Monday, January 05, 2009

Freep gets it wrong again

Everybody makes mistakes. It's a given that people will, organizations will, and even metropolitan newspapers will.
One recent, glaring mistake in my opinion was made by the Detroit Free Press aka Freep.

freep_det3_sd2

When did San Diego start playing in the NHL? That's news to me. What's that team's name?
As of Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 at 7:57 p.m., it's still a valid link, Osgood’s return sparks Red Wings to victory
Anyway I'd normally let this slide. Lately though the Free Press writers have been hacking me off.
A recent example was what Jamie Samuelssen wrote about the Detroit sports story of the year: The Lions pitiful record.

Most in Detroit will remember 2008 for the Lions. Assuming they close things out Sunday, how can we not look back at this year as the worst in the history of Detroit professional sports? Some will look at it as the year of the Wings and their ongoing excellence. But I'll look back on 2008 as the year of what could have been. So much was expected, but so little was achieved -- other than the Wings. Not even counting the Lions, it was a very disappointing year.

George James Malik's retort at mlive.com

Hanging one's hat on the "should'ves" and "could'ves" completely ignores what the Red Wings did do in my opinion...

Malik also responded to my post on that story, where I wrote that Samuelssen hates hockey and slights the Wings on a regular basis.
I don't know if Samuelssen hates hockey, per se, but he sure as hell doesn't believe that games played before April matter, and even when they do, he doesn't believe that a Stanley Cup is worth as much as a NBA,MLB, or NFL championship.
It's disappointing that some sports fans listen to Samuelssen and his ilk instead of forming their own opinions.

Kudos to Malik.
Yeah I get Samuelssen's previous argument in September that Detroit is an American football town. Got it. Yet it's because of this thinking and his writing to support that, that I'm becoming disgruntled with the Free Press. Then there's the mistake I mention above - from a Detroit newspaper. I have a little more leniency for a national, general sports site, but this is Detroit!
If it was just Samuelssen and the mistake, fine. Yet many writers there seem of the same mentality, if not a hatred of hockey, then a slighting of hockey.
There's already ESPN. Frankly I don't need another media outlet, especially one from Detroit, to write and publish the same way.
Therefore, I have little reason to read the Free Press anymore.

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