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Aye, there's the rub

Thorntons comments
kick up a storm

Eric
( Wilkins
Sports Editor
i sporis@iheotherpress.cq.

fter the 4-1 thrashing of

the Vancouver Canucks
by the San Jose Sharks last
week, reporters were up to their
usual routine: cramming into
the locker room and grabbing
quotes. As was to be expected,
wunderkind Tomas Hertl of
the Sharks was a prime topic of
conversation, having just come
off a four-goal effort against the
Rangers. When Patrick Marleau
was being questioned about
whether Hertl was showboating
or not, Sharks captain Joe
Thornton jumped in with a,
“Shut up. Have you ever played
the game?” The star centre then
added that if he were to score
four goals he’d have a certain
male appendage in hand in
celebration.

In the aftermath of
Thornton’s words, the Province’s
whitetowel.ca blog published
the quote. It took off from there.

 

 

Every sports reporting outlet
had a story on it and the Twitter
universe exploded with analysts
and male teens alike gleefully
reposting the world’s latest
public mention of Mr. Johnson.
As the dust began to settle,
some groups began to bring up
the age-old debate of what's on
the record and what's off the
record. Thornton wasn’t the one
being interviewed. He wasn’t

even the subject of the interview.

Joe Thornton | Photo courtesy of Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Should he have been published?
Absolutely.

This is the 21st century: the
age of social media; the age of
instant reporting; the age when
privacy seems to be at an all-
time low and people make every
effort to further that low. With
this in mind, why should the
result come as any surprise at
all when a multi-million-dollar
athlete screams a crass bit to
a crowd already armed with

to see whatever scandalous
and incriminating remarks you
made in print.

Scott Emmert, the Sharks’
director of media relations,
said in a prepared statement,

“T don’t think it would be

a surprise to anyone in the
industry that ‘locker room talk’
exists. Professional reporters
understand that concept and
respect it. This is a pathetic
attempt to generate some

page hits and controversy by
reporting an off-the-cuff and off-
the-record comment made by
someone who wasn’t even being
interviewed at the time.”

Emmert’s comments should
come as no surprise to anyone.
While he’s essentially spouting
nonsense, it is the duty of a
professional organization to
present itself as such. The Sharks
can’t stand behind anything
that makes them appear less
respectable. Emmert and the rest
of the organization likely know
just as well as everyone else that
“off-the-record” is generally
nothing more than a term of
fantasy.

Of course, Thornton’s
words ring fairly hollow; the
man scored all of seven goals
last year.

recorders running? A reporter’s
job is to get the scoop and
tell the story. Juicy lines like
Thornton’s don’t come along
every day and they definitely
beat the usual tired clichés.
For the record, it’s most
people’s understanding (at
least from the reporting side
of the microphone) that if
you're talking, it’s on the
record. Unless there’s an
agreement beforehand, expect

 

Running back

Ballcarriers value
falling in todays NFL?

Eric
@ Wilkins
Sports Editor
i sporls@iheotherpress.cc

‘Ox September 18 of this
year, Trent Richardson was

traded to the Indianapolis Colts
for their first-round pick. It was
just a year ago that Richardson
was taken third overall in the
draft by the Cleveland Browns.
While he didn’t put up the
monster year that many pundits
had predicted, Richardson is
still a very capable back with
strong potential. Even though
the trade was likely just a new
coach (Browns’ Rob Chudzinski)
wanting to get “his own” guy
back there, it seemed like the
team was selling low (likely a
mid-20 pick) on T-Rich.

Taking a step back and
looking at the trend though, I
suppose the real surprise here
should be that the Browns
managed to get anything higher

20

 

than a second-rounder. Backs
just aren’t valued as highly
anymore. Everyone is trying to
be Mike Shanahan these days:
find a back in the late rounds
or pick up a nobody and turn
‘em into a star. And why not? It
seems to be working.

Of the 16 running backs
who broke 1,000 yards last year,
only six were first-round picks.
The second leading rusher was
none other than Shanahan’s
Alfred Morris, a sixth-rounder.
The sixth leading rusher was
Arian Foster, who entered
the league as an undrafted
free agent. Players like these
continue to prove a point that
has been there for decades, but
is only coming to light now: you
don’t need to waste high picks
to get good backs. That’s not to
say quality backs are any easier
to find, but that top picks are
no more a guarantee than later
ones.

To further prove that
point, let’s take a look at the
first-round backs since 2008:
Darren McFadden, Rashard
Mendenhall, Chris Johnson,
Jonathan Stewart, Felix Jones,

Knowshon Moreno, Donald
Brown, Beanie Wells, Ryan
Mathews, C.J. Spiller, Jahvid
Best, Mark Ingram, Doug
Martin, David Wilson, and,
of course, Trent Richardson.
Of these players, only three
(Johnson, Spiller, and Martin)
are legitimate NFL starters—
though Moreno is enjoying a
surprisingly good year right
now, and the jury is still out
on Richardson and Wilson, so
they’ll be counted in the other
category. The rest of them (that’s
12 out of 15 for those counting)
are busts. Best suffered from
concussion issues and is no
longer in the league. Wells is
currently a free agent. There’s no
such thing as a sure thing. Last
year’s draft had zero running
backs go in the first round.
Expect to see this continue.
Along with the fact that
quality running backs can be
had later, teams can cite the
limited shelf life as a reason
to avoid ‘em early. The magic
number for running backs has
been 30. Once you're over,
you're pretty much done. This
number isn’t set in stone though,

and often ballcarriers won't
even make it to that. Maurice
Jones-Drew hasn’t looked the
same in two years now and
he’s just 28. Big-money contract
extensions are less likely to be
handed out for this reason.

Of course, none of this is
going to stop little Johnny from
practicing to be an NFL running
back one day. It’s still one of the
most important positions
in football. Careers in
the spotlight might
not be as long, and
the money might
not be as
good as one
hopes for
(though
we're
still

talking multi-millionaires
here...), but all one can do is
carry on.

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

MTR
oto courtesy of www.hdwallpapersinn.com