Sports columnists, not weathermen, will tell you which way the wind is blowing
“The story went like this: very famous, well known, Denver sports columnist gets wind of impending trade, writes about it knowing full well it’s going down, but makes it seem like it’s just a good suggestion. Trade goes through and big time sports columnist looks like a goddamned svengali.”
The South Stands Denver Fancast likes to have media members from all walks of life come on the show to pick their brains on how it all works behind the scenes. And recently I learned something interesting after having some very respectable media members open my eyes to how things do work. Everything is not as it seems in the media world and you can tell which way the wind is about to blow, by what information is being floated your way.
The story went like this: very famous, well known, Denver sports columnist gets wind of impending trade, writes about it knowing full well it’s going down, but makes it seem like it’s just a good suggestion. Trade goes through and big time sports columnist looks like a goddamned svengali.
That’s good work if you can find it and I guess it’s a way of writing about an impending story before anything can be confirmed. The writer throws it out as a brilliant idea and if it doesn’t hit, it’s chalked up to the hard work and forward thinking of that columnist. But it’s every bit the ol’ smoke and mirrors show when it does come “true”.
Here’s a bold prediction: The Colorado Avalanche are on the verge of trading for the Buffalo Sabres Ryan Miller. How do I know? Because renowned Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla, just wrote about how it would be a good idea for the team to pull the trigger on the deal – which means you can start saving for your Avs Ryan Miller sweater.
Kiszla or any top notch sports writer would never admit to it, but based on the story I was told from before, this one has all the earmarks of a taking the information at hand and crafting a story that will corroborate itself when it actually goes down. What’s interesting is that the day before, the Post’s beat writer for the Avs, Adrian Dater, said there was nothing to the rumor that the team was looking into moving Paul Stastny for the Sabres goaltender. So why was Kiszla so moved to write a hockey story that supposedly wasn’t going to happen a good month before the season starts? If you read Dater’s piece, he says there’s nothing to the rumor that they are moving Stastny for Miller. But he didn’t say anything about another player being moved however. Which begs the question: why would Kiszla write about it a mere day after his colleague declared there was nothing to it? Something fishy is going on around here and Mr. Kiszla was last seen at the bait shop with a fist full of money.
Further proof that your sports writers may be pretending to be slightly more clairvoyant than they really are is the fact that it’s not wild idea for the Avs to acquire a player like Miller. Shoring up its goaltending issues by trading for a proven veteran would be the piece that would take a team that’s playoffs chances are in doubt to one that could possibly make a nice run come playoff time. So it’s not merely a suggestion on Kiszla’s part – it makes good sense for the team to do it. Something Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy have probably already set in motion.
Stay tuned and see where this goes, but my guess is Kiz knows something we don’t and he’s beating everyone to the punch. It’s fine. That’s his right as a journalist and he’s smart to do it. But now that you know which way the wind blows, you won’t need a weatherman.
