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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