Well put… assholes at the top setting the tone of the entire organization… we Stars fans should be thankful that the team we support, treats everyone with respect. In Vegas? Not even a consideration.
As I replied to you on X, he was, is, and apparently will always be a flaming d**khead! Problem is he's paid by us, the fans, and this is part of his freaking job. He freaking OWES it to us, sorry, he and the players and the coaches OWE us! Understand that I despise the media (other than you and Sean and David of course) but that doesn't matter. He doesn't have the right to do this and I hope the league fines his ass and the team major big $$$$s or this shit head will do it again. Is it obvious that I think this guy is a f***ing sc*mb*g
First, I love your writing Robert. You're one of the best I've come across. It's why I subscribe. I enjoy excellent writing.
Second, I couldn't disagree with you on this topic more. People take sports as way more serious than they are.
Players and coaches aren't "accountable" to fans via the media. They're just not. Hockey isn't the military. It isn't medicine. It isn't religion. It's entertainment, on par with Netflix. I wouldn't demand "accountability" via a press conference for a bad episode of Reacher. I just would stop paying for the show if I decided I didn't like it. The only accountability that matters is revenue. If the entertainment is good, people will pay. If it's not, they won't. The idea of entertainers being "accountable" to the people who pay to be entertained is silly. It places far more value and depth on the transaction than actually exists.
And not too long ago, franchises were completely dependent on media coverage to connect to the fans. If a team wanted to get an award campaign going or sell the fans on a player, they needed sports writers to write stories in newspapers and magazines. I think sports writers still live in that past, when they were "essential." But the script has flipped. In a world of twitter and instagram and tiktok, franchises are no longer dependent on the media to connect to fans. Instead, media is dependent on the sports franchises for anything that could generate content. The two sides still help each other, but who "needs" who has dramatically changed. Particularly in hockey.
Was Torts wrong for skipping his contractual obligations? Yes. It's in his contract, he should do it. Is there a lack of "accountability" because he didn't help some guys fill their content generation quotas? No.
You read my mind. "vital" is not something that comes to mind when I think about sports media coverage. I enjoy it and I enjoy the heck out of Robert's writing but it ain't going to bring world peace.
Well, in fairness, I did say "vital" to the transparency of professional sports :)
Certainly sports themselves are still the toy department of life, as they say. No one's trying to say sports journalism is bringing down corrupt regimes or anything. Or at least, I promise not to do that on purpose.
Thanks for voicing this. I genuinely appreciate it, and I want y'all to always feel free to do so.
I probably didn't phrase this well, but the accountability I'm talking about is pretty basic: a coach holding himself to the same standards he holds his players to.
f you talk to any player (at any level), they'll tell you that they think a good amount of team meetings feel unnecessary. Players want to play, not sit in meetings. But coaches ask players to trust that participating in those things will make the team better (and the players individually, if they attend to the meetings). Thus, they have disciplinary measures in place to prevent players from skipping those meetings. Everyone knows the rules when they sign up for the team.
What happened with Torts was that a coach--a veteran coach who has also spent a good chunk of time cashing checks from ESPN--decided that he didn't want to attend a press conference despite the fact that the very rules of the league mandate his attendance. How is his skipping out on that not hypocritical?
I've gotten to meet a lot of very good, humble journalists over the years, and I promise you, none of them were clutching pearls or taking personal affront about Torts' decision the other night. Probably I came off as scandalized in what I wrote, and that's not what I was going for. I just think, at a very fundamental level, the coach is setting a double standard. And Tortorella kind of has a history of acting out this way over his career. Nobody has to care about that--but clearly the league did quite a bit.
I'm with you, Robert...this isn't brain surgery, but there would be no NHL (or professional sports at all) without fans willing to hand over their hard-earned cash for a little bit of entertainment and escape. Since we can't talk to the players directly, we rely on sports journalists to speak for us and ask the questions that we would ask. Vegas isn't just spitting in the face of the media, they're spitting in the faces of the fans that consume that media, that take a particular interest in their team and players.
I have to admit, I can understand part of their reservations about talking to the media. Your example about PDB saying a little too much in his final press conference as the Stars' coach highlights the fact that things would probably go a lot easier for them if they didn't have to answer questions. And it's not something I can relate to because I don't have a reporter asking me questions about how I screwed up at work. But then again, no one is paying me a ton of money to watch me do my boring job. There is, and should be, a tradeoff for that.
I'm going to disagree with the idea that sports writers speak on behalf of fans.
They're entertainers/content creators who sell their content to fans, not representitives for fans. Fans didn't vote on writers to rep them. We don't get to choose them or tell them what to say or ask. Fans are completely capable of repping themselves, via both social media and sales. Fans' voices are heard loud and clear via ticket and merch sales. Which do you think influences a franchise more: a writer's question at a press conference or a a drop in ticket sales?
Don't get it mixed up. Sports writers exist to sell their product to you, not to be your advocate. That's not a dig at them either, it's just a recognition of their actual role. But I think it's important to be realistic about what everyone's role is, otherwise your expectations are off.
If Vegas fans feel like the franchise spat in their faces, it'll reflect in ticket sales, merch sales, and viewership. But I doubt it happens, because the "they're disrespecting the fans" claim only seems to be coming from people outside the Vegas fanbase. Which is why I don't buy it.
I agree that there's a distinction there, yeah. Reporters aren't elected representatives or anything, so it's not like they're altruistically trying to be The Voice of the People, even if some outlets might market themselves as such (which probably is a good business move, if people buy that you're doing that).
For my part, I would say that the media should (and hopefully do) function as a kind of bridge between fans and players, though. And press conferences are a part of that, particularly after a game when the NHL (like every major sports league) wants its players and coaches answering for the decisions and plays they made. If a coach or a player makes a boneheaded move, they should answer for it. Likewise if they do something spectacular.
I'm all for cooling down some of the self-righteous rhetoric out there about sports media, but I guess I just can't get away from the fact that I do think it's important for coaches to honor agreements like this, and apparently the league agrees. So as long as I'm in this weird space where I'm doing kind of hybrid version of entertainment and journalism, I guess I'm going to try to aim to hold to the highest ideals I can. But I totally understand that some folks don't really care about that stuff or see it the same way. It's all good.
But we do vote for them in a way, right? I pay to subscribe to Robert’s work because I like his voice, the way he articulates his thoughts, and the stories he chooses to share with us. He’s in the room with the players and coaches, and I’m not. I’ve subscribed to other writers in the past, but I gave them up because I feel like this is the best fit for me. I’m confident in my expectations.
Vegas fans can do what they want, but winning covers over a lot of negatives. I suspect Tortorella’s actions wouldn’t go over so well if he were coaching a lottery team. I do agree that fans speak with their wallets, but it’s more about the win/loss record than anything that happens after the games.
I'll buy that a coach skipping a mandatory event is hypocritical when he also demands players attend the mandatory meetings he sets.
Edit: Also, just wanted to add I appreciate you taking the comment in the spirit it was intended. Wasn't a spear, just a difference in opinion. Thanks again.
Actually the players, coaches, team ownership, are accountable to the CBA regarding "League media policies, including issues relating to access". To buy into the NHL, Vegas ownership signed up for this. They are now being held accountable.
If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. Period. Common decency to those whose careers depend on you showing just basic levels of human behavior, contractual especially, but how about just basic human consideration... he’ll still be an asshole, he’s proved it over and over, just show up sit down and be a dick, he can’t help it. It’s why Co’s have “morals clauses”, so they can fire or discipline… oh say for any public behavior that reflects poorly on the organization. Tort’s and Vegas fit that bill exactly.
It’s also just bad form. Shows a lack of class and poor sportsmanship.
Don’t like a friggen ruling?… suck it up and accept it, like a big boy.
Really good Robert. Thanks for calling them out.
Well put… assholes at the top setting the tone of the entire organization… we Stars fans should be thankful that the team we support, treats everyone with respect. In Vegas? Not even a consideration.
Even when you throw shade, you do it with empathy and personal accountability.
Excellence, Robert.
As I replied to you on X, he was, is, and apparently will always be a flaming d**khead! Problem is he's paid by us, the fans, and this is part of his freaking job. He freaking OWES it to us, sorry, he and the players and the coaches OWE us! Understand that I despise the media (other than you and Sean and David of course) but that doesn't matter. He doesn't have the right to do this and I hope the league fines his ass and the team major big $$$$s or this shit head will do it again. Is it obvious that I think this guy is a f***ing sc*mb*g
Congrats to John Tortorella & the VGK - win or lose, your next press conference will be about this. 🙄
At least NOW we know to cheer for Colorado, and common decency!!!
Go Colorado!!!
Wow they just lost a 2nd rd pick for it and got a fine!
Yep! Apparently this was the final straw after multiple such shenanigans. Added an update to the top of the piece.
As long as it isn’t appeal-able!
It is, directly to the commissioner. And Wyshynski has already hinted that they could get the pick back if they’re contrite.
Oh, so at least a league that stands up for its own principles will stand by their decision… doesn’t sound like the nhl unfortunately…
First, I love your writing Robert. You're one of the best I've come across. It's why I subscribe. I enjoy excellent writing.
Second, I couldn't disagree with you on this topic more. People take sports as way more serious than they are.
Players and coaches aren't "accountable" to fans via the media. They're just not. Hockey isn't the military. It isn't medicine. It isn't religion. It's entertainment, on par with Netflix. I wouldn't demand "accountability" via a press conference for a bad episode of Reacher. I just would stop paying for the show if I decided I didn't like it. The only accountability that matters is revenue. If the entertainment is good, people will pay. If it's not, they won't. The idea of entertainers being "accountable" to the people who pay to be entertained is silly. It places far more value and depth on the transaction than actually exists.
And not too long ago, franchises were completely dependent on media coverage to connect to the fans. If a team wanted to get an award campaign going or sell the fans on a player, they needed sports writers to write stories in newspapers and magazines. I think sports writers still live in that past, when they were "essential." But the script has flipped. In a world of twitter and instagram and tiktok, franchises are no longer dependent on the media to connect to fans. Instead, media is dependent on the sports franchises for anything that could generate content. The two sides still help each other, but who "needs" who has dramatically changed. Particularly in hockey.
Was Torts wrong for skipping his contractual obligations? Yes. It's in his contract, he should do it. Is there a lack of "accountability" because he didn't help some guys fill their content generation quotas? No.
You read my mind. "vital" is not something that comes to mind when I think about sports media coverage. I enjoy it and I enjoy the heck out of Robert's writing but it ain't going to bring world peace.
Well, in fairness, I did say "vital" to the transparency of professional sports :)
Certainly sports themselves are still the toy department of life, as they say. No one's trying to say sports journalism is bringing down corrupt regimes or anything. Or at least, I promise not to do that on purpose.
Thanks for voicing this. I genuinely appreciate it, and I want y'all to always feel free to do so.
I probably didn't phrase this well, but the accountability I'm talking about is pretty basic: a coach holding himself to the same standards he holds his players to.
f you talk to any player (at any level), they'll tell you that they think a good amount of team meetings feel unnecessary. Players want to play, not sit in meetings. But coaches ask players to trust that participating in those things will make the team better (and the players individually, if they attend to the meetings). Thus, they have disciplinary measures in place to prevent players from skipping those meetings. Everyone knows the rules when they sign up for the team.
What happened with Torts was that a coach--a veteran coach who has also spent a good chunk of time cashing checks from ESPN--decided that he didn't want to attend a press conference despite the fact that the very rules of the league mandate his attendance. How is his skipping out on that not hypocritical?
I've gotten to meet a lot of very good, humble journalists over the years, and I promise you, none of them were clutching pearls or taking personal affront about Torts' decision the other night. Probably I came off as scandalized in what I wrote, and that's not what I was going for. I just think, at a very fundamental level, the coach is setting a double standard. And Tortorella kind of has a history of acting out this way over his career. Nobody has to care about that--but clearly the league did quite a bit.
I'm with you, Robert...this isn't brain surgery, but there would be no NHL (or professional sports at all) without fans willing to hand over their hard-earned cash for a little bit of entertainment and escape. Since we can't talk to the players directly, we rely on sports journalists to speak for us and ask the questions that we would ask. Vegas isn't just spitting in the face of the media, they're spitting in the faces of the fans that consume that media, that take a particular interest in their team and players.
I have to admit, I can understand part of their reservations about talking to the media. Your example about PDB saying a little too much in his final press conference as the Stars' coach highlights the fact that things would probably go a lot easier for them if they didn't have to answer questions. And it's not something I can relate to because I don't have a reporter asking me questions about how I screwed up at work. But then again, no one is paying me a ton of money to watch me do my boring job. There is, and should be, a tradeoff for that.
Thanks for doing what you do, Robert.
I'm going to disagree with the idea that sports writers speak on behalf of fans.
They're entertainers/content creators who sell their content to fans, not representitives for fans. Fans didn't vote on writers to rep them. We don't get to choose them or tell them what to say or ask. Fans are completely capable of repping themselves, via both social media and sales. Fans' voices are heard loud and clear via ticket and merch sales. Which do you think influences a franchise more: a writer's question at a press conference or a a drop in ticket sales?
Don't get it mixed up. Sports writers exist to sell their product to you, not to be your advocate. That's not a dig at them either, it's just a recognition of their actual role. But I think it's important to be realistic about what everyone's role is, otherwise your expectations are off.
If Vegas fans feel like the franchise spat in their faces, it'll reflect in ticket sales, merch sales, and viewership. But I doubt it happens, because the "they're disrespecting the fans" claim only seems to be coming from people outside the Vegas fanbase. Which is why I don't buy it.
I agree that there's a distinction there, yeah. Reporters aren't elected representatives or anything, so it's not like they're altruistically trying to be The Voice of the People, even if some outlets might market themselves as such (which probably is a good business move, if people buy that you're doing that).
For my part, I would say that the media should (and hopefully do) function as a kind of bridge between fans and players, though. And press conferences are a part of that, particularly after a game when the NHL (like every major sports league) wants its players and coaches answering for the decisions and plays they made. If a coach or a player makes a boneheaded move, they should answer for it. Likewise if they do something spectacular.
I'm all for cooling down some of the self-righteous rhetoric out there about sports media, but I guess I just can't get away from the fact that I do think it's important for coaches to honor agreements like this, and apparently the league agrees. So as long as I'm in this weird space where I'm doing kind of hybrid version of entertainment and journalism, I guess I'm going to try to aim to hold to the highest ideals I can. But I totally understand that some folks don't really care about that stuff or see it the same way. It's all good.
But we do vote for them in a way, right? I pay to subscribe to Robert’s work because I like his voice, the way he articulates his thoughts, and the stories he chooses to share with us. He’s in the room with the players and coaches, and I’m not. I’ve subscribed to other writers in the past, but I gave them up because I feel like this is the best fit for me. I’m confident in my expectations.
Vegas fans can do what they want, but winning covers over a lot of negatives. I suspect Tortorella’s actions wouldn’t go over so well if he were coaching a lottery team. I do agree that fans speak with their wallets, but it’s more about the win/loss record than anything that happens after the games.
I'll buy that a coach skipping a mandatory event is hypocritical when he also demands players attend the mandatory meetings he sets.
Edit: Also, just wanted to add I appreciate you taking the comment in the spirit it was intended. Wasn't a spear, just a difference in opinion. Thanks again.
Appreciate you sharing your opinion, as always!
Actually the players, coaches, team ownership, are accountable to the CBA regarding "League media policies, including issues relating to access". To buy into the NHL, Vegas ownership signed up for this. They are now being held accountable.
If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. Period. Common decency to those whose careers depend on you showing just basic levels of human behavior, contractual especially, but how about just basic human consideration... he’ll still be an asshole, he’s proved it over and over, just show up sit down and be a dick, he can’t help it. It’s why Co’s have “morals clauses”, so they can fire or discipline… oh say for any public behavior that reflects poorly on the organization. Tort’s and Vegas fit that bill exactly.
It’s also just bad form. Shows a lack of class and poor sportsmanship.
Don’t like a friggen ruling?… suck it up and accept it, like a big boy.
Just another reason I’m a subscriber. Excellent content, about *waves hands* everything hockey, life, and Stars related.
So good.
2 nd round draft pick lost and 100 K fine for coach , just deserts in my book . They won the series , what asses