Sometimes, we lose focus on what the story really is

Howdy, pardners.

Ready for the second half? Hope so, it’s kind of inevitable and after this rather dead time – what’s it been, one game in the last 10 days? – it’s nice to get back into the hustle and bustle. I know we’re a bit late with the whole time zone thingy but after a rather slack weekend, we’ll get fully into the swing of things as soon as we can.

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You know, sometimes the media really gets me.

This whole NHL trade deadline crap you may have had to suffer through yesterday – and if you sat glued to a TV for an entire Monday that’s says as much about you as it does about them – says so much about the way some media outlets think of themselves it’s scary.

Folks, “we” are not the story and “we” don’t need, or shouldn’t need, to blow our own horns so much you can’t hear what we’re telling you.

We don’t need, or shouldn’t need, to become as big as the event we’re reporting, we don’t need to yammer incessantly about the number of “insiders” we have or the calibre of our “panel of experts.”

I’m pretty sure, or at least I hope, that fans and viewers and readers and whatever weren’t sitting home with some kind of scorebook keeping track of who had what rumour first, who beat the other guy by 10 seconds reporting the same news, who threw more resources at an event than the other guy.

Yes, we live in an era of immediacy that’s shocking and scary. People want to know right now what’s going on and, as we have seen, the fight to be first is fraught with peril. All too often the media rushes stuff out in the pursuit to be first that it lacks context and is sometimes dead wrong. That’s the worst part of all of it and it diminishes us all.

Now, it’s all well and good to cover a story thoroughly, I am all for that; but it’s even better to cover a story thoroughly and not becoming part of it, even on the periphery by telling everyone how good you are or how much better you are than the other guy.

I also understand the competitive nature of the business, especially in Toronto, which is second only to New York in North America for the amount of sports media that follows its teams with religious fervor.

I understand some measure of public relations and tooting one’s own horn.

What I don’t get is the overkill, the days leading up to it when it feels entirely like some people want to “be” the story rather than “report” it.

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A rather interesting social back-to-back here, with Houston tonight and New Orleans tomorrow given the post-Katrina relationship between the cities.

And, of course, it struck a musical chord in the back of the mind and look what I remembered?

Oh, and if I look deep enough in the bookcase where they’re all stored, I’m pretty sure I could find a Mary Chapin Carpenter CD thanks to Super Wife, although I fully admit to liking the sound.

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So, how about the Raptors?

Well, it was nice to see them last night – for the five or so minutes that we caught when they got done a two-hour workout – but there’s scant little news.

Looks like Kleiza’s a go for tonight – he went through the whole practice and will do shootaround in a couple of hours – but Bargnani only did a little bit of running on the side and isn’t ready yet.

Yes, it has been a long time, 14 games going into tonight, and he probably is being a bit more careful because of the nature of the injury. Can’t say I blame him, or the people who advise him, entirely, but it’s got to be about time to push it a little bit. If he’s on the court doing work, he can’t be too far from playing a few minutes, you’d think.

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A minor leaguer for a minor leaguer?

Man, I bet the Pucks fans felt a bit hard done by late Monday afternoon; the sense I got was they expected fireworks and got nothing.

Too bad.

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Now, you also know about me and car racing, right?

If they were running around my crescent, I’d go sit on the back deck so the Daytona 500 was not something I was even remotely interested whenever they were trying to run it.

(Oh, maybe I was a little, but only because I knew the Orlando airport would be a mess with all-star people and race fans and I was right; it was a Monday zoo)

But, did you see that fire? The one where the guy, driving all by himself, ran into a track-drying truck that was carrying jet fuel?

Wow. That was amazing and it is entirely beyond me how a professional race car driver, who goes at unimaginable speeds through traffic in tight quarters for a living, can run into a truck with no one else around.

Very cool!

Not enough to make me pay attention regularly but that was kind of neat.

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Want to start the mail?

I need a couple of question for Question Of The Day over at the Faceoff place (we can use some more likes, please) so help out if you can.

Thanks.

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I view this with very mixed emotions.

Sacramento seems to have a deal in place now for a new arena according to all the reports from Monday and I guess that’s a good thing because I like new buildings and it’s often a shame when a city loses a pro sports team.

But that also means there’s one fewer franchise in play for a relocation and that’s another monster blow to both Vancouver and Seattle and a trade of Sacramento for either Vancouver or Seattle would have almost made up for the disgusting Vancouver-for-Memphis trade that was the HWSNBN transaction of franchises.

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Oh yeah, remember this:

We’re two weeks and two days from the NBA Trade Deadline; I better marshal the troops and get the ads done to trumpet our ability to do our jobs.

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Comments

[dsl]

Great comments on the Canadian Media Superbowl (aka NHL trade deadline day). Here are a couple more things that good old hockey loving Canadians should continue to ignore:

1) It's a tiny bit Orwellian to see these two companies taking potshots at each other in their commercials and then holding hands to buy the Leaves behind the scenes. Which one is Eastasia, again?

2) There seems to be less and less action on deadline day now that the old boys in charge need to be cap experts. If the media don't make it about themselves, then what's the story? Where's the hype going to come from? You need eyeballs to justify the pay for all those experts.

[Nick M]

Doug,

Seeing how you the Raps are playing Houston. Is this how things go when you take your fellow Houston grunts out after the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJz-gmy8YOc&feature=related

[m]

"This bargnani injury is pretty suspicious if you ask me. How long does the guy need?"
So you are a doctor doing a diagnosis via what you imagine, are you? That is just pointless speculation. And nobody asked you.
Seems to me one would a player to be fully healthy than to come back to soon and play two games before re-injuring himself. Does that notion ring a bell.

[Tim H.]

To the commenter a couple of days ago who mentioned "The Art of Fielding" - a huge thank you! I picked it up last night, and am loving it so far. Considering it's a debut novel, I am very impressed. Once again, thanks! (This blog has more uses than anyone can imagine!)

[Lorie]

Hello Doug!
Great blog today (And, yes, it was absolutely shameful how those two networks behaved yesterday ; talk about much ado with nothing to meaningful to do or say.) - but I especially love your choice of tunes; Mary Chapin Carpenter's song is so touching and well, just perfect. As most her song's are. But I'm so old, when I hear "Houston" this is the song that first comes to mind. Yup. Black and white, again. Cheers! Go Raps!
http://youtu.be/YCDcp5xwNFA

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

Who's your 'pre-season' favourite on DWTS?

Blogger's note: Haven't totally handicapped the field; can't imagine it's Urkel, though.

[Bill]

How come we are not seeing the MGD tickets contests like last season?

Blogger's note: Guess our deal must have run out; no clue, really. I was just a messenger

[SY]

Tuesday 28, 2012 @ 3:52 - Wilson Chandler has been officially cleared by FIBA. Do you think the Raptors will pursue him? Is Barbosa playing tonight?

-SY

Blogger's note: No, yes

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
Enjoyed your piece about possible Raptor moves in the next couple of weeks before the trade deadline. I was surprised that Bayless and Kleiza were left off your list. Is there no interest in them? Are there injuries a concern?

Blogger's note: Haven't heard of any

[sportschick]

I'm no doctor, but I tore a calf muscle a couple of years ago. It took me several weeks (4-6??) before I started doing high impact stuff again, and I'm not a pro athlete. I was very nervous of it at first, because I had 'tweaked' it a week or so before actually tearing it. I know that Andrea gets better treatment than I had, but I understand some hesitation, especially after he came back and re-injured it once.

[Raptorman]

Great point on the puckhead media. What a complete joke they are, tripping over themselves to announce 4th line players being moved.

This is what is wrong with us...we only seem to care about a sport the majority of the world has no idea how to play.

And since when has Nash turned into Gretzky...how many playoffs has he won?

Doug is it possible they are in such a heated mess to announce crap trades that it will validate their "connections" hence a pay raise?

[Steph]

Doug, your rant about the pucks, directed at who? The networks, the media guys? If mother star told you to report or take part in an event, regardless of what you feel about it, you do it. You, as they have options, but for the most part you do as your told. The zeal with which you decide to put into the event often says more about you as a professional. So I wish in your rant you would have taken direct aim at the networks and not at the employees, who just like you are doing there job, wether you like it not does not matter. You can tune out, just as most people not interested in pucks do.
..
I think it's petty to constantly rip somebody who likes one sport while you yourself writes about another. I am not in any way a hockey fan by the way,so I choose to ignore. When teh topic comes up with friends and co workers I simply say I don't follow the game.

Blogger's note: I was taking direct aim at the networks, who inserted themselves needlessly into a story in a lame, self-serving attempt to be more than they are

[james]

Thomas: "AND who cares if Jose has won over sea's....means NOTHING (ask any NBA hall famer) means nothing if you cant win in the NBA."
Raptorman: "And since when has Nash turned into Gretzky...how many playoffs has he won?"

The most overrated thing in sports is winning. Sports is actually about striving. Most participants lose. If your only criterion for enjoying sports is winning, you are bound to be disappointed.

[Grant]

Nice rant about trade deadline day Doug - happy to see a critical perspective from a media guy on this aberration.

[raptorman]

And this jewel by james

`The most overrated thing in sports is winning. Sports is actually about striving. Most participants lose. If your only criterion for enjoying sports is winning, you are bound to be disappointed. ``

Clearly a leaf fan

Blogger's note: Or someone who clearly understands. Pick one

[james]

In actual fact, from 1955 to 1990 I was a militant Habs fan. That's how I know winning is overrated.
Bonne chance, Jean Beliveau.