Pittsburgh Sports Media Gibberish: Bombulie ‎to restore order @ the Trib

[Jacob]

Here's what the "experts" in the media fail to realize; Sid and Geno aren't the problem. Allocating far too much money to ineffective, over the hill, veteran players for too many years is the problem. Look no further than Dupuis, Scuderi, Kunitz, and Spaling to wonder why we're having trouble filling out the roster with quality players. We give roster spots and way too much cap room to ineffective players. It has nothing to do with Sid or Geno.

But addressing the real problem won't get clicks. Suggesting Malkin or Sid need traded will get clicks. That's all it's about in journalism.

 

[Freeptop]

LeBrun is actually pretty good, personally I'd take him over every media option Pittsburgh currently has. The guy is connected and knowledgeable. What does it matter if a small sample size of other teams do it too, a larger sample size do not, he's just stating he doesn't feel its the best route for a team to take, and in many ways he's right. We've seen that lack of balance throughout the lineup here for awhile, and where has it gotten us? I'm not saying we should trade geno, cause I wouldn't, just saying that he has a point w regards to being top heavy cap wise

It isn't really a small sample size when it includes every Cup Winner in the Cap Era...
I mean, it's kind of ridiculous to say that a team can't win the Cup when using so much of the their cap space on their top 4 salaried players when that's been proven false by every single team to have won the Cup in the Cap Era...

LeBrun is generally good, but that part was lazy journalism, plain and simple. He clearly did not look at any other team's cap usage to make that proclamation, or he would have discovered that it was an assertion that is not backed up by any evidence whatsoever. It's also pretty silly to ignore where the Pens are spending their cap space after those top 4, and yet conclude that it's top 4's cap hit that causes the problem. Again, lazy journalism. And lazy journalism is bad journalism.

In contrast, look at Adam Gretz's work on the same topic:
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on...-responsible-for-penguins-salary-cap-problems

 

[Mordax]

In contrast, look at Adam Gretz's work on the same topic:
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on...-responsible-for-penguins-salary-cap-problems

You don't trade superstar, franchise players to create salary cap space and build depth. You find ways to build around them.

It's a heck of a lot easier to find capable depth players, and even a quality top-line winger, than it is to find another Evgeni Malkin.

 

[Penguins23]

DK wrote this on the Rossi situation.

"In this case, according to three team officials today, Rutherford received emails and texts from all through the Penguins’ organization — from high and low, even including players in the locker room that same night — praising him for his act because they, too, had issues with the factual nature of some of the reporting. There was even a feeling, one of those officials said, that the room was galvanized to push even harder to win the playoff series in support of Rutherford."

http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2015/04/28/column-in-reality-rutherford-stronger-than-ever/

Looks like everyone rightfully hates Rossi.

 

[ColePens]

Amen.

DK wrote this on the Rossi situation.

"In this case, according to three team officials today, Rutherford received emails and texts from all through the Penguins’ organization — from high and low, even including players in the locker room that same night — praising him for his act because they, too, had issues with the factual nature of some of the reporting. There was even a feeling, one of those officials said, that the room was galvanized to push even harder to win the playoff series in support of Rutherford."

http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2015/04/28/column-in-reality-rutherford-stronger-than-ever/

Looks like everyone rightfully hates Rossi.

This is idiotic. He just wants to continue getting hits so he rehashes this type of column. I would not be surprised if he and Rossi text one another to try and get some fire behind all of this.

DK and Rossi are good writers when they want to be. They are also smart enough to realize that smart writing doesn't pay the bills. Thus... it makes them insufferable and anyone who is in the business has the right to hate them for selling out.

But if I was a writer, i'd do the same thing. Whatever pays the bills.

 

[cassius]

DK wrote this on the Rossi situation.

"In this case, according to three team officials today, Rutherford received emails and texts from all through the Penguins’ organization — from high and low, even including players in the locker room that same night — praising him for his act because they, too, had issues with the factual nature of some of the reporting. There was even a feeling, one of those officials said, that the room was galvanized to push even harder to win the playoff series in support of Rutherford."

http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2015/04/28/column-in-reality-rutherford-stronger-than-ever/

Looks like everyone rightfully hates Rossi.

Dumb and ridiculously unprofessional. Par for the course, given this organization's track record.

Usually a lack of professionalism and mediocrity tend to be correlated - the Penguins certainly embody both.

A smart organization would say "Rossi is entitled to his opinion" and move on. Instead, the architect of this sad sack team freaks out publicly.. makes himself look stupid as hell. And the players agree with him. What a joke. It's an embarassing time to be a Penguins fan. An overall lack of professionalism and consistent mediocrity is the new culture. Pathetic.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Amen.



This is idiotic. He just wants to continue getting hits so he rehashes this type of column. I would not be surprised if he and Rossi text one another to try and get some fire behind all of this.

DK and Rossi are good writers when they want to be. They are also smart enough to realize that smart writing doesn't pay the bills. Thus... it makes them insufferable and anyone who is in the business has the right to hate them for selling out.

But if I was a writer, i'd do the same thing. Whatever pays the bills.

Who knows what these two are up to. However, I'm 100% sure this org despises Rossi.

He's made up so much ******** over the years and been so unprofessional, it's easy to believe he isn't well liked down there.

I actually believed when Rossi was taken off the beat this nonsense would end, but I was a moron.

 

[Shady Machine]

Dumb and ridiculously unprofessional. Par for the course, given this organization's track record.

Usually a lack of professionalism and mediocrity tend to be correlated - the Penguins certainly embody both.

A smart organization would say "Rossi is entitled to his opinion" and move on. Instead, the architect of this sad sack team freaks out publicly.. makes himself look stupid as hell. And the players agree with him. What a joke. It's an embarassing time to be a Penguins fan. An overall lack of professionalism and consistent mediocrity is the new culture. Pathetic.

It's unprofessional for players to show their support internally for their GM giving it to a 'journalist' that has consistently written lies about the team and its players?

What is unprofessional is Rossi printing a private conversation and DK disclosing that players and employees were psyched about it.

 

[Coastal Kev]

I think some are missing a huge point in this discussion and that is the current state of the NHL. SUPERSTARS or FRANCHISE players simply don't have the value that they once did. Back in Mario's day, the difference between his production and average players was vast. Now??? Sid and Geno score 5-10 goals more and the same or a bit more assist wise.

This isn't circa 1992, the production in the current state of the NHL from superstars does not justify the amount of cap space that they eat up.

 

[cassius]

It's unprofessional for players to show their support internally for their GM giving it to a 'journalist' that has consistently written lies about the team and its players?

What is unprofessional is Rossi printing a private conversation and DK disclosing that players and employees were psyched about it.

If a CEO of a Fortune 50 company freaked out on a Wall Street analyst.. melted down and dropped a ton of F bombs along the way, it would be a big deal. At the very least, he would expose himself to a ton of criticism. Perhaps he would probably get canned.

You never see that happen because CEO's of those companies have thick skin and are very professional.

Point is.. when you're in a leadership position, you're held to a high standard of professionalism. Rutherford is far from professional. Freaking out and blowing up is unprofessional as hell and sets a bad example.

There's nothing unprofessional about Rossi posting a conversation that happened. Its' fair game. He's a journalist who gets paid to report the facts and the conversation was a fact. Guy is just doing his job.

If you want to applaud Rutherford for losing his cool and being 100% unprofessional, go ahead. I won't though.

 

[Shady Machine]

If a CEO of a Fortune 50 company freaked out on a Wall Street analyst.. melted down and dropped a ton of F bombs along the way, it would be a big deal. At the very least, he would expose himself to a ton of criticism. Perhaps he would probably get canned.

You never see that happen because CEO's of those companies have thick skin and are very professional.

Point is.. when you're in a leadership position, you're held to a high standard of professionalism. Rutherford is far from professional. Freaking out and blowing up is unprofessional as hell and sets a bad example.

There's nothing unprofessional about Rossi posting a conversation that happened. Its' fair game. He's a journalist who gets paid to report the facts and the conversation was a fact. Guy is just doing his job.

If you want to applaud Rutherford for losing his cool and being 100% unprofessional, go ahead. I won't though.

I never said what JR did was professional. I said players and employees applauding him for it behind closed doors is within their right and there is nothing wrong with it.

Also, yes it is unprofessional for a reporter to report what was clearly an "off the record" conversation. JR blew up and said something he shouldn't have. But what was the point of Rossi writing that 'article'? What purpose did it serve other than to put himself into the spotlight?

 

[Shwag33]

If a CEO of a Fortune 50 company freaked out on a Wall Street analyst.. melted down and dropped a ton of F bombs along the way, it would be a big deal. At the very least, he would expose himself to a ton of criticism. Perhaps he would probably get canned.

You never see that happen because CEO's of those companies have thick skin and are very professional.

Point is.. when you're in a leadership position, you're held to a high standard of professionalism. Rutherford is far from professional. Freaking out and blowing up is unprofessional as hell and sets a bad example.

There's nothing unprofessional about Rossi posting a conversation that happened. Its' fair game. He's a journalist who gets paid to report the facts and the conversation was a fact. Guy is just doing his job.

If you want to applaud Rutherford for losing his cool and being 100% unprofessional, go ahead. I won't though.

I'm not sure if you work in corporate america or not, but from what I see it's cuthroat and some of the stuff that comes out of CEO's/VPs etc would shock you.

 

[Coastal Kev]

If a CEO of a Fortune 50 company freaked out on a Wall Street analyst.. melted down and dropped a ton of F bombs along the way, it would be a big deal. At the very least, he would expose himself to a ton of criticism. Perhaps he would probably get canned.

You never see that happen because CEO's of those companies have thick skin and are very professional.

Point is.. when you're in a leadership position, you're held to a high standard of professionalism. Rutherford is far from professional. Freaking out and blowing up is unprofessional as hell and sets a bad example.

There's nothing unprofessional about Rossi posting a conversation that happened. Its' fair game. He's a journalist who gets paid to report the facts and the conversation was a fact. Guy is just doing his job.

If you want to applaud Rutherford for losing his cool and being 100% unprofessional, go ahead. I won't though.

Agreed. I also want to add that the final product we ended up with this past season wasn't very good either. Oh yea, he made the dumbest trade in Pens history as well with Despres. Even worse than the Naslund trade. How can you say that???? Because Patrick actually got a young player with oodles of potential back, the fact that the kid failed and Naslund blossomed is indeed hindsight.

Despres for Lovejoy was always a disaster. There was zero justification for the trade other than "we have too many D assets" so we piss them away.

 

[cassius]

Also, yes it is unprofessional for a reporter to report what was clearly an "off the record" conversation. JR blew up and said something he shouldn't have. But what was the point of Rossi writing that 'article'? What purpose did it serve other than to put himself into the spotlight?

Disagree with you on that one, and Smizik does too.

Rossi’s situation was not so black and white. He was not in a formal interview setting with Rutherford. But Rutherford initiated the conversation, in which he said a number of nasty things about Rossi. Apparently, Rutherford did not like the criticism Rossi had been leveling at him. Again, too bad. That’s the price of being in the public eye.

Had Rutherford debated the legitimacy of Rossi’s criticism, a serious conversation might have evolved. But he resorted to pettiness and name-calling. He should have understood what was coming.

Some reporters/columnists might not have used the conversation. However, Rossi had every right to do what he did.

If it happened, which it did, it should have been written about. Gotta side with Rossi on this one.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Smizik is still alive?

How about this -- they're both goofs.

 

[Shady Machine]

Disagree with you on that one, and Smizik does too.



If it happened, which it did, it should have been written about. Gotta side with Rossi on this one.

I can agree that JR messed up there. He reacted emotionally. However, we don't really know all the facts there.

Anyway, I heard Rossi on triblive radio a few days after and the host asked him about his views regarding on/off the record comments. He basically said "anyone I interview can say something is off the record, but if I get to choose if it's going to stay off the record". Basically saying "don't say anything to me that you don't want printed". If that's how he wants to do his job, it's no wonder he doesn't have a very good relationship with most of the people he writes about.

 

[Coastal Kev]

More Pens bashing from Scott Ferrall and Greg Wyshynski::

In other news, Ferrall may be revoking his Penguins fandom. Pittsburgh lost to the New York Rangers in five games, losing 2-1 in every loss, including in overtime in Games 4 and 5. Ferrall thought Evgeni Malkin, who failed to score a single point in the series, payed uninspired hockey and simply didn’t care if the Penguins won or lost. Ferrall sees in Malkin a guy who has already gotten paid, already won a Stanley Cup and is now just coasting. He called Pittsburgh a “sissy team” that “doesn’t hit anybody” and feels the Penguins need to get rid of everybody.

“Yeah, and the frustrating part is, it sounds like they won’t,” Wyshynski said. “Hearing them after they lost to the Rangers – I covered that game – in the locker room there was this vibe of, ‘Well, you know, it was all 2-1 losses, and one bounce one way or another could have changed things.’ You hear Jim Rutherford, the GM, talk today and the message is, ‘Well, if we had our three defensemen that were injured, it could have been a different situation.’

“I agree with you,” Wyshynski continued. “It’s not a fun team to watch anymore. There’s no discernible personality. They don’t seem to like each other all that much on the ice – and life in general. There just needs to be some kind of a shakeup there, and it just seems like what the Penguins are opting instead to do is stay the course for another season because if they were healthier and got the bounces, it could be a different deal.”

 

[SuburbanRhythm]

Disagree with you on that one, and Smizik does too.



If it happened, which it did, it should have been written about. Gotta side with Rossi on this one.

Kind of agreed with Smizik...until he says

Had Rutherford debated the legitimacy of Rossi’s criticism, a serious conversation might have evolved.

Rossi is incapable of such a discussion. It's probably why JR blew his lid. Most people don't take well to criticism from people who don't actually understand what they're criticizing.

 

[HMPens]

I don't think Rutherford and the Pens have as much of a problem with the criticism, as with the constant fabrication, twisting, lies and innuendos that Rossi spews both in print and in his radio appearances. I have often wondered how the players and team officials have restrained themselves from punching Rossi right in the mouth. While it may have been unprofessional for Rutherford to approach him, I don't blame him and glad someone in the Pens organization had the balls call Rossi out.

 

[cygnus47]

I don't think Rutherford and the Pens have as much of a problem with the criticism, as with the constant fabrication, twisting, lies and innuendos that Rossi spews both in print and in his radio appearances. I have often wondered how the players and team officials have restrained themselves from punching Rossi right in the mouth. While it may have been unprofessional for Rutherford to approach him, I don't blame him and glad someone in the Pens organization had the balls call Rossi out.

Rossi didn't even bother having any opinions this season. It's just "I hate the Penguins, they're a bunch of poopy-heads! Crosby sux! Managements sux! Coaches sux! Bylsma 4 lyf!" He finally gets a bite from his vitriol and he makes a childish, unprofessional article about it. Talk about bottom of the barrel.

 

[Fordy]

yall should watch mad men if you really think CEOs and business types are like nice people lmao

 

[Human]

I think some are missing a huge point in this discussion and that is the current state of the NHL. SUPERSTARS or FRANCHISE players simply don't have the value that they once did. Back in Mario's day, the difference between his production and average players was vast. Now??? Sid and Geno score 5-10 goals more and the same or a bit more assist wise.

This isn't circa 1992, the production in the current state of the NHL from superstars does not justify the amount of cap space that they eat up.

this is true if we're talking hockey value. but for example move Crosby to Montreal and see how he beats the jersey-selling record... from and economical pov guys like Crosby or Malkin are worth the Sun and the Moon.

 

[Jacob]

yall should watch mad men if you really think CEOs and business types are like nice people lmao

That's a fictional tv show.

 

[titaniumexpose]

Kind of agreed with Smizik...until he says



Rossi is incapable of such a discussion. It's probably why JR blew his lid. Most people don't take well to criticism from people who don't actually understand what they're criticizing.

Bingo. No winners in this discussion though, in my opinion. Both Rossi & JR have made their beds as far as other people's opinions go, now they have to lie in them.

 

[zero8771]

Agreed. I also want to add that the final product we ended up with this past season wasn't very good either. Oh yea, he made the dumbest trade in Pens history as well with Despres. Even worse than the Naslund trade. How can you say that???? Because Patrick actually got a young player with oodles of potential back, the fact that the kid failed and Naslund blossomed is indeed hindsight.

Despres for Lovejoy was always a disaster. There was zero justification for the trade other than "we have too many D assets" so we piss them away.

clearly the worst trade in franchise history. d e l u s i o n a l