I have a major rumor update going up in the 2 o'clock hour today, but first...quick thoughts on Renney and Burke's Issue with the Twitter story...
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So the Rangers have fired head coach Renney. This is an obvious move that had to be made despite the fact that clearly Renney is not the issue here. Renney was coaching a style that was working back when the Rangers faced the Sabres in the playoffs post lockout. Since then Sather has put players on the ice that made no sense to Renney's system.
Something had to give...Renney is an outstanding coach and will be back.
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Brian Burke Confirms He Doesn't Twitter
I just spoke to Brian Burke regarding an article that came out on the PuckDaddy Blog this past Saturday on
Yahoo.com
The Article is entitled "Follow the thought process of Brian Burke on Twitter"and is 100% bogus and has the Gm rightfully pissed off.
So, what is Twitter?
For those of you not familiar with Twitter, it is a "microblogging" site where people write what they are doing at any given point in 140 characters or less. A "tweet" is essentially your blog...On Twitter you "follow" people who you find interesting and other people follow you. News often breaks on twitter. In disasters, people have been rescued do to their "tweets." It is an incredible tool on many levels. If you haven't heard on it..you will...I have a twitter page with over 1500 followers at http://twitter.com/eklund where I will often Tweet about what I am doing...anything from what I am working on for my next blog to a Movie my wife and I are watching to how I feel that people who talk trash about you on your facebook page after asking you to be their friends are psychotic.
Anyway, back to the why Burke is pissed and why I am writing this today.
I texted Brian this morning to get his opinion on this article and put to rest what SHOULD have been obvious. twitter.com/brianburke is an imposter. I would have bet my ownership of hockeybuzz.com that the person writing as Brian Burke on twitter was in no way Burke himself. But you really have to fact check such things...
When Burkie called me back I wasn't sure if he knew about the imposter or the subsequent story on PuckDaddy that lent credence to it, but he had. Brian had heard that someone was writing as him and saying crap about Ferguson Jr.
"I can get emails and text people, but that's about it," Burke continues, "My kids always laugh at me when I say FaceTube this or YouSpace that....so of course, that is not me nor is it something I would have interest in doing.."
It's one thing to have someone impersonating you on a rogue website, it's another thing to have a web blog that calls itself a pro hockey site write the following...
From the PuckDaddy Blog: "One hockey person who's jumped aboard the Twitter bandwagon is Toronto Maple Leafs general manager "Brian Burke," who has given his followers some insight into the thinking of a hockey executive. Burke is brutally honest on Twitter just as he is in interviews....Take for example his feelings the man he replaced in Toronto, John Ferguson, Jr.: "No, seriously, was the last full-time GM retarded or something?"
And there it is my hockey friends. The stereotypical kind of blogging that makes many NHL teams nervous and stingy about giving access to internet hockey writers. This is the kind of story that deeply sets back the cause. To those of us who are welcomed in by all NHL teams I can tell you this much: That in the not too distant future, in some press box or media cafeteria, when the debate arises once again about bloggers in the press box, some mainstream media guy or team rep will cite this story as to why they believe that only mainstream writers should be granted credentials. And I will try, as I always will, to defend the cause, fight for more access, etc...But I will see where they are coming from.
Back to Burke
"Anyone who pretends to be someone else like this is just scum, and anyone who would would pretend to be a journalist or run a credible site that would allow something so obviously bogus should be held accountable for their actions and should seek serious medical attention because they [are] obviously not right in the head. This is not a professional and this is a serious issue."
Greg and everyone at PuckDaddy should know better. Regardless of your intent, whether or not you believed that this was actually Brian Burke writing here, you gave no indication to the readers that you weren't sure and reporting these "tweets" as quotes from Burke is not only morally bereft, it could cause further issues...Believe it or not, you can't just massage a story to further an agenda...Well you can, but sooner or later it catches up to you in one way or another.
The hockey world is small. Anyone who has even had a passing encounter with Brian Burke would have known that he is a man who prides himself on straight talk and professionalism and could have never penned these tweets. It is so absurd to think otherwise.
Today's Schedule:
There will be a Hockeybuzzcast at 5pm this evening where you can ask me questions directy in the
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I will be popping in and out of
Hockeybuzz Chat Room all week long. it is a great place for me to share quick information and there is some great hockey chatter taking place.
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