team and the city have had have steeled the Sabres and Bills in our hearts.

 

Another issue in the south is the ever changing face of the population. People don't move to Buffalo, they leave. People are transplanted here in the south. They come from the northern cold states. Its hard to find people who are from here. So while the cities are on the rise, they don't have the communal feeling of digging out from a snow storm. Everyone leaves for the hurricanes. You don't go through it together.

 

I have been fortunate to travel all over this country and to many parts of the world. Don't trash Carolina or the south. Don't call them intellectuals as if that is a bad thing. Carolina has a lot to offer those who go there to live. As does much of the south.

 

It just that they haven't had the time to let hockey get under their skin the way we have. They grow up playing lacrosse and soccer here, not hockey. With time comes tradition. From what I could tell, they have a passionate fan base and it will grow in time.

 

Hockey isn't about their fans versus ours, its about their forwards versus our defense, their goalie versus ours, and our forwards versus their defense. Let's forget about who has a better fan and talk about how the heck we play defense with three minor leaguers on the roster in Game 4 of the ECF.

IMO, just as others have mentioned, the only "low blow" was the shot about the Duke LAX boys. Sure, they aren't the angels some want to portray them as, but they aren't exactly innocent victims in this case. Like always, the truth lies (pun intended) somewhere in the middle. FWIW, I live in Orlando, the ultimate southern transient city, so I understand about fleeting fan interest from fans who grew up in other markets following other teams & sports.

 

Anyway, back to my original thought - it wasn't as if Sullivan attacked the Carolinas unprovoked - the idiot from the N&O decided to fire the first shot with his comments about Buffalo fans (and passionate hockey fans) as pseudo-experts, and denigrating the difficulty of the game. Granted, his comments were in jest, but the effect was similar to snapping a rubber band into the backside of a cranky lion. Maybe Sullivan went too far in his defense of the sport and area, but I am glad he did. Buffalo, its people, the weather are all a running national punchline for anyone who has never lived there, and I am glad someone finally called out an idiot columnist from another market, and tried to offer some insight into the tough, passionate people who make the WNY area home. . .