It's been nearly five months since I've written a piece for this blog. You can blame burnout, school, kids or anything else for that, but you make time for the things that are important to you. To be perfectly honest, a huge part of the reason why I've been absent is that I grew very sick of the negativity that's rampant on the Internet, in the blogosphere, and in Islanders Country.
Look, I get it. This team has pretty much sucked for the past 25 years. We've had the Easter Epic, the playoff run in 1993, the resurgence in 2002, and that's about it. People are frustrated, and that's fine. But if you're a fan, you support the team unconditionally. So when the Islanders made some moves this summer, it was interesting to gauge the reaction - and, predictably, it wasn't very positive.
What's happened this summer? Let's go back in time.
- At the draft, the Islanders passed on some consensus top guys to draft Nino Niederreiter. Everyone flipped out about how the Islanders should have drafted Cam Fowler. The same Cam Fowler that eleven other teams passed on. So it's possible that the Islanders knew something that one-third of the league also knew. More importantly, approximately 99.9 percent of Islanders fans had never seen Niederreiter or Fowler play. You'd think Islanders fans, who have plenty of experience with prospects, would take a wait-and-see approach. But I guess not.
- The Islanders entered July 1 with some money to spend, but predictably didn't do anything drastic. That is, unless you consider paying Mark Eaton $2.5 million a year to be a third-pair defenseman to be a drastic measure. In any event, Islanders fans flipped out about how the team can never sign anyone, how the team will never be anything but a laughingstock, and how Snow is a terrible GM. And yet, when the possibility of giving Ilya Kovalchuk a $100 million contract arose, those same fans claimed that they didn't want "another Yashin". You can't have it both ways, people.
- This summer, the Islanders released two people that worked behind the scenes - Ryan Jankowski and Bryan Trottier. Both moves were met with considerable scorn from an Islanders fanbase that, quite frankly, has no idea what either of these two men actually did. It's one thing to get mad when the team parts way with a legendary figure, even if , as Gallof says, Trottier's role was largely ceremonial after Charles Wang's much-maligned "business model" was disbanded. The bigger story was Jankowski's departure, which was treated as though Bill Torrey was assassinated during the Cup years. None of us would even be able to spot Jankowski on the street, let alone identify one kid that he personally scouted and drafted. And yet, Islanders Country was apoplectic when Jankowski was let go. Just because Chris Botta says that Ryan Jankowski was an important person doesn't mean fans should cancel their season tickets if he's fired. Again, just another reason for Islanders fans to whine, even if there's no proof that the decision will affect the Islanders in any way.
That brings us to the news of the day - namely, Billy Jaffe's departure from the Islanders and MSG.
Billy Jaffe came to the Islanders in time for the 2006-07 season, after MSG reassigned Joe Micheletti to Rangers broadcasts. Jaffe's first game was a 6-3 drubbing at the hands of Phoenix, a harbinger of things to come. However, despite calling games for a crummy team, Jaffe's enthusiasm never waned. While he was accused of being a little too rah-rah at first, Jaffe's positivity was a welcome voice to a fanbase that was beaten down by constant criticism from other members of the media. In recent years, Jaffe's corny banter with Howie Rose became a reason to watch games, especially when the team wasn't doing much to get fans to tune in.
Jaffe would go on to become something of a rising star in the hockey media world, regularly making appearances on NHL Live and Versus telecasts. When I had the chance to guest edit the incomparable Puck The Media a while back, I spoke of Jaffe's enormous potential, something he's well on his way to fulfilling. Through it all, he remained loyal to the Islanders, always presenting them in a positive light whenever possible. However, the Islanders and MSG did not return that loyalty. But not because of money. Instead, the Islanders thought he wasn't positive enough.
Are you KIDDING? Have the Islanders ever heard Jaffe speak? I've never, EVER heard him say anything that could be considered even remotely negative. And the Islanders said he wasn't positive enough? Please.
Let me tell you something. If you work in a hopeless environment, when you're involved with a subpar product, a minuscule audience and virtually no chance of things improving, it can be very easy to become unhappy. And yet, Billy Jaffe came to work every day for the Islanders full of optimism. He truly believed that the Islanders would become good again one day, and he wanted to be here for it. Unfortunately, the Islanders didn't see it that way.
Now, Jaffe is hardly the first individual to be forced out by MSG for not singing the company line from the mountaintops. In fact, in 2004, MSG dumped Marv Albert from Knicks broadcasts for being too negative. Never mind that those Knicks were absolutely terrible and that Albert had been calling Knicks and Rangers games for MSG for, oh, about 35 years. This isn't to suggest that Jaffe is in the same league as the legendary Albert. Just that when MSG wants someone out, they make sure to eliminate that person.
October will be here soon enough, and life will go on. It's pretty obvious MSG has a hard-on for Butch Goring, and he will be the next announcer for the Islanders. Goring, while an Islanders legend and a nice enough guy, isn't half the announcer Jaffe was. But you know Goring will do whatever it takes to please Islanders management, and that's the guy the Islanders want. The world doesn't want free thinkers with potential, they want yes-men who can be easily manipulated.
And what does this say to the Islanders faithful? It says that they're not important. Fans have acted irrationally for much of the summer and pretty much all of the past few years, but this is one area where they are right to be upset. Quite frankly, after bottom-five finishes in the past three years, the Islanders should be happy that ANYONE is watching games anymore. Why not appease these loyal fans by keeping Billy Jaffe? Anyone who watches knows how much the team sucks, yet they are watching anyway. No need to kiss the asses of these fans, nor is there any need to patronize them. Furthermore, how can we ever trust anything MSG says to us in the future? We now know that Islanders broadcasts will only contain fluff and praise. The Islanders should know that doesn't work in New York.
Long story short, it's been a crazy summer so far, and everyone's to blame for it. Islanders fans have plenty of reason to be upset about the ouster of Billy Jaffe, but they would do well to lighten up about things they don't truly understand. The Islanders need to learn how to handle criticism and be happy that people even give a crap about them. Here's hoping that by the time the next crisis hits Islanders Country, cooler heads will prevail.
