Given the amount of venom on here towards my decision to bring Jeremy Roenick onto the station on Tuesday, I figured I would take a moment to chat about my thinking.
1. Jeremy Roenick is a very polarizing figure and I'm well aware of that. However, he's got a resume that includes 500+ goals in the NHL and a very big platform as a national analyst in the United States. So when somebody with that stature makes comments specifically about Ottawa, I believe it's in my best interest to try and hear if he has more to add to the conversation than just what he said on a Toronto radio station.
2. I specifically started the interview by asking Roenick about Game 3 of the Ottawa series actually selling out - despite the fact he said it wasn't. This seemed to be a bone of contention with a lot of people, so I wanted to offer him a platform to respond.
3. For those who have criticized my lack of interviewing skills, please understand that I'm not in the business of confronting people on the air. I will ask reasoned, well-thought out questions and treat all of our guests with respect -- as if they are a guest in my home. I'm not an antagonistic person by nature and I will ask respectful and pointed questions if necessary. I do not believe that Roenick needed to be blasted by me, because he had a passionate opinion about our inability to sell out playoff hockey games in the 3rd round. Did he need a lecture on the Phoenix pay system, local flooding, arena location, raised cost of parking, spending discretionary money on Redblacks tickets, etc. from me? I didn't think that was worthwhile because if you understand the situation in Ottawa, it's very complex. This was his opportunity to expand on why he felt it was embarrassing to not sell out hockey games and there are thousands of people in Ottawa who share his opinion. I didn't appreciate being called a "gutless puke" by one particular texter and I certainly don't agree with the accusations of laziness that many of you have pointed to in this thread.
4. I find it extremely interesting that I did SIX hours of radio yesterday and exactly ONE segment was focused on ticket sales in Game 6 and that happened to be with Roenick because he was so passionate about the topic. That means I spent roughly 5.5 hours talking Sens power play, Craig Anderson, could they bounce back from 7-0 loss, using Colin White, where is Stone/Hoffman, can they solve Matt Murray, etc. I literally spent 5.5 hours talking about things that weren't related to tickets....and yet some of you are acting like I'm this sensationalist dick of a journalist trying to push a false narrative. It's extremely upsetting when I put so much time and effort into this radio station and put together a great show for our listeners and yet you choose to look at one segment out of 24 that I did yesterday and paint me with an inaccurate brush.
5. Lastly, maybe you don't agree with Jeremy Roenick's opinion on the Senators ticket issue. And that's completely your right. But I am utterly blown away how so many people are unwilling to listen -- for ONE SEGMENT -- about a viewpoint that doesn't mesh with their own. Maybe just understand that the ticketing issue is a complex one and it generates a lot of passionate takes. Nobody has the magic bullet solution. I worked for the Sens front office and have covered this team for a combined 20 years. And I still couldn't give you one exact reason for why they failed to sell out a playoff game in the third round. But I would gladly listen to any and all people's opinion's on this matter because that's what makes talk radio fantastic. A variety of opinions that -- when all put together -- create a better picture of the truth.
I absolutely love doing this job for a living and as many of you can attest, I will absolutely engage in thoughtful and meaningful discussion. But calling me out for one segment and making it seem like I'm a major problem with the media in this town isn't the way to go.
A few weeks ago, I spent hours putting together this piece on the Sens ticketing issues.
http://www.tsn.ca/there-s-no-playoff-fever-in-ottawa-only-sens-malaise-1.737420
There is nothing I do that isn't calculated, well thought out and well researched. You can accuse me of a lot of things, but please don't ever accuse of not putting any thought into lining up guests or interviewing them.
As always, you can e-mail me directly at
[email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you. And for those of you who complain about Ottawa media not caring about your thoughts and opinions, I hope this post proves otherwise. I do care about what you think. But let's try and do this in a really positive and constructive way.