Lets hope there is no lockout for David Staples sake. Apparently, The Edmonton Journal "reporter" has nothing better to do on a Saturday night than troll Facebook pages of Anaheim Ducks fans. Mr. Staples took exception to an event created by Ducks fans - over a month ago - called 'Hate Justin Schultz Night'. The night in question is Friday, October 19th, when former-Ducks draft pick Schultz makes his first appearance in Anaheim after exercising his CBA-given-right to sign with his new team, the Edmonton Oilers.
Aside from the sheer ridiculousness of Staples' post, there are a few things I take exception with. First, I'm hurt. He obviously hasn't seen my petition/pledge to 'Boo Justin Schultz' from earlier in the summer. Second, I cannot believe he is paid to write crap like this. I have said numerous times on this website that I am not a journalist, I'm a blogger. His work is what you'd expect from a blogger that does this for the love of a team. I don't see Eric Stephens of the OC Register or Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times - actual journalists - writing fan-boy pieces.
In his post, Staples states that 'a number of Ducks fans' will be attending the Schultz-event put on by a group called 'Anaheim Ducks Army'. Yeah, when I got the link to his article, that number was three. Perhaps there is an issue with the exchange rate that inflates that number substantially? The event has since been deleted from the page. Initially, I messaged the organizers to get their feelings on the article, and was told they have removed the event for reasons other than Staples. In fact, they hadn't even see the article until I sent it to them.
To respond any further to Staples post would make me no better than him. He doesn't realize how hypocritical it is to be chastising Ducks fans for wanting to harass Schultz for defecting, when he's obviously still not over the departure of Chris Pronger (see #5 of his post). Are we mad about Schultz? Sure. Just like they were mad about Pronger and booed him every time he touched the puck in Edmonton. Oilers fans are allowed to boo. Ducks fans are allowed to boo. The fact that we made it into a theme-night shows our creativity and knack for organization.
In closing, to quote Skyler White on Breaking Bad, "SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP. SHUT UP."
[Note: A Buddy Band to Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy for the heads up. My subscription to the Edmonton Journal ran out the last time the Oilers made the playoffs.]