This from the man chosen to drive the American Library Association off a cliff ... er, into the future, I mean:
"I had heard of the activities of (Blog People) and of the absurd idea of giving them press credentials (though, since the credentials were issued for political conventions, they were just absurd icing on absurd cakes)."
and ...
"Given the quality of the writing in the blogs I have seen, I doubt that many of the Blog People are in the habit of sustained reading of complex texts."
In reference to the first point, I've come around in recent months on the idea of current-events bloggers as journalists. The instinct is to close ranks and make 'journalism' a more exclusive field and 'journalists' a more selective society in order to prevent those hacks from diluting the overall quality of journalism. But there's a more important, and pressing, issue to me ... shrinking the pool of people granted Constitutional freedom of the press, then shrinking it again, and continually shrinking it. It reminds me of an otherwise pretty bad season 1 Babylon 5 episode in which one long-extinct race of people had employed cybernetic soldiers to eradicate anyone who was not of their race and pure. The problem was, once the soldiers had wiped out all of the ones who were of the different race, they had to keep refining and redefining their criteria for purity in order to meet the demands of their programming. And soon they had wiped out the entirety of the creator race.
Please pardon the geeky reference, but where's the dividing line, and who gets to decide who's a journalist and who's not? It's left intentionally vague in the Constitution so that the government never has to step into the role of deciding who's free and who's not.
And further, you really can't complain about the poor quality of journalism practiced by a class of writers you refuse to admit are journalists. Bringing them under the journalistic tent also brings them under the watchful eye of journalistic criticism, which is a valuable thing for an informed electorate.
In reference to the second quoted point above, I must sigh with exasperation. It isn't always about the quality of the writing (though many of the blogs I frequent, such as Wil Wheaton dot Net and Neil Gaiman's blog [Neil Gaiman is an established author of long-form works, it may surprise Mr. Gorman to learn], as well, of course, as my own Radically Rational, are exceptionally well written by any standard) -- particularly with the activist politics blogs, it's about the quick dissemination of information that more mediated, edited and corporately owned media outlets are not making available; it's about organizing the faithful for action; it's about subversion of the dominant paradigm.
Then there's the end of Mr. Gorman's statement above. Were I at home, and were I completely moved in to the new house, I'd look over at the bookshelves that will line every wall of every room and mutter, "Idiot!" under my breath. True, this is only anecdotal, but nearly every blogger and bloggee within the small circle of my acquaintance is some combination of avid reader of fiction and nonfiction, light and heavy; academic researcher; or professional writer. And without exception, among all of friends and acquaintances within 10 years or so of my age, all of the smartest ones (by my subjective measurement, I admit) blog or read blogs.
And setting aside all of the above commentary ... Sheesh! Does this man have half a clue? The point to such advancements in technology and society, from the perspective of libraries and librariants, isn't to assess them for their validity or lack thereof as information tools, it's to get out in front of the trend and figure out how to make the tool valid, to preserve the quality of information people get. To do otherwise is to render yourself and your (and my, by training) profession irrelevant.
Oh, here's another quote, this one from the beginning of the article: "My piece had the temerity to question the usefulness of Google digitizing millions of books and making bits of them available via its notoriously inefficient search engine." I agree that there are innumerable problems and concerns I can see in this project, mostly arising from lack of context and the inability of users to build proper searches (see later in this paragraph). Whether Google is inefficient, though, depends on what you mean. If the inefficiency is in the quick retrieval, without critical user interaction, of purely relevant information, then yes, it's inefficient. Google's effectiveness is almost entirely a function of the user's ability to craft a proper search that uses terms and operators to refine, and make relevant, the search, and/or to sift through the returned results for the needed information.
But if the inefficiency is in the computer, in the indexing and then searching that index, Mr. Gorman is dead, flat wrong.
Oh, and ... "Hailed as the ultimate example of information retrieval, Google is, in fact, the device that gives you thousands of 'hits' (which may or may not be relevant) in no very useful order."
The order in which results (not 'hits', you yutz; hits are something completely unrelated) are displayed is the core of what makes Google, Google and why people started using it in the first place -- a complicated calculation, from my understanding, that determines how many pages link to a given page (which is usually a good indicator that others consider that page authoritative), how often people visit, or click through, to that page, etc., etc. As long as no one's Google-bombed a given term or set of terms, the top results of a properly-crafted query are almost invariably the most useful.
Enough. This is the man they've chosen to lead libraries through the most critical period of self-reflection and role definition in their modern history? Goodness gracious me.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
music: Roundup of (not-so-) recent acquisitions
So I was walking around work today with some songs running unstoppably through my head, and it came to me that I'd promised a review of one of these CDs some time ago. Not that anyone's particularly waiting with baited breath for me to do this, but for your edification and enlightenment I provide the following CD reviews.
John Mann Acoustic Kitty - The once and once-again Spirit of the West singer/guitarist gave us this solo effort in 2002, so it was presumably put together while the Spirits were on hiatus or just regrouping. While it bears some slight resemblance to SOTW's most recent, Spirit Trails, it's otherwise a nice departure from the SOTW sound.
There's a full-band breadth to the sound, style and scope of the album that lead-singers-gone-solo recordings too often seem to lack. And while it doesn't sound like a Spirit of the West album, neither does it sound like a self-conscious effort not to sound like Spirit of the West -- add some accordion here, some tin whistle there, bring in the Spirits to do vocals, and many of the songs would've suited the band.
For Acoustic Kitty, Mann abandons much of his usual almost over-the-top lyrical cleverness (which has always been one of his most appealing traits to me) for a more direct songwriting style without losing any of his sardonic wit -- two standout songs are the title track, which tells the story of a $26-million CIA program to wire a cat internally to bug the Kremlin, which ended abruptly when the aforementioned feline died under the wheels of a taxicab, and "American TV," derived from his experiences in acting.
Mann's never been one for the straightforward love song, fortunately, and despite the more personal feel of a lot of the material here, he doesn't disappoint by offering up any sappily heartfelt love songs. Instead, we get "Our Sick Love" (a frenetic song of the tune-stuck-in-your-head-all-day variety), "Love's a Sobbing Idiot" and the lovely (no, it really is!) "What Language," in which he laments never knowing how to treat his partner when they make love.
Michael Phillip Wojewoda, an associate for some time of Spirit of the West, puts in a great production effort, with some sonic cleverness that always enhances and never overwhelms Mann and band or the material. And though most of the arrangements are underpinned by acoustic guitar, there's so much variety in the other instrumentation (electric guitar, keys, bass, layered vocals, horns, organ and, ferchrissake, glock!) that there's no simple singer-songwriterness anywhere.
I'll admit it took me awhile to digest this album, though I think that's because at first I expected a SOTW-lite album. With repeated listens, though, it's grown on my something fierce. It's hard to find (I ordered it through Canada's A & B Sound after it had been on backorder with amazon.ca for about four months. But it's worth the search.
Chumbawamba Un - Yes, I'll admit, I picked up on these guys because of "Tubthumping," though to be fair that was at least a month before it was a hit and I quickly acquired context by snapping up their back catalog. English Rebel Songs continues to rank among my favorite folk albums ever.
Sonically, Un sticks to much the same ground as their more recent albums, the mix of loops, samples, programming, acoustic instruments, heavy harmonies and psuedo-rapping. A lot of the samples are drawn from field recordings of singers and players from around the world, though, which gives a special layer of irony to "On eBay," a song that starts out at the appearance of Iraqi museum artifacts on online auction sites but uses it to develop a broader point about the merchandizing and global homogenization of culture divorced from context.
It occurs to me that practically any discussion of Chumbawamba quickly devolves into what The Point is. Basically, if you get what they're about, you're going to like what they have to say, regardless of what it sounds like. And if you don't know what they're about, or you violently disagree with them, you're going to hate it, regardless of what it sounds like. So, as is the case with so many 'message' bands, the music is pretty much secondary.
It's a shame, really, because, although there's not much new-sounding here, they do what they do very well. Melodeonist to the stars Andy Cutting, as well as New Model Army's Justin Sullivan and his harmonica, make appearances here. Chumba's words are reliably clever and dense, but the songs are catchy and groovy enough it's easy to overlook them.
They're back under the radar, folks, and though this is only a workmanlike continuation of their recent work, it's worth a listen. Or three.
John Mann Acoustic Kitty - The once and once-again Spirit of the West singer/guitarist gave us this solo effort in 2002, so it was presumably put together while the Spirits were on hiatus or just regrouping. While it bears some slight resemblance to SOTW's most recent, Spirit Trails, it's otherwise a nice departure from the SOTW sound.
There's a full-band breadth to the sound, style and scope of the album that lead-singers-gone-solo recordings too often seem to lack. And while it doesn't sound like a Spirit of the West album, neither does it sound like a self-conscious effort not to sound like Spirit of the West -- add some accordion here, some tin whistle there, bring in the Spirits to do vocals, and many of the songs would've suited the band.
For Acoustic Kitty, Mann abandons much of his usual almost over-the-top lyrical cleverness (which has always been one of his most appealing traits to me) for a more direct songwriting style without losing any of his sardonic wit -- two standout songs are the title track, which tells the story of a $26-million CIA program to wire a cat internally to bug the Kremlin, which ended abruptly when the aforementioned feline died under the wheels of a taxicab, and "American TV," derived from his experiences in acting.
Mann's never been one for the straightforward love song, fortunately, and despite the more personal feel of a lot of the material here, he doesn't disappoint by offering up any sappily heartfelt love songs. Instead, we get "Our Sick Love" (a frenetic song of the tune-stuck-in-your-head-all-day variety), "Love's a Sobbing Idiot" and the lovely (no, it really is!) "What Language," in which he laments never knowing how to treat his partner when they make love.
Michael Phillip Wojewoda, an associate for some time of Spirit of the West, puts in a great production effort, with some sonic cleverness that always enhances and never overwhelms Mann and band or the material. And though most of the arrangements are underpinned by acoustic guitar, there's so much variety in the other instrumentation (electric guitar, keys, bass, layered vocals, horns, organ and, ferchrissake, glock!) that there's no simple singer-songwriterness anywhere.
I'll admit it took me awhile to digest this album, though I think that's because at first I expected a SOTW-lite album. With repeated listens, though, it's grown on my something fierce. It's hard to find (I ordered it through Canada's A & B Sound after it had been on backorder with amazon.ca for about four months. But it's worth the search.
Chumbawamba Un - Yes, I'll admit, I picked up on these guys because of "Tubthumping," though to be fair that was at least a month before it was a hit and I quickly acquired context by snapping up their back catalog. English Rebel Songs continues to rank among my favorite folk albums ever.
Sonically, Un sticks to much the same ground as their more recent albums, the mix of loops, samples, programming, acoustic instruments, heavy harmonies and psuedo-rapping. A lot of the samples are drawn from field recordings of singers and players from around the world, though, which gives a special layer of irony to "On eBay," a song that starts out at the appearance of Iraqi museum artifacts on online auction sites but uses it to develop a broader point about the merchandizing and global homogenization of culture divorced from context.
It occurs to me that practically any discussion of Chumbawamba quickly devolves into what The Point is. Basically, if you get what they're about, you're going to like what they have to say, regardless of what it sounds like. And if you don't know what they're about, or you violently disagree with them, you're going to hate it, regardless of what it sounds like. So, as is the case with so many 'message' bands, the music is pretty much secondary.
It's a shame, really, because, although there's not much new-sounding here, they do what they do very well. Melodeonist to the stars Andy Cutting, as well as New Model Army's Justin Sullivan and his harmonica, make appearances here. Chumba's words are reliably clever and dense, but the songs are catchy and groovy enough it's easy to overlook them.
They're back under the radar, folks, and though this is only a workmanlike continuation of their recent work, it's worth a listen. Or three.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
politics/personal: sheesh!
Well, ain't I Mr. Grumpy-Pundit lately?
For the record, I don't really hope people catch debilitating diseases. I don't hope people's offices catch fire and they're not able to work. And I especially don't hope anyone burns in Hell. For one thing, the jury's still out for me on whether there actually is a Hell or not.
It's hyperbole for effect, my friends. But I've still been kinda nasty lately. I'll try to be slightly nicer. Or at least less mean.
For the record, I don't really hope people catch debilitating diseases. I don't hope people's offices catch fire and they're not able to work. And I especially don't hope anyone burns in Hell. For one thing, the jury's still out for me on whether there actually is a Hell or not.
It's hyperbole for effect, my friends. But I've still been kinda nasty lately. I'll try to be slightly nicer. Or at least less mean.
politics: Sometimes I wish a completely accidental electrical fire ...
... or something would wipe out the office wherein work the writers who vomit all over the Arizona Republic's opinion pages, and that they'd be unable for some time.
From today's unsigned editorial about Howard Dean:
Howard Dean, the man nobody in Washington wanted as national chairman, simply outhustled all his rivals in the weeks before the vote of the 447-member Democratic National Committee. He was not the choice of the party insiders. So Dean went straight to the delegates themselves for his support.
So I'm unclear. Is this supposed to be a bad thing?
But there's more:
Dean comes into the fray with plenty of baggage. Plenty of folks, especially Republicans, dismiss him as the angry voice of the latte left: virulently anti-war, pro-abortion, morally ambivalent, barely patriotic.
Inflammatory, half-true and, frankly, doublespeak worthy of Novak.
Excuse me, Mr. or Ms. Crap-For-Brains, but I'm sick of people repackaging RNC talking points as editorials. Buy a brain and try thinking for a change.
Latte left my ass. And I've come to the conclusion that the most unpatriotic thing you can do in a country that claims to take its strength from the free exercise of freedoms of conscience and expression, is question the patriotism of those who take advantage of those freedoms.
And way to borrow Fox News's tactics (e.g., 'Plenty of folks ... dismiss him blah blah blah').
From today's unsigned editorial about Howard Dean:
Howard Dean, the man nobody in Washington wanted as national chairman, simply outhustled all his rivals in the weeks before the vote of the 447-member Democratic National Committee. He was not the choice of the party insiders. So Dean went straight to the delegates themselves for his support.
So I'm unclear. Is this supposed to be a bad thing?
But there's more:
Dean comes into the fray with plenty of baggage. Plenty of folks, especially Republicans, dismiss him as the angry voice of the latte left: virulently anti-war, pro-abortion, morally ambivalent, barely patriotic.
Inflammatory, half-true and, frankly, doublespeak worthy of Novak.
Excuse me, Mr. or Ms. Crap-For-Brains, but I'm sick of people repackaging RNC talking points as editorials. Buy a brain and try thinking for a change.
Latte left my ass. And I've come to the conclusion that the most unpatriotic thing you can do in a country that claims to take its strength from the free exercise of freedoms of conscience and expression, is question the patriotism of those who take advantage of those freedoms.
And way to borrow Fox News's tactics (e.g., 'Plenty of folks ... dismiss him blah blah blah').
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
politics: The department of redundancy, repetition and redundancy department
Had I been in the mood for it, this article would have made me laugh.
Um. Isn't it the job if the FDA to be independent and to ensure drug safety? It was selling out government to the corporations that made it nothing more than a toxic rubber-stamp agency, not some organizational flaw.
So the Republican Regime response? Add another agency! Add another department! Add another commission! Add another board!
It's very like their response to all of the redundancy and confusion amid cross-communication involved in coordinating terrorism intelligence: Add another layer of bureaucracy!
Spend more! Add more departments! Have meetings about having meetings about scheduling a discussion about having a meeting someday about some agenda item as yet undecided, but that will be decided in a committee meeting about six moths from now after several other meetings intended to help set up that meeting.
Fiscal responsibility, my left nut! People are dying because of your greed and incompetence, you idiots. On the streets of America and in their houses, on the streets of Iraq and in their houses. You are so black of heart and empty of soul that the death of the commoner means nothing to you as long as it advances your power.
I hope a particularly painful and debilitating disease strikes you, purely by chance and not by anyone's design, and that the drugs you take, the ones approved by this disastrously corrupt institution are every bit as safe and effective as you've made sure they are.
And then I hope you burn in hell for eternity, alone in your torment while we are deaf to your screams.
Sorry. Feeling a little grumpy today.
Um. Isn't it the job if the FDA to be independent and to ensure drug safety? It was selling out government to the corporations that made it nothing more than a toxic rubber-stamp agency, not some organizational flaw.
So the Republican Regime response? Add another agency! Add another department! Add another commission! Add another board!
It's very like their response to all of the redundancy and confusion amid cross-communication involved in coordinating terrorism intelligence: Add another layer of bureaucracy!
Spend more! Add more departments! Have meetings about having meetings about scheduling a discussion about having a meeting someday about some agenda item as yet undecided, but that will be decided in a committee meeting about six moths from now after several other meetings intended to help set up that meeting.
Fiscal responsibility, my left nut! People are dying because of your greed and incompetence, you idiots. On the streets of America and in their houses, on the streets of Iraq and in their houses. You are so black of heart and empty of soul that the death of the commoner means nothing to you as long as it advances your power.
I hope a particularly painful and debilitating disease strikes you, purely by chance and not by anyone's design, and that the drugs you take, the ones approved by this disastrously corrupt institution are every bit as safe and effective as you've made sure they are.
And then I hope you burn in hell for eternity, alone in your torment while we are deaf to your screams.
Sorry. Feeling a little grumpy today.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
politics: A uniquely clueless man
I heard an exchange on the radio this morning from one of King George the Delusional's dog-and-pony shows, this on from Nebraska a few days ago, and immediately went searching on the Web for a transcript.
Fortunately, the White House itself was happy to oblige. The point of the town halls is, of course, a discussion of Social Security, but the Resident's response to this woman's plight is uniquely telling. Missing from the transcript, of course, is her tone of voice ... her frustration, her weariness.
(edited ... follow the above link for the full text):
MS. MORNIN: Okay, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. First of all, you've got the hardest job in America, being a single mom.
MS. MORNIN: Thank you. (Applause.)
...
THE PRESIDENT: You don't have to worry.
MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)
MS. MORNIN: Not much. Not much.
I mean, really.
Fortunately, the White House itself was happy to oblige. The point of the town halls is, of course, a discussion of Social Security, but the Resident's response to this woman's plight is uniquely telling. Missing from the transcript, of course, is her tone of voice ... her frustration, her weariness.
(edited ... follow the above link for the full text):
MS. MORNIN: Okay, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. First of all, you've got the hardest job in America, being a single mom.
MS. MORNIN: Thank you. (Applause.)
...
THE PRESIDENT: You don't have to worry.
MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)
MS. MORNIN: Not much. Not much.
I mean, really.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
politics: Preserve social security
Yeah, so I keep forgetting to talk about the RNC-mail I got the other day.
I looked at the subject line before seeing who it was from. "Preserve social security," it said. Hmm, I thought, then looked to see who it was from. Ken Mehlman. Hmm.
Wait. Ken Mehlman?! As in, the RNC chairman? Ken Mehlman wants to preserve social security? Wow! This is new! This is, like, a major shift in policy. Wow.
Yeah, right. Then I started reading. "President Bush is committed to keeping the promise of Social Security for today's seniors while strengthening Social Security for our children."
I sniff the earthy aroma of steer manure.
"In his State of the Union speech speech the President discussed his plan to save Social Security for younger workers by allowing them the choice to set aside portions of their salary in personal accounts so they can start creating their own nest egg for retirement. The Social Security benefits for those at or near retirement will not change."
Can someone please tell this moron that Social Security isn't a 401(k). It ain't an IRA. It's not a fricking retirement plan.
"With your help we will preserve Social Security and make sure it is around for our children and grandchildren."
Erm. I'm still perplexed as to how taking money out of Social Security and handing it to brokers is going to preserve anyone's security except the brokers'.
I was horribly disappointed.
I looked at the subject line before seeing who it was from. "Preserve social security," it said. Hmm, I thought, then looked to see who it was from. Ken Mehlman. Hmm.
Wait. Ken Mehlman?! As in, the RNC chairman? Ken Mehlman wants to preserve social security? Wow! This is new! This is, like, a major shift in policy. Wow.
Yeah, right. Then I started reading. "President Bush is committed to keeping the promise of Social Security for today's seniors while strengthening Social Security for our children."
I sniff the earthy aroma of steer manure.
"In his State of the Union speech speech the President discussed his plan to save Social Security for younger workers by allowing them the choice to set aside portions of their salary in personal accounts so they can start creating their own nest egg for retirement. The Social Security benefits for those at or near retirement will not change."
Can someone please tell this moron that Social Security isn't a 401(k). It ain't an IRA. It's not a fricking retirement plan.
"With your help we will preserve Social Security and make sure it is around for our children and grandchildren."
Erm. I'm still perplexed as to how taking money out of Social Security and handing it to brokers is going to preserve anyone's security except the brokers'.
I was horribly disappointed.
Friday, February 04, 2005
politics: Hook, line and sinker
It was a lovely Kodak moment. Truly.
In case you missed this, a contributor at Daily Kos did some digging. Safia Taleb Al Souhail's story seemed a little too pat, a little bit too much like a Hallmark Channel movie.
And it is. It is.
It seems she left Iraq in 1968, and returned to Iraq sometime after the invasion. Her father, the one killed by Saddam's intelligence services? In Lebanon. For planning a coup d'etat against Saddam. Truly a bad thing wherever it happened, but I have an instinctive mistrust of people who leave out key pieces of stories in order to make their narrative flow more smoothly.
She seems to have returned to Iraq shortly after the invasion. She works with a 'non-partisan' organization, International Alliance For Justice, which received $950,000 from the US Congress in 2002 and which really seems to be an American right-wing front group (nominally based in Paris, oddly enough, though a 2003 article shows them based in Washington, D.C.) ... the most left-leaning person on their board of directors is Zell Miller.
Oh yeah. And she's the Iraqi ambassador to Egypt.
Oh, yes, I know there's no smoking gun here, like some revelation that her name is actually Mary Singletary and she's actually from Walla Walla. But and Iraqi politician who's spent most of her life in exile, and most of her exile in the United States, is hardly some average citizen plucked at random to represent the ordinary Iraqi. She certainly has a lot to gain in terms of payback and personal power from the success of the BushCo agenda.
Read the unfolding story at the above link. It's an interesting, evolving research project.
In case you missed this, a contributor at Daily Kos did some digging. Safia Taleb Al Souhail's story seemed a little too pat, a little bit too much like a Hallmark Channel movie.
And it is. It is.
It seems she left Iraq in 1968, and returned to Iraq sometime after the invasion. Her father, the one killed by Saddam's intelligence services? In Lebanon. For planning a coup d'etat against Saddam. Truly a bad thing wherever it happened, but I have an instinctive mistrust of people who leave out key pieces of stories in order to make their narrative flow more smoothly.
She seems to have returned to Iraq shortly after the invasion. She works with a 'non-partisan' organization, International Alliance For Justice, which received $950,000 from the US Congress in 2002 and which really seems to be an American right-wing front group (nominally based in Paris, oddly enough, though a 2003 article shows them based in Washington, D.C.) ... the most left-leaning person on their board of directors is Zell Miller.
Oh yeah. And she's the Iraqi ambassador to Egypt.
Oh, yes, I know there's no smoking gun here, like some revelation that her name is actually Mary Singletary and she's actually from Walla Walla. But and Iraqi politician who's spent most of her life in exile, and most of her exile in the United States, is hardly some average citizen plucked at random to represent the ordinary Iraqi. She certainly has a lot to gain in terms of payback and personal power from the success of the BushCo agenda.
Read the unfolding story at the above link. It's an interesting, evolving research project.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
sports: Return of the birds
Sports?! I have a sports-related entry here?!
Yes, it's true.
I can't say I'm a die-hard hockey fan, but it is one of my favorite sports. I had been looking forward to being able to go to some Coyotes games once I was done with school. Imagine my dismay, then, at the lockout, which still shows few signs of abating any time soon.
The first hockey team to capture my interest was the Phoenix Roadrunners, an IHL team that played here for several years before being eclipsed by the NHL interlopers from Winnipeg and fading away into the night.
So news comes this morning that minor league hockey is coming back to Phoenix. They're calling the team the Roadrunners though they otherwise have no relation to the late, lamented team, showing that they recognize the power of the name of a once-loved local team. I just wish Major League Baseball had paid attention to this when they named the relocated Expos the Washington Capitals instead of the Senators. But I digress.
Claude Lemieux is the new team's president. Another prominent Phoenix hockey name.
I am pleased. Just waiting to find out when tickets go on sale.
Yes, it's true.
I can't say I'm a die-hard hockey fan, but it is one of my favorite sports. I had been looking forward to being able to go to some Coyotes games once I was done with school. Imagine my dismay, then, at the lockout, which still shows few signs of abating any time soon.
The first hockey team to capture my interest was the Phoenix Roadrunners, an IHL team that played here for several years before being eclipsed by the NHL interlopers from Winnipeg and fading away into the night.
So news comes this morning that minor league hockey is coming back to Phoenix. They're calling the team the Roadrunners though they otherwise have no relation to the late, lamented team, showing that they recognize the power of the name of a once-loved local team. I just wish Major League Baseball had paid attention to this when they named the relocated Expos the Washington Capitals instead of the Senators. But I digress.
Claude Lemieux is the new team's president. Another prominent Phoenix hockey name.
I am pleased. Just waiting to find out when tickets go on sale.
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