How to Know if You are a Hockey Blog Sally

Okay, I read this "column" in The Sporting News recently, but I don't want to give that columnist any publicity by linking to it here. He wrote about the "hockey sally" and created a checklist. I didn't agree with the way the guy wrote it. It was a really quick and lazy column, but some of the list was thought provoking.

Hockey Sally (hok-e sal-e) - n. 1. A mocking insult directed at a hockey player/athlete who's performance and/or ethics are proven to be considered cowardly. 2. An implied personal attack on a male athlete's manhood. (See: Girly-man, sissy, douche-bag)

I decided that since the recent trend is to copy what other journalists and bloggers are doing, I thought I'd attempt a spin-off blog entry. Enter: the Hockey Blogger Sally! I've been really frosted about some of these issues as seen below. I've put in a lot of thought to this, so here I go sounding off to put the pointing arrow of criticism on us the hockey bloggers.

1. Posting anonymous comments on mine or anyone else's blog. Especially if it's some cheap shot one-liner. Even if it's really offensive, at least have the guts to put your name to it. It's really cowardly to hide behind a keyboard and throw out cheap threats and mindless comments and feel safe behind the anonymity.
   Oh, and not having a blogger account is no excuse! You can type your name in the message space! The best example of it can be found in the comments section of this post and this post.


2. Shameless Plug CommentsThis is also another very offensive behavior. Please don't spam my comments area for the sole purpose of siphoning attention to your blog or website. I remove them if you don't contribute to my posts in some way.


3. Post 5,000 links to other blogs and not write anything original. We came to your blog because maybe we were interested to read what YOU had to say! Not a digest of what others are reporting. Take the time to say something more than a sentence or two.


4. No spell check. I think this is pretty much self explanatory. Your readers will not take you seriously and want to return.


5. The "CYA" statement. (See: "cover your ass") This two-faced approach to your journalistic integrity by writing one line of praise and then continue on with several contradictory paragraphs of really obvious lopsided bias. A good example I could find about this can be found at The Hockey Board. He extols the legitimacy of Brad May then blasts signing with Colorado.


6. Intermittent Blogging. Inactive blogs are a waste of time. If you don't update your blog regularly, people aren't going to read your blog. Yoda's Thoughts might be too focused on "the force" for him to keep the blog going.


7. Blog about an "Original Six" franchise while looking down upon small market and expansion franchises. Some fans in New York, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal and other cities may have the huge historic tradition, but there's no God-given right to win your division and get to the playoffs every year. You don't have to like them, but please give the basic respect due to the "non-traditional" markets. Columbus, Florida, and Anaheim should be supported for the common good- a better NHL. How much does it burn some elitist fans that Tampa Bay has had the Stanley Cup for this long?


8. Piling on Sean Avery. It's obvious that what Avery said was controversial and offensive. You don't need paragraph after paragraph to hit the point home. I recently talked to a contact who said a character witness claimed that Avery is a better person than who is vilified in the media. Do bloggers want to turn Avery's antics into the NHL's Terrell Owens? I'm not going to embarrass the blogs who are guilty of this. You all know who you are!

Since I have been blogging way back in 2002, I've seen many blogs come and go. There wasn't that many hockey blogs out there dedicated to just hockey at the time. I've been so glad to have met a lot of nice people through this blog and learn a lot about Canadian culture, hockey fans, and good journalism.