[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

My problem is that through your answer you have revealed yourself to be a particularly callous and unpleasant person.

You don't know me, and trying to judge me by a post on a hockey forum is not just weak, but kind of pathetic. I don't judge your character or personality based on your posting (you're a self professed acerbic cyberbully, or what I would call an #######, and embrace that badge). You are very quick to make things personal, which is hardly fair because you get to hide behind that moderator status. So I will leave your personal attacks at that.

I have never done nor advocated for any of this. How is it so difficult for you to grasp that one can SIMULTANEOUSLY prioritise his own team's success while also extending best wishes for success to players from opposing teams.


How does any of this have any relevance to what I was talking about?

I never accused YOU of anything. I spoke in generalities and not understanding how anyone can become so attached to another individual that they would be okay with elevating them above the team they support, using Oiler fans and the glorification of McDavid as an example. If I used the term "you" it was in a general comparison between two positions - supporting the team or elevating an individual above the team. The fact that you tried to make this about you is laughable. I care less about you than I do about a professional athlete, who ironically doesn't give a squirt of piss about either of us.

Your rhetoric is extreme and disingenuous. It is offensive that you equate well-wishes for another human being with a sick, cult of personality.

Disingenuous? I'm not the one twisting the words of others here, Kip.

There are people in this world who are genuinely upstanding and worthy of my respect, admiration and endearment—even those whom you or I have never met. The fact that Iginla finished his professional hockey career playing in Pittsburgh, Boston, Denver and LA in no way diminishes his quality as a person and a player whom I admire. In the end, hockey is just a fun game, and part of what makes it fun is getting enjoyment from watching and marvelling at the great players from every team who play it.

And I respect you for holding that position. If that is a value that you hold dear, good on you. I hope you can respect people that only extend those feeling to people they have direct relations with and only to those who have proven their metal in that regard. In a world where there are so many charlatans that will prey on your good graces I have learned not to extend such respect to people who have not earned it. I have met too many people who I believed to have such qualities from afar only to be disappointed by their actions in real life.

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

You can enjoy watching a certain player perform and even cheer for them without putting individual success above the team.

Then do just that. Acknowledge the player's short comings, all the chances he's had, and recognize what he is. This isn't hard. But when I see a guy linked to a trade demand and then get promoted to the 1st line, and the fans being okay with that, the player has been elevated above the team. I remember how critical this board was of Sven Baertschi when he pulled the same shenanigans, and rightly so. So I don't get why Sam Bennett gets more slack than Sven Baertschi in this regard? If Sven got promoted to the 1st line he would have been burned at the stake, no?

It's funny but I liked Mark Jankowski and the work he put into becoming a pro. That was an underdog story to follow and he did pull at my heart strings. But he quickly proved that being a Flame was high on his list of things to do. He became just another player on the long list of players that have worn the Flaming C. Good luck to him in his future, but I don't care about him anymore and the only time I even think of him is when someone who had an axe to grind with him brings him up. The same thing will happen when Bennett moves on. I won't think about him because he doesn't matter. The only time I'll think about him is when someone who was a huge Bennett fan brings him up over something inconsequential he did for another team.

And I am amazed at some people's ability to bring Trump into any discussion at all, what an utterly weird obsession.

Trump has become a cultural icon for many things. He is a very good comparison for behaviors, one that people immediately understand. When it comes to over-entitled under-performers relying on the cult of personality to make their way through life and take people in, Donald Trump is the personification of that. So it is an easy comparison to make. I mean, seriously, politics in the US has been team sports for 60 years and the people have elevated him above their team, much to the detriment of that team and much to the chagrin of the nation.

Does someone with your perspective enjoy the sport of hockey at all?

Love the game. Mostly because I focus on the game and not the personalities. It's kind of why I like living in a city away from my team. When I go to a game I just go to enjoy the beauty and savagery of the sport and not get wrapped up in the clubhouse drama caused by the personalities.

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I cheered hard for Joey Mullen and Badger Bob on the Pens, and I loved watching them hoist the cup. Loved watching Nieuwendyk hoist it with Dallas as well. I cheered for Iginla to win it, and I am disappointed that he didn't. That makes me 'less of a fan'? Well, that's ok if I am. I seem to be enjoying hockey quite a lot, so I hope I don't become a bigger fan then.

And who said you couldn't? Someone asked me a question and I gave them a very frank and honest response. If you enjoy the players and developing a "relationship" with them, that is fine. That is you and you have every right to do it. I don't particularly get it, but if that helps you enjoy the game, more power to you. For me, I cheer for only the Calgary Flames. Once you're no longer a Flame they're dead to me. I can't think of a single player who moved on that I followed after they left. Mullen is probably the closest, but only in a passing way. I cheered for him because he was on the team I was hoping to win the cup, not because he was an ex-Flame. Because of free agency sports has evolved and with it my attention to individuals. Too much movement to get wrapped up in individua players. I mean, the goaltender you unmercifully made fun of last season is now the guy between your pipes trying to help your team win. From a bitter rival to your guy? Better to just cheer for the crest on the sweater IMO.