A Little More Than Fashionably Late

I didn't want to bring it up again, because the whole incident is over, done, history. Denver Post writer Adrian Dater's now-more-than-infamous rant against ESPN last week has been blogged into oblivion, partly by me. And others. And others. And still others.

But it's over now. The Post took the blog entries down, Dater said he was sorry, and everybody has gone back to giving ESPN the verbal and written handjobs it so richly deserves.

But nooooooooooo, just when you think it's all been put to rest, in waltzes some Johnny-come-lately with a half-assed report on the incident. Denver Westword (is that a newspaper or just some web site? I don't live in Denver) has decided to run a hatchet piece less-than-comprehensive story on the exchange between AD and the Four-Letter.

Blatantly missing from the report is any mention whatsoever of Dear Lord Stanley or fellow Avs-blogging hero JibbleScribbits, the very people who brought attention to the whole mess in the first place. Not that we're proud of that. I'm sure Dater would have preferred the whole thing not have drawn so much attention (or maybe not---you never know in this sensationalist media environment). But anyway, nothing about us. There's a brief mention of Greg at the Fanhouse, but no link to his post about the whole sorry blowup. Nothing about the very people---nay, the very heroes---that alerted the hockey blogosphere to a truly remarkable train wreck of an opinion piece in the first place.

If Denver Westword is in fact a printed publication, it just further illustrates the blatant failures of that medium, especially when trying to cross over to the web. If it is primarily a web-based outfit, then shame on them for just being lazy.

But it's cool. Whatever. I'm just sitting around in my underwear in my mom's basement anyway, and she just made me cookies. Thanks Mom.

At least she still loves me.

UPDATE: Tapeleg over at JerseysAndHockeyLove has politely informed me that Denver Westword is a free, weekly (printed) publication with a focus on the local arts, music and media scene. Just to clarify.

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Dater VS ESPN, Round 3

A day after the initial scandal created by Adrian Dater's now-infamous anti-ESPN rant on his blog at the Denver Post's web site, Greg at the AOL Fanhouse and Eric at OffWingOpinion have picked up the story.

In the meantime, as everyone now knows, the rant and Dater's non-apology follow-up post have been removed from the Post site, the follow-up forever lost into the memory hole (I wasn't able to save that one before it was gone).

But who's decision was it to remove the outbursts?

According to Dater himself, it was a mutual decision by him and his bosses at the Post to remove the blog entries because he was "a little over the line probably." In an email he sent me today, he wrote:

The one thing I do regret is naming individual names at ESPN. I just ticked off some names of reporters off the top of my head at that moment. I was trying to criticize in the collective sense, not the individual, so naming any names was dumb and I am sorry for that.

And I'll let that be the final word on the matter.

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Goats Part II: Down The Media Memory Hole

(Dater VS ESPN, Round 2)

After causing an immediate blog frenzy by posting a foaming rant against the evils of ESPN, Avalanche beat writer Adrian Dater has apparently been censored by his employer, the Denver Post, upon whose web site he posted his spastic emotional outburst. The first post (the rant itself) and the follow-up post (the clarification of---but not apology for---the rant) have both been yanked from the site.

Because I care about historical preservation, and because I figured this would happen, I made a copy of the initial post (the rant) the second I started reading it. I have saved it in convenient jpeg format, for posterity, and will soon be submitting it to the National Archives.

Click here for the full text of his initial rant, via screenshot.

Don't thank me all at once.

Sadly, I was not so foresighted to make a copy of the follow-up post, but such is life. I'm sure somebody has a screenshot or an html copy lying around.

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Avs Beat Writer Says ESPN Blows Goats. Goats Not Available For Comment.

(Dater VS ESPN, Round 1)

A couple of weeks ago, when I interviewed him about his book, Adrian Dater seemed like a pretty laid-back, friendly guy. Cool and calm, he responded to each of my silly questions and graciously humored a blogger he probably couldn't care less about.

Today, though, the gloves are off. He's got an axe to grind with a little network called ESPN, and he's not afraid to let it all out:

You can take your ESPN and all the alleged superiority that comes from being on it every day and you can shove it in that little space where there is very little sunlight, ever.

Hmm, a classy way to get the ball rolling. He goes on:

Do you hear me, ESPN producer schmucks? You didn’t break JACK SQUAT. Some real journalist at a newspaper broke that story. You’re nothing more than a bunch of pathetic piggybackers, trying to fool that gullible sports audience out there - of which you have legions of the duped tuning in daily.

This is getting good.

We newspaper people - the real journalists out there still - do not need to feel inferior to a bunch of made-up clowns with microphones in hand. Cash your paychecks and feel superior if you need to. But remember this: you’ll never be half our equals when it comes to being able to write and really report a story. Oh, and good luck making it in your business when the wrinkles start to show a little.

Now that's a blog entry! Raw emotion, sweeping generalizations and the uninhibited throwing of insults and accusations. Man, you can't beat that!

I'm not sure how things work over at the Denver Post, but I have a distinct feeling that this little blog entry of his may not go over too well at the next staff meeting. Then again, that's the same paper that has employed Woody Paige for years, so maybe they won't even notice.

Speaking of Woody Paige, a long-time ESPN talking head, I have a feeling he and Dater won't be playing golf together any time soon.

(Check out Jibblescribbits' take on the rant, while you're at it.)

UPDATE: Dater takes a deep breath, gets a little sleep, and calmly expands upon some of the points he made in his fierce old-school journalist beat-down of the pretty TV people. He's still really mad, though.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Both the original rant and Dater's more reasonable follow-up have been yanked from the Denver Post web site. Because I possess a keen sense of foresight, I made a copy of the original rant just in case something like this were to happen---and it always happens. It's available in handy jpeg format, so anybody can read it! Click here and enjoy.

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Chris Drury: The Avs' Totally Hot Ex-Girlfriend

photo courtesy ClassicBuffalo.com

Adrian Dater, Denver Post hockey beat writer and friend of DLS, offers the love letter he thinks Avs management should send to Chris Drury on July 1st. They should treat Dru like a jilted ex-lover, Dater says, like the hottest chick that ever managed to fall in love with you but you somehow dumped anyway.

We can admit this now. We’re big enough to say it. We just want you back, Chris, or, if we can indulge, “Druuuuu”. We want those playoff game-winners back, that John Wayne leadership strut that has a way of making just about every team you’ve ever played on become a champion at some point.

We had a good thing going with you, and we blew it. Those other people we’ve hung our shingle on since don’t add up to the square root of Sweet Fanny Adam compared to you.

But is Drury really worth that much to the Avalanche now? First, he'd be prohibitively expensive, somewhere in the $5-7 million range, easily. Second, he's a natural center, and the Avs already have two great centers in Joe Sakic and Paul Son Of Stastny. It wouldn't make sense to stick Drury on the third line, nor would it do Young Paul any favors, either. Drury on the wing would work to a certain extent, but he's a scoring center and works best down low in the slot.

Now, that said, Sakic isn't going to play forever, and when he goes so does his salary. Lock up Drury with a long-term contract now and you've got a replacement for Stastny on the second line when the young one eventually takes over for Quoteless. This is all just hypothetical, of course, but worth thinking about. And anyway, if you're going to blow $6 million on a center you don't necessarily need right this minute, better Drury than over-the-hill and down-in-the-ankles Peter Forsberg. His time in Denver has passed.

But again, who knows if Drury would even want to come back after the Avs dumped him to Calgary a few years back? I wouldn't blame him for dissing them this time around..

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Avs Beat Writer Adrian Dater Wastes Shares His Time With DLS

Six months have now passed since the release of Denver Post writer Adrian Dater's excellent book Blood Feud, a summary of the once-infamous, now-defunct Avalance/Dead Wings rivalry of the mid 1990s. I read it and enjoyed it, and the reviews have been generally positive.

Adrian took some time out of his busy schedule covering the Stanley Cup Finals in Ottawa for the Post to sit down with Dear Lord Stanley (I assume he sits while typing). What follows are his thoughts on writing the book, the future of rivalries in the NHL and the sometimes-heated relationship between bloggers and trained journalists.


Dear Lord Stanley (DLS): Describe your overall experience writing Blood Feud. It is your first book, correct? Was the process as painful as many first-time authors describe?

Adrian Dater (AD): No, it wasn't too bad for me. I enjoyed writing it, as most of it was from my own memory of things. But obviously I did a lot of interviews for it, and went back into the library and dug up a lot of old newspaper stories, and researched a lot of other things about the two cities. There were times when I struggled over certain areas, but mostly it was a pretty smooth process for me. I'd just take a couple hours a day for a few months and crank it out.



DLS: Which areas did you struggle over specifically? Any particular reason why those areas were more difficult to complete?

AD: I guess there's no real subject where I struggled, as much as what I was saying there were times when the writing was a little tougher on certain days or times. I wrote some of this book while doing my "day" job of covering the Avs, so it got a little stressful at times. And then the publisher pushed the deadline up on me by about a month, which rushed things a bit. I guess one of my struggles was how to start out the book. Should I lead off with the Draper hit, which I did? Or what about the March 26 game? Or, maybe some other big game? In the end, I think I made the right call, going with the hit on Draper as where to begin the story.

DLS: You've said in an earlier interview that Patrick Roy and Marc Crawford declined to speak about the Wings-Avs rivalry. Did you have trouble convincing anyone else to share their memories?

AD: Roy and Crawford claimed they were too busy to talk, and that's too bad because obviously their insights would have made it a better book. I covered those guys for many years with the Post, and we had a few run-ins over the years - some of which I document in the book. So, they might have been worried I was going to do a hatchet job on them or something, I don't know. I don't think I did, but I presented a couple of warts on the lives and careers of both men. Most of the other people that I really wanted to talk to for the book, I got. I never talked to Steve Yzerman, however, but let's face it, Stevie Y. was never much of a talker anyway. Most everybody was happy to talk, although it took a long time to get Kris Draper to open up.

DLS: Of those you interviewed for the book, whose recollections were the most enlightening?

AD: I'd have to go with Mike Vernon's. I thought he was very insightful on the night of the March 26, 1997 game, of which I dedicated a whole chapter about. Scotty Bowman was very good, and was kind enough to write the foreword to the book. I had a really good, long talk with Darren McCarty, too, and got some good insight into his family background (most people didn't realize that Craig McCarty was not his biological father). It was good to talk to people like Brendan Shanahan, Kenny Holland and Jimmy Devellano, too. The Wings were all very accommodating to me. It was some of the Avs I had trouble with!

DLS: Did any of the Wings ever express concern---at least initially---that you, being an Avs beat writer for the Post, would write a biased book?

AD: They didn't say that specifically, but I did kind of go out of my way to reassure them that it would be a balanced book, and that it would not be a one-sided book on behalf of the Avs. I think Scotty Bowman was a little concerned at first, but it wasn't long before he opened up. Same with Kris Draper. He was the last interview I did for the book - but he starts off the whole story. So, it was worrisome for a while with him.

DLS: Your book has been out for six months now, and has been fairly well-received among fans and hockey bloggers. The reviews on Amazon.com have been generally very positive. What has been the reaction among your colleagues in the press? Has Blood Feud been successful in your mind?

AD: Yeah, most people seem to like the book, and that's been nice. The players who have read it liked it, too, including Joe Sakic. Adam Foote thought I had a little too much of the Wings' perspective in it, actually, but he liked it. I'm a tough critic of myself, so of course I'm actually kind of sick of it. I also have a couple of errors in it, which bug me to no end. I got the name of the Detroit Free Press sports editor wrong, and also got wrong the name of the paper that Chuck Carlton used to write for when he covered the Wings. That pisses me off to no end, but if there's another edition, we'll get them fixed. But overall, I think I accomplished what I set out to do with the book, which was give a detailed, historical and inside account of a great, great sports rivalry. So, that makes it a success to me.

DLS: If you were to write Blood Feud again, what would you do differently? Is there anything you included that you would omit in hindsight, or vice versa?

AD: I probably would have had more on Pierre Lacroix if I had to do it over again. He's a fascinating character, but there's not a whole lot on his personality in the book. Part of the reason is that he was still the GM of the Avalanche when I was writing it, and my paper - which I needed permission from to be able to write the book - didn't want me writing too much about people I still might have to cover on a daily basis, for conflict-of-interest reasons. But then he retired as GM soon after the book was done. So, I wish he'd done that a little sooner. I probably would have had a whole chapter just on him. Getting more from Patrick Roy would be something I'd want, and maybe more on Stevie Y. If I were to omit anything, I might omit the page or so I spent detailing the departure of Eric Lacroix from the Avalanche. I thought hard about whether to keep it in the book, and decided to do so in the end, only because that was part of a crazy, crazy year for the Avs. But I know it was a bit painful for Pierre Lacroix to see that about his son in a book. Then again, it happened, it's part of history and you can't always ignore things just to spare peoples' feelings.

DLS: It is generally accepted that the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry is now dead. Do you think, in this day and age considering the "new" NHL and the declining influence of newspapers, that a rivalry such as that will ever be possible again?

AD: That's a good question, and tough to say. The media is so big and vast now, that having the kind of rivalry where two newspapers are going at it back and forth from different cities might be unrealistic. They might get lost in the shuffle, their voices drowned out by their own 24-hour websites and the millions of other babbling baboons on sports TV and talk radio, along with bloggers and the like (no offense). But I do think that a vicious and great rivalry is still very much possible. All it takes is two very good teams going for a top prize, and you've always got that potential. And we've seen, with the Colorado-Detroit rivalry, that the cities don't have to be close together geographically or even in the same division. As long as they keep meeting in the playoffs, as they did, it's possible.

DLS: There seems to be a growing debate among traditional newspaper journalists and up-and-coming sports bloggers about who should have access to the press boxes of major league teams. Teams like the Capitals have already granted access to several blogs. Teams like Ottawa have rejected them wholesale. Do you think some bloggers have a place alongside beat reporters when it comes to covering sporting events? Or do you believe bloggers should be excluded from press boxes and locker rooms?

AD: That's another tough question, and one that was actually talked about quite a bit at the Stanley Cup Finals among all the "mainstream" media. I think I'm on the side of anybody getting a credential who diligently "covers" a sport, and that means someone who travels to different cities to do it. That creates a problem perhaps to many bloggers, but to me, if you're going to get a real credential in the press box to a real big-league event, you've got to put in the hours, the time and the money getting the job done - not just sitting in your underwear and delivering sermons from the mount. To me, there are starting to become too many self-proclaimed "experts" in this business who like to think of themselves as serious journalists who deserve credentials to all the big events, but too many of them have never really done the job. But if you have a blog that has an established proof of very high popularity, and if you are totally dedicated to the sport and want to be at a game to do a better job, then I'm OK with that.

DLS: Finally, in your completely non-biased, journalistic opinion, who won the fight between Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon?

AD: Hmmm, tough one, but I'd probably give a slight edge to Vernon. He opened a cut to Roy with a suprise left hook, and won the wrestling match. Roy landed more actual punches, though, and nearly ended the fight early on with a big right hand that staggered Vernie.

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King Of Suck

Adrian Dater, Avalanche beat reporter for the Denver Post, takes the time today to remind us all why Todd Bertuzzi still sucks. And not just because he's a rotten person, but because he's now a terrible hockey player:

Todd Bertuzzi moved swiftly and with purpose, a look of fierce determination on his bearded face. He sped past the people in front of him, weaving through traffic with grace and ease.

Unfortunately for the Detroit Red Wings, that described Bertuzzi negotiating through reporters after a practice at Joe Louis Arena. His quickness on the ice these days is another story.

Dater follows up his article with a blog entry expressing his shock and amazement that Dead Wings fans didn't pepper him with insults and invectives after daring to criticize one of their players.

I still can't quite comprehend the irony of Bertuzzi being a Dead Wing. Or the fact that a back injury will ultimately prove to be his downfall. But until he finally gives it all up and joins Steve Moore in the exclusive group of unwillingly retired NHL players, he's still going to annoy me to no end.

And if Detroit wins the Cup and Bertuzzi gets to hoist it above his fat head, I think I'll lose my mind.

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Avalanche Beat Blog

For anyone not already aware, Denver Post hockey columnists Adrian Dater and Terry Frei have created a blog called "All Things Avs" on the paper's website. It's not exactly ground-breaking, but it's not a terrible read.

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The MasterDater Strikes Again

Denver Post writer Adrian Dater gave Peter Forsberg a textual hand job today.

Says Dater:

On Saturday - barring another of the countless injuries that added frustration to the awe fans felt toward him - Forsberg will return to the Pepsi Center for the first time as a visiting player with the Nashville Predators.

The Avalanche have missed him. The fans have missed him.

Yeah, let's run through the list of things the Avs and their fans have missed since Floppa took off for the not-so-greener pastures of Philadelphia last season:

1. A constant string of injuries that minimizes his impact nearly every season.

2. A reckless, physical style of play that frequently results in unnecessary penalties as well as the frequent injuries mentioned above.

3. Constant rumors almost every season that he reserves the right to jump ship and move back to Sweden at any time, depending on his mood at the moment.

4. Poorly-maintained facial hair that periodically threatens to take over his entire face, rendering him completely blind---and not even during the playoffs.

Dear Lord Stanley may be the only one, but this blog is glad to see Forsberg on any other team than the Avalanche. When he was healthy, he was often great, but he's past his prime, nearly physically destroyed and completely unreliable over a full season. All he'd be now is a financial burden for the Avalanche.

The best "welcome home" the Avs could give him and his Nashville Predators is a hardcore beat-down in the form of a 0-5 shutout loss. Maybe afterward, Mr. Dater could personally "console" poor Floppa himself.

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The Anniversary

Today is the ten year anniversary of one of the most infamous days in the history of the once-bitter Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry. While the rivalry itself has died down, especially with the departure of nearly every player involved to retirement or other teams, the memory lives on.

It is still obvious that Darren McCarty sucker-punched Claude Lemieux as he was skating toward the bench. It wasn't a fair fight. Then, once McCarty got Lemieux down against the boards, he started kneeing him repeatedly in the head. Why Wings fans view this as a crowning achievement for their team may never be fully understood. It was pathetic.

At any rate, the Avs lost the game and lost their chance to defend the Cup later in the playoffs. It was a low-point for their franchise as well.

Denver Post columnist Adrian Dater has written a book about the rivalry called Blood Feud. Anyone interested in arguably the greatest pro sports rivalry in the past ten years should probably pick it up.

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Better Late Than Never?

In an article posted today by Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater, Avalanche captain Joe Sakic shares a nugget of wisdom that boggles the mind:

"We didn't need a rental player," Avs captain Joe Sakic said. "We've got a great group of guys here. Guys got more committed to playing in our end and everybody's playing as a team. Now we're on this run, and we're excited about it.

"(Giguere) gave us a chance. He stuck with this group. The confidence he showed in the hockey club was a big thing. We started to play relaxed and started winning games. We really believe in one another now."

You believe in one another now?! Well gosh, Joe, it only took 65 GAMES for you guys to start believing in one another. I guess that's better late than never.

Here's a hint, fellas. You're probably not going to be a very successful team unless you believe in yourselves ALL SEASON LONG. I know this is a big mental stretch, but please try to grasp it.

And while Avs GM Francois Giguere looks like a genius now (by doing almost nothing at the trade deadline), what would have been the reaction if the Avs lost the last ten games, or even maintained their win one, lose one routine so common during the rest of the season? If all it took to turn things around was a little confidence and trust in each other, why did it have to come so late?

On a related note, Calgary won again last night, meaning the Avs are still six points out of the playoffs with only nine to play. Let's hope their new-found confidence lasts a while longer.

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