News Article: TBN: Another beauty from Harrington

[Zip15]

By calling it "Diarrhea of the Mouth", you are portraying his transparency (as you put it) as unwanted, unwelcome and uncomfortable. So can you see why using that phrasing would come off as negative, oh anti-fanboy ?

There are certain instances in which he should have stopped talking. Appearing and sounding despondent after the lottery certainly springs to mind. The guy should pull it back a little bit. So, yes, there are times where the guy talks too much.

On the whole, though, I like Murray, think he's a good GM, and I'm happy he's running things. But to say he has some deficiencies, and not constantly adulate everything he does or says, should not be derided.

 

[Bonlarvis]

Harrington spoke to my class in College. He said that he intentionally tried a few times to goad athletes and coaches into losing their temper in order to get a "juicy quote". I, and some in my class, thought he came off as an arrogant a-hole.

I still hold that opinion.

 

[Tapu Coco]

I wonder if TBN/moralists will harbor a perennial hate for eichel or try to completely disregard him.

If Harrington wants easy click-bait articles for the masses, he'll certainly be a hot topic

 

[Bps21*]

Harrington, to this day, still has lindy finally having enough of him and telling him to coach the team dated and listed in his Twitter bio. Some badge of honor that a well repected coach thinks so little of him.

He could not be a more worthless troll

 

[vcv]

There are certain instances in which he should have stopped talking. Appearing and sounding despondent after the lottery certainly springs to mind. The guy should pull it back a little bit. So, yes, there are times where the guy talks too much.

On the whole, though, I like Murray, think he's a good GM, and I'm happy he's running things. But to say he has some deficiencies, and not constantly adulate everything he does or says, should not be derided.

Sure, and I don't think anyone being reasonable would disagree.

But where the disagreement lies is whether or not those "deficiencies" he's shown so far do or will impact his ability to do his job.

For example, his comment comparing losing the lottery to being cut from team canada was extremely odd. I do not think it impacts his job in any way though. It's just stupid fodder for the media / some fans.

Another example would be people who think he's overpaying to get guys he wants / being too aggressive. Speaking for myself only, I think it's a good quality when done at the right times. I do think the Myers/Bogo/Kane trade was an ok time to do it. The Fasching/Deslauriers/McNabb trade was another time I think it was just fine to do it. Now, if he continues to make those trades when they don't necessarily have an abundance of assets, then a lot of people will start to question if he is too arrogant / aggressive / whatever. But until that time comes, I think his aggressiveness is excellent.

There seems to be a perception that there is a crown that thinks Murray can do no wrong. I think it's inaccurate. It shouldn't be a surprise that a GM who comes in and pretty much does everything in line with what a line of fans wanted (honestly/transparency, tanking, aggressive moves, building a "heavy" team, etc.) is going to be mostly celebrated. That doesn't mean those are always going to think he can do no wrong. It instead means he seems to be doing everything right, and let's see if what we, as fans, wanted is going to work.

 

[Bps21*]

Overpay...that's why we acquired all the assets in the first place...to have the ability to pay more than everyone else and get what we wanted. Kane doesn't become available ever and we accumulated a million assets specifically for when a player like that does become available.

I just hate that thinking. What's the alternative? Keep having a million assets that you can't keep under contract none of whom are the level of the player you wanted...but at least one guy will be happy that Brendan Lemieux is still around in juniors. Because you wouldn't want to overpay when you can just keep not having enough talent.

We didn't amass the assets to say "hey look at all the assets". We did it so Ottawa's GM will say he wanted Kane but he couldn't match Buffalo's offer.

 

[Jim Bob]

I wonder what the reply would have been had Hoppe or Wawrow had written a piece saying that they requested an end of year presser like every other NHL team and her rebuffed.

 

[flashsabre]

I wonder what the reply would have been had Hoppe or Wawrow had written a piece saying that they requested an end of year presser like every other NHL team and her rebuffed.

Probably with respect.

The Buffalo News sports guys and a lot of the fans has turned into a bad divorce. It doesn't matter how valid what they say might be, the anger and hostility towards them for prior actions and comments negates any chance of those points/comments being accepted. Those guys are just not likable so what they say nowadays is just met with backlash.

 

[TehDoak]

I wonder what the reply would have been had Hoppe or Wawrow had written a piece saying that they requested an end of year presser like every other NHL team and her rebuffed.

The problem is neither of those guys would have made an entire article out of it. It is a little weird they didn't do a post season press conference. But it's not worth writing an entire column about.

It's just lazy reporting.

Instead he's using the "no press conference" as an excuse to get on his "embarrassment of a franchise" high horse.

 

[Clock]

Learning how to ignore trolls and take away the attention they're starving for has been one of the big themes to this last season.

 

[Jim Bob]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/gotta-hear-it-cameron-mocks-the-ottawa-media/

This is why we need an end of season presser!

 

[RiotAct]

I wonder if TBN/moralists will harbor a perennial hate for eichel or try to completely disregard him.

If Harrington wants easy click-bait articles for the masses, he'll certainly be a hot topic

that'll be hard to do when he's leading us to multiple.... umm.... ::cough, cough:: playoff berths.

 

[Herman Hessian]

I can't believe people don't want to hold them accountable for it..

downside: couple of ****** seasons

upside: generational talent secured in draft

account balanced quite nicely, surely ?

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I'm a journalist (purposely not in sports) and one of the major measures of success is scoops. Harrington has not had many over the years.

Some columnists, especially sports, like to be contrarian. They may not admit that's the strategy but it's true. For sure clicks count in our industry. Any journalist who says otherwise is a liar or out of touch. We get a weekly report at my paper about which stories had the most clicks, just to give you an idea.

I'm a hardcore Sabres, more like rabid, fan but I think I can step back and offer a decent opinion on Buffalo sports journalism.

The Buffalo News guys decided to take a certain angle on the tank and hit that hard all year. I think it's fair game, as long as you don't make stuff up. I do think think there is a definite difference between Vogl and Harrington. Plus, columnists can write what they want. Harrington does a decent job on the day in and day out news. Lots of retweeting of other people's stuff -- he's on top of that stuff. I still point to not breaking news (Bucky broke the Lafontaine thing) as his biggest failing. Original major stories are the big prize. I do think he's a decent writer.

The radio guys (not including Hamilton) bother me a lot more. They are not well-informed on many occasions. There are just lots of gaps in knowledge. They're more fans than journalists, in my opinion. The stories they do write are pretty poorly written when they pop up on the WGR website.

You know what I'm most impressed by about the Sabres? The fans. The level of knowledge in this forum is astounding. You people need to get jobs. LOL. Seriously, if I was the Buffalo Sabres beat writer, I would comb through here for ideas. There is tons of crap in here, for sure, but there are some pretty intense thoroughly thought out discussions going on too.

I believe in journalism and papers like the Buffalo News but hockey fans have alternatives to get good information these days, outside traditional media. It's the reality of our industry.

 

[5 Minute Major]

Amateurish operations have become the norm in that organization. This season was a walk in the park compared to last year's fiasco. I think at this point they're choosing to error on the side of saying nothing as opposed to the typical foot-in-mouth routine...right or wrong. But make no mistake, they've alienated a ton of fans over the years. You're only seeing a snapshot of the interwebs "fans" who typically excuse everything.

Yeah, they've alienated a TON of fans.

Cripes, where do you get this crap from?

 

[Meichel Kane]

TM strikes me as someone who would post a series of Vine videos answering the questions instead.

Isn't a Vine six seconds long? I could see Murray using it to draft Eichel, but I don't know how he'd use the other five seconds.

 

[ZZamboni]

Yeah, they've alienated a TON of fans.

Cripes, where do you get this crap from?

Everybody poops

 

[N.Y. Orangeman]

I'm a journalist (purposely not in sports) and one of the major measures of success is scoops. Harrington has not had many over the years.

Some columnists, especially sports, like to be contrarian. They may not admit that's the strategy but it's true. For sure clicks count in our industry. Any journalist who says otherwise is a liar or out of touch. We get a weekly report at my paper about which stories had the most clicks, just to give you an idea.

I'm a hardcore Sabres, more like rabid, fan but I think I can step back and offer a decent opinion on Buffalo sports journalism.

The Buffalo News guys decided to take a certain angle on the tank and hit that hard all year. I think it's fair game, as long as you don't make stuff up. I do think think there is a definite difference between Vogl and Harrington. Plus, columnists can write what they want. Harrington does a decent job on the day in and day out news. Lots of retweeting of other people's stuff -- he's on top of that stuff. I still point to not breaking news (Bucky broke the Lafontaine thing) as his biggest failing. Original major stories are the big prize. I do think he's a decent writer.

The radio guys (not including Hamilton) bother me a lot more. They are not well-informed on many occasions. There are just lots of gaps in knowledge. They're more fans than journalists, in my opinion. The stories they do write are pretty poorly written when they pop up on the WGR website.

You know what I'm most impressed by about the Sabres? The fans. The level of knowledge in this forum is astounding. You people need to get jobs. LOL. Seriously, if I was the Buffalo Sabres beat writer, I would comb through here for ideas. There is tons of crap in here, for sure, but there are some pretty intense thoroughly thought out discussions going on too.

I believe in journalism and papers like the Buffalo News but hockey fans have alternatives to get good information these days, outside traditional media. It's the reality of our industry.

Great, great post. Thank you. A couple of questions if you don't mine:

1. What are your thoughts on Harrington's statement above about attempting to goad players into quotes? Fair game in general, but is he at this stage attempting to become part of the story with his coverage?


2. Where does the line between journalist and commentator begin and end when the person is one and the same?

3. From a practical perspective, if it all essentially comes down to the big get, given the status of the relationship, at what point does an editor step and make a change in order to maintain relevance?

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

I'm a journalist (purposely not in sports) and one of the major measures of success is scoops. Harrington has not had many over the years.

Some columnists, especially sports, like to be contrarian. They may not admit that's the strategy but it's true. For sure clicks count in our industry. Any journalist who says otherwise is a liar or out of touch. We get a weekly report at my paper about which stories had the most clicks, just to give you an idea.

I'm a hardcore Sabres, more like rabid, fan but I think I can step back and offer a decent opinion on Buffalo sports journalism.

The Buffalo News guys decided to take a certain angle on the tank and hit that hard all year. I think it's fair game, as long as you don't make stuff up. I do think think there is a definite difference between Vogl and Harrington. Plus, columnists can write what they want. Harrington does a decent job on the day in and day out news. Lots of retweeting of other people's stuff -- he's on top of that stuff. I still point to not breaking news (Bucky broke the Lafontaine thing) as his biggest failing. Original major stories are the big prize. I do think he's a decent writer.

The radio guys (not including Hamilton) bother me a lot more. They are not well-informed on many occasions. There are just lots of gaps in knowledge. They're more fans than journalists, in my opinion. The stories they do write are pretty poorly written when they pop up on the WGR website.

You know what I'm most impressed by about the Sabres? The fans. The level of knowledge in this forum is astounding. You people need to get jobs. LOL. Seriously, if I was the Buffalo Sabres beat writer, I would comb through here for ideas. There is tons of crap in here, for sure, but there are some pretty intense thoroughly thought out discussions going on too.

I believe in journalism and papers like the Buffalo News but hockey fans have alternatives to get good information these days, outside traditional media. It's the reality of our industry.

Gotta say, this is the most unbiased and enlightening post in this thread. Thanks for sharing the perspective.

I agree with you about the radio guys being more fans than journalists. I think i enjoy listening to them because of the fact that it feels like i am having a conversation with another fan like me. I would never take what they say as reporting or insider info or anything of that nature.

With the knowledge on the forum, i would honestly be curious to know just how many reporters actually do comb these threads and others for info.

Isn't a Vine six seconds long? I could see Murray using it to draft Eichel, but I don't know how he'd use the other five seconds.

 

[Husko]

I'm a journalist (purposely not in sports) and one of the major measures of success is scoops. Harrington has not had many over the years.

Some columnists, especially sports, like to be contrarian. They may not admit that's the strategy but it's true. For sure clicks count in our industry. Any journalist who says otherwise is a liar or out of touch. We get a weekly report at my paper about which stories had the most clicks, just to give you an idea.

I'm a hardcore Sabres, more like rabid, fan but I think I can step back and offer a decent opinion on Buffalo sports journalism.

The Buffalo News guys decided to take a certain angle on the tank and hit that hard all year. I think it's fair game, as long as you don't make stuff up. I do think think there is a definite difference between Vogl and Harrington. Plus, columnists can write what they want. Harrington does a decent job on the day in and day out news. Lots of retweeting of other people's stuff -- he's on top of that stuff. I still point to not breaking news (Bucky broke the Lafontaine thing) as his biggest failing. Original major stories are the big prize. I do think he's a decent writer.

The radio guys (not including Hamilton) bother me a lot more. They are not well-informed on many occasions. There are just lots of gaps in knowledge. They're more fans than journalists, in my opinion. The stories they do write are pretty poorly written when they pop up on the WGR website.

You know what I'm most impressed by about the Sabres? The fans. The level of knowledge in this forum is astounding. You people need to get jobs. LOL. Seriously, if I was the Buffalo Sabres beat writer, I would comb through here for ideas. There is tons of crap in here, for sure, but there are some pretty intense thoroughly thought out discussions going on too.

I believe in journalism and papers like the Buffalo News but hockey fans have alternatives to get good information these days, outside traditional media. It's the reality of our industry.

Well, they're not journalists, you have to remember that. The only one who is a journalist is Hamilton, hence why he should actually bother you the most

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

I wonder what the reply would have been had Hoppe or Wawrow had written a piece saying that they requested an end of year presser like every other NHL team and her rebuffed.

If you think this is about the end of season pressure you've missed the point, this is entirely about a group of people who have had enough of the antics of a particular group of 'journalists', there wouldn't be much reply to Hoppe or Wawrow because most people don't actively dislike the way they purport themselves

I wonder the reply would have been if Jordan had said "we're talking about practice, not a game", well he never would have said it because Jordan understood the importance of practice, like Wawrow and Hoppe are probably aware that an end of season pressure doesn't get you anything except some low hanging fruit articles

 

[RiotAct]

If you think this is about the end of season pressure you've missed the point, this is entirely about a group of people who have had enough of the antics of a particular group of 'journalists', there wouldn't be much reply to Hoppe or Wawrow because most people don't actively dislike the way they purport themselves

I wonder the reply would have been if Jordan had said "we're talking about practice, not a game", well he never would have said it because Jordan understood the importance of practice, like Wawrow and Hoppe are probably aware that an end of season pressure doesn't get you anything except some low hanging fruit articles

your misspelling of "pressure" actually works pretty well here.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I wonder what the reply would have been had Hoppe or Wawrow had written a piece saying that they requested an end of year presser like every other NHL team and her rebuffed.

What would the reaction be if two people who usually dont engage in BS articles write one? idk, maybe get the benefit of the doubt from some people. But if someone has a pattern of doing it, there is no benefit of the doubt. I don't get the point

 

[Jim Bob]

What would the reaction be if two people who usually dont engage in BS articles write one? idk, maybe get the benefit of the doubt from some people. But if someone has a pattern of doing it, there is no benefit of the doubt. I don't get the point

My point is that I believe that the reaction here is more about the messenger than the message.

Hoppe appears to agree with some, or all, of what Harrington wrote as he retweeted Harrington's tweet about the article.

I doubt Hoppe is thrilled that the Sabres rebuffed his request for an end of season presser, whether he wrote an article about it or not.

I do think the Sabres should have had the press conference like the other 21 teams who have had their seasons ended have done.

I thought they should have had one the last time they opted not to, as well.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

At this point, will the organization ever have an end of the season presser again? Even if the on-ice success improves? First thing out of Harrington's (or any journalist, maybe) mouth would be why haven't they had them the past x number of years. That would be the first ten minutes of discussion right there and i could easily see it devolve into another cringe worth affair like 2012.