All of that is fine, and another great post btw.
But there is a difference in thinking something like that, having internal thoughts, vs broadcasting them to national media in a podcast you know is going to be huge news. Thees a difference between having an opinion, vs projecting that opinion and assuming it is right regarding other players. Ference isn't lending an opinion in the podcast. He's trying to say what it was going on. He's concluding he's right. His whole narrative skips that this is just his perspective. His phrasing assumes that what he saw IS the case.
Basically what Ference witnessed and experienced here is a team without enough vets. Specifically lacking mid age hockey players, age 24-28 that typically make up the glue in rosters, that glue young players to older players and that are CRITICAL in lineups. You have to have those guys in a team pro sport. Teams that have more players in that prime age range are typically more bonded.
But heres the deal. You don't hear Hendricks talking about all this. He was tireless in trying to reach these guys and appeared to love the challenge. he would make overtures, take some fishing, do things with the lads. He was considered cool. Hendricks was never considered anything other than a nice guy with a lot of drive that wanted to make the team better. Everybody got that. Boyd, conversely conveyed a grumpy bit of detach but kept it to himself. My sense is he didn't like it here but he was professional about it through and through. Neither Boyd or Hendricks aired bad laundry subsequent to being here. Its interesting though that the captain did, and that is all on Ference. These comments now become more of his legacy.
That's the thing in life. sometimes you do things, say things that are hurtful. Even with apologies these are events that you don't get a mulligan on, you don't get a do over. They then shape peoples perception of you whether they occur in family, or in work, in life. Ference did this on National media. It removes all doubt. Ference came in here as an opinionated captain, and from reports we are hearing now even outed to the org when he heard the young uns were out drinking. he looked down on the kids, judged them, categorized them, this is all clear.
Look, people think I'm a curmudgeon, and theres times where I can feel like a "get off my lawn" kind of adult. But its up to all of us to resist those impulses and stay connected, and commune with all ages. Be able to have dialog, friendliness with all ages. When and if we lose that we succumb to miserable.. That's a choice, I think, for all of us.
Yes, maybe I'm failing but I'm not blasting young uns on podcasts on national media like some curmudgeon. What Ference, really, evoked is an age old generation gap that has been going on since the dawn of recorded history.
I'll leave the readers with this. Said to be Socrates, but could be Plato, could be an amalgam of historic opinion. Chiefly, it is opinion;
| AUTHOR: | Socrates (469–399 B.C.) |
| QUOTATION: | The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers. |
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