Connor McDavid’s Media Persona

[Megustaelhockey]

Nah. Gretzky hosted SNL at one point! He had sketches where he was singing, or in a swimsuit…he may say he’s an introvert but there are levels to this and I cannot ever imagine McDavid doing something like that.

He was also a bigger star than McDavid by some magnitude given he was playing in LA at a time when hockey had a lot more relevance in pop culture. And was clearly less awkward publicily.

You think hockey was more relevant in the 80s and 90s than it is now?

 

[Strangle]

Watching the Amazon Prime Docuseries I came away from it with a completely different view of McDavid than what I perceived.

He said that he hears all the claims from the outside that he’s a robot with no emotions, but he said that he’s a natural introvert. He kept mentioning how he’s prepared for his success his whole life, meaning the hockey. It really does seem like he’s a hockey nerd that has out worked everyone and put in the time that others aren’t to make himself the best hockey player in the world as opposed to being some naturally amazing at everything elite athlete who also is very unfriendly with the media.

I came away feeling like he’s not some arrogant robot who fits all the NHL cliches. I felt sympathy towards him. He’s a guy who loved hockey and worked to make himself great and it just so happens that off the ice he’s not as naturally comfortable as a person being so outgoing to match all the attention that some of the greats in sports are. He shouldn’t get a bad reputation for his personality. He seems the same way that Lionel Messi was.

Why would anyone care about his personality?

It’s relevant to nothing except the league being able to market his personality. The league wouldn’t do that anyway, so there is no relevance to his personality at all

If the league was interested in marketing players personalities they would have done it with guys like Ovechkin and Subban, two players who have marketable personalities and were top performers in their positions.

A guy like Matthews is a legit athlete who can play basketball and baseball, and in a city like Toronto the cross sport marketing opportunities should be massive for something like that, but the league isn’t interested at all

 

[Albatros]

You think hockey was more relevant in the 80s and 90s than it is now?

One can certainly argue it was in the 90s, even Disney invested in an NHL team at the time.

 

[TheDoldrums]

You think hockey was more relevant in the 80s and 90s than it is now?

In the States, absolutely by quite a margin. It used to be pretty much neck and neck with the NBA in terms of revenue/coverage/interest

 

[Megustaelhockey]

In the States, absolutely by quite a margin.

I live here and am old enough to remember the late 80s and 90s and must disagree in strong terms. There was a push of growth and culture media attention in the mid 90s after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, but subsequent labor stoppages hurt that momentum.

I don't mean to go off topic.

 

[TooManyHumans]

A new study has proven that tomato ketchup is literally perfect

 

[BraveCanadian]

He’s just a dude who plays hockey.. who cares about how outgoing he is in the media.

Hockey isn’t going to break through the noise of choices people have with their time because of one guy.

The first thing to improve hockeys popularity is stopping the whole sport from becoming a country club.

 

[Fatass]

And that's perfectly fine.


Define dolt.

Look at him in the photo a few posts up. A dolt is someone who appears to be dim witted. Great player, but very uncomfortable socially which is all we (fans) get to see. He’s great on the ice but not so much off it.

 

[Norwegianoiler]

I think every single top athlete in the world is arrogant to some degree.

And that degree may also be 0?

 

[JoVel]

A new study has proven that tomato ketchup is literally perfect

I am not going to take culinary advice from a website that ends in .uk

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I am not going to take culinary advice from a website that ends in .uk

Maybe the most informed post in this websites history

 

[Fledgemyhedge]

Of course fans don’t truly know McDavid’s personality. But from what we can understand by connecting the dots, he’s kind of a dolt.

Edit: Decided to be nice instead. Have a great day

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Look at him in the photo a few posts up. A dolt is someone who appears to be dim witted. Great player, but very uncomfortable socially which is all we (fans) get to see. He’s great on the ice but not so much off it.

That pic doesn’t look “dim witted” it looks awkward

 

[Zarzh]

Nah. Gretzky hosted SNL at one point! He had sketches where he was singing, or in a swimsuit…he may say he’s an introvert but there are levels to this and I cannot ever imagine McDavid doing something like that.

McDavid is pretty funny if you actually meet him, he just has a dry sense of humor that wouldn't play well to the media.

 

[333359]

You think hockey was more relevant in the 80s and 90s than it is now?

For sure. Gretzky was huge in the early 80's in the States. Meaning I knew about him even though we had 3 channels and it wasn't possible to watch NHL games in the 80's where I lived. It was a monoculture then and hockey was one of the big 4 sports. Hockey I doubt is in the top 15 now. Hockey is much more of a niche sport with so many other options.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

I follow hockey to be entertained by the on-ice product. If a player is engaging off the ice, then cool. McDavid delivers on the ice in spades.

 

[Acallabeth]

I don’t.

Takes plastic to me.

You don't have ketchup in glass bottles?

 

[snag]

Who doesn’t like ketchup?

Tbh, It overpowers the flavour of some foods. If you need it, you are probably eating shot food anyway.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Who doesn’t like ketchup?

Ketchup is the worst sauce ever invented and nothing will change my mind on this

 

[TooManyHumans]

I am not going to take culinary advice from a website that ends in .uk

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

Took a look into this thread about McDavid’s media persona and it’s about ketchup.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Took a look into this thread about McDavid’s media persona and it’s about ketchup.

Honestly one of the more on topic threads on. HF

 

[bandwagonesque]

Anyone who wonders why this or that athlete has an underwhelming media persona should consider what their own might look like. Sure, they've had experience and training with media we haven't, but I'd be straight up mumbling nonsense and looking at my shoes. There's an common ideal of liking and taking advantage of attention just as there are body/career/family ideals. Most of us cannot live up to them. McDavid might well be interesting and even entertaining on a personal level.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

He can come across as socially awkward. That said what introvert forced into the media spotlight wouldn’t be? The fact the biggest examples come from random people approaching him in public for pictures, autographs and even video recording interactions like those losers who were following him with his spouse basically harassment at that point. We as fans need to stop and realize these players have personal lives and families and we need to respect their privacy, especially when away from the game aspect.

 

[Fatass]

That pic doesn’t look “dim witted” it looks awkward

That’s your opinion. Imo McDavid is a dolt socially.