HockeyRhetoric

Every August in Buffalo, when sports news is slow, a familiar discussion emerges that attempts to settle which sport — hockey or football — is of more importance to the region’s culture or whatever. It’s one of those debates that never really goes anywhere and reliably antagonizes people. But, because everyone seems to have a strong opinion on the matter, it’s a regular talking point this time of year. » Read the rest of this entry «

Before last week, I hadn’t read a Bucky Gleason piece in, well, it’s probably been at least six months. My reasons for this are well documented and I think quite rational. I haven’t really read anything in that sports section in a very long time but I am a subscriber to Sabres Edge through my Google reader. I don’t get to every entry but for the most part that space is packed with information. It’s maintained mostly by John Vogl and Mike Harrington. Both are good reporters. » Read the rest of this entry «

It took me awhile before I decided to hop on Twitter but I’ve been using it for a couple of months now. I’m up to 460 Tweets. They’re mostly just reactions to what the Sabres have been up to. The rest are about other major current event having to do with sports or stories on the web that I think are cool. I spend about five minutes in the afternoon scanning what my Twitter buddies have tweeted, and then I just keep it in the background while I work. Like most people who were hesitant to get involved with Twitter, I thought the conversations would be dominated by stupid chit-chat like how tasty their meatball sandwich was that they had for lunch. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of people who use Twitter for just that but if you build yourself a community of likeminded people it’s totally worth committing a small amount of time to. Most of the people I follow are Sabres fans and the rest are just Internet celebrities whose perspective I enjoy. If nothing else, Twitter makes it easier for me to keep track of everyone’s content updates. » Read the rest of this entry «

I pretty much hate having to write about this right now. I hate that I felt strongly enough about Bucky Gleason’s flimsy take on the Ruff/Regier situation that I had to actually criticize him for it on this site. I hate that the playoffs are being played right now and I have to take time out of my day to actually address an unrelated column he wrote yesterday.

The thing is, no one has a bigger audience as a hockey commentator – print, radio, television, or otherwise – in Western New York than Bucky Gleason. I feel ridiculous asking this, but has he forgotten who his readership consists of? Why, as a columnist for the Buffalo News, would you want to provoke Buffalo sports fans? I don’t understand. I’m sure he’s working through the mountains of hate mail he’s surely accumulated over the past couple days. If you haven’t read this article yet, don’t.

Here’s the problem: He doesn’t seem to have a good perspective on the thoughts of Buffalo sports fans. He’s a columnist and obviously is paid to share his opinions. That’s fine; I’m a reader of the Buffalo News and a Sabres fan and I share my opinions in this space. Right now my opinion is that lately he’s not been very good at his job. » Read the rest of this entry «