Connect with us

Calgary Flames

Am I A Blogger In the Basement In my Underwear?

Published

on

There are very few times in which I’m actually angry with the management of the Calgary Flames. I’m frequently disappointed, yes, but rarely angry. This is one of those times. In a press conference today, GM Jay Feaster took the low road and called bloggers discussing the Jarome Iginla rumors basement dwellers who exist only in underwear. Now, this rhetoric is nothing new from either MSM or front office personnel around the league, but what particularly irritates me in this case is the fact that bloggers had absolutely nothing to do with the Jarome Iginla rumors. Nothing.

In fact, if you look at my article on the issue, I asked for and received and official statement from the team which I quoted and went on to say that even going forward I don't believe an Iginla trade will ever happen. The origin of all this was two members of the mainstream media- Eric Francis and Bruce Garrioch. SBN Blog Defending Big D takes down the Bruce Garrioch rumor pretty well, and I addressed the Eric Francis rumor here. So what's my point? Us "bloggers" get mocked for making up rumors we don't make up and hacks like Francis and Garrioch get credentials. So, Jay Feaster, let me tell you about my "basement dwelling" antics.

I get up at 0530 most days. Why do I write it like that? Because I'm a uniformed member of the United States Coast Guard. I work on average 50 hours a week, not counting the days where I stand a 24 radio watch and can't leave a secure room. That's just at my current unit- when I leave this unit I'll likely be on a seagoing vessel (a cutter) where I work constantly for months at a time. Boy that sure is a lot of time in the basement. The underwear I happen to spend my time wearing is dark blue, and it bears the letters U.S. Coast Guard on the left breast pocket.

Surely we have one writer on staff who's a basement dweller, right? Perhaps it's one of the two college students- either the one who studies journalism thousands of miles away from her family or the one who's a political science major holding down several jobs and writing for both this site and the school newspaper? Or maybe it's the writers with families and full time careers? I hear working 50 hour weeks makes it quite easy to spend a lot of time in your basement wearing nothing but saggy tighty whities and drinking Red Bull.

What about other Flames blogs? Of the major and quality blogs that exist (Flamesnation, Hit the Post, the growing Book of Loob), none of them gave this rumor any credence or spent time discussing it in any capacity other than dismissing it.

The fact is, Mr. Feaster, you not only insult me, but you insult an entire website which has worked hard to shed the image of rumor mongering bloggers. We write responsibly and ethically. We may get heated at times, but a failing team will do that to a fan. So if you want to insult someone, make sure it's the right someone. I'd really appreciate that on both my behalf and on behalf of my staff.

by Arik Knapp