Who Shot JR?!

Jeremy Roenick...one of my absolute favorite hockey players ever...and that says a LOT! Especially since he plays for my least favorite team (when they actually PLAY hockey), the Philly Flyers.

Let me explain the ethics around a sound-bite...they are edited by the media. They can take any snippet of words and probably get the Pope to denounce Christianity if they wanted to - so please remember that.

Now I will admit that I fell victim to the sound-bite - I was fuming at JR yesterday along with every other hockey fan I know (and some non-hockey fans, too). But JR needs to not read a 1000-word essay to any reporter, as he is a smart enough guy to know that it will be reduced to the most juicy 10 words ever spoken. Besides, most of his comments that made such an uproar, were in reaction to stupid questions from reporters...

He told it like it is - and has been given the opportunity to explain this sound-bite of his thesis and appease us all (or at least me, anyway). Look, I know he has little to do right now, but coming onto the Atlanta morning show to set the record straight and take calls from listeners/fans, impressed the hell out of me. Way to go JR!

If you think about it, some of what he said was really true. The NHLPA is ending up with a shitty deal and the owners are getting what they want. That's great for the fans - we might actually get a season - but like the rest of us out the in the work-force, we work really hard to get merit increases and make our jobs worth the paycheck we receive. Why should athletes be ANY different?

They are going to improve the game - I'm not going to complain - and the players are coming back for less money because they love the game so much...as do I.

So the next time you hear something disturbing from a celebrity, take it with a pound of salt...who knows what the media is feeding us this week. After all, if I had followed my first instincts, I would probably have auctioned off my JR jersey in haste and really hated myself for it down the line! Did I mention this was a signed Blackhawks jersey?!

You rock JR - hurry back to the ice, will ya?!