I’m not exactly sure what this post is but it sure was fun to write.
As we get set for a new season, it dawned on me that there may be some new people joining the community that may not know a whole lot about me. And then as I started to think about that, I realized that after seven years of running this site, MOST of you don’t know a whole lot about me.
That’s sort of the point of the whole anonymous blogger thing, I suppose.
But in seven years as SensChirp, we’ve gradually started to break down that wall a little bit and I wanted to keep doing that with this post.
This is a combination of hockey-related thoughts, personal facts and a couple random musings about the site that will help you get to “know” SensChirp, both the site and the person, a little bit better.
-I still like Chris Neil. And until he decides to retire (or maybe play for another team), I’ll always like Chris Neil. He’s become a target of criticism in the last couple years but I still think he’s a useful hockey player. And based on what I’ve seen from him in Camp this year, I think he could have even more of an impact this season. And if he sucks, it won’t matter. I’ll probably still defend him. He’s been here long enough and done enough for this organization to earn the ol’ “unconditional support from SensChirp” treatment. Chris Phillips also fits into this category although in his case, even I can admit that his days as an effective NHL defenceman are behind him.
-Sometimes I miss the old SensChirp comment section. When comments were a little bit more about quality instead of quantity. Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of good stuff in there. But there’s a lot of junk too. I don’t know what the answer is and I guess it’s a price we paid when the site became more popular. The Disqus format encourages people to comment on other people’s comments instead of bringing their own thoughts to a conversation. It creates an environment where it’s almost a constant critique on the comments of others. It has it’s benefits but also some pretty obvious weaknesses.
-I really hate it when people come to this site for the sole purpose of shitting on the team or hassling others that care about the team. That was never the type of community I wanted to build and I wish did a better job of preventing it but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I know we all follow the team differently but in the end, we all cheer for the same team. I think we do, anyway.
-I can’t stand criticism of Bryan Murray. It’s undoubtedly a hindrance on my ability to provide objective analysis about his moves but I just think the majority of criticism sent his way over the years is kind of unfair. Two things you should know about Murray and the job he’s done as GM of the Senators- 1) He’s never had the money to do everything he wanted to do and 2) He really cares about his players. If you keep those two things in mind, you can justify or at least understand just about every decision he’s ever made. And maybe that second thing isn’t the best attribute for an NHL General Manager to have these days but it’s certainly not something I’d ever criticize him for.
-I still like fighting in hockey but I’m as close as I’ve ever been to switching sides in the debate. And at this point, I don’t even think I could argue in favour of fighting anymore. I don’t want it out of the game but if it was gone, I would certainly accept it. I do still think fighting has a place in the game but more than ever, I can see the case for removing that “place”. I was watching SportsCentre with my two year old daughter and she was enjoying the hockey highlights and then they showed a fight and there was just this look of confusion on her face…she said, “Hit? Hockey?”…I didn’t know what to say.
-Mrs. SensChirp, the woman I’ve spent the last seven years of my life with, knows less about sports than any human being I’ve ever met. It’s quite remarkable actually. She’s incredibly intelligent but just has zero interest in sports. You would think that after that long some residual sports knowledge might be passed on but it just hasn’t happened. She always says she used to kinda like hockey until she met me but I ruined it for her because I took it “too seriously”. We started hanging out during the Cup Run though so that totally makes sense. On the other hand, my two year old daughter is already hockey-obsessed. We had to hide her jersey because when she knows where it is, it’s the only thing she wants to wear. Apparently this is not acceptable?
-I was never really a huge fan of Robin Lehner. I mean, I found him to be fascinating personality and he was obviously loved by his teammates but I always had concerns about his ability to become the elite goalie some assumed he would. And actually, it wasn’t so much Lehner I had an issue with but rather the over-the-top support he seemed to get from the fan base, at times. I also hated when people said “Release the Lehner”.
-I have five brothers. One is a Senators fan. One is a Flyers fan. One is a Sharks fan. One is a Leaf fan, if you can believe it. And one never really liked hockey. He used to always joke that he cheered for the refs. My family moved to Ottawa from Calgary just before I was born so I think in my early years, I was actually a Calgary Flames fan.
-I get asked this one all the time so it’s only appropriate to address it here. Yes, I actually do have some sources. But the reality is they are nowhere near as ready to hand out information as they once were. I used to rely solely on one rock solid source and that’s pretty much where the SensChirp legend was built. But as the site increased in popularity, so too did the internal questions within the Senators organization about tracking down the elusive SensChirp. In general I, and the people I talk to, just had to learn to be more careful with information. The good thing about the increased popularity is it allowed me to create a broader network with a variety of contacts. I still have access to “inside information” but it’s not like back in the day. I’m a little more careful with what gets posted and I suspect people are a little more careful with what they relay to me.
-I used to think advanced stats were stupid. Turned out I just didn’t understand them. I spent a lot of time trying to educate myself on the topic, talked to a lot of people far more intelligent (and patient) than I, and finally got to the point where I understood what all the fuss was about. And now I’d say it’s impossible to provide any sort of quality analysis of a hockey player, game or team without consideration of the underlying numbers. I still find it all quite boring though.
-I’m a little scared to tell you all this in case you don’t know and that’s why you’re here- but there are other Sens blogs out there. And if I was to objectively rank them, I would rank SensChirp like 6th or 7th. The 6th Sens, Welcome to Your Karlsson Years, Black Aces (retired), Silver Seven, Travis Yost (before he made it big), Bonk’s Mullet, Jared Crozier at HockeyBuzz…and I’m sure I’m missing some, all do great work. If aren’t reading those sites on a regular basis, I encourage you to check them out. Just make sure you come back, k?
-This will sound like a weird one and will probably be hard for some to believe but I always wanted to blog. Well maybe not blog necessarily but always wanted to write and talk about sports. The idea that someone would pay me for such things was just an added bonus. I briefly considered a career in television or radio but that ended following a ‘boom goes the dynamite’ like performance during The Score’s audition for Drafted here in Ottawa. I took Communications at Carleton and literally the only application of my degree that sounded even remotely interesting was the idea of combining communications and sports. And that’s how the blog was born. Funny story- back when I was in school, I did an interview with Bruce Garrioch to find out more about what it took to break into the business and he said something that always stuck with me and was actually one of the reasons I started the blog.
Okay, I feel better now. Some Game Day talk in a little bit!
