06 July 2007

...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.

11 comments:

The Aaaahj said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Aaaahj said...

"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."

I thought that was the enitre point of the internet.

Eric J. Burton said...

Nice article. I don't see anything wrong with someone bringing up points about a players play when its not up to snuff but attacking someone like for his looks or just being cruel is down right malicious.

Anonymous said...

Nice article, RWTD.

As one of those people who stood up to him on Brad's blog (I don't use my regular handle) I can agree with Goon. We have lost our civility, but it is mainly displayed on Brad's blog. One o these days Brad's going to say enough is enough and simply shut down the comment section. I wouldn't blame him one bit.

There is the potential for it to get just as bad again next year with LaPoint being a top rated prospect with a very similar playing style to Lee's.

DC said...

I've already seen your "LaPoint" comments on Siouxsports.

Perhaps Brad should go the way of the Ciskie, and not allow comments on his blog.

LetsGoMavs said...

Gee, but people wanted MY head on a platter for saying that Sioux fans are horrible over on my blog. Case in point right here with your post! I'm not saying ALL of them are bad, but the stuff you have posted came from the type of Sioux fans I've observed. Jerks.

Eric J. Burton said...

Most of the Media bloggers have killed the comments on their blogs for that reason. I would be willing to bet that Brad isn't far behind.

DC said...

Well, you know, no one's freaking out because no one reads this site...

Anonymous said...

I barely read this site. :D

Letsgomavs- Not all Sioux fans are jerks, but Brian Lee certainly brought out a new version of the "bad egg" theory. There were, at least on SS.com, maybe 1 out of every 4 or 5 posts that criticized Lee that were legit, respectful criticisms. But when 4 out of 5 of them (ok, this is an exaggeration) are just smacking Lee for the sake of smack, it's embarrassing.

I expect a certain level of incivility between team fanbases. It is a seedier part of the game. But I never thought I'd see Sioux fans turn their vehemence upon one of thier own players. I wonder what it was like on SS.com (if it was even around at the time) at the time of Trevor Hammer or Wes Dorey.

James Massen was considered a bust but even he didn't get the kind of maliciousness Lee recieved AND LEE WAS AMONG THE TEAM LEADERS IN POINTS FOR DEFENSEMEN FOR BOTH YEARS!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes (only sometimes) I wish our fanbase had the attitude of some of the MTU, UMD, and some UAA fans (mainly Suze and JimJamesAK). They'd happily take Brian Lee and the Sioux's record the last three years and party the whole offseason, I'm sure. Some people are never happy.

And, RWtD, you just wait on LaPoint. It just might happen to him too. God I hope I'm wrong.

Dirty said...

I hate Sioux fans.

DC said...

You only get that attitude through years and years and years and years and years and years of losing, and sometimes in the most horrific ways.

However, I'd rather be there to see my team hoist #1 than #8.