2014 Winter Classic (Leafs @ Wings)

[L K]

Wet blanket Cox is already publicly whining about it:

The battle for me will be trying to avoid having anything to do with this game. My boss might insist, as he does from time to time, and it will be difficult to fight back against the idea that Toronto's biggest newspaper needs to provide comprehensive coverage for it's readers.

But why force a guy who doesn't believe in the fairy tale to recite the fairy tale? Why invite an unrepentant Grinch to Christmas? Instead, how about Rosie? She's our franchise player, after all. Or that Feschuk guy might be free. Cathal's a much better writer than me and surely could capture the joy better. Zorro and McGran can easily provide the necessary reports and insight. Surely Doug Smith would love a break from the Raptors, plus it will allow him to realize his dream and work 365 straight days.

:

I'm under no illusions that this thing is a big cash grab gimmick, and I don't care.  It looks fun to be at.

Wah.  Years of lying and slandering the organization have strained my relationship with the organization over several General Managers and they don't give me absolute access. Wah.

 

[Kin]

Wet blanket Cox is already publicly whining about it:

The battle for me will be trying to avoid having anything to do with this game. My boss might insist, as he does from time to time, and it will be difficult to fight back against the idea that Toronto's biggest newspaper needs to provide comprehensive coverage for it's readers.

But why force a guy who doesn't believe in the fairy tale to recite the fairy tale? Why invite an unrepentant Grinch to Christmas? Instead, how about Rosie? She's our franchise player, after all. Or that Feschuk guy might be free. Cathal's a much better writer than me and surely could capture the joy better. Zorro and McGran can easily provide the necessary reports and insight. Surely Doug Smith would love a break from the Raptors, plus it will allow him to realize his dream and work 365 straight days.

:

I'm under no illusions that this thing is a big cash grab gimmick, and I don't care.  It looks fun to be at.

Wah.  Years of lying and slandering the organization have strained my relationship with the organization over several General Managers and they don't give me absolute access. Wah.

Maybe there's more to what Potvin said but it just seems like he doesn't like the Winter Classic and doesn't want to go. I'm not sure where you're getting a complaint about his access.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The first 24/7 was good cause it had Crosby and Ovechkin. The second season was awful and ratings sagged tremendously. Not even sure if they even make the 3rd one.

Where did you get that? I looked yesterday and couldn't find ratings info.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2011/12/21/2652047/winter-classic-2012-hbo-24-7-flyers-rangers-ratings

 

[maplesyrup]

simmonssteve steve simmons
The Leafs overcharge for tickets. The Red Wings offer reasonable prices. Hope the pricing for Winter Classic is closer to Wings than Leafs.
1 minute ago

Leave it to this a**hat who will likely have a free media pass to take a shot at the Leafs on this exiting day... I mean, how/why in the blue heck should he be concerned about ticket prices at all?. We get it, jerk... You hate the Leafs. Go away.

 

[ZBBM]

Toronto is the only town I've ever seen where newspaper guys who cover a team being openly against them.  Not just objectively neutral, but openly hostile.

The fact is that Simmons, and to a much lesser extent Cox, have made a nice living off the Leafs Cup drought.  It's an automatic storyline that writes itself again and again, and it always, always draws a reaction -- and that means eyeballs on pages, which editors love.

Fans constantly say they are ignoring Simmons and Cox, but we don't/can't.  We, ladies and gentlemen, are their pathetic enablers.  Shame, shame on us all. 

 

[maplesyrup]

I was actually following the guys Dreger follows and Simmons' popped up... I couldn't avoid reading it and I just had to share.

 

[Rebel_1812]

Toronto is the only town I've ever seen where newspaper guys who cover a team being openly against them.  Not just objectively neutral, but openly hostile.

The fact is that Simmons, and to a much lesser extent Cox, have made a nice living off the Leafs Cup drought.  It's an automatic storyline that writes itself again and again, and it always, always draws a reaction -- and that means eyeballs on pages, which editors love.

Fans constantly say they are ignoring Simmons and Cox, but we don't/can't.  We, ladies and gentlemen, are their pathetic enablers.  Shame, shame on us all. 

I agree this is the only city where the sports coverage is openly against the home town team.  However, I don't agree with this being the fans choice, due to the fact there is no choice.  Name a reporter that covers the leafs in an fair way?  If there was one they would be really popular.  The situation is one of only a few media outlets in town, and those two force simmons and cox down our throat.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Burke: Hockeytown vs. the centre of the hockey universe

 

[Corn Flake]

ok so who is going?

I am sooooo going.

 

[Corn Flake]

Toronto is the only town I've ever seen where newspaper guys who cover a team being openly against them.  Not just objectively neutral, but openly hostile.

The fact is that Simmons, and to a much lesser extent Cox, have made a nice living off the Leafs Cup drought.  It's an automatic storyline that writes itself again and again, and it always, always draws a reaction -- and that means eyeballs on pages, which editors love.

Fans constantly say they are ignoring Simmons and Cox, but we don't/can't.  We, ladies and gentlemen, are their pathetic enablers.  Shame, shame on us all. 

I don't read either and I am blocked by both on twitter so that keeps me out of the enabler crowd.

(ok ok I admit I accidentally click on Cox articles from time to time because I read the star but I try to avoid him like the plague)

But... if you think its just Toronto, try reading some of the Habs coverage.  Its brutal, more personally intrusive on the players and downright vile when they are losing.

 

[The Red Polar Bear]

Toronto is the only town I've ever seen where newspaper guys who cover a team being openly against them.  Not just objectively neutral, but openly hostile.

The fact is that Simmons, and to a much lesser extent Cox, have made a nice living off the Leafs Cup drought.  It's an automatic storyline that writes itself again and again, and it always, always draws a reaction -- and that means eyeballs on pages, which editors love.

Fans constantly say they are ignoring Simmons and Cox, but we don't/can't.  We, ladies and gentlemen, are their pathetic enablers.  Shame, shame on us all. 

I agree this is the only city where the sports coverage is openly against the home town team.  However, I don't agree with this being the fans choice, due to the fact there is no choice. Name a reporter that covers the leafs in an fair way?  If there was one they would be really popular.  The situation is one of only a few media outlets in town, and those two force simmons and cox down our throat.

Jonas Siegel.

Best reporter currently covering the Leafs.

 

[Zee]

Toronto is the only town I've ever seen where newspaper guys who cover a team being openly against them.  Not just objectively neutral, but openly hostile.

The fact is that Simmons, and to a much lesser extent Cox, have made a nice living off the Leafs Cup drought.  It's an automatic storyline that writes itself again and again, and it always, always draws a reaction -- and that means eyeballs on pages, which editors love.

Fans constantly say they are ignoring Simmons and Cox, but we don't/can't.  We, ladies and gentlemen, are their pathetic enablers.  Shame, shame on us all. 

I agree this is the only city where the sports coverage is openly against the home town team.  However, I don't agree with this being the fans choice, due to the fact there is no choice. Name a reporter that covers the leafs in an fair way?  If there was one they would be really popular.  The situation is one of only a few media outlets in town, and those two force simmons and cox down our throat.

Jonas Siegel.

Best reporter currently covering the Leafs.

I don't think "fair" coverage means never writing anything negative about the team which is what Siegel does.  I think he wants to stay on the Leafs good terms so he never posts anything but positive information.

 

[applecheeks]

Toronto is the only town I've ever seen where newspaper guys who cover a team being openly against them.  Not just objectively neutral, but openly hostile.

The fact is that Simmons, and to a much lesser extent Cox, have made a nice living off the Leafs Cup drought.  It's an automatic storyline that writes itself again and again, and it always, always draws a reaction -- and that means eyeballs on pages, which editors love.

Fans constantly say they are ignoring Simmons and Cox, but we don't/can't.  We, ladies and gentlemen, are their pathetic enablers.  Shame, shame on us all. 

I agree this is the only city where the sports coverage is openly against the home town team.  However, I don't agree with this being the fans choice, due to the fact there is no choice. Name a reporter that covers the leafs in an fair way?  If there was one they would be really popular.  The situation is one of only a few media outlets in town, and those two force simmons and cox down our throat.

Jonas Siegel.

Best reporter currently covering the Leafs.

Agreed. there might be a couple more but unfortunately there are too many that thrive on the negative.

 

[Corn Flake]

I don't think "fair" coverage means never writing anything negative about the team which is what Siegel does.  I think he wants to stay on the Leafs good terms so he never posts anything but positive information.

True, but he is the anti-Steve Simmons in that regard.  We have enough Simmons types out there, some balance is required at times.

When things are going well, Simmons goes almost completely silent.  As soon as there is trouble, up his fat head pops and the spewing begins. 

I would rather have a Seigel providing positive facts and some opinion than Simmons basically making all kinds of negative crap up to get attention. 

 

[cap44]

Who Fackin cares. The outside "classic" game is a joke just like the all star game and trick pony shootout competition is a joke. Soon Bettman will have trained monkeys on skates playing ice-hockey if it keeps going!!!!!!!

 

[maplesyrup]

Who Fackin cares. The outside "classic" game is a joke just like the all star game and trick pony shootout competition is a joke. Soon Bettman will have trained monkeys on skates playing ice-hockey if it keeps going!!!!!!!

May I was why on earth you would think that? 

 

[Tigger]

Who Fackin cares. The outside "classic" game is a joke just like the all star game and trick pony shootout competition is a joke. Soon Bettman will have trained monkeys on skates playing ice-hockey if it keeps going!!!!!!!

Welcome aboard, here's your complimentary bucket...

 

[Kin]

But... if you think its just Toronto, try reading some of the Habs coverage.  Its brutal, more personally intrusive on the players and downright vile when they are losing.

Yeah, I don't think there's anything especially noteworthy about the Leafs media coverage outside of the fact that there's a ton of it. Just about any team that's got a lot of futility to answer for will have writers/commentators who some people perceive as being "openly hostile" to the team. Ask any Red Sox fan pre-2004 about what their media coverage was like and you get basically the same thing with the added bonus of a fabricated ghost story.

 

[Kin]

Who Fackin cares. The outside "classic" game is a joke just like the all star game and trick pony shootout competition is a joke. Soon Bettman will have trained monkeys on skates playing ice-hockey if it keeps going!!!!!!!

May I was why on earth you would think that?

I don't know if I agree strongly enough that I'd call it a "joke" but it is kind of a dumb thing that they do. Leaving aside any issues that the weather may lead to an increase in danger for the players, it's still a regular season, counts towards the playoffs game played in drastically different circumstances than any other game that year. It's like if Baseball's Hall of Fame game(played in a field in Cooperstown NY with High School dimensions) was a real game or if the NBA played a game on the blacktop courts in Central Park.

 

[L K]

Wet blanket Cox is already publicly whining about it:

The battle for me will be trying to avoid having anything to do with this game. My boss might insist, as he does from time to time, and it will be difficult to fight back against the idea that Toronto's biggest newspaper needs to provide comprehensive coverage for it's readers.

But why force a guy who doesn't believe in the fairy tale to recite the fairy tale? Why invite an unrepentant Grinch to Christmas? Instead, how about Rosie? She's our franchise player, after all. Or that Feschuk guy might be free. Cathal's a much better writer than me and surely could capture the joy better. Zorro and McGran can easily provide the necessary reports and insight. Surely Doug Smith would love a break from the Raptors, plus it will allow him to realize his dream and work 365 straight days.

:

I'm under no illusions that this thing is a big cash grab gimmick, and I don't care.  It looks fun to be at.

Wah.  Years of lying and slandering the organization have strained my relationship with the organization over several General Managers and they don't give me absolute access. Wah.

Maybe there's more to what Potvin said but it just seems like he doesn't like the Winter Classic and doesn't want to go. I'm not sure where you're getting a complaint about his access.

He had a paragraph whining about the HBO series making cracks about how the lockerroom doesn't let anyone in and how you need to call family members to get information.  It was small, but very clearly a whine about being a guy on the outs.