More MSM Borrowing From Bloggers

You know, there are a number of bloggers out there who are excellent writers. I know this because occasionally I see something a blogger wrote that ends up in a mainstream media outlet, just with someone else’s name on it. And everyone knows that the really good writers are “professional sportswriters”, therefore whatever that blogger wrote must have been pretty good if a pro borrowed the ideas from some hack blogger.

Case in point: James Mirtle, who, by the way is not merely some hack blogger, but also writes for the Globe and Mail, wrote this piece about the 12-year deal Mike Richards signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. The very next day, Dave Waddell of the Windsor Star wrote about the very same subject.

No biggie, right? I mean, everyone was talking about Richards that week. Here’s an excerpt from James’ article:

A look at big-time contracts signed by young players in the past few months:

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh, 20, five years, $43.5-million (8.7/yr)
Thomas Vanek, Buffalo, 23, seven years, $50-million (7.14/yr)
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim, 22, five years, $26.625-million (5.325/yr)
Milan Michalek, San Jose, 23, six years, $26-million (4.33/yr)
Dustin Penner, Edmonton, 25, five years, $21.25-million (4.25/yr)
Derek Roy, Buffalo, 24, six years, $24-million (4.0/yr)
Ryan Whitney, Pittsburgh, 24, six years, $24-million (4.0/yr)
Zach Parise, New Jersey, 23, four years, $12.5-million (3.125/yr)
Stephen Weiss, Florida, 24, six years, $18.6-million (3.1/yr)

Here’s an excerpt from Waddell’s article:

Richards, who has 14 goals and 35 points this season, is the latest to join a list that includes: Sidney Crosby, 20, (five years for $43.5-million U.S.), Thomas Vanek, 23, (seven years for $50-million), Ryan Getzlaf, 22, (five years for $26.6-million), Milan Michalek, 23, (six years for $26-million, Dustin Penner, 25, (five years for $21.25-million), Derek Roy, 24, (six years for $24-million), Ryan Whitney, 24, (six years for $24-million), Zach Parise, 23, (four years for $12.5-million) and Stephen Weiss, 24, (six years ($18.6-million).

Exact same numbers, exact same order. Funny, huh? But you know what’s really funny? James forgot to mention Jason Spezza’s seven-year, $49 million deal. And so did Waddell. James forgot to mention Dustin Brown’s six-year extension with the LA Kings. And so did Waddell. And James forgot to mention David Legwand’s six-year, $27 million deal with the Preds. And so did Dave Waddell. It’s downright scary that two people can think in such a similar fashion, isn’t it?

Let’s skip ahead in both articles. James also wrote about some of the risks involved to the team in signing a deal like Richards’:

We’ve seen plenty of players rise quickly and fall off in the NHL — just imagine if the Habs had signed a 26-year-old Jose Theodore to a 10-year, $50-million deal after he won the Hart Trophy? What sort of a contract would Jim Carey deserve after winning the 1995-96 Vezina Trophy at age 22 under this CBA? Sergei Samsonov won the Calder Trophy and was an all-star in his early years, and would now be only halfway through a Richards-like deal if he’d have signed one during his 30-goal, 70-point years.

And the list goes on and on and on when it comes to players who were stars at a young age whose play fell off or left them completely in their early 30s. Eric Lindros. Bryan Berard. Jason Allison. Zigmund Palffy. Todd Bertuzzi.

Waddell wrote about it as well:

Recent league history is littered with examples of players who were early stars, but flamed out prematurely.
The recently retired Eric Lindros and Pavel Bure are examples of superstars who through injury had a huge drop-off in effectiveness by their early 30s. Todd Bertuzzi or Vezina-winning goalies Jim Carey and Jose Theodore are more befuddling examples of players who went from brilliance to bust before their times.

I think Waddell should be credited for throwing Pavel Bure in there all on his own.

Look, Waddell is obviously a good enough reporter to go out and get some quotes from Ken Holland and Pat Verbeek. Normally this would be a fine job of enterprise reporting, but thanks to the power of the Internet, it turns out to be a rip-job with some quotes thrown in for good measure.

The funny thing is, I could have wrote Waddell’s article, put it up on BfloBlog, and at the end wrote “(Hat-tip to James Mirtle for the heavy lifting and research)”, linked to James’ article, and nobody – including James Mirtle – would have had much of a problem with it. In fact, if Waddell had just mentioned James in the article, then nobody would likely have thought much of it.

But who wants to give one of those hack bloggers any credit?