Laraque’s Blog Gets Knocked Out By Canadiens Brass
January 9, 2009 by Tyler
Filed under Hockey Columns
The following is the first article submitted to NHL Digest by columnist Kyle Roussel. You are encouraged to catch up with Kyle at www.twitter.com/kyleroussel. Enjoy!
Wow. Words cannot express how disappointed I am in the Montreal Canadiens. First, I should mention that I am a die hard fan of the team. They’re an inseparable part of my life. That said, they’ve clearly screwed up this time.
Generally speaking, there is no team in pro sports that carries itself with more class and dignity than the Habs. Just look at any retirement ceremony, or any event where they honor players from the past. It’s pure class. Other teams probably take notes on how to properly commemorate an occasion. Of course, nobody’s perfect. The Habs waited too long to retire Hall of Famer Boom-Boom Geoffrion’s jersey. He passed away the day of the ceremony. Poor Larry Robinson’s parents both passed on before they got to see what they should have seen 15 years ago. Those are 2 black marks on what is otherwise a virtually spotless record.
But this past Tuesday, I think they’ve really blown it, and it was SO simple to avoid. All they had to do was let things be.
Habs enforcer Georges Laracque has been blogging with Sportsnet.ca since December ‘08. Well, make that HAD been blogging. After only 2 entries, someone in the Canadiens hierarchy told him to end his apparent rogue activity.
Check out Georges’ opening statement in his last blog:
“Before starting this blog, I just want to let everyone know that this will be my last one. It’s unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects. As you can imagine, when you’re a French-Canadian playing in Montréal you get a lot of requests so I agree with the team’s decision because this makes it fair for everyone.”
Did they command you to say that Georges? C’mon, you can admit it. Get on Twitter and let us know the real deal! Or are you not allowed to do that either? If Shaq can do it, why shouldn’t you be allowed? Oh that’s right. Because the Canadiens don’t get it. At least not when it comes to the new world of marketing and PR. Which is crazy, because there are some great social media marketers in Montreal that can probably help them out.
It’s no secret: blogging, and other forms of social media bring organizations and fans/customers closer together. Georges, as brief as it was, had a thoughtful blog on the go. He was earning respect with his mind and words instead of his fists. Hell, he’s an enforcer blogging about the validity about fighting in hockey. How transparent is that?
So what exactly are the Canadiens afraid of? Can it be something so infantile and childish and corporate as they’re worried that he will say something “unauthorized”? Like a rogue customer support agent letting slip on his own blog that his company’s software doesn’t quite do all the things it says it does? Are they afraid that since it’s not hosted on their website, they can’t control the message, so they just simply deny permission? Sounds rather anti-cluetrain, doesn’t it? Does their fear creep closer to ice level? Are they afraid he would give opponents bulletin-board material? The Canadiens reasoning is among the lamest and most pitiful excuses I’ve ever heard. It’s the parent telling the child to stop what they’re doing simply because they can.
How on earth, in this day and age, can a reputable organization like the Canadiens be so blind? Or so stupid?
Let’s go back to Georges’ opening statement:
“it’s unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects.”
That’s sort of like saying that since you can’t please everyone, don’t bother trying. Does that make any sense at all? Seriously, I’m asking the question. Does that make any sense? Putting it all together, you’ve got a player who is publishing thoughtful stuff, promoting discussion on the game of hockey and driving interest. “Sorry, please shut it down. You’re not allowed because then we have to say yes to everyone else’s request, for everyone else’s time no matter what they want your time for.” Huh? It’s a blog! Done on his own time! It contributes so much and costs so little.
There is an insatiable appetite for Habs hockey in Montreal. It cannot be quenched. Why put the lid on something that was providing value at no cost to the team? The Canadiens are missing a unique opportunity to further build their own brand and buzz by allowing one of their more intelligent and (surprisingly) well spoken “employees” to connect with fans. If they think they’re a bulletproof brand, they’re sadly mistaken. Habs management must have been shocked at the poor attendance when the Canadiens had terrible teams through the late 90’s and early 2000’s, considering every home game prior to that was a sellout.
What kind of damage are the Canadiens doing to themselves? Well, for starters, they’re putting a sour taste in an opinionated player’s mouth. Will he have nice things to say about the Canadiens to his free agent friends? Maybe, maybe not. They’re making fools of themselves in public by showing how woefully behind the times they are.
Can you think of other ways in which they’re hurting themselves by imposing this restriction on Laracque? In the end, 21,273 fans will still be at Canadiens home games, and a million other people will tune in on tv, radio and online, so what do I know?
I hope that enough sports and marketing people are as upset about this as I am and that enough criticism finds it’s way back to Donald Beauchamp’s inbox (he’s the Habs head of PR). I’m hoping that they reverse their decision, and instead of a lame compromise of starting a filtered blog on canadiens.com, they instead allow Laracque to resume his blogging on sportsnet.ca.
So….are you as ticked off as I am about this? Can you see a reasonable angle that prompts the Habs to do this? How can we as hockey fans and social media nuts change this?
Tim on Fri, 9th Jan 2009 11:50 pm
It is unfortunate that this has occured, but I think you are overreacting. I too am a die hard Habs fan. I have had the opportunity to read several of Laraque’s blogs and found them interesting and well written. It’s a shame they will not continue.
With that being said if this was/is a team rule, then all players should have to follow it. He is under contract to the Canadiens. Second, there have been rumblings about Laraque missing rehab on his injured groin. We all know he has missed considerable time this season because of it. If this is true and they were allowing him to continue his blog despite the rule, the team would be well within guidelines to put a stop to it.
Whatever the case, I fully trust the decisions made by the Canadiens brass, including but not limited to Bob Gainey. I also fully understand your point about the benefits of social media and understand why you would be upset. I just think the Canadiens job is to win hockey games. I think we can all see the potential harm that 20 blogs by 20 different Habs players on 20 different sites could cause as well. We all see the circus the media in Montreal can cause, this could possibly add to it.
For now, bloggers like you will have to pick up the slack for Laraque! Cheers and go Habs.
Tyler on Sat, 10th Jan 2009 7:54 am
Kyle and Tim,
You both make very good points and it is obvious that fans would like to hear directly from the players.
However, with the way that today’s media fires up the rumor mill it is quite apparent that teams must do something to reign in all possibilities of negative attention.
As much as I would love to see players “allowed” to do their own thing and think that, if done responsibly, it would be a great way to enhance their personal profile as well as the team and league profile with fans it is too dangerous from a PR perspective to let players loose “willy nilly” on the internet these days.
Great job Kyle, I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Tyler
Walt Webb on Sat, 10th Jan 2009 9:34 am
Well I guess George lost a bit of focus on hockey while doing his Blog. There is also enough media attention on the Habs anyway without having to worry about what one of their players is saying. The Habs felt his game was suffering because of the Blog so they have every right to tell him to be done with it.
Walt AKA All Sports on the Web
All Sports on the Web
Kyle on Sat, 10th Jan 2009 9:37 am
Hi Tim & Tyler,
Thank you both for your feedback!
@Tim – I agree that while stupid, if it is a team rule, why are they making him stop now? Why not stop him after his first blog posting? The only answer to that is that the Canadiens’ front office didn’t know he was doing it, but I can’t see how that’s possible. Everyone knew he had a blog (they even mentioned it on Sportsnet).
I also think they deserve some criticism for having the rule in the first place. It’s just plain dumb. Take a look at this list: http://juicedsportsblog.com/2008/01/top-19-athlete-bloggers.html There are several guys there who are MUCH higher profile than Laracque and have WAY more demands of their time than Laracque does, injured or not. (Mind you some are rarely updated). Why are these teams grating, and in some cases, encouraging this? Some players even have their own websites. I can’t think of any current NHLer with his own personal website. The NHL is missing something here. Their mindset is about 15 years old. Even more bleeding edge, is the fact that Shaq, as we now know, is on Twitter (twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ). That’s about as raw and unfiltered as it gets. I understand that Shaq is an industry unto himself, but how can the Suns allow him to engage in this activity? He’s also often hurt, plays by his own rules and takes seemigly forever to get back from injuries.
I wrote my blog entry while I was angry, which I probably shouldn’t have done, but I still feel the same way today.
@Tyler – I think any and all teams receive negative attention. Just look at any fan site and you’re sure to find a bunch of armchair quarterbacks who do nothing but rant on these forums. There’s nothing the team can do to reign in that negativity. I don’t see how snuffing out a blog will help to quell negativity. In fact, if the Canadiens had done nothing at all, they wouldn’t have been receiving negative attention from me (which I guess is also a blessing for me!).
I just think that teams are being way too heavy handed and missing the bigger picture here. For a league that struggles to gain attention, you would think that the league and its teams would want players to take advantage of these FREE tools available to help get some traction and build some loyalty. Yeah, they’re going to get the occasional, or even frequent negative posting. So what? You’ve got fans that believe in your league and sport, those people will offset those comments easily.
Anyway, I just can’t see any angle from which the Canadiens are within their right mind to do this, even if it is a “rule”. Again, I ask you to consider how you would feel if you wrote a personal blog on your own time about your field of work. Your employer then finds out, and even though you don’t mention your company, or who you work for in your blog, they ask you to stop blogging. If this is something you were in to, and had a little community buzzing around you, I don’t think you’d be so willing to let it go.
Again, thanks for the comments guys, I didn’t expect to receive 2 comments on my first article within a few hours!
Success!
Kyle on Sat, 10th Jan 2009 10:28 am
I was just floating around the net and found that the hockey news also has a bunch of current NHLers blogging for them: http://www.thehockeynews.com/blogs_list/2-Insider_blogs.html
Again, why do the Canadiens have that rule?
Scott on Sat, 10th Jan 2009 12:18 pm
I don’t understand what the logic behind this decision is. Players in other sports are allowed to express themselves through blogging without having the respective teams shut it down.
Gilbert Arenas and Curt Schilling are two prominent athletes that use their blogs to connect with fans. It’s really too bad, I enjoyed Laraque’s blog and I’m sure many others did as well.
Kyle on Sat, 10th Jan 2009 7:16 pm
@ Walt – I don’t agree. A blog doesn’t take weeks to compose. He probably does them at night during his own time. A groin injury, such as he has takes time and rest to heal properly. I can’t get on board with the argument that his game is suffering. The Canadiens didn’t sign him to score goals. They needed him to be a physical presence. He has done that when he’s been in the lineup.
To me it’s a clear-cut case of the Canadiens being too stiff and rigid on this issue, not to mention behind the times.
I can’t be swayed to believe that a blog would cause a player’s game to slip, even a little bit. If some of the higher profile players that I listed in the link above can do it, so can Laracque.
Thanks again to all for their thoughts!!