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Contact: Elliot Chan, Opinions Editor

M opinions@theotherpress.ca

www. theotherpress.ca

 

Fallen Leafs up in Flames

» Brian Burke to be blamed for Maple Leafs’ struggles

Elliot Chan
Opinions Editor
© opinions
@theotherpress.ca

 

he decisions of a general

ona hockey team, even after
the executive has moved on.
In the case of former Toronto
Maple Leafs’ GM, Brian Burke,
the choices he made in his
tenure will undoubtedly make
ripples for many years to come.
But how much blame or praise
should one man take for the
achievement or failure of a
team? My answer: a lot.

Ask any skilled Monopoly

luck has very little to do with
their success. Sure, once ina
while a bad roll of the dice and
an unlucky trip to jail decides
the game; but negotiation and
anticipation, being able to see
the possibilities around the
bend, all of that is what makes

was to sit down for a game of
Monopoly, I believe he would

very proficient player.

: It seems that for every good!
: decision Burke has made, he’s:
: made two bad ones. Thank God :
: he traded up to draft the Sedin
: twins in 1999 when he was the
: GM for the Canucks, but why
manager have lasting effects _: did he trade away the draft

: pick that could have been Tyler
: Seguin for Phil Kessel when

: he was the GM for the Leafs?

: Why did he renew Leafs’ head

: coach Ron Wilson's contract

: in 20n1, despite a three-year

: losing record? Why did he go

: and criticize Anaheim Ducks’

: Bobby Ryan in such a shameful
; manner when Ryan wasn't

: selected to be on the United

: States’ Olympic team? Perhaps
: he did it all to turn up the heat

player and they will tell you that :
: in Calgary.

As president of Hockey

: Operations and interim GM

: for the Flames, Burke is hoping
: to return to his prowess. The
man is obviously fearless when
: it comes to making choices,

; whether good or bad. If he
those players so skilled. If Burke : does end up taking the helm in
: Calgary, I foresee a different-

: looking team sooner rather

be the wheelbarrow—and alsoa_; than later—and that is the same
: reason Toronto no longer wants;

> Burke's services.

He jumped the gun when

: he arrived in Toronto and built

a subpar team, unlike the one

: in Anaheim. He was trying

: to recreate what he did in

: California and ultimately failed.
: Toronto was ina rebuilding

: state and instead of taking time
: to develop prospects, he traded
: them. The Maple Leafs’ minor

: successes are just that: minor.

: But at the moment, the Flames

: are just hoping for some fuel, so
: Burke is greatly welcomed.

The Flames have had a

dismal 2013-14 season with 38

: points in 48 games. Needless

: to say, whatever Burke does,

: things can’t get much worse—
: so no pressure. That was also

: the case when Burke took over
: in Vancouver, Anaheim, and

: Toronto. Burke seems to have a
: liking for taking a team going

: nowhere and giving them
some direction. If you trace

: the history books, you can

: still see Burke’s fingerprints

: onall his former teams. So,
should Burke be blamed for his
: teams’ successes and failures?

: Absolutely, and he wouldn't

have it any other way.

 

Campus media isn't second class

» Student journalists are on the cutting edge of Canada’s media landscape

Patrick Vailancourt
News Editor

f Minews

-&) @theotherpress.ca

   

f you're a student journalist

in Canada, you should be
used to being hated. Your
students’ union despises
you digging around in
their affairs; your school
administrators’ dislike that
you keep pushing for more
information; even your
parents might hate you for
jumping into a print media
industry which so many
believe is dying.

If one or all of these are
true, then I’m convinced
youre doing a great job asa
student journalist.

The fact is that there are

so many young journalists
across this vast country of
ours, yet, unfortunately, there
are so few opportunities for
them to grow and develop.
Jobs in the industry are

scarce and the mainstream
media has such a monopoly
that campus media is often
regarded as second class. This
is evidenced in the fact that
many sources are hesitant

to speak with campus
journalists.

All too often, student
journalists research their
stories and reach out to
contacts in the community,
only to get a reply that says,
“Regretfully, we are unable to
afford you a meeting with us
as we have a high volume of
requests from ‘mainstream’
journalists.” As much as such

a response is bullshit, you’d
still be lucky to get a response
at all.

If you take a sample
of campus publications,
you'll find that many of
these journalists are on the
cutting edge, doing in-depth
reporting on issues that
matter not only to a student
population, but also to the
communities they serve.

If you were to take the
time to examine many of the
biggest protest movements
of our generation, be it
Occupy or rallies at major
gatherings of world leaders,
youll notice that it’s students
whoare at the front-line,
advocating for change. In
the last few years, students
have been at the forefront of
major demonstrations which

have had major impacts on
their society: the toppling of
a dictatorship in Libya, the
fight for freedom in Syria,
the quest for free and fair
elections in Egypt, and even
the opposition to raising
tuition rates in Quebec
which led to the ousting of a
longstanding government.
Ruffling feathers
and asking provocative
questions is the role of any
good journalist seeking the
truth in any story. A student
journalist is not tied down by
the same filters that those in
mainstream media are, which
allows them to go after the
tough stories without much
fear of advertiser flak. In
addition, their proximity to
the community they serve—
in this case the student

 

Brian Burke // By Mark Blinch

population on campus—
allows for student journalists
to take in pitches from their
constituents and turn them
into published content.
Despite not having all of
the access and sources that
the mainstream media enjoys,
a free and independent
campus press is a powerful
and essential presence in the
Canadian media landscape.
This medium is all too often
brushed aside as second
class, because many student
journalists in Canada
today don't have J-school
credentials. Simply by
reading some of the content
these young journalists come
up with, I’d say that it’s not
so much the journalism
education that matters, but
rather trial by fire.