I don't take them seriously at all. They're a couple of guys that happen to have media access and resources behind them.
You know, while they have their flaws, I actually don't mind them as much as many of you do.
First, I can totally respect their willingness to try and build something out of little or nothing, and try to improve upon a sports forum (Denver Post) that desperately needs it. Second, while I don't agree with everything either guy writes, there is both history and hockey knowledge present, and the stuff they write ranks up there with the really knowledgable people in this forum - I tend to read them with equal respect and attention. The fact that the two guys have some (even if it's small) access to the team, doesn't hurt them.
What I dislike, is the dismissal of others' opinions. I remember a number of years back, ADater posted something publicly along the lines of "...I never ever care what anyone says when critiquing my writing, I couldn't care less...". I'm paraphrasing him there, but it was clear that his attitude was that he writes what he writes, and any disagreement with his concusions were going to be summarily 100% completely ignored/dismissed by him. Which is a position I found to be profoundly arrogant. I get that writers have to have thick skin, because all kinds of criticism can come from all angles when you've put yourself out there publicly like that. But any smart person knows that listening to and accepting at least some criticism is a necessary ingredient for both success and excellence in one's work. We're all wrong sometimes, we're all misinformed sometimes, we're all stupid sometimes. Stupid and stubborn is never a good combination.
I'm not sure if Dater has brought that dismissive attitude into BSN, or AJ had it himself to begin with, but I believe the two of them would be well served to abandon it completely. If they don't, I believe the two of them are wasting a good opportunity to bring a new fresh voice into the Denver sports/hockey market. It would be so much better for the two of them to actually invite opposing opinion, then discussing it in an open intelligent manner, rather than having such thin skin. Perhaps not wholesale from all comers, but at least from amongst a group of a few dozen known intelligent hockey people. I would welcome such a hockey product here in Denver.
or TMV. That'd be great.
