At 2:49 AM -0500 1/16/1998, VPPrice wrote:
> Dave is in business and that means he rides the fence...he has too!
> Dave admitted this himself, he is writing for a large general audience.  He
> stated
> that even when the Boston Globe covers the Patriots, they cover it with the
> Pat viewpoint.
 
I think there is an important point to make here, and that has more to do
with the game of hockey than anything else.  I also thought of this when
reading Cathy's comments about Dan Hannigan "cheering" too loudly for the
other team's goals on occasion.
 
There is a (former) coach from whom I learned a lot...won a national
championship so obviously he knew something. :-)  Among the things he said
was, "Hockey is a game of mistakes."  That is very true and I have seen it
over and over again.  His objective was to drill his team in certain on ice
situations that arose frequently so that they would make fewer mistakes
(and win more, which they did).  The teams that do better are the ones that
commit fewer mistakes.
 
The corollary to that is that in hockey (and many other sports), often when
something happens, it is because of two reasons.  Something good that one
team did and something bad that the other team did.
 
So the challenge is to realize just how much both of these offsetting
factors played a role in whatever happened.  Many fans watch the game only
from the standpoint of their team and see the good things their team did
when a goal is scored.  They can't begin to tell you what mistakes the
other team made that gave their team an opening.  And they often take it
personally when you suggest that those mistakes had something to do with
the goal that was scored.  But that doesn't change reality.
 
Remember, it takes two teams to play a game.
 
Dave knows hockey, and I know this from talking to him many times on
various subjects.  Not to mention that he coaches it and plays it too.
When he says he is riding the fence, he means that it is his job to dissect
all the various things that were done by *both* teams and come up with an
accurate picture of what happened.  Part of that is because he writes for a
wide audience, but part of it is also because he wants to do a good job and
knows that objectivity is important.
 
We've only heard the viewpoint of some Maine folks here, but I'd bet that
if you brought some BC fans into this, they would rant and rave about all
the chances their team missed and how Dave did not emphasize *that* enough.
 
As with anything, the truth lies in the middle.  I recall something Dick
Stockton said once when he was broadcasting the NBA on CBS.  He said that
after a Celtics-Lakers game, he would get hundreds of letters from Celtic
fans claiming that he hated their team and hundreds from Laker fans saying
he hated the Lakers.  It was about 50-50 and that's how he knew he was
doing a good job. :-)
 
You'll notice that I mention a lot of other journalists here, and that is
because I pay attention to what a lot of them do as one myself.  I value
the ones who seem to strive for objectivity, because the goal should be to
provide an accurate picture of what happened.  I cannot agree with the
criticism of Dan Hannigan that he seems to "cheer" too loudly when the
other team scores.  First, having worked with Dan several times, I know
that he is very objective.  Second, having done hundreds of games on the
air, I know that there are often times when the other team does something
terrific that anyone who is a fan of the game would appreciate.  If Chris
Drury scores a terrific goal against Merrimack, I'm going to describe it as
such.  Anything less would be dishonest.
 
In fact, this is a topic that Adam Wodon and I have discussed several times
because in his new pro job, he does get some criticism from partisan fans
who want him to be like the previous guy and act like he is in a morgue
when the other team scores.  I think that's ridiculous.
 
> Dave has every right to defend his stance and I expected him to when I first
> posted. What I didn't expect was his defensive mode, didn't expect him to put
> up his dukes against a defenseless Hockey Mom, didn't expect him to claim
>bias
> from mere discussion!? (-:
 
It is a catch 22.  If Dave does not defend himself, then people wonder if
maybe the comments were on target.  If he does, then they say that he "doth
protest too much."
 
At any rate, for one thing, notice that you have access to Dave here where
you don't have it with some other journalists.  People like Dave and myself
are willing to explain ourselves more than some folks, maybe because we
hope people will learn something.
 
And perhaps we do take it personally when it is suggested that we are
biased for or against one team.  Dave has an easier job defending himself
because he has no reason to be biased one way or the other when, say, Maine
plays BC.  To suggest otherwise is just ludicrous.  As for me, while I
strive for objectivity, it is still true that I want to see Merrimack do
well...so I admit some bias in that regard.  But again, when watching
Maine-BC, I have no vested interest.
 
> I don't think anyone is going to stop reading DAVE, I certainly won't. I
>think
> this whole exchange will aid Dave in his perspective as it will ours as BLACK
> BEAR FANS.. I hope so...Hockey reporting is not a job for most of us and as
> fans we probably approach every BEAR game with  a dose of will they, or won't
> they tonight!
 
And that is what I am saying...the job of a Black Bear fan is probably to
do just that, watch the game from their perspective and pay attention to
"will they or won't they".  However there is as much of a "will they or
won't they" on the other side too.  That is where we come in. :-)  It is
our job to know both sides.
 
> >C'mon, folks what more do you want?
>
> I would like to see you and other USCHO reporters get viewpoints from both
> sides of the fence.....(-: Interview the fans, get their opinions online. Use
> their names.
 
Fans have their forum in the USCHO message board and lists such as this.  I
don't think it would be right to start working fans into the articles.  For
one thing, you don't see it in the Boston Globe, etc.  For another, Dave
gets both sides when he goes in to interview players and coaches from both
teams after the game.  Then it is his job to sort it all out, allow both
sides to be heard, and come up with what really happened.  That's what a
journalist does.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                [log in to unmask]               *HMM* 11/13/93
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