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NHL - Roenick ...Think we're greedy ?


RVJ

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Roenick is the guy that helped get the Union to accept a salary cap.  He's been trying harder than any player to get this thing resolved.

 

From the Philadelphia Enquirer this was also the article that was in the News and Observer, I pasted it because you have to register to see it.:

 

NHL | Roenick: There was more to his rant

 

"The media picked out the negative stuff," the Flyers center groused. He said he complained to ESPN.

 

By Tim Panaccio

 

Inquirer Staff Writer

 

Jeremy Roenick said yesterday that audio/video "snippets" in which he said hockey fans can "kiss my [butt]" were taken out of context.

 

The Flyers center was quoted over the weekend at Mario Lemieux's charity golf tournament outside Pittsburgh. His remarks about the fans made national headlines.

 

"Before I went into my rant, I was talking about the game of hockey, about getting it back on the ice, about what we have to do for the fans and telling people it's not about who wins or loses, it's about the game," Roenick said.

 

"But the media picked out the negative stuff... . Don't show snippets of the interview; show the whole interview, the whole message. My message during the interview was: How do we make the game more appealing to the fans?"

 

Roenick said his rant began when someone suggested the NHL lockout was the players' fault.

 

"That got my gall," he said. "We gave more back to the owners in this deal than any other sport has done. Before that question, I was talking about the game, how it was important to make it up to the fans and do something for them, and then that question came."

 

A partial video clip from TSN.ca shows Roenick talking very calmly about the game of hockey and even apologizing for its absence.

 

In the clip, Roenick talks about how much "the players have hurt" hockey and "might not have been right" in the lockout, a position that certainly won't please the NHL Players' Association.

 

Roenick says the new deal has to allow "the owners to make money." He then says that "fans should realize how much the players gave up" before blaming them as being spoiled.

 

"We're going to make the game better for the fans," he says in the video clip. "If you don't realize that, then don't come."

 

The next clip jumps to his rant. Roenick said yesterday the question that provoked him was whether fans should blame the players.

 

In February, Roenick, Robert Esche and Chris Pronger attempted to salvage the season when they asked the union to consider a reasonable salary cap and mustered support for it behind the scenes. The union eventually conceded on the salary cap.

 

"If the fans think Jeremy Roenick didn't try to get the game back on the ice, as some of us did, that is simply not true," Roenick said. "I'm not spoiled. I was reacting to a question. What I was saying was that if fans don't think that I care about hockey, care about the Flyers, then don't come out to see me. That's what I was talking about."

 

Roenick said he left several messages with ESPN yesterday demanding to know why the network didn't show the full video clip of what preceded his rant.

 

As for the proposed collective-bargaining agreement, he said: "It's not a great deal. But it gets the game back on the ice, and that is the most important thing."

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Even ESPN, during PTI, made mention of him talking about how he put the blame on the players. Of course, they didn't show that part. I watched Charles Barkley being interviewed by Chris Myers on Fox Sports last week, and he said about how that happens all the time. He said reporters would talk to him for 5 minutes just to get a juicy 5 second sound bite to use against him.

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One man changed your opinion about hockey?  <_<

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Unbelievably, yes.

 

I had forgotten how infuriariting the players were with their demands and their half-hearted attempts at compromise and mostly their complete lack of control of their own union (I remember Jay McKee's reaction to hearing they'd agreed to the concept of a salary cap - "Really? Wow.").

 

JR's comments brought it all back and made me realize what a bunch of spoiled dimwits we're paying to watch. Maybe we should stay away.

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Copyrights? <_<

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Yes (to protect Scott - the AP came down on people copying articles on USENET back in the early 90s - pre-WWW). Also, the stories can change (the sources add/remove from the story), so to keep up-to-date, it's nice to have the link.

 

CW

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Roenick may have been taken "out of context," but he's been in the league and talking to the media long enough to know how that works.

 

Every time I look at JR I think of one of the best comebacks I've ever heard a player make -- from Patrick Roy a few years ago:

 

"Yeah, I thought Jeremy Roenick was saying something to me out there, but I couldn't understand him because I had my two Stanley Cup rings plugging up my ears."

 

<_<

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As patrick roy once said to JR, "i couldn't hear him, i had my rings stuck in my ears".

 

well, screw you jr. i can understand that you might not have wanted your negative rant played, but you said it. no skin off of my back though, i hate the flyers and i hate your attitude now and then, when you played. There's 3 types of hockey players: great players with great hearts and a head on their shoulders (lafontaine), crappy players who play for the love of the game and have a great heart (rob ray), and those who are great, but are spoiled little bi+ches (JR, lemieux). oh yeah, flyers suck, so eat that jr.

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Unbelievably, yes.

 

I had forgotten how infuriariting the players were with their demands and their half-hearted attempts at compromise and mostly their complete lack of control of their own union (I remember Jay McKee's reaction to hearing they'd agreed to the concept of a salary cap - "Really?  Wow.").

 

JR's comments brought it all back and made me realize what a bunch of spoiled dimwits we're paying to watch.  Maybe we should stay away.

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Yeah, you just know, although "unoffically", he was speaking for other players, as well.

 

Ok, so he was taken out of context. Happens all the time. He has to realize, though, that even mentioning "fans" and "kiss my ass" in the same statement is going to go south quickly, regardless of what may have been said in between.

 

The players do not understand the value of their sport to the fans, and they feel "railroaded" by the negotiations. I'm not so sure there will be a deal soon. If there was any way the players can get some leverage back, they will take it. If not, then yes, there will be a deal soon.

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He has to realize, though,  that even mentioning "fans" and "kiss my ass" in the same statement is going to go south quickly, regardless of what may have been said in between.

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Isn't that the best part? I'd love to know what "context" he thought that would go over well in.

 

Like I'm sure he thought "'If I say fans can kiss my ass' in just the right way, everyone will totally be on board........"

 

Complete idiot.

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Note to Roenick...

 

 

Rumor has it that the two sides are close to an agreement. Over the last year the nhlpa (more so than the owners in my opinion) pissed off the fans over and over again, and in turn burned many bridges. Now is the time to win back the fans, not alienate them, just as the fans start to get excited over the prospect of hockey coming back in 05-06.

 

I hope the Philly fans hammer him!

 

STFU JR!!! <_<

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And you know what? JR is 100% correct.

 

If hockey comes back, I'm sure everyone will want the real fans to come back. If you don't like the price of a ticket to a pro game, go watch the Amerks or a college game. Last I checked, that was still hockey and tickets were under $10 for good NCAA seats.

 

While hockey salaries are out of whack relative to the popularity of the sport, it is still a game played by world class athletes. If you don't like the economics, stay home or go to a movie.

 

I'm sure that true pro hockey fans may also appreciate the posers staying away, as well.

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And you know what?  JR is 100% correct.

 

If hockey comes back, I'm sure everyone will want the real fans to come back.  If you don't like the price of a ticket to a pro game, go watch the Amerks or a college game.  Last I checked, that was still hockey and tickets were under $10 for good NCAA seats.

 

While hockey salaries are out of whack relative to the popularity of the sport, it is still a game played by world class athletes.  If you don't like the economics, stay home or go to a movie.

 

I'm sure that true pro hockey fans may also appreciate the posers staying away, as well.

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STFU, GG! You don't know what you're talking about. I hope the Philly fans get to you, too.

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And you know what?  JR is 100% correct.

 

If hockey comes back, I'm sure everyone will want the real fans to come back.  If you don't like the price of a ticket to a pro game, go watch the Amerks or a college game.  Last I checked, that was still hockey and tickets were under $10 for good NCAA seats.

 

While hockey salaries are out of whack relative to the popularity of the sport, it is still a game played by world class athletes.  If you don't like the economics, stay home or go to a movie.

 

I'm sure that true pro hockey fans may also appreciate the posers staying away, as well.

The diehard fans will not be able to stay away, but it's such a small group that the sport won't be raking in the cash like it once did. What the NHL needs to do is get as many people in the seats as it can, and if that includes the "posers," so be it. Not all people who attend NFL games, and this is especially true for the SB, are diehard football fans and can be called "posers." And with JR's attitude, he's effectively hurting his and the NHL's chance at making more money for themselves. Stupid move by a stupid player, representing a collectively stupid group of players.

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And with JR's attitude, he's effectively hurting his and the NHL's chance at making more money for themselves.  Stupid move by a stupid player, representing a collectively stupid group of players.

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but but but but but but but but but...he was taken out of context. One minute he was fine and then all of a sudden he's telling the fans..."kiss my ass". It's the manipulating media's fault everytime. Setting up poor JR and making him say something that he didn't mean to say. Those tv and print media guys are so tricky. <_<

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And you know what?  JR is 100% correct.

 

If hockey comes back, I'm sure everyone will want the real fans to come back.  If you don't like the price of a ticket to a pro game, go watch the Amerks or a college game.  Last I checked, that was still hockey and tickets were under $10 for good NCAA seats.

 

While hockey salaries are out of whack relative to the popularity of the sport, it is still a game played by world class athletes.  If you don't like the economics, stay home or go to a movie.

 

I'm sure that true pro hockey fans may also appreciate the posers staying away, as well.

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You're crazy if you think "true pro hockey fans" alone will be enough to keep the NHL propped up. You'll need as many "posers" as possible to make sure the league doesn't collapse again in 5 years. But hey, if you and the other "true pro hockey fans" want to appreciate the posers staying away, then enjoy it while it lasts, but don't start crying when the Stanley Cup Finals have to settle for a TV contract with the Lifetime Network and risk getting the games bumped for the WNBA...

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You're crazy if you think "true pro hockey fans" alone will be enough to keep the NHL propped up. You'll need as many "posers" as possible to make sure the league doesn't collapse again in 5 years. But hey, if you and the other "true pro hockey fans" want to appreciate the posers staying away, then enjoy it while it lasts, but don't start crying when the Stanley Cup Finals have to settle for a TV contract with the Lifetime Network and risk getting the games bumped for the WNBA...

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And that is the whole point. I don't know if JR intended his comments to be a rally cry for free marketers, but in effect, it is.

 

Hockey has been sliding down to become a mini-major sport. There's no way the sport can be supported in its current fashion. Will hockey ever get a big TV deal? No. Will the franchises contract? Yes.

 

Hockey is in trouble, and the best way to salvage whatever life it has, is to refocus on the true fan. The posers will return in due time.

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In defense of Jeremy Roenick, let me remind everyone that he has suffered mulitple concussions while playing hockey. It has almost ended his career.

 

Clearly, those statements show he has taken too many hits to the noggin.

 

My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Roenick.

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