This is David Staples. I met him a couple of weeks ago for an article he was doing on Oiler blogs. The article appeared today in the print and online editions of the Edmonton Journal. Staples did a fine job of describing many of the sites, and in fact devoted an entire page to Battle of Alberta, Hot Oil, Covered in Oil, IOF, MC79 and this site. He pointed out the differences in style and background of each blog, and I think reflected fairly the "community" of the blogosphere.I've attached a prompt to "Cult of Hockey" (Staples' blogsite) to the right, and hope you'll take the time to visit each of the sites that are listed. And if you decide to join the party, please drop in and let me know and I'll throw your site up there too.
Just don't steal 'Horcoff and Die.' :-)
Congrats on the mention Lowetide. Read the article this morning and you certainly deserve to be listed among the best there is in the Oilers blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in mike w's Facebook posting of this article:
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a pretty reasonable article, and generally pretty devoid of the factual errors you expect from this kind of article. Probably helps that Staples actually reads these blogs regularly.
I do think Lowetide got kind of short-shrift, though. The man is a wonder, and I don't think that came out in the article. Staples just reproduced his humility without giving it any kind of critical examination, when any such examination would reveal just how misplaced it is. I don't know of any other blogger in any sphere who matches that level of prolificness with that level of knowledge and content quality.
congrats also Lowetide - great job. Just wanted to mention that after 20 games the oilers have 5 ties, 3 wins and 12 losses if you exclude the SO wins and SO losses. That's a 20% win ratio.
ReplyDeleteWell earned kudos, you are a true encyclopedia of random hockey knowledge and stories all of which you tie together in a meaningful way.
ReplyDeleteGood article...I was surprised to hear yo work for 1260....any chance you ever reprise your role as a radio personality with the content of your and the rest of the sphere's blog as the content? I'd definitely tune in - you do a great job here.
ReplyDeleteOilman: Not a chance lol. I worked for close to 20 years on-air playing music and talking after the record. I can't imagine talking for three hours straight and making sense.
ReplyDeleteI'd go 5 minutes and then introduce "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." :-)
Horcoff and Die
ReplyDelete... that's just golden.
Just wanted to mention that after 20 games the oilers have 5 ties, 3 wins and 12 losses if you exclude the SO wins and SO losses. That's a 20% win ratio.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's actually 27.5%, but I'll leave that to one of the stats gurus.
Hey Alan...we worked together at 'RN many years ago and didn't know until today who your alter ego was.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoy your stuff although I frequently disagree with your conclusions.
All the same...thanks for the great reads.
Andrew? Last name? I'm old, man.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine talking for three hours straight and making sense.
ReplyDeleteLet's see... this comes from a guy (a) with 20 years on-air experience, and (b) who knows as much about hockey as anyone I've ever read.
Suddenly it's a lot more clear to me why almost all sports radio is complete garbage.
Nice clip, LT. You're at the top of the bunch in my books.
ReplyDeleteALAN MITCHELL is the mysterious author of Lowetide?
ReplyDeleteCongrats Alan for being "outed" although many people do know you. I liked the fact that you were mostly anonymous yet not using that as a gimmick (see Eklund). It was more about the content than the personality.
I was pleased to see that you are someone I have dealt with professionally and met before. It puts a face and background to the story.
I almost regret describing you as "Grandpa Simpson" in our column a couple of weeks ago. Almost.
I imagine you don't wear a red onion on your belt "as was the fashion" those days.
BTW, years ago I met you while I was managing Terry Vaughn's experiment of a lounge. I enjoyed working through their one and only foray into advertising before the experiment ended.
Dave
LT....great tune...although it nearly makes my fingers bleed trying to get through the whole thing on the old gee-tar....anyways, too bad about the radio thing....you could at least add something to the "dream team" round tables....I'm e-mailing Stauffer right now!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, LT, I should have guessed you were a DJ with the musical knowledge and references...I mean come on...Shirley Bassey! who else only knows that name from "and there's that bush that's shaped like Shirley Bassey!" from Shrek 2!
ReplyDeleteGreat article.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you LT for getting the acknowledgment you deserve as really the best Oil blog out there IMO.
I imagine you don't wear a red onion on your belt "as was the fashion" those days.
ReplyDeleteActually, it was the "big yellow ones" (because of the war).
Congrats Allan
ReplyDeleteCongrats LT, and thanks for the much needed help in getting through the hockey-less wasteland of summer, when we're starving for something Oilers to read that isn't just "Lowe sucks, fire McTavish"!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHear here. Love your blog. You really treat the history of the game with understanding and respect, LT. Pretty impressive for such a young feller.
ReplyDeleteWill you still make me call you Lain?
ReplyDeleteLT- Too bad your cover is blown. I suspect a couple readers have met me too, and if they read all my posts together they would go, "Of course!" But then I would need to watch what I say, and I'd rather blow off my mouth.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't do hockey stuff professionally, I suspect there are others here that do. I wonder how many of the posts are from players and coaches under an alias. And to that, when I started posting here people were calling me "Kevin." I'm not, but I'm clearly not the only one wondering if he is around.
Much of the fun is the anonimity. And that speeling doesn't really matter, and there is no penalty for throwing out unchecked statements and mostly it doesn't affect a pay cheque. Its the freedom that draws me for sure.
The quality of the post is what draws me here, not the name at the top. I liked it when I only knew you at LT. To me you could have been Lee Fogolin for all I knew, (quietly I was hoping you were.)
Too bad your out. As for me, I'll just change my name.
To me you could have been Lee Fogolin for all I knew, (quietly I was hoping you were.)
ReplyDeleteLet's not kid ourselves - I think we all were.
Mirtle: Yes. :-)
ReplyDeleteMike: It already has its advantages. I'm not going to get too deeply into this, but I got a call from an old friend last night because of the article. For a very specific reason (my fault) I'd let the relationship slide (guilt), and his call last night was like a giant weight off my shoulders.
If I get nothing else out of going public on this, it's paid in full.
Congrats, Lain.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine calling you 'Alan'. And when my brother does, I still stop and connect the dots that he's talking about, or to, you.
Like you, I hope that the Oilogosphere exposure spurs some in the MSM to study the compelling statistical analysis provided by our deep-thinking fellow fans.
I want to get upset about these line combos but I know it won't last. The way macT has these lines crafted, we don't have two lines that you can play against real players.
ReplyDeleteBut we know that's not the way things will be come the start of the second period.
MacT will wind up going with three lines for the vast majority and 46 won't be one of the nine who makes the cut.
Just a couple of things to close:
- If I was going to give one of three offensive kids, ie 12-13-89, a bump to a PVP line, I'd do it with 13 and pair him with Hemsky.
- As long as the Oilers are tied to the notion of 13-89 together, they should only play them against the 4th line
Congrats LT. You've just become a reason for me to read the Edmonton journal again.
ReplyDeleteRadio sales, eh! I'm going to repeat my joke from hockey's future and say, gee LT I thought you seemed like such an honest guy ;)
ReplyDeleteAcutally lots and lots of smart radio guys later in their career realized that if you want to make decent money without having to go insane worrying about your morning show ratings, sales is the way to go.
Me? I don't think I could sell a cupcake to a kid at fat camp. So thank god there are some of you out there who do it, or no job for me.
Are you sad that you've been exposed? Now if they do another oilogosphere hot off...
People, Lain believed in the Lupul/Smid package, so, how can you be surprised that the guy's a salesman;)
ReplyDelete