Liam Maguire "Off the Record"
Rob Del Mundo
I offer the following comments as a follow-up to the discussion on
Liam Maguire's appearance on the TSN program "Off The Record".
Although the episode originally aired immediately following the
end of the World Junior Tournament, I had the chance to view it
only recently.
Overall, I thought Liam did a fine job in defending the Canadian
junior program. While I don't believe that the junior program
is above criticism, nevertheless I do think Liam was justified
in slamming those in the media (ie "guys who hide behind laptop
computers"). who berated the 1998 Canadian team and accused the
players of having 'no heart').
I'm of course welcome to any further discussion as to the
reasoning behind Canada's disappointing finish; however for this
posting I thought I'd focus more on the "Off The Record" episode
itself. I do not agree with the comment that Liam "came across
as an asshole" as was posted earlier, nor with the original subject
line of the thread itself, namely "Liam Gets Blasted". I did not
feel that the host, Michael Landsberg, had any substance to his
criticism; rather (as Liam stated on the show), Landsberg gets PAID
to play the "devil's advocate", so to speak. Landsberg of course,
got the last word in because he is the host of the show, but it's a
rather weighted way of measuring who 'won' the argument. In the
House of Commons, you can't be both a speaker and party leader; in
hockey you can't be both player and referee. In my opinion then,
Michael Landsberg shouldn't try to be both a panelist and moderator.
My only criticism of Liam was his overuse of colloquialisms such
as 'crap' and 'POed', etc. I always find the use of jargon in
broadcasting rather sloppy. If I were to give an oral presentation
in my job, I don't think slang and colloquialisms would go over
very well, it just wouldn't look professional. However, that's
more of a presentation issue rather than an argumentative issue.
As I said, overall Liam did a fine job of blasting Landsberg.
Good work.
--
Rob Del Mundo
ro...@interlog.com "The last goal he ever scored
http://www.interlog.com/~robdm won the Leafs the Cup" -Tragically Hip
#5 Barilko Forever! Fifty Mission Cap in USENET pool.
Darcy Johnston
Since I have finally been able to see the "controversial" episode of OTR,
I must say I don't see what the whole fuss was about. I don't understand
how some could have seen Liam as coming off as an "asshole". Liam was
simply sticking to his convictions, despite Michael Landsberg's numerous
attempts to misinterpret what he was saying.
Liam's main point was simple: There is nothing wrong with our junior
system. Not once did he ever suggest that it was perfect, or couldn't
benefit from some analysis as to how to make it better. Liam simply
stated that our system is not in 'trouble', just because we lost for the
first time in 6 years. Landsberg constantly tried to skew this view into
to saying that we shouldn't try to learn from this recent loss. Every time
he did, Liam corrected him, so I don't know why this was confused. What
Liam was speaking against was those who are pushing the panic button,
those who tried to say that our players didn't have heart, not those who
want to try and improve the system while still realising that what we
currently have is of the highest quality. There is always room for
improvement, and Liam did agree with that point.
Now Liam did come off strong in the episode, but I think that was simply
because we was offended that people would make such claims about our
junior system and its players. I think he was further aggrevated by
Landsberg's inabilty to comprehend what should have been a simple point.
What really irked me about the episode was Landsberg. His complete
misundertanding of Liam's point was bad enough, but he really reached is
"etat de grace" when he demanded that Liam name some of the people he was
upset with. When Liam refused, Landsberg just said "then you can't be on
the show again". What a baby!
Overall, I'd say that Liam did come off strong, but that all things
considered, he likely didn't have much choice. Landsberg seemed unable
(or unwilling) to grasp Liam's point, and when Liam tried to explain
himself, he was either cut off, or ignored.
Kudos to Liam, for sticking up for our Canadian boys, even when people
like Michael Landsberg try to cloud the issue.
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I am Pentium of Borg. Darcy Johnston
Division is irrelevant. a.k.a. Dorky, Dorks
Mathematics is irrelevant. 93jo...@scar.utoronto.ca
You will be approximated. http://www.scar.utoronto.ca/~93johnst
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