Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Islanders are Back; I May Be

Can I even remember how to work blogger?  I still get errors when I log on. 
Oh well... let's give it a shot since I seem to have 15 minutes to myself.

Isles are playing exhibition games and everyone including the fans are getting used to an entirely new routine.  So let me catch up.


Third Jersey:  Certainly it could have been better, but in the scheme of things it could have also been worse.  My complaint is that it's NOT just the jersey.  It was Yormark's attempt to rebrand the team as a sibling of his Nets.  There are all sorts of merchandise at the Brooklyn team store with the Islanders logo in glorious black and white.  It's void of our colors.  Maybe I wouldn't hate it so much if I didn't have an entire wardrobe of Blue, White and Orange.

Yormark:  The new head of the marketing machine for the Islanders was honest in telling SBJ that Gary Bateman told him the NHL isn't the NBA.  As this transition has been going on for a few years, I'm surprised he needed the Commissioner to remind him that.  But he will learn quickly how passionate hockey fans are and how we can turn on a dime if need be.  (His dime, the fans will make or break you Brett.)

Michael Grabner: Okay, who didn't see that coming?  But for Garth Snow to be able to trade him the half the Toronto Marlies team was pretty impressive.  Maybe the Leafs will find him a good eye doctor so he won't miss the net as much when he is dazzling teams with his break-away speed.

Brock Nelson:  He gave fans fits with his contract hold-out stance until the very last minute.  He better put-up numbers if he doesn't want that stance to come back and haunt him.  He did score against the Devils last night.

MSG Relents:  As I have stated year after year, nothing in Cablevision contract requires them to air pre-season games.  They air the Ranger games because they own them and they air the Devils games -- just to piss off Islander fans.  Just kidding.  But they have relented this year and are airing three.  Certainly the Evil Dolan Empire's change of heart to air an Isles/Caps game is a surprise and a nice change.

LIRR:    I DO NOT like the idea that the players will be taking the train to the arena.  Unless they are traveling with a security contingent.  Sure, it's early.  The youngsters aren't recognized yet.  But what about in December?  What if they're not doing well?  What if they are?  There are too many "What If's".  Get them off the train and get them proper transportation to and from the arena where they are protected.  What?  Are all of Jay-Z's Mercedes in the Barclay's underground VIP lot and there isn't room for anyone else?

Camera Angles:  For some reason, many fans on Twitter last night were complaining about the camera angles.  Hey!  You were lucky they had a camera... and a crew!  Remember, Cablevision didn't need to send anything, but they did.  Nice MSG desk for Shannon Hogan to report from and do between period interviews.

Press Meals: The Isles and the catering company of Barclays are in a dispute over pricing for press room meals.  I am not surprised at all.  Everything in that damn arena is overpriced.  I can only imagine what they want to charge the Isles for supplying meals in the press room.  Don't get me wrong, when I was there two years ago they put out a spread that was astounding.  But you could tell, that was going to cost big.  But does the press really NEED a free hot meal?  They can expense it if they are working for a paying outlet.  For the bloggers -- it's a nice perk.  The bloggers are the ones who do this for little or no money and everything comes out of their own pocket.  Personally, I was fine with the $1 hot dog and free coffee and popcorn at the Coli.  Although I was really miffed when they took away the cinnanuts. 


To Recap:  This is exceptionally hard for me.  I am trying to get back into the swing of what was such a large part of my life for years and I find myself only glancing at it.  I loved this team.  I loved that I was part of a contingent of people who covered them up-close-and-personal.  I had a real connection.  The connection is now just a few threads that I can either weave back into a rope or cut ties altogether.  This is a difficult choice.

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