Sandman

(I guess people really want to reward the Bees for this season…)

Two days ago, I wrote this. When I posted it, I didn’t think anything of it. Maybe some people would disagree with me on my MVP choice, I thought.

What I didn’t expect were the comments.

Here’s the first one from faithful reader Tim Johnson:

Mr. Sandlow, I had respect for you the entire season for the most part, however this quote is totally uncalled for, and my respect for you has tanked. Who are you to judge why anybody on this team deserves any awards? Are you an athlete that can play at this level in a sport of your liking. The answer just by looking at you is most likely NO, so who are you to judge. These young men had a dismal season they don’t need beat writers like you to kick them while their down. How disrespectful of you. Do you have no shame? Believe it or not some of the players on this team are very skillful, but had the unfortunate timing to congregate on a team with no chemistry. A lot of people blame the players, I myself blame the coaching staff and team leadership. You have your own opinions, however, don’t ever say, no one deserves any type of award just because the team had a losing season. How degrading of you. I thought better of you…..

Thanks for the comments, Tim. I appreciate it. Let’s go point-by-point here.

First of all, it’s my job to judge these players and dispense my opinion. I’m not a Bees fan (which should be obvious), so I don’t get caught up with any loyalties or anything else.

And from what I saw this season, why would these guys deserve any awards? Yeah, these guys had a rough season, but how many of these players you rush to defend do you want back? I thought so.

Most importantly, if the team as a whole put forth the requisite effort, I wouldn’t have ripped them like I did. Seemingly every night, coach Paul Fixter was getting angrier and angrier with his charges for their lack of effort. Think back, how many battles by the boards and races to the puck can you remember the Bees winning? That, Tim, is effort. And the thought of rewarding a team who didn’t give the so-called “100 percent” is just weird.

You are right, this team had no chemistry. None. And that is Fixter’s fault, as are a lot of things. But, I don’t blame minor league coaches when their players stop giving the old college try, as this team did too many times. Look at the rosters of the Bees, Wichita and Tulsa. Which roster looks like a CHL-worst team? And those teams finish ahead of the Bees, in the Northern Conference no less.

And do you know why RGV finished last? Because in a lot of games the players just did not care. Rewarding that, and defending this team’s season, doesn’t make sense.

You also talk about respect. I did respect these players. When they played well, I said so. When they didn’t, I said so. By not hustling to Fixter’s liking, and making the more than occasional bonehead play, they were being disrespectful to you.

And they knew that. There is only so much Fixter or any coach can do.

Oh, and about the comment that from the looks of me I couldn’t play sports, you’re half-right. I was a pretty good athlete, but not good enough to play professionally. But, if I ever played pro hockey, no coach would ever question my desire.

I got another one today from somebody calling himself BeeLeiverMan:

I missed the awards for most negative local media personality and the one for who kisses up to Rajan the most awards. Did anybody get the results of that?

Mr. BeeLeiverMan, what exactly is your idea of kissing up to Greg? We both cover teams in the Southeast Division, we both blog and we both love hockey. I don’t see how I kiss up to him. He’s got a good blog and I link to him, and he links to me.

Since we both cover teams from the same division, it’s only natural we’d show up in the other’s coverage. If Joy Lindsay in Laredo did this too, she’d also be in the blogroll, and I bet she’d show up in the blog pretty frequently.

Please, give me examples of me kissing up to Rajan. When he was on my video, I was polite to him. When I link him, I do so because he wrote something interesting. I don’t link him just for the heck of it.

As for the most negative local media personality, I really cannot comment. The last thing I need is to get into something with the TV people.

- In other news, Austin won in overtime to extend its season, while Texas and Mississippi are also going the distance.

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