A Regina radio station that, consistently, gets beat in the ratings tried again to generate some added interest last week by posting an issue on Facebook that involved Darian Durant being rude in a Twitter reply to a fan who deserved a rude remark from his classless way of offering Durant advice. The fan was so insulted from Durant's reply that he has asked for season tickets as an apology. The radio station posed the thought provoking question that's never ever been asked (sarcasm, can't you tell?): If you beak a pro athlete, do you get what you deserve or should he be polite no matter what? My feeling in this instance is that the fan has drawn a lot of attention to himself (from the radio station) by asking for season tickets as an apology from the Riders for his own rude behaviour.
Yet, the radio station feels asking that question shows the human side of Durant. It's the classic case of lowering your station to the values of this fan by disguising the issue. If they, truly, wanted to know Durant's human side they would have done an interview with him and asked him about interaction on Twitter. If Durant doesn't answer, well then you have a whole new story about why Durant can reply to a rude fan on Twitter but not talk to a reporter simply doing his job. Now, that's interesting to me. If he does answer, then you have your boring story. Instead, the radio station was, in fact, successful at getting emotional responses from fans calling this other 'fan' a jerk. We will see if it translates into a ratings winner.
Of course, the fallout resulted in Durant getting fined for a Tweet to a 'fan' that had it coming to him. If we applied the same logic to the two players who got into trouble outside a Regina night club, it becomes comical to think Durant could be fined for an offensive statement, yet the other two guys get off scot free (so far) for something that was physical in nature. Yes,I know they haven't been convicted in a court of law, blah, blah, blah. But, Durant hasn't been convicted of anything either. Maybe his account was hacked? We should wait for an investigation!
The actual art of interviewing has gone the way of the dinosaur in today's media.
That's, especially, true in sports where the vast majority of reporters are so in love with their heroes and/or employed by a corporation that also owns the team that is being covered. I can think of just one case where a media person has been critical (Ron MacLean of CBC), and yet he has been muzzled to a great extent by his boss because the NHL has held a threat of awarding television broadcasting rights to another network unless he delivers a message more in line with what the NHL wants.
Following that very principle, the NHL should reprimand Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien for saying, "We won't be fun to watch, but we will do our best to win." Isn't Byfuglien, essentially, telling the fan not to bother coming to the games because he/she will be bored to tears? To me, the lost challenge for the NHL head office is to make games exciting. The NHL has become an 'outdefend you' league.
While this makes a lot of teams competitive, it doesn't make the games exciting. If I go to a game, I want to leave feeling like I just had a lot of fun. Having said that, I watched opening night in Edmonton on television featuring the Jets and Oilers. It was a very entertaining game to watch.
Full marks go out to staff at the Yorkton Regional High School as well as members of the Yorkton City RCMP. I was involved in a near accident that could have been very serious last week. I reported the incident to police and they followed up with appropriate action. The school also did its due diligence and I am hopeful a young driver has learned to be safe on the road.
An American lost two fingers after getting attacked by a crocodile while golfing at a resort in Cancun. The golfer is now suing the golf course saying there were no warning signs on the course stating that crocodiles may be in the area. The golf course has responded by saying the golfer taunted the croc by waving at it with a chicken sandwich. Gotta love Mexican law. It's about as silly as Canada.
Nice person mentions this week to Leanne Kostyshyn, Ken Greatrex, Ken Penner, Nadine Wagner, Glen Fafard, and Bev Yaciuk.
