The Hockey News, "Arbour Day" In November, And Me

For me, November 2007 is a milestone month. For me, November 2007 is the month that I have decided to end my long-running subscription to The Hockey News. Having been disappointed with that publication for a while, but not having ha a strong enough disappointment to end my subscription, I have now finally been pushed over the edge. For me, The Hockey News and other such weekly/monthly publications no longer have any ability to inform me in any way. The reason that the have no ability to inform me in any way is not because they don’t provide accurate and meaningful information, but rather the reason that they have no ability to inform me is because I am too big of a hockey fanatic.
Let me explain. I eat, breathe, and sleep hockey. It is an obsession. It doesn’t matter if it is in-season or off-season, not a day goes by where I don’t think of hockey or read of hockey. You can say that 24/7/365; I have my finger on the pulse of the sport.
Almost exclusively, I gather my information from the internet. Often, I am reading rumor web sites that verify events for me before they even happen or I am visiting TSN.CA—the Canadian version of ESPN.com—which despite being a very official web site is either breaking the most major stories or commenting on the most major stories within minutes of their occurrence. As I check these web sites several times a day, you can say that the longest I ever go without having had the latest hockey-world related story given to me is the length of a long night sleep. Trying to sneak a hockey story is like trying to sneak a ray of light pasta rooster; you can’t do it.
Take this example. This past Saturday, former Islanders head coach Al Arbour returned to coach the Islanders for one night only. Arbour returned at the request of regular Islander coach Ted Nolan so Arbour could coach his 1,500th game as Islander coach. His 1,500 games as Islanders coach are by far more than any other coach has ever coached with any 1 team, his 740 wins are the most, and as he is now 75 years old, he became the oldest man ever to coach an NHL game. To say that this was a big story in the hockey world would be an understatement to say the least.
In regards to me, as an Islander fan, I circled this game on my calendar one it was announced over the summer. On Saturday night, I watched this entire game and all of the involved ceremonies and coverage. Since Saturday, I have read stories from multiple web sites on this event as I have also re-watched both the post-game celebration and tribute video on YouTube. You can say that less than 72 hours after this event, I have seen it from every imaginable angle.
As big and as nice of a story as it was, quite frankly, I’m done with it and ready for the next piece of news.
I’m sure that The Hockey News will have something to say on the event. But while I am already done with this story, it won’t even be in The Hockey News for another couple of weeks. By the time that the edition of The Hockey News with Al Arbour stories sin it is released, who knows what hockey stories will be first and foremost in my mind then. Whatever stories they may be, it certainly will not be the story of Alger Joseph Arbour. In terms of The Hockey News and its coverage of the event, for me, quite frankly, it’ll be a few weeks too late.
I understand that most people are not like me. I understand that most of the population either doesn’t even care about hockey or only follows hockey on a casual basis. I understand that during some games and instead of reading hockey blogs, some fans have jobs, other hobbies, or other events that they go to besides hockey. Ignoring the fact that THESE people are completely inexcusable losers—just kidding—The Hockey News does still maintain the ability to inform this portion of society. And to this portion I say, “Go out and buy The Hockey News.” It will be a good and informative read.
But my advice today is for that small portion of you that are die-hard obsessed hockey fans like me. To you—us—I urge you to ignore The Hockey News and similar publications because for us, continuing to live the way that we now live will provide us with all the hockey information that we could ever need. Plus, assuming that you would have the Internet anyway, OUR WAY IS FREE!