...And The Horse You Rode In On

We interrupt your regularly scheduled non-update with an actual entry. Sorry for the convenience.

Via my dear friend Goon's blog, I discovered this article by Fighting Sioux beat writer Brad Schlossman (also known as That Rat Bastard That Doesn't Link To Me) discussing Brian Lee's departure from the Fighting Sioux.

Okay, I may not exactly have my finger on the pulse of college hockey, but seriously, what the mother is going on over in Grand Forks?

Let me give you an example of what some lovely folks are saying about Brian (spelling and grammar are the authors's own):
"hes a fugly dude and see yaaaaaaaaaaa" (Okay, in the photo on Goon's site, he does look like he's wearing purple lipstick and yellow eyeliner, but jeez.)
"he peaked very early around 15/16 and has been the same player since, maybe the ahl will help him more but he will get his ass kicked for sure if he prances around the ice like he did sometimes"
"he isnt ready for the next level, he just wanted to get out of school for sure, he wasnt well liked in the locker room, that happens sometimes, he had a HUGE ego and head around grand forks so that didnt help him at all which is his fault for being a jackass to regular old fans"
"I wish Brian well, but am not sorry to see him go. I would not characterize Brian as a UND standout. Ever since he was chosen to participate in the first World Juniors, people's perceptions of Brian's abilities exceeded his subsequent play - his performance seldom justified his 'reputation'. Brian too often coasts (skate-coast, skate-coast) - doesn't seem to have the fire/drive/passion required to be REALLY successful at the D1 (not to mention NHL) level. Part of Brian's legacy at UND will forever be the 'Blake Wheeler goal.'"
"A few years in the minors and a few fights will be good for Brian, who was one of the softest players ever to wear the kelly green."
"I'm sure he is a nice guy, however I fealt like he was a liability to the team when he was on the ice. To be fair I had felt the same about Finley at one point and time, but Finley has shown improvement throughout his career at UND. The first half of the year we had a better record with Foyt playing D then we did with Lee."
"Lee played like a poke-checking prima donna on more shifts than not for 2 years. He rarely went into the corner first, but was happy to 'punish' a braver forward if he thought he could get away with it...usually followed by a boarding/elbowing/roughing call."
"Lee is going to get lit up like a real life version of 'Youngblood' without the triumphant return to the team after his 2 years." (This person actually wrote a series of short stories entitled The Chronicles of Lee and posted the entire thing on Brad's site.)

All right, then. To be fair, there were certainly posts defending Brian and wishing him well, and there were some that were at least constructive in their criticism, but I have been a member of the SiouxSports board for a long time, and I'm pretty shocked at some of the things people would say about the poor guy (and about Joe Finley). I guess as long as there are players, there will be critics, but there is a line that people have crossed, that I have only crossed in discussion of 1. Those horrible people from St. Cloud 2. The New York Yankees 3. Troy Riddle and Ryan Potulny. I've been critical of my 'Dogs from time to time, but never to the point where I have wished someone would go away and then publicly repeated that over and over again. And really, after the past 2 seasons we've had, I could probably be more critical, if not for two reasons: I'm not close enough to the game to comment on a day-in, day-out basis, and I just don't want to say anything really mean about any of those guys. I mean, the HSWCHA does exist, but I haven't put anyone in it in a long time. I didn't even get mad when Nisky scored on Johnson down in Mankato. I just felt bad for him.

I think Goon is right when he says we've lost our civility. I mean, it's one thing to scream "You m-fing something or other" at a hockey game where everyone can see you (because really, I'm not above doing that), but it's another thing to go on the internet under some silly made-up name and take your frustration with the world out on some guy who made a mistake. Come on, people. Get a grip.