Hockey fans have questions about my hockey column, and sometimes I have answers:
Dear AZpuckMan: Why the media blackout on the Craig Cunningham story? Don’t you want us to know what is going on with his condition? — Mr. Twitter
Dear Mr. Twitter: We simply still don’t have a lot of confirmed details to report yet about the events surrounding the medical emergency for Tucson Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham. Cunningham collapsed on the ice before a recent game, and has been hospitalized in critical condition since.
We are so used to instant postings coming from Facebook, Twitter and the like – notice I don’t call these mostly anonymous blurbs “news,” because most of this social media stuff is merely speculation.
And the speculation machine was on overdrive in the days following Cunningham’s collapse. I saw fans take screenshots of other fans’ speculative Twitter entries then post them on Facebook pages and claim they were proof that something about Cunningham’s condition was true. That’s not how reporting works, folks.
For the Cunningham story it took me half a day just to acquire enough reliable sources to confirm (in a complete journalistic sense, ready for publication) that he was actually still alive. It took me another half-day of work to piece together events after his collapse, but it was impossible to verify all of it through multiple sources. So my speculation was not published online or anywhere else.
Dear AZpuckMan: It’s great that you love the new professional Tucson Roadrunners, but shouldn’t you also spread some sugar over to the University of Arizona Wildcats hockey team? They need your help! – Wilma T. Wildcat
Dear Wilma Wildcat: I love hockey at the U of A so much that I am back with the team, creating media for them. My professional involvement with UA hockey means that I should not write about the team in my Arizona Daily Star column. Whoops, I just did! But my editor understands this clarification. And give my best wishes to your husband, Wilbur.
Dear AZpuckMan: Why don’t you do more to promote the Roadrunners? Your job is to promote this new team, and you should avoid anything negative and do more to help their bottom line, shouldn’t you? – First guy in line to get a Roadrunners T-shirt in July
Dear Mr. July: The Roadrunners have a professional promotions and marketing staff who are paid to sell the team. They write their own promo stories and create their own promo media, all with one goal: to sell the Roadrunners product.
My job is to share my independent thoughts and observations about hockey in Arizona, with a focus on Tucson. Yes, I do want the Roadrunners to succeed (that’s the opinion part of my column), and no, I have no responsibility to promote the team’s financial success (that’s the independent journalism part of my column).
Fans can quickly get defensive when even the tiniest bit of news is published about their beloved team which they might consider negative. I understand that. I also understand that sharing the whole picture of a story is the only way to represent it as faithfully as possible.
Dear AZpuckMan: It was silly for you to report that some folks at Roadrunners games think the music is too loud. I don’t think it is too loud, so no one else should either. — Ozzy Osbourne Jr.
Dear Ozzy Jr: One fan webpage had a field day making fun of the those who complained to me that the music and other public address audio elements of the Roadrunners’ game presentation were ear-splitters. They posted dozens of insults aimed at fans who left a game or moved because the loudspeakers at the Tucson Arena can appear much louder than normal in some areas, depending on where you are sitting.
But those online insulters don’t know that after the publication of my column that many others wrote to me confirming the same earache sentiment: The music and PA in some areas of the arena are too loud. I have been asked repeatedly to get that information to team management.
Perhaps this Christmas season we could all use some empathy and help them. That’s the attitude I know the Roadrunners are taking.
