NHL and boys club

 From a recent email

I have seen your video on the Blackhawks scandal a number of times and some good points were made about the culture of the Old boys club allowing a scandal to happen and how this is a black eye for the Blackhawks and NHL.

What I object to is scapegoating the Blackhawks as the entire fault to absolve the other 29 teams for their sins of the old boys network. Yes it’s a massive scandal but there are other teams who have some serious issues, maybe not as serious as the Beach Aldrich but serious nonetheless such as Anaheim and their GM.

As a former Chicagoan it hurt as this team was the best and most consistent winner since the Jordan era Bulls. This puts it in a much sadder and bleaker light.

Another thing, how come you and many people who cover the NHL always seem to let Gary Bettman go unscathed as if he is some sort of Demi god? He’s been the commissioner for nearly 30 years and he and his office bear some sort of responsibility for this scandal. Maybe he should be forced out after this year. A younger voice and face would be a good idea. He will be 70 in June.

One last point about hockey culture , which also applies to baseball, which is why they are way way behind the NBA and NFL in terms of popularity. Hockey and Baseball are too much about the team and not the individual. Yes it’s important to be team minded. Hockey and baseball go overboard with this mindset. They don’t market players in the nhl the way they do in the nba and nfl.  Hockey sells teams like the Canadiens, the (cough cough Leafs) Oilers etc. The NBA and NFL sell stars like Giannis, LeBron, Stephen Curry . Kids buy those jerseys. They don’t buy mcdavid jerseys. 

Thank you.

Josh

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Joshua M Normand

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Joshua M Normand

Boys club part 2

 If MLB and the NHL were smart, they would remove their commissioners Immediately. Manfred and Bettman are vile corrupt and egocentric and unable to relate to the public. Unfortunately, no one in the sports media is willing to suggest that these two corrupt men who act like emperors should be removed from their positions.

Boys club mentality downfall of NHL and MLB

 What I have seen in the NHL and MLB is that the Boys Club mentality and cheapness is going to be the downfall of baseball and hockey. It’s more than the Blackhawks scandal and other scandals, it’s the attitude that exists in both sports from the commissioner’s office to the owners and other executives. They don’t understand that football and basketball are more popular with the younger fan than their sports are. It isn’t 1960-1980 anymore. 

Why I won’t root for Seattle /Washington State teams

 I will not be actively rooting for sports teams from Seattle and the State of Washington (aka the Evergreen 🌲 State). The reason is that all of the teams are complacent and self satisfied with their performance and aren’t ruthless in their desire to win. When that changes I will reconsider .

Poor quality of local news anchors

 We have a couple of news anchors who I am very  unimpressed with. The two I am referring to are Sade Baderinwa of ABC7 and Kristine Johnson of CBS 2. If they didn’t check boxes I doubt that they would be headlining those newscasts. A truly great station would bring in a strong alpha male to balance out the females and the left wing , woke nonsense that they represent.

Lockout ended, still ho hum

 So the owners and players made a deal and ended the lockout. Ho hum, 🥱. Baseball still is way behind the NFL and NBA in terms of fan interest and relevance.

Chicago Blackhawks rebuild

 As the team has regressed and suffered a black eye off of the eye with the ads abuse scandal that resulted in the resignation of the GM, it is time  for a full scale rebuild. That mean reading Kane and Toews. Sorry but it needs to be done.