Sticks and stones... Well, not in the Q

[chillywack]

demeter said:

jrsuperstar said:

As for the ATM machine it didn't work for the whole game last game. A guy sitting behind me with his wife and a bunch of young hockey team players said he went to that ATM and it wasn't working so he had to walk to...I forget where. Then he got back and bought a bunch of food for the kids, and proceeded to drop a good deal of it going up the stairs and have to go make a second trip. Poor bugger.

I was the one who broke the ATM on Sunday!! It still owes me $20!!!!!!!!

And you owe it $2.50.

[juliansteed]

Stupid rule. I have a hard time accepting the given reason as the real reason. My guess is he thinks its too unprofessional or it takes too long while play is going on or something stupid like that and this is just a cop out. As others have mentioned there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to use nicknames if its pre-approved by all the appropriate parties (including the league) before hand.

Its all fun and it could make the difference between a casual fan's experience being one that he wishes to repeat or not. Maybe not the nicknames itself would make them want to return but the atmosphere generated from the use of the nicknames and the announcers enthusiasm as he says them. Or if it was known that each player had a given nickname and some were not yet used, you might have a few people that would be sure not to miss the debut of any of the new nicknames, and not miss a game until they were all used. But hopefully it wouldn't take too many games for all the boys to hear their names. The new rule is unlikely to have much of an impact on attendance but I'd say its a lot more likely that it will have a negative one as opposed to a positive one.

If you wanna get the crowd into it probably the best way is to put the names up on the scoreboard. If you could somehow draw the kids attention to it, it could work. Kids do whatever that scoreboard says. Whether its the last minute of OT with a faceoff in the attacking zone, or some random point in a game when we're getting blown out (referring to the old days), the kids will scream if that board tells them to and wont if it does not. Problem is it would come and go so fast that a lot of them would miss it unless they were somehow trained to watch for it.

For the record I think Hammer and Hit Man are great nicknames. I wasn't too fond of that one I read they were considering for Despres, unless there is a story or inside joke behind it. Just my opinion and by no means am I saying it would be easy to give a cool name to every player on the team.

[reddogbluedog]

On the outside looking in this does seem a bit silly. However at the same time I do see their point. This is hockey not wrestling. It might seem cute but when does it become unprofessional. I have gone to many a NHL game and I have never heard anything like that. Almost labelling a player as being a certain type when really they don't want to be known as that. Even when the Great One was playing they did not use this when announcing his goals. On our team you have Mike Thomas who is a very good 17 year old hockey player, a very good player and the last couple of games he has stepped it up on his shifts and also on the penalty kill. He will give guys like Dido a much needed rest if he can be effective on the PK. However if you label him with a nickname it could have a negative impact on how he plays the game. A lot of people think he has potential to play at a higher level. The Hooooooooooooooooooper and DI DI DI stuff is just as exciting and gets the fans into it. Let's get Michael Buffer in here and just the way he announces names is enough to get anyone up and clapping we don't need WWF nicknames to make it fun. Now the announcer has to use his brain a bit to think of how he can dress up the names of the players. Can anyone name one NHL player that when he scored a goal or got a penalty where the announcer came out with the big nickname thing?

Now batting David "big pappi" Ortiz is just not going to happen. Kind of sound real unclassy when you think about it that way. Just my opinion folks but everyone said that the kids have to learn how to deal with hecklers and stuff like the professionals so why not treat them like professionals from the announcers as well.

[Judas In My Mind]

Yeah and at one time red-blue, announcers always said names in an emotionless calm tone of voice to not show any favoritism, etc. Someone had to start it somewhere. Showing some emotion and creativity, etc etc.

I'm not saying every announcer should be adding in nicknames and embleshing in pronuciations, etc, but this guy chose to do so at a time where our announcing was sucking, and as far as I could tell, it was well received by the fans at the rink. My problem is with the Q saying how a team can announce their own players names "because it might lead to names that could be considered discriminatory, etc"

Maybe they should ban beer because someone might drink and drive.
No more chuck a puck because someone might throw it on the ice during play.
No more signs because someone might make a discriminatory one.


The list could go on forever. The Q approved the Sea Dogs ownership group to have a team. Thus they should remain confident they are able to make sure their announcer only uses names that are non-offensive.

[dogcatcher]

QMJHL

No-nickname policy should not apply

The following is a message sent to QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau regarding the no-nickname policy at Sea Dogs games as reported by Peter Mcguire. Dear Mr. Courteau, it was reported in the Saint John Telegraph-Journal on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007, that you (or your organization) issued a directive that our public address announcer can no longer use nicknames when making announcements. The anti-discrimination policy quoted is definitely a very good idea but to apply it in this situation is really a stretch. Mr. Lachance is trying to add excitement and atmosphere to Harbour Station, for that I congratulate him. He was only using nicknames for our own players so it was very unlikely he would use anything discriminatory or hurtful. If it was perceived that way I have no doubt Jacques Beaulieu and the Saint John Sea Dogs management would put a stop to it immediately. The Sea Dogs organization is always cognizant of the fans enjoyment and try to provide an entertaining environment for all ages. In closing I implore you to reconsider this decision and let Mr. Lachance continue to up the fun factor at the Station. I understand rules are made for a reason but in this case I don't think the rule applies. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Lynn White

Saint John

[bjindaho]

Since the players seemed to be looking forward to their nicknames, I don't see how this could discriminate, but thank you to Lynn White for voicing her opinion.

[springer]

I would take the nicknames over what he is doing now. Sounds like he is trying to cough up a fur ball one every last name. Starting to sound cheap and unprofessional and is not even funny anymore. Dido and Hooper sound great but it is doing nothing for me personally with the other attempts to make it exciting.

[juliansteed]

Agreed! Spa-ah-ah-ah-arling was a bit painful to listen to last night.

[mrlittlewolf]

good point springer.you cant do the same to every name it looses its lustre

[J4M13]

I like "Go-go-Gauthier," but only because I started saying it last year...But I agree, it seems like he's trying too hard when he does the same thing with every player.

To Lynn White, that's a great letter, and I couldn't agree more!

[Sébastien]

If you want my opinion, have the Sea Dogs complain to the league about the Quebec Remparts, whose announcer always announces Félix "Le Chat" Petit, which stands for Felix The Cat Petit.

First off, it pays back a little for the Esposito thing.

Secondly, it puts some pressure on Courteau to exerce some power against Québec, a thing we all know he doesn't want to do.

Thirdly, if he doesn't do anything about it, prepare yourselves for a windstorm, specially in the province of Quebec. You think you guys complained about the Esposito saga? Then you never read on Radoter...