Sports | The Mailbox: First pick doesn't ensure NHL success – Columbus Dispatch
Ray: I always appreciate reporting by Mike Arace and Aaron Portzline on the Blue Jackets, but I think Arace’s obsession with tanking to get the first draft pick is borderline delusional.
Look at Edmonton, which has had several first picks — they are still down there with us. Ditto Buffalo. Messiahs don’t occupy the form of 18-year-old wunderkinds.
As we’ve seen time and again, great young players fail to reach their potential in the losing atmosphere that pervades the CBJ. Until we get ownership that demands winning, and coaches who don’t accept less than 100 percent effort 100 percent of the time, a team of Gretzkys wouldn’t help us.
Hopefully John Tortorella is the man to bring us at least the second part of that recipe.
Brent D. Rosenthal, Westerville
Brent: Well, there certainly are no Gretzkys on the property, though I contend the gap between Stanley Cup playoff success and unlimited spring golf is not as big as it seems. Chemistry and momentum play a big role, and we shall see whether Professor Torts can find the right mix.
Editor: Your sports page amazes me. You have a hockey team that loses 60 to 65 percent of its games on an annual basis and yet there is no lack of coverage regarding this hapless group. You have a soccer team that wins 25 percent of its games and is lucky to score one goal per game, and there is no lack of articles about this hapless group — day after day, and discussing what? Give me paint drying or soccer and I’ll take paint every time.
What’s curious is there is a team in Columbus that has been a consistent winner almost every year, is currently in first place, and you barely mention them. Players get hurt, traded, released, moved up or sent down and there is virtually no coverage of them or of the league they play in.
I realize your mini-paper lacks a certain amount of space, but there is no reason you couldn’t have a reporter call the manager and get some quotes about out-of-town games. There is no reason that you can’t print statistics of the team or of the league leaders. It really smacks of laziness.
I haven’t even mentioned the name of the team. I’ll let you figure that out. Maybe not. You probably have no idea what team I’m talking about.
Allen K. Miller, Dublin
Allen: Come on, now, I’m a Jets man from way back. And with all due respect to the current iteration of Redbirds, the teams you’ve referenced are apples and oranges in terms of their hierarchy. Two play at the highest level of their sport in North America, and the other is a development team for a big-league club. That doesn’t mean that no one in Columbus cares about minor-league baseball, but the passion level isn’t what it is for major-league teams.
Ray Stein is sports editor of The Dispatch.
