Friday, June 1, 2012

I know you are but what am I?

(Courtesy New York Rangers)
Say it loud, I am proud to be one of the "idiot" media covering the New York Rangers. So in true American fashion I say to John Tortorella that "I know you are but what am I?"

Well, actually I don't like being called an idiot, nobody with any self-respect and pride likes to be treated the way John Tortorella treats the media. I know several of the people who cover the Rangers on a daily basis, whether it's bloggers or beat writers and I know that none of them go into any press conference looking to embarrass or disrespect John Tortorella or the team.

It's a huge crock for John Tortorella to even suggest that members of the media, social media, or any fan (okay, maybe there's a few) who disrespect any member of the New York Rangers.

How sad it must be for John Tortorella to show off his school bus stop courage by attacking not only the media, but also Ranger fans as well with his remarks while appearing on the Michael Kay show and the Mike Francesca show.

"I think the people that are writing about us with our shot blocking ... I think they're idiots,"

I won't lie when I say part of the reason that I love doing prospect coverage is that I don't have to put up with the nonsense that John Tortorella dishes off on the beat guys on almost daily basis. They take a lot of verbal abuse that John Tortorella has no right to be doing to them.

He says he knows it's wrong and he knows that he disrespects people at times but you don't see any effort by the coach to address his own behavior. For a person who preaches personal accountability, John Tortorella does not walk his own talk.

John Tortorella has done a great job at intimidating and controlling the media during press conferences. The experienced guys know not to bother asking anything tough or anything direct because rather than answer; John Tortorella will go into his act.

Tortorella will curse, he will insult and belittle the person asking the question, and if it's a question he really doesn't want to deal with then he will storm out of the room with a temper tantrum.

In other words, he will behave like a five-year-old who doesn't get his way. Nobody with the Rangers is going to stop John Tortorella so he doesn't have to worry about being held accountable for his actions.

It's funny how John Tortorella calls the media, the bloggers, and the tweeters idiots but what would he say to Mike Gillis the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks or Doug Wilson, the general manager of the San Jose Sharks?

Guess they're idiots too because they trashed the Rangers obsession with shotblocking. John Tortorella does a wonderful job portraying the team like their victims when he claims that the media is disrespecting the team.

But you know what's really interesting? The person who actually creates an even bigger question regarding the Rangers and their shotblocking is Glen Sather himself.

"The team played with a lot of big (guts) if you ask me," Sather said. "I thought that they were really good. There was no complaining. Nobody was crying at the end of the year about injuries, and we had 14 guys that are visiting the doctors. So there is a great, committed atmosphere in that organization. These kids deserve all the credit, and Tortorella did an outstanding job keeping them focused and keeping them going in the right direction all year long. I thought it was a great year."


14 players is an awfully high number of players to be seeing doctors, trainers you can understand but doctors? Some of the injuries like Boyle's concussion were apparent but it becomes a fair question to ask if shotblocking played a role in any other injuries.

John Tortorella has no right to question somebody asking that question because how many times did we watch a Ranger player block a shot then struggle his way back to the bench?

It's not disrespect to the players and I think if anyone is disrespecting the players now it is the coach himself. Nobody, who covered the Rangers on a daily basis in the media ever questioned the heart or desire of any Ranger.

Yes, there were those who jumped on the playoff bandwagon for coverage to give themselves something to write about; that Tortorella has every right to be angry with. Those bandwagon riders actually disrespected their peers more than they disrespected any Ranger.

Still, for a person would who admits that he does not deal well with the media to play this kind of game is embarrassing. Only the embarrassment isn't for anyone asking the questions, but rather the one person who refuses to answer honest questions.

The person who's going lose here in the end will be John Tortorella because it's kind of funny how Sean Avery would get in trouble for his stupid comments, but nobody ever punishes John Tortorella for his.

That part is very disrespectful so John Tortorella better watch yourself because Pee-wee Herman will be looking for you at the school bus stop.

(S/T to Kevin Delury of the NY Ranger's Blog)

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