Abel to Yzerman
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Memo To Drew Sharp: We Have Questions
by IwoCPO on 06/10/08 at 11:44 AM ET
Comments (22)
Updated below with the first Detroit media backhand to Sharp.
You know, I’ve given this a lot more thought than it deserves today.
But Drew Sharp must really think we’re stupid. Naturally, by discussing this, we’re proving him right. But the more I think about it the more it pisses me off.
What’s worse? That Sharp really believes what he wrote today, or that he decided it might be fun to rile up the Wing fans?
I honestly don’t know. But I’ll tell you this: either answer says a lot about him and about the Detroit Free Press.
What the fu** kind of “writer” are we dealing with here? And what kind of newspaper lets that kind of crap run? Yeah, I know it’s a column and I know columnists, by job description, are supposed to voice their opinions. But on what level does that make any sense at all?
What statistical basis do you have Drew, to claim Dominik Hasek deserves that kind of recognition, the most prestigious honor a Detroit athlete could possibly achieve? Those are a few questions I have for Sharp. I’m a Wing fan and a reader of the Detroit Free Press and I want some frigging answers. To those. And to these:
1. How has Dominik Hasek, in 2.5 full seasons, merited the same honor bestowed on Steve Yzerman? What kind of impact did he have on the organization to deserve it?
2. Is it unethical for a columnist to write something he doesn’t believe just to elicit a response, or hits on a paper’s website?
3. Did you ask any member of the Wing organ-I-zation their view on this? Did any of them punch you in the temple?
4. What qualifies you to write anything about the Detroit Red Wings, ever again, when you’ve proven that you know nothing about the team’s tradition or heritage?
5. Do you intend to respond to the responses to your column today? At last count more than forty readers have commented. Every single one claims or infers that you are (a) wrong, (b) offensive, (c) an utter and absolute idiot.
—-Examples for you:
-“Is this some kind of joke?”
-“Maybe Drew is planting the seeds for the Freep to retire his own LogonID. After ridiculous articles like this, that can’t be soon enough!!!”
-“Never write about hockey again .......”
-“If I was as incompetent at my job as Sharp is at his, I’d have been punted from the 35th floor in front of crowd of my (former) fellow employees.”
A few more questions for you Drew.
6. Have you ever responded to a single comment on any of your columns? If not, today would seem like an appropriate day to do so.
7. How many regular season Detroit Red Wing games have you attended, or covered? A round number will do.
Don’t bother answering here Drew. It’s in your inbox.
So, yeah, that’s kind of where I am right now. Overreaction?
Yep. Maybe so. Stupidity is one thing, and I believe that could very well be the case. But writing something just to gain a reaction, just to generate hits or sell papers? That’s irritating, Drew.
Oh, and the editors of the Free Press? I assume you have some sort of job description? This isn’t Mitch Albom we’re talking about here, who probably has it written into his contract that no one short of Oprah is allowed to edit his stuff.
It’s Drew Sharp for god’s sake.
Updated 1402: Jamie Samuelsen’s views on the idea.
There is no way you can retire the No. 39 at the Joe. First, Hasek wasn’t here long enough. He really had two and a half good years with the Wings. Second, it sets a dangerous precedent. If you retire Hasek’s number, here are the other numbers that you HAVE to retire. Lidstrom’s (who is a lock), Shanahan and Fedorov (who are debatable, I say no), Draper, Maltby, McCarty, Vernon, Osgood, Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Larionov. And I’m sure more that I’m not thinking of. There will be no numbers left to wear. I know Hasek had a greater impact than say Kirk Maltby, but he was the starter for ONE Cup here, Maltby has won four. Who’s had a bigger impact on the organization?
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Comments
Riding the coat tails of the Cup to attract readers?
I will wager there’s alot more than “19” whom have severe issues with said proposal.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/10/08 at 12:14 PM ET
I don’t expect intelligent sports talk from Drew Sharp any more than I would expect an intelligent answer on the stock market from a largemouth bass.
Same blank stare and gaping maw from both, possibly.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/10/08 at 12:17 PM ET
Be careful what you say. He will turn it into a racial thing. Seems like everything he writes will eventually turn in that direction.
Posted by jmara85 on 06/10/08 at 12:26 PM ET
Racial thing? I’d love to see him play the no-retirement-because-Euro thing. ‘cause ya know how bigoted this team is….
Same blank stare and gaping maw from both, possibly.
lol.
Normally, people like this would get fired but since there is no such thing as bad publicity, he’ll stay.
I say we start calling him “TIMMAY!”
Posted by Osrt on 06/10/08 at 12:45 PM ET
I think you’ll find more fight in any large mouth than from someone writing what Drew’s got inked today. Not too mention there is intensity in the eyes of the bucketmouth (fish that is).
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/10/08 at 12:48 PM ET
Not too mention there is intensity in the eyes of the bucketmouth (fish that is).
Especially if you dangle a nice juicy leopard frog in front of him.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/10/08 at 12:53 PM ET
Just an FYI… I noticed that Jamie Samuelsen at the Detroit Free Press agrees with you, Sailor.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 06/10/08 at 01:11 PM ET
And I’m sure more that I’m not thinking of. There will be no numbers left to wear. I know Hasek had a greater impact than say Kirk Maltby, but he was the starter for ONE Cup here, Maltby has won four. Who’s had a bigger impact on the organization?
Except the math nerd numbers!
pi
e
i
...and Roman numerals! You know, like from when they played hockey in the olden days, and LV laid out LXXXVII with a monster hit in the neutral zone.
The comments on the Sharp article are hilarious. So far this is my favorite:
jphill22 wrote:
Drew, the city of Detroit and the surrounding area are blessed to have some of the best sports writers in the country: Unfortunately, you are not one of them. But that point aside, your story about the retiring of Hasek’s number is one of the worst pieces you have written since you have been employed in Detroit. It becomes more clear to me, after reading more of your columns, you were dropped on your head as an infant. Repeatedly. Keep up the bad work to give other people like me an excuse to get on the computer and rant about what an obvious fool you are.
6/10/2008 12:26:56 PM
But this is a close second:
wingfaninsharkwaters wrote:
I am thoroughly convinced Sharp is snorting pounds of cocaine per day. How does a guy this high keep a job?
6/10/2008 12:10:00 PM
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/10/08 at 01:21 PM ET
...and Roman numerals! You know, like from when they played hockey in the olden days, and LV laid out LXXXVII with a monster hit in the neutral zone.
Math jokes are awesome, especially this one.
We should get some physics numbers going too! I think Kronner would have to be G since his shoulders (maybe elbows) naturally gravitate toward opposing players’ faces.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 06/10/08 at 01:34 PM ET
I wondered if anyone would notice that I used real numbers instead of random capital letters! 
Hal Gill would have to be whatever the symbol is for inertia (in honor of his pylon-ness).
Marion Gaborik could be lambda (for wavelength) since he is one of the quickest skaters around.
Now I’m going to be spending far, FAR too much time looking up the symbols for things like ideal gas laws and Coulomb’s law and thinking which players are most appropriate for wearing different constants.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/10/08 at 01:59 PM ET
that makes Chief F, since the 19 are the mass, and idiot reporters are the accelerant, creating the Force that is A2Y
Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 06/10/08 at 02:01 PM ET
Now I’m going to be spending far, FAR too much time looking up the symbols for things like ideal gas laws and Coulomb’s law and thinking which players are most appropriate for wearing different constants.
The offseason is hard on Baroque.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 06/10/08 at 02:09 PM ET
Those are all good questions, twoCPO. I would, however, amend #4 to ask what qualifications he has to have EVER written anything about the Wings, goaltending, hockey, ice, or octopi (eating at Red Lobster doesn’t count).
Any number of sports bloggers around town as well contributors to this website are more learned and insightful than Sharp (who, while I think truly and ignorantly believes what he wrote in this instance, seems mainly driven by his desire to out-contrarian the monumentally moronic Rob Parker).
Posted by BobS. on 06/10/08 at 02:30 PM ET
Gabe,
If I didn’t have a 6 year old boy, a pool & a garage thats a full on woodworking shop (hence the affinity for the “bored as a 2x4” posted by Baroque)..... the off season would be much more difficult for me than currently).
My wife is happy to have me “back” for awhile too? Maybe cause I’m over 6/02/08 now.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/10/08 at 03:36 PM ET
The offseason is hard on Baroque.
I have a lot of work and projects to do - but the puck withdrawl is hitting me pretty hard. Just when I get my life back I’m not sure what to do with it!
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/10/08 at 04:02 PM ET
Yep…I’m right there with both of you. I have three huge client projects I’m working on, but I just can’t focus. I even had to pass up an opportunity to get backstage at the Tonight Show taping today…just too much work to justify it.
And yet…here I am.
I’m so friggen screwed.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 06/10/08 at 04:42 PM ET
i = imaginary number? It’s been a while since high school, but I vaguely remember fooling around with the square roots of negative numbers, and thinking how mathematicians must be really bored to come up with this crap.
Posted by cephalopod from Chicago...nope, still not over it. on 06/10/08 at 04:42 PM ET
Yup.
i = the square root of negative one, which is imaginary (like eleventeen, and umpty-three, and gazillion).
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/10/08 at 04:48 PM ET
game. set. match to Samuelsen.
When you think of the Wings over the past 11 years, you think of the skaters. The first three cups had a different goalie each time. Think about that…in a span of 6 years, we won three cups with three different goalies. We would have to retire a boat-load of numbers if 39 went up. And while we let this rile us up, here is how I imagine the reaction to be at the Joe:
Employee: Drew Sharp suggested we retire Hasek’s number in the Freep today.
Holland/Yzerman/Illitch/Bowman/Anyone else with decision making power: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Posted by A II R from Los Angeles on 06/10/08 at 05:28 PM ET
The email I sent Drew Sharp:
Mr. Sharp, I run the blog “Abel to Yzerman.” I found your suggestion regarding the retirement of Dominik Hasek’s number to be, frankly, offensive; considering the legends that occupy those places of honor at JLA.
I’m pretty certain, based on the fact that 120 people have commented on this morning’s story and you’ve yet to respond to any of them, that you don’t care what your readers think. However, if you choose to answer these questions that I posed to you on the blog this morning, I’ll run those replies unedited.
1. How has Dominik Hasek, in 2.5 full seasons, merited the same honor bestowed on Steve Yzerman? What kind of impact did he have on the organization to deserve it?
2. Is it unethical for a columnist to write something he doesn’t believe just to elicit a response, or hits on a paper’s website?
3. Did you ask any member of the Wing organization their view on this? Did any of them punch you in the temple?
4. What qualifies you to write anything about the Detroit Red Wings, ever again, when you’ve proven that you know nothing about the team’s tradition or heritage?
5. Do you intend to respond to the responses to your column today? At last count more than forty readers (as of noon. Well over 100 now) have commented. Every single one claims or infers that you are (a) wrong, (b) offensive, (c) an utter and absolute idiot.
—-Examples for you:
-“Is this some kind of joke?”
-“Maybe Drew is planting the seeds for the Freep to retire his own LogonID. After ridiculous articles like this, that can’t be soon enough!!!”
-“Never write about hockey again .......”
-“If I was as incompetent at my job as Sharp is at his, I’d have been punted from the 35th floor in front of crowd of my (former) fellow employees.”
A few more questions for you Drew.
6. Have you ever responded to a single comment on any of your columns? If not, today would seem like an appropriate day to do so.
7. How many regular season Detroit Red Wing games have you attended, or covered? A round number will do.
Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 06/10/08 at 05:32 PM ET
Lessons from today’s posts:
1) Hockey withdrawal is serious. One needs group therapy, methamphetamines, funny blogs, coke, and idiot writers to negotiate these icy (sooo coollldd) waters.
2) Baroque is a gigantic nerd!
I even had to pass up an opportunity to get backstage at the Tonight Show taping today…
This wasn’t the day Ozzie and Nick were on, right? If so, you sir, are dead to me.
Posted by Osrt on 06/10/08 at 05:34 PM ET
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Posted by Forgie on 06/10/08 at 11:57 AM ET