Home HockeyBuzz Register Login
"All Geeked-Up for the Deadline..."
Newtown Square, PA • United States • 45 Years Old • Male
For those who have not read B.D. Gallof's insightful, well written and absolutely dead on blog - do yourself a favor and read it. It might be the best piece you read all year.

Here is a link to B.D.'s blog
http://my.hockeybuzz.com/...r_id=567&post_id=2810

*************
The Emperor has no clothes...

B.D.'s writing inspired me to follow up on something that is particularly special about HockeyBuzz, and Ek in specific.

There is a story that you have all heard of called The Emperor's New Clothes by Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson. The story revolves around a king who loved clothes so much that when he heard of two tailors - actually con-men - who "supposedly" made the finest clothes in the land. The story they laid out was that these two could weave the finest clothes out of a thread that is invisible to all who were either too stupid or not of the right "position" to see it. The king sent two of his best men to ensure that they could see the clothes so that the king could be assured that HE could be able to see them too - he was a bit nervous. Neither wanted to appear stupid or not of the right position, so they bought into it and went along for the ride. So did all the people in his court - they did not want to appear stupid. The townspeople "saw" it because they didn't want to appear stupid. In fact the only one to really see it - besides the two con-men who laughed all the way to the bank - was a little child. The King, himself, did not want to admit it for fear of appearing stupid. So he walked around with his new invisible RBK jersey thinking everything was all right with the world.

Except for that child, who had the audacity to say, "But he has nothing on!"

Nothing on indeed.

It seems to me that Eric McErlain and Greg Wyshynski are the ones with nothing on. They - and anyone like them - would have the people believe that only THEY can tell us what to read. Only THEY have the savvy to understand the immense and vast mysteries of hockey and be able to divine and decipher them to us huddling masses. What a crock...

The thing that HB, in general, and Ek, in specific, do so well and what makes this place utterly unique in the blogosphere is simply this...everyone can join in...there is room for all and everyone's opinion matters. This place is all about the hockey fan...not about anything else.

Anyone who wants to come here and discuss, debate, argue their views on their team and the game - go ahead...knock yourself out. What Ek does that is so amazing is that he always deals in the positive aspects of the game that we love. He always talks about the possibilities, the wonder of what might happen, the good that the game of hockey has in it and all that it can be. What he does not do is pretend that he wears invisible clothes due to all that he knows and hears - though he does have a heck of a shadow. He has intimate knowledge of many things that could possibly ruin players, coaches and GM's careers. But he does not laud that knowledge over anyone - he simply keeps it to himself and reports the things that have made him successful and respected. Ek has real power and real insight into the game that makes others extremely jealous - therefore he is a threat that must be slandered, debunked, discredited and removed at all costs. There are some people out there with invisible clothes on who are scared to death that hockey fans might listen and realize that they "have nothing on."

Despite what Eric McErlain and Greg Wyshynski think, Ek is doing the hockey world a service by trying to keep fans at the focus of everything he does. Not his own ego , not the glory of the site - which is kicking a$$ right now and will only be better - not for anything but the average hockey fan. Ek is saying to the hatemongers, the entrenched "media" and all those who would rather throw stones to protect their own, supposed, turf - "The Emperor has no clothes." And they are scared.

Well...hallelujah! It's about time.

Watch out boys...HockeyBuzz is for real, B.D. is for real, the bloggers are for real, Ek is for real and here to stay and you had better put some clothes on because you are making an a$$ out of yourselves.

Lighten up indeed...

Thanks for reading...



SYF
Filed Under:   Ek   SYF   John Richards   B.D. Gallof   hockeybuzz  
October 10, 2007 11:34 AM ET | Delete
had to be said great job syfFlamestr
October 10, 2007 11:45 AM ET | Delete
Very nice follow up to possibly one of the best pieces ever posted on here ! Great job SYF
October 10, 2007 12:33 PM ET | Delete
well said and thanks bud!
October 10, 2007 1:15 PM ET | Delete
excellent follow-up. another great job.
October 10, 2007 2:42 PM ET | Delete
Ek may be for "real" now but as Greg and others have pointed out (on threads here on HB), Ek relies on sketchy sources which I think he needs to rectify. Ek- please have more transparency for the board regarding the people you are dealing with. I like talking hockey as much as the next person (and yes I was a STH) and the community aspect of this board I just think you should start taking things around here with a grain of salt.
October 10, 2007 3:00 PM ET | Delete
Well said, SYF.
October 10, 2007 3:22 PM ET | Delete
Sabres - I will not begin to defend Ek...he can surely do that for himself. However, if you think about what rumors and rumor information is - it is not 100% fact. There is no Santa Claus here. It is one GM talking to someone else and everything is fluid. Most rumors do not happen simply because the people involved do not pull the trigger for hundreds of reasons. If you are not happy with Ek's rumors and the site, then you can vote with your feet. You obviously decided not to re-up as a season ticket holder and yet you are still here and still interested enough to read and comment. For that I thank you. I encourage you to write a blog yourself further explaining your position so that others might read and comment. That is what keeps this place special...not just the rumors. Thanks for commenting.SYF
October 10, 2007 4:01 PM ET | Delete
SYF- as I hope to distinguish, I am well aware of the ethereal nature of rumors. Whether they are trial balloons, GM's too drunk at bars or whatever, I realize the great majority of them will never come to pass and I don't hold that against Ek. Its fun to hear what is in the chatter. However, there have been some instances recently that have shown that Ek is not just relying on GM's and agents but also other random people who can fool him and give him false rumors which he then posts without any apparent filtering. I think that with any legit rumor site, a degree of secrecy is warranted but I think at this point more transparency is warranted from Ek especially what transpired regarding the AOL Fanhouse article. I have always supported this site with my time and my money because I think its a great community for hockey fans but I am becoming uneasy when people start boldly defending Ek on here and trashing other bloggers. Keep up the good and insightful articles SYF.
October 10, 2007 4:29 PM ET | Delete
Thanks Sabre - I appreciate your comments. You really should write as you have a way with words and well thought out points. Just my two cents...SYF
October 11, 2007 8:43 AM ET | Delete
Great blog, SYF! Keep up the excellent work!
October 11, 2007 10:37 AM ET | Delete
Thanks big guy. Most appreciated! A great read as always.
October 11, 2007 2:04 PM ET | Delete
Hope I did not embarrass you by association B.D. Thanks. SYF
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to leave a comment.

Blog Archive