Winnipeg Jets Fans And Media Are Different Now

Times Have Changed And So Have The Fans And Media Of The Winnipeg Jets

Spoiler Alert !!!

The contents of this article is done with a little tongue in cheek, a hint of sarcasm, a level of frustration, a ton of respect for anybody that dares to put their honest opinion on display for the world to see.  

I am lucky enough to be at an age where I remember everything about the The WHA Winnipeg Jets, The NHL Winnipeg Jets 1.0 and the current edition of the Winnipeg Jets 2.0.

                  Portage and Main in June 1972                       photo courtesy of curtiswalker.com

I was seventeen years old when the WHA Jets were born and I was right there at the corner of Portage and Main for the signing of Bobby Hull.  That was probably the biggest historical hockey event in Winnipeg’s long and rich hockey history.  Without it, there would never have been NHL hockey in cities like Winnipeg or Edmonton.

My love of everything Winnipeg Jets hockey was born in 1972 and still burns bright today.  

I have seen a lot since 1972.

Winnipeg fans have always been passionate and the Winnipeg media has always been very tough but fair.  BUT, today’s version of Winnipeg Jets is getting a “free pass” from the fans and media like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  I find it very puzzling and quite baffling.

In the good old days, Winnipeg Jets fans had the two local daily newspapers and a weekly talk show on a local  radio station.  Today, we still have the daily papers but we now have more than one radio station with call in shows and even a 24/7 radio sports network.  Factor in the internet and hockey fans have a plethora of  hockey information at their disposal.

With all due respect to the daily’s, I tend to enjoy reading the hockey articles from the .coms.  The blogging community is like a Saturday afternoon at the LaSalle Hotel.  A bunch of old farts talking hockey and fixing all that ails the local hockey team.

Bloggers really are like a bunch of guys sitting in the bars.  I really believe that the blogging community represent the average, everyday guy or gal that just love the game.  No lap dogs here. No rose colored glasses.  There are no hidden agendas.  Just a bunch of guys writing different views and opinions on their favorite topic, hockey, and for the most part, the Winnipeg Jets !!!      

It seems that there are some members of Winnipeg’s local media that are quite enamored with the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. 

This is where I have a problem.  There are things going on with this hockey team that is either being ignored or swept under the carpet by the Main Stream Media in this city.  Something is not right in the Winnipeg Jets dressing room.  The Winnipeg Jets either have a coach that is not capable, players that don’t give a crap, and/or a collection of guys pulling in different directions.

Every interview given by a Winnipeg Jets player is laced with rhetoric and cliches right out of  the coaching manual but yet it just doesn’t translate on the ice.  This hockey team has more than enough talent to compete if they had some structure.  Look what Mike Yeo gets out of that Minnesota roster.  You can’t convince me that they are much different that the Jets.

The only ones that seem to be asking the tough questions are the bloggers in Jetsville.  The bloggers take a ton of crap from social media because they aren’t heavily influenced by our MSM.  Most bloggers feel that Winnipegs MSM aren’t, don’t, or won’t ask the hard questions.

They must know what’s going on in that room.  They are the ones with total access.  

I originally started writing this piece taking a bit of a poke at our MSM but decided to go in another direction.  I’ve never been in the Main Steam Media so I don’t know what it’s really like.  I do know that it’s probably a tough job working with professional athletes and probably even tougher today with the money they make and their egos.

That’s why I have decided to give props to the .com writers and the blogging community instead. 

I want to thank the likes of Patrick Williams, Peter Tessier, Scott Billeck, Kevin McCartney, TJ Maughan, Matt Guerin, Travis Hrubeniuk, Chris Mackie, Garret Hohl, Ryan Blight, Timothy Bonnar, Jeremy Weibe, Tim Hiebert and YawAxis (stage name).   For me, these are the guys that keep it real.  AND, they are all right there on Twitter to face the music, good or bad.  Well done guys!!!  

These guys write for web-sites like nhl.com, hockeybuzz, arcticicehockey, jetsnation, manitobahockeynews, whiteoutnation, fightingforstanley, sportscharts and on and on.  I’m sorry if I missed anybody.

Oh ya, the crew here at Winnipeg Hockey Talk.  I want to thank my crew.  Scott Campbell, Patti Dawn Swansson, Darryl Mills, Darryl Manchulenko, Ben Finlayson and Jerry White along with our editors Phyllis Kasprick and Carol Vermeer.

I actually do read the two daily newspapers along with all the .com articles from the writers listed above.  I don’t always agree with them but at least I get diverse opinion and a different outlook.  Hell, I don’t even agree with my writers here at Winnipeg Hockey Talk half the time.

The word fan comes from the word fanatic.  This usually applies to the people that live and die with the team from their armchairs in front of their televisions or from their seats in the stands.

Like I said earlier a lot has changed since 1972. 

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