Dale Loudenback writes:
>Earlier this week, Brian Farnell posted a report on the Clarkson vs
>St Lawrence game on Dec 11.  In that posting, Brian cited a local
>newspaper (Watertown Times) article on the game.  Some of the information
>in the article was based on rumor (i.e. that SLU had a late night skate
>following the previous weekend's game against Clarkson).  Farnell assumed
>it to be true, causing negative feedback for both Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
 
Hold on...I can't let this go by.  According to WHO did Brian assume
it to be true?  SLU?  I went back and re-read the original post made
by Brian, and neither yesterday nor today did I get the impression
that he was suggesting the rumor was true.  In fact, he specifically
said today that he did NOT believe it was true.
 
I'd say I am pretty objective in this matter, not having any interest
in either school other than a general interest in the game, and I did
not take any of his words to be an assumption on his part that Marsh
did indeed skate his team.  Therefore, I must challenge the statement
above.  Even if Brian believed it in his mind (which he says he didn't),
he gave no indication of that in his post.
 
>Coaches Morris and Marsh enjoy a good relationship and friendship.  They
>have discussed the matter and Coach Morris apoligized for the spin Farnell
>put on his comments.  Let's hope that matter can be put to rest...
 
No, not yet.  Why should Mark Morris have to apologize to Joe Marsh
for Brian's attempt to find out if a rumor published in a paper was
true?  Since when does Brian speak for anyone but himself?  Just
because he posts from Clarkson does not mean his messages are the
opinions of the Clarkson coaching staff.
 
I see a very dangerous precedent here.  Are HOCKEY-L readers going to
have to verify on their own that anything they read in a paper and are
about to post here is true?  Let's remember that 1) this rumor was
published in a local paper - Brian did not make it up - and 2) Brian
sought further information and thought this would be a good place to
get it.  I'm not suggesting that any random rumor should be
publicized, but this was fair game for verification because it
appeared in a newspaper.  It would have been different if Brian
assumed it to be true and then criticized the SLU staff based on that
assumption.
 
On Morris's apology: Is everyone who posts from a school with a team
considered to be posting the opinions of that program?  Since when are
the opinions posted by anyone here NOT the sole responsibility of the
individual posters?  (Aside from those who are actually part of a
program.)
 
I'm glad that the rumor turned out not to be true, but there should be
more of a concern with the paper that published it in the first place.
I get the impression SOMEONE (I can only guess who) put the heat on
Brian for repeating it on HOCKEY-L and trying to find out if it was
true.  We're all intelligent people here, so I expect a lot of other
people got this impression, too.
 
Perhaps the matter with the rumored skate is put to rest, but the way
this *seems* to have been handled opens up a whole new can of worms,
IMO...
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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