Indefinite Hiatus

After much thought, consideration, and soul-searching-- I think it's time for me to give this whole thing a break. So, like many of my favorite bands, I've decided to put this blog on an "indefinite hiatus" and see how long it takes in order to get my feeling for this whole blogging thing back.

Part of the reasoning for it has to be just the ideal that this has become more of a chore for me to do rather than an outlet to get my thoughts and stuff out. Due to personal and "professional" frustrations in my life-- it's better to actually let go of this for a while rather than beat myself up over not posting on a normal basis and not putting up stuff that I actually believe is good. Granted, none of the stuff I deem "good" ever gets the credit I think it should-- but that's probably me being too hard on myself through all of this.

Thanks to the people who did read, link, and gave feedback on the stuff that I have written. It's always nice to get some kind of recognition for a hobby like this. Plus, the people I have met and interacted with because of this blog has been pretty cool, too. Not to mention the opportunities it has afforded me, it's been a crazy ride.

I won't be completely gone, as my Twitter will live on in its randomness, as will Face Off Hockey Show every Wednesday (and on Facebook and YouTube). It's also not to say I won't create a new project and go on from there, but as it seems right now-- The Strangest One of All blog will lay dormant until something I feel is worthy enough to post here comes about.

Take care of yourself and someone else.

Damien Bischoff and Hypocrisy

Damien Cox is hockey's Eric Bischoff.

There's no way around it. He's a self-promoter, bringing things back from the dead when it doesn't go the way he wants it to go and never heeds his own advice. However, he will do the exact deed that he condemns when it suits his fancy.

In a world where Twitter is king, Cox went to the masses with his distaste for Ted Leonsis's when Leonsis called him out for his mis-fact of Alex Ovechkin's deal. Cox went on a rant about the book he was writing with Gare Joyce about Ovechkin and saying Leonsis was getting sour-grapes over one thing or another-- I couldn't follow it because it was as scattered brained as Cox himself. Then, before I went to work on Saturday night-- Cox goes on another tirade about Leonsis after Teddy Puckgame went on and called out the mainstream media (one can assume singling out Cox) and telling them to respect the blogosphere and Twitter because it's the next big thing....today. Cox went on a rant about how Leonsis has to hire bloggers to be in the press box and that the book of Joyce and Cox isn't the fluff piece Leonsis wanted and other crap about Caps fans and the organization.

First off, why would anyone get Cox and Joyce to do a book when you could just hire someone a little more closer to the situation than those two?? It's one thing to want a "fluff" piece, but apparently, the Caps fans have been upset with the overly Canadian approach to the book that was taken and pretty much used to dismiss Ovechkin and say he's not as good as Crosby. I haven't read it because I can't deal with Cox; who basically fetches water for Dave Hodge on TSN's The Reporters and thinks he's the big deal in a dying media. Second, the funny thing about all of this is that Cox is using the media he said is "low-rent" to convey his message. It's a bit off that he would do that, rather than write a column about it for the daily-- maybe even stop the presses for this hot scoop.

Even funnier is that Cox claims that Leonsis will block him from the Caps press box and that's not right; then he blocks people on Twitter who call him out on the same thing and who don't agree with his opinion. Got to love the hypocrisy that Cox puts out there; proving that he is not better than the man he is putting down...like he was up on that level anyway.

That said, say what you will about Cox and his tactics-- he's getting the Caps fans riled up in hopes that it'll move units of his book. If nothing else, he's promoting something other than idiocy in his tweets and actually getting the attention from the core he wanted to. Controversy creates cash, as one Eric Bischoff once said and then penned. Even if they do get it in order to burn it; he's still moving product. You have to somewhat respect him getting his name even more out there, even if it's for the wrong reason and with no message that is sensical enough to warrant a serious response.....or not.

However, good on Ted Leonsis to stick up for his organization and defend his assets. While Cox may be digging himself a hole he can't get out of (we can only be so lucky, though), Leonsis is pretty much inviting Cox to take him on head-to-head. I'd love to see Cox go to Washington when the Leafs are in town and have a meeting with Leonsis and settle this thing once and for all. Let's see if Cox is as strong as he is on Twitter and let's see of Leonsis will stick up for his team as strongly as he does in his blog.

This is what happens when new media collides.

Weighing-In On The Creativity Conversation

If you follow the blogosphere and look at Puck the Media like I do, you'll see the post Mr. Steve Lepore had about bloggers creativity being ruined due to the access. He cites Yahoo's Puck Daddy and AOL Fanhouse as examples to this ordeal, Fanhouse being looked at a little closer. While we had this discussion on our Draft Show Portion One, it's begs to be talked about a little more, especially with the season going on and stories from blogs being thrown up and down.

I can see Steve's point. There's a lot more you could do when you have the access to. If you're going to get down and dirty with things on the blog, and have the access, it'd be nice to see something out of the usual norm of things. That's what makes Puck the Media so unique because you don't have someone devoting their time to the happenings of hockey broadcasting and solely focusing on critquing the media. It's a great concept and Steve does a fine job of doing what he does. And I mean, you look at all the blogs out there and it's an outlet used for people to get the "everyman" kind of response to games and what-not, which is a refreshing change from the normal mainstream media reviews and insight of the game-- even better than most op-ed pieces you can find in the newspaper.

That said, most of the people at Puck Daddy and Fanhouse can't have that kind of independence, mostly due to the fact they could have assignments, like was revealed about the Chris Botta case, or they have to realize that they are a representitive of a bigger company and don't want to risk their jobs, reputation or the reputation of the company they work for by doing something so out of the norm. They have a little more at stake than most of the people out there in the independent kind of blog. Plus, who's to say the independent blogs would be able to do something they would want to do if given the access. Knowing if they make one false move while attending, they could be at risk of never getting that access again, they could tone it down when in attendance more than they would on their blog.

Now, luckily-- I have been able to get credentialed in the past and am glad for the chance to. I've never really done much out of the norm, mostly due to the lack of imagination. I've ask some off-the-wall questions in some interviews, but mostly just to lighten the mood or see how some people react. Plus, I don't think I'm well enough known to do something pretty crazy and get away with it in good humor. It's definitely a different world when you actually get down to the bowels of any arena. Most of the times, you could be intimidated in terms of what you want to do and if it's your first time there, get a little flustered when you actually get your chance to do something with it.

While Steve make a point of bloggers doing the same thing that mainstream media folks do, sometimes it's a necessary evil. You may not want to do something like, in fact the complete opposite will be true-- yet, going the simple route may be the best route at the time. Hindsight of what could have been done and what should have been done with the access given is 20/20-- if you want to continute to be granted that access, the safe route is always the way to go.

Face Off Hockey Show 2009 Draft Show-- Portion Two

This is the second part of the update of the FOHS Draft show with Lyle Richardson, Greg Wyshynski, and Princess Curl. Of course, Montreal will bring out the best in everyone, which is why you can tell we’re getting a little wild, which is when the fans came in because they knew the game was on.

Like I said in the first part, caution due to some language-- if you’re opposed to that.

In this first part, we continue to talk about blogging, but this time when it comes to the perception given off from the mainstream media types. The second video in this cluster has to do with what’s going to happen in the off-season when it comes to topical ideas and how to keep the creative juices flowing.





This third part is a little dated, but it’s a hardy debate. When the topic of the Sedin twins came up and the length of the contract, it sparked the question about how long is too long (wocka) and whether spending that amount of money on two players is rational at all in a salary cap world.

Face Off Hockey Show 2009 Draft Show-- Portion One

So, we at the Face Off Hockey Show went to Montreal for the Draft, Jonny P and I got credentialed, and we did a show. For the show, we got long-time colleague Lyle Richardson, Puck Daddy czar Greg Wyshynski, and lady-of-all-trades Princess Curl to come in and do the show.

Here's a portion of the insanity where we talked about this draft being the "Twitter Draft", as well as bloggers being put into play when it comes to being credentialed. This portion is about 30 minutes long in four segments because YouTube doesn't like anything over ten minutes-- which most guys would love.

Also, caution because some language is a little bit gritty at times.

From left to right: Greg Wyshynski, Marc "with a 'C'", Lyle Richardson, myself, Princess Curl (off-cam most the time and raspy voiced) and Jonny P as the rover.

Enjoy.

Save the Empire

Just want to direct you kids to my good pal Wrap Around Curl's latest post that shows that the Canadian Hockey League doesn't care about bloggers. Since they own their player's images, names, and apparently souls-- they don't want anyone to promote the league, teams, or players on anything that's not sanctioned by the leagues themselves.

Even though we're almost in 2009, it makes me wonder why more teams, leagues, and organizations aren't more open to the blogosphere since it's becoming more and more prevalent that it's the new form of media that will take over the hockey world....if it hasn't already happened.

Check out the post, form your own opinion on it all, and to WAC-- keep fighting the good fight.