I want to preface this post by saying Elliotte Friedman seems like a quality guy who means well. I actually like him quite a bit in most of his work. He doesn’t come across as a smug bozo like Damien Cox. He doesn’t seem to think he’s a pompous know-it-all like Steve Simmons. No, I genuinely believe Friedman works hard, is an intelligent guy, attempts to write with reason, and is open-minded enough to accept new ideas, alternative opinions, and gives them strong due consideration if warranted.
With all that said, Friedman is collecting a cheque from my tax dollars - not that there’s anything wrong with that.[i] But if my tax dollars are being spent on a national commentator who works for a publicly-funded media outlet, I’d like see, you know…. some national commentary. That’s not too much to ask is it? All I want is a little balance.
Of course, balance doesn’t seem to rank high on CBC or Friedman’s agenda. Here is the last edition of his 30 Thoughts. Usually, the anecdotes run the gamut of semi-informative to fairly interesting and all things considered, are a solid weekly feature. Where I take exception is Friedman’s blatant Toronto boner. The one I’ve linked to isn’t as guilty, but a quick check of the archives is a lot more revealing.
Since October 4, Friedman’s 30 Thoughts break down thusly by team:
Edmonton Oilers – 13
Calgary Flames – 15
Vancouver Canucks – 21
Toronto Maple Leafs – 36[ii]
As Dr. Evil at one point said, “riiiigggghhhtttt.” Western Canada only gets 13 more mentions than the COTU combined.[iii]
The scary thing is that the Leafs have nothing even interesting to write about this year. Nazem Kadri is a plug, Ron Wilson and Brian Burke aren’t getting fired, the team is destined to finish in 10-15th in the east this year, and far and away most comforting to me, they don’t have their first round pick again.[iv]
I shudder to think what will happen when journalists actually have a semi-exciting storyline to write about regarding the Leafs.[v] What if they had the best record in the league, fired their GM mid-season, or even had the first overall pick and another bonafide Calder candidate skating for them this season?[vi] It’s a rhetorical question but I’ll answer it anyway: The coverage would have more hype than Michael Jackson’s resurrection and comeback CD.
If anything like this happens to the Leafs in the next couple of years, you can bet the hyperbole becomes thicker than Brian Burke’s hair product. I predict the following storylines if the Toronto has something similar happen to them as any of western Canada’s teams this year:·
- NEW GM IS THE BEST HIRE EVER. LEAFS ARE CUP CONTENDORS TOMORROW EVEN WITH 0-37-3 RECORD!!!!!!!!
I can see Friedman’s intro now: “He read Principia Mathematica at 8. Received a triple degree from MIT in subatomic physics, kinetic engineering, and Latin by 19. He’s the rumored architect of the Abu Dhabi skyline and the certain architect of a future championship NHL team.”[vii]
- LEAFS SIT IN FIRST OVERALL WITH A 20-4-2 RECORD. MIGHT AS WELL GIVE THEM A BYE TO THE FINALS. WE’VE GOT A DYNASTY ON OUR HANDS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This would be an outright disaster if it ever happened. We would hear story after story about how the Leaf’s fanbase has thirsted for this since ’67, how good it is for the NHL that the league’s pre-eminent team is first overall
- THE LEAFS NUMBER ONE OVERALL PICK IS A GENERATIONAL TALENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course buddy will be tracking like Patrik Stefan in his rookie year and by the time he hits game 75 he’ll be making snide comments to the press about how he there wouldn’t be so much pressure in Anaheim while wearing an I Heart California t-shirt.
Now I realize the theme of this post has morphed into overhype instead of overexposure post. But I have clinged to the following equation for a long time that is very applicable in this situation.
Overexposure = Public Overhype = Resulting Media Overhype
Remember Team Canada at the World Junior’s this year? They were supposed to be a lunch bucket, blue collar team with no superstars but more heart than usual.[ix] But then Brayden Schenn started to score a little bit and the media started claiming “Team Canada has a superstar.” That was good enough for your average Don Cherry hockey fan[x] who latched onto Schenn-mania. Now the media hype is never ending. His trade to the Saskatoon Blades made national news. The kid all of a sudden is viewed as a can’t miss prospect. Etc. etc.
Of course, this formula works most hilariously with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Good grief, I remember working in Toronto when Robbie Earl[xi] somehow managed two points in his NHL debut. One quick look at his AHL stats should have signaled he was a mediocre player to anyone with a half-functioning brain. Yet TSN ran a story about him the next day and the Robbie Earl cult was born. Pretty soon, Robbie Earl the hockey player became “Robbie Earl, discoverer of the polio vaccination, Nobel Prize Laureate, and the Blue and White’s SAVIOUR,” all over Toronto.
I’m getting worked up here. I need a valium.
Breathe…
And again…
Whew…..
Okay granted, TSN and Elliotte Friedman have nothing to do with one another.[xii] But they are both part of the national media and have an obvious affixation with the Maple Leafs.
Even when they’re on-ice performance is among the worst in the league, there’s always something to write about.
[i] Similarly, that’s my primary income source. Aside from pushing drugs for a Mexican cartel in Tijuana that is. Yee-haw.
[ii] For those interested parties, Ottawa has 23. Montreal has 28.
[iii] COTU = Centre of the universe = Toronto. You’ll see a lot of that acronym here.
[iv] I love how Ron Wilson defended this trade before Seguin’s first NHL game. “Phil Kessel is a 40 goal scorer. How many goals does Seguin have?” Here’s a history lesson Ron, the last ten 2nd overall picks have the following surnames: Hedman, Doughty, VanRiemsdyk, Staal (Jordan), Ryan, Malkin, Staal (Eric), Lehtonen, Spezza, Heatley. I would say half are CERTAINLY better than The Thrill, three could go either way, and two are worse (Lehtonen, VanRiemsdyk). In any event, I think my point remains. Ron Wilson is a dummy.
[v] Whoops, I forgot. I love waffles. They are so exciting and awesome!!!!!! What terrific fans Toronto has!!!!!!!
[vi] Is it my own western bias that I think the 3 most exciting storylines for Canadian teams this year are all based left of Manitoba?
[vii] Coincidentally, this happened when Brian Burke was hired too. Who knew Toronto journalists weren’t prophetic.
[viii] Kind of like how the Yankees have to be contenders for baseball. It’s an argument that’s always lacked intelligence to me.
[ix] Whatever on God’s green earth that means. That’s the kind of in-depth analysis that we love here.
[x] Is the guy who believes toughness and heart wins hockey games. Is also usually the guy who yells “shooooooot” on the powerplay.
[xi] Yes the perennial Hart candidate Robbie Earl.
[xii] More about TSN’s awesomeness in later posts.
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