So I'm on vacation. Relaxing with my fiancee on the beach with our bullmastiff puppy nearby. I go briefly online to check my e-mails and read a bunch of antagonistic e-mails in response to my last hockeybird column.
Apparently my depiction of a Ranger Fan Central writer as consistently negative to Sather's moves was perceived by RFC personnel as the equivalent of taking a piss in his living room.
The insults were fairly benign in their creativity, but I can take a bow for now having an antagonist who pens his e-mail address as beef@deathwish.com.
In my younger days, this would have been terrific fodder for a colorful confrontation. How can a site's representatives be so thin-skinned on the one hand, and so aggressive on the other? It's like 'N Sync trying to sing a capella at an Ozzfest show.
But while I may have evolved past my kneejerk reaction for a scathing response, I'm not ready to let someone else have the last word on this site.
So instead, I'd like to use RFC's responses as a case study on on how anyone remotely associated with the New York Rangers inevitably suffers from a harmful case of arrogance.
SELF-IMPORTANCE
A normal person would not be threatened by the benign sentence in my last column. Indeed, there is an old mantra in media that any publicity is good publicity.
But alas, this is a case of an inflated sense of self-worth, and it's symptomatic of the Rangers plight. Everyone wants to be more than they are.
The Rangers can pay top dollar to a B-level player, but that doesn't make him an A-level player. With his newfound riches, though, good luck convincing him to play within his abilities.
Same thing with RFC. They're a site whose main focus is links to the NY dailies, but give writers some web traffic and now they're above reproach or criticism.
SELF-IMPORTANCE LEADS TO ARROGANCE
One of my new fans wrote that I "look petty and jealous since [I] failed to offer any kind of reasons for Ranger fans to look at next season with a positive view."
Well, the great thing about sports, and hockey especially, is that there are no absolutes until the game is over.
If Sather signed Ray Whitney tomorrow, one could argue he'd wilt in New York and score 40 points, while another could say he'd click with Lindros and score 80. Both can offer long and short reasons, and in the end, either could be right.
But it's the arrogant person who refuses to see the potential for players that he or she doesn't advocate.
That the RFC rep wouldn't accept my reasons for being positive about this season just means he has lost the ability to accept the fact that a team could win even if it doesn't follow his desired blueprint.
This is symptomatic of many Rangers, like Messier, who stubbornly refuse to buy into a defensive system because it's a style that he doesn't believe in.
ARROGANCE LEADS TO DELUSION
In a series of offline e-mails, (the specific words I'll keep private), it was suggested that we, as writers, should be united against the mismanagement of the team.
I've got one word for that: bah.
When did hockey sites become revolutionary movements? Is this Les Mis? Braveheart?
It's hilarious that a thin-skinned writer believes he must show Sather the error of his ways in managing a team that is owned by Cablevision, a publicly-traded company.
I'm sure many of you work at public companies. Most, if not all, would agree that solutions to simple problems aren't always easy, and directions and objectives aren't always clear.
This is not to say Sather is beyond reproach, indeed he merits a number of pointed criticisms.
But to have an agenda that drives the site's content? Sherry Ross would be proud.
This final delusion by RFC is symptomatic of the fractious Rangers locker room. Players with agendas will not only ignore systems they don't like, but also will create cliques to force their views on the team.
OH, THE IRONY
So it is ironic that RFC suffers from the same afflictions that they criticize so vehemently on their site.
But don't expect them to realize that. If the one sentence in my last column got them riled up, this one may be a catalyst for a Miss Piggy-type rage.
But hey, at least I'll be entertained watching them, just as I am watching my New York Rangers.
-Gabe
Posted by Gabe at July 24, 2003 11:13 PMeMail this entry!
Dear Gabe,
I concur with your assessment of RFC. Their pomposity is insufferablle and I didn't last long there after locking horns with Dubi, Jess and a few of their syncophants like Frozen Chosen.
I found them contentious at best. You described their worst accurately. Both of your articles hit nails on heads. As far as being a feeding ground for NY journalists, I saw it first hand. I stated on a message thread at the beginning of last season that Trotter was trying to nurture and not brow beatthe team, as some of the minions at RFC were crying for. Low and behold the next day a NY columnists used my reference to "nurture" and Trottier in the same sentence. Coincidence? I think not.
I have little use for them and would never go to that site, even if Brendan Shanahan left me a pm there.
Posted by: mhurley on July 25, 2003 12:00 AMGabe,
I am a regular contributor to the RFC Wall and a former "sec 407" guy from way back when you may remember. These days, my online time is more reading then contributing. I have to say, that while Dubi and Jess are the voice of negativity over there, don't let it taint you. RFC is a good site. Kara the webmaster does a good job and she does keep it a fan site which means that anyone is welcome to contribute. Unfortunately, right now two of the biggest cotributing dingle berries are Jess and Dubi.
Now Dubi's articulate however wrong as he is. But Jess, now this kid is on another planet altogether. It is only a matter of time before he works himself out of there. But Kara is one of the best Rangers webmasters out there and she makes great strides in keeping it a fan site. But Jess and Dubi sure like to listen to themselves post and never should you show the odasity to be positive in any light while they are around. The extent of their knowledge has to do with twisting anything they can find into an argument that Sather, the Rangers, the world is incompetant. And if you argue against them, they gang tackle you and attempt to twist your ear until you say Uncle.
Eebs - great to hear from you and glad to see things are well. I appreciate your follow-up post, because I didn't intend to demean RFC as a site, especially Kara who by all accounts deserves respect, but specifically the RFC respondents to my last column. Thanks for letting me clear that up.
-Gabe
Eebs - great to hear from you and glad to see things are well. I appreciate your follow-up post, because I didn't intend to demean RFC as a site, especially Kara who by all accounts deserves respect, but specifically the RFC respondents to my last column. Thanks for letting me clear that up.
-Gabe
Thin skin? You wrote "Dubi's articles on RFC? You'd think Sather personally stole his family heirlooms." And I agreed with you! I even gave you an exhaustive list of all the family heirlooms Sather stole from me. And that response promted this lengthy diatribe? Or was it the part where I questioned your research skills?
I don't know who beef@whatever.com is. The "petty and jealous" comment wasn't from me. And I didn't take issue with your column in E-mails to your editor or on the web site I write on, choosing instead to take it directly to you in your article's comments section.
But the part about being united as Ranger fans, that I will own up to. I wrote that. It was in response to your editor. It was the second half of my message -- the first half was that fan web sites shouldn't fight with each other, whether it's you taking a potshot at me or me responding in a passive aggressive manner.
And I'll stick by that message no matter what type of ridicule anyone wants to heap upon it. We should be united as fans, and those of us with a platform to speak up with should be trying to use our voices to help turn the Rangers' losing ways into a winning formula. Sounds to me from your article that you have some sort of problem with that.
Impossible to impact team management? You're certainly right about that, as history has proven. Does that mean we shouldn't try? If you can have fun with your new don't worry be happy attitude regardless of whether the team wins or loses, that's your choice. But as long as I still have the energy, I'm going to try to do something about it.
Post my entire message, Gabe -- from the opening section where I go back at you, to the next section where I admit how stupid it is for me to do that, and all the way through to the part where I say we should unite as fans to try to improve the state of the Rangers. Go ahead and post it, you have my permission. Let the fans decide for themselves how arrogant, delusional, and negative it was.
Posted by: Dubi on July 25, 2003 09:03 PMSeasons Greetings
Posted by: Frozen Chosen on November 3, 2003 05:52 AMSeasons Greetings
Posted by: Frozen Chosen on November 3, 2003 05:53 AMSeasons Greetings
Posted by: Frozen Chosen on November 3, 2003 05:53 AMSeasons Greetings
Posted by: Frozen Chosen on November 3, 2003 05:57 AM
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