I read alot. Mostly articles linked through Twitter.
My problem is that there doesn't seem to be any balance. The MSM in this city is mostly shills for Oilers Management. The Oilogosphere seem mostly inclined to defecate all over the team with the minutiae of extended stats.
It seems to me that no one has any balance including Matheson, Jones, Zona, BDHS, Lowetide, etc.
Maybe it is just me, but there isn't much worth reading in commentary, but I supposed it is human nature to be disappointed with a bottom feeder, or engrossed by the optimism of the management who is staying the course.
Who do you read that you feel is most centred?
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DD only signs in Edmonton if he is a big fan of losing. The image that the Oilers are an up and coming team is dead. - WingedWheel1987
I feel Oilersnation.com has a nice balance with a bunch of different POVs. Is this main stream enough? In this day and age, I'd say yes. More people go to the net for their news than actual newspapers.
Since the is no true accountibilty with any of them, it makes it hard to take any of them seriously in the role of pundit.
Lowetide is probably closest to "centred" as any of them, but unfortunately it is his "proteges" that have furthered the agenda that a Bill James concept of statistical analysis can be applied to hockey, and that player analysis does not require watching the game anymore.
There is very little to read unfortunately. Everyone has gone a bit crazy since the cup run and it has only gotten worse during the rebuild.
The media are(and always has been) shills for the team, and the blogs are generally just hive minds where you can find your specific bias in a forum where no one will ever contradict the site's specific party line.
Lowtide is probably the closest to being moderate, his main bias being blind nostalgia(We should rehire Mactavish, he was a fantastic coach!), but he's running out of things to write about and spends most of the time rehashing old topics. After that it's Cult of Hockey and Oilersnation which have decent quality due to a variety of contributers(would consider them better if I didn't have to avoid all the Willis articles), and it kind of goes downhill from there to the irrational drama queens(anyone at Copper and blue) and arrogant know-it-alls(mudcrutch).
If I were to pick one, it would be Brownlee. The guy calls a spade a spade, and usually infers a good amount of info that he isn't able to outright communicate.
Gregor is a close second. He answers twitter questions and is an honest guy. Both have a sarcastic side which is refreshing, but without the grandstanding or statmongering that so many bloggers subscribe to.
Maybe those two share most of my opinions and therefore I enjoy reading them, but I find them to be a good read.
I read alot. Mostly articles linked through Twitter.
My problem is that there doesn't seem to be any balance. The MSM in this city is mostly shills for Oilers Management. The Oilogosphere seem mostly inclined to defecate all over the team with the minutiae of extended stats.
I'd say that the title of 'Worst CBA Team,' the recent dual last place finishes and this year's surge to 29th (!), that it's clear which side (msm vs bloggers) have a clearer perspective on the team
I haven't read a MSM piece in probably 3-4 years. Oilersnation has a good mix, Browlee being the best as he is a MSM guy who has the ability to now to take the icing off his stuff.
I wouldn't mind starting something up with some of the top-end posters here like LMHF, Matt Bugg etc. It would be fun to try, not sure if there's a need for it, but it would be fun to try.
I enjoy reading Brownlee at Oilersnation.com. He's a bit of a **** disturber sometimes, but having a blogger who has also been a professional journalist is a breath of fresh air. He understands the limitations of MSM (i.e. if you **** all over the team you will have your press pass revoked) but still seems to be pretty connected for a blogger.
My biggest beef with bloggers is that, since they don't have inside connections, they tend to blow things out of proportion or even create news by passing it off as "investigative" blogging; this is why so much weight gets put on advanced stats and it doesn't make for very intelligent reading.
I'd say that the title of 'Worst CBA Team,' the recent dual last place finishes and this year's surge to 29th (!), that it's clear which side (msm vs bloggers) have a clearer perspective on the team
I agree completely with this. There is no need for balance when the truth is heavily weighted to one side.
I haven't read a MSM piece in probably 3-4 years. Oilersnation has a good mix, Browlee being the best as he is a MSM guy who has the ability to now to take the icing off his stuff.
I wouldn't mind starting something up with some of the top-end posters here like LMHF, Matt Bugg etc. It would be fun to try, not sure if there's a need for it, but it would be fun to try.
I come here and discuss things with people and I make my own inferences watching the games.
I dislike Oilers media and try to avoid it.
Yeah, I find the Oilers really only have two types of media. Reactionists who overreact about every little thing, good or bad. And Extremists who either blindly follow whatever management says or blindly disagrees with whatever management says.
Yeah, I find the Oilers really only have two types of media. Reactionists who overreact about every little thing, good or bad. And Extremists who either blindly follow whatever management says or blindly disagrees with whatever management says.
So true. There's people who are always praising the team, finding ways to make us keep watching, giving us these illusions that everything is going well and then there are the nuts online who dissect everything to a point where they forget it's just a game.
I don't mind Oilersnation. Refuse to read anything that has the words "Tyler Dellow".
Whether he is or isn't is kinda beside the point, no? Fact is he's been right more then he's been wrong and while he is a bit off centre, I think it's necessary to read what he has to say if for no other reason then it offsets the RAH! RAH! msm voice.
Last edited by Marconius: 04-09-2012 at 12:20 AM.
Reason: Whoops, quoted wrong post
Whether he is or isn't is kinda beside the point, no? Fact is he's been right more then he's been wrong and while he is a bit off centre, I think it's necessary to read what he has to say if for no other reason then it offsets the RAH! RAH! msm voice.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or just haven't read that poster's name yet.
I read alot. Mostly articles linked through Twitter.
My problem is that there doesn't seem to be any balance. The MSM in this city is mostly shills for Oilers Management. The Oilogosphere seem mostly inclined to defecate all over the team with the minutiae of extended stats.
It seems to me that no one has any balance including Matheson, Jones, Zona, BDHS, Lowetide, etc.
Maybe it is just me, but there isn't much worth reading in commentary, but I supposed it is human nature to be disappointed with a bottom feeder, or engrossed by the optimism of the management who is staying the course.
Who do you read that you feel is most centred?
It is pretty grim for sure. The best site I know of is invitation only.
Since the is no true accountibilty with any of them, it makes it hard to take any of them seriously in the role of pundit.
Lowetide is probably closest to "centred" as any of them, but unfortunately it is his "proteges" that have furthered the agenda that a Bill James concept of statistical analysis can be applied to hockey, and that player analysis does not require watching the game anymore.
While Lowetide does use advanced stats a lot he surely doesn't advocate evaluating a player by stats only.
Lowetide is probably the best Oiler blog out there.
