Feeding the Trolls
If you have been to the bathroom at your grandparents house in the last few days, you've probably seen something called a Maclean's Magazine sitting in a basket beside the toilet. For those of you who aren't familiar with this publication, MacLeans offers readers week-old news alongside the hate-filled ramblings of Canada's least-sympathetic prison-widow, all for around four bucks.
A couple years ago a Macleans writer named Steve Maich created a little online stink when he wrote that the internet was a big ol waste of money because of the prevalence of sex, gambling, pederasses, terrorism, file-sharing and blogs, while misrepresenting all the good things about the internet (sex, gambling, file-sharing) and ignoring the rest (Baseball Reference, Pension Plan Puppets, not having to pay for magazines). The online community got all up in arms - as they are apt to do anytime anyone anywhere criticizes the internet in general and blogs in particular - and Maich's article was linked all over the place and got a tonne of hits.
Fast forward to 2008, and Mr. Maich is again screaming "LOOK AT ME" at the top of his lungs, this time by inciting an even more overly-sensitive and guaranteed-to-generate-hits audience: Leafs fans! (Of course, being both a blogger and a Leafs fan, I have no choice but to address this, even though I really shouldn't reward Maich's transparent attention-seeking tactics. It is Pavlovian response. I am helpless. See how it works?)
Anyway, Mr. Maich isn't a big fan of computers, but he probably didn't have a problem with Maclean's blowing the Photoshop budget on this week's cover:
Maclean's really pulled out all the stops on this one: not only do the Leafs stink, but all the other Canadian teams are awesome! Does Maclean's not realize they already made fans of the other teams happy by simply stating that the Leafs stink? No need to waste ink on the graffiti-style pandering to the fans of the provincial teams.
The content of the actual article reads like your standard mittenstringer screed. First off, we have the strawman argument:
It would be comforting to believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are cursed. After 41 years of failure, supernatural explanations start to seem pretty attractive, especially when hard facts are just too painful to face.
Not once in my life have I ever heard a Leaf fan claim that a curse is responsible for the Leafs woes. Nope. It is ownership's fault. Always has been, from Ballard through Stavros right on into the current disaster. (Note that Mr. Maich, who has expressed disdain for bloggers in the past because they don't interview people for their stories, doesn't actually interview any Leafs fans for this piece).
The only problem with all this talk of curses is that there are perfectly logical reasons for the Leafs' legacy of failure.
The problem, of course, is ownership. Mr. Maich goes on in detail: A dysfunctional management group, no real desire to win, a monopoly on the largest market in the country...a surefire recipe for disaster. It is all true, but the thing is, everybody knows this already. Everybody. Leafs fans can't escape it. Leaf-haters revel in it. Damien Cox writes about it every day. This is old news, even for a magazine that does little other than publish old news.
There are lots of hockey stories that could have graced the cover of Maclean's this week. How about an article on the amazing success of the Habs in 07-08? A feel-good story for a lot of people this season (as annoying as they may be right now). How about them Sens and their stunning collapse? Or, how about an article on why the Canucks stink? Large market, die-hard fans, and that team has never won shit (and they're one Luongo away from being the worst team in the league).
Nope. Maclean's simply trolls to get cheap attention, and it works.
Bizarrely, and despite its best efforts, Maclean's hasn't succeed in producing the most ridiculous magazine cover of the hockey season . That honour goes to another Canadian institution struggling for relevance:
View image
Consider yourself counted, tough guy.
A couple years ago a Macleans writer named Steve Maich created a little online stink when he wrote that the internet was a big ol waste of money because of the prevalence of sex, gambling, pederasses, terrorism, file-sharing and blogs, while misrepresenting all the good things about the internet (sex, gambling, file-sharing) and ignoring the rest (Baseball Reference, Pension Plan Puppets, not having to pay for magazines). The online community got all up in arms - as they are apt to do anytime anyone anywhere criticizes the internet in general and blogs in particular - and Maich's article was linked all over the place and got a tonne of hits.
Fast forward to 2008, and Mr. Maich is again screaming "LOOK AT ME" at the top of his lungs, this time by inciting an even more overly-sensitive and guaranteed-to-generate-hits audience: Leafs fans! (Of course, being both a blogger and a Leafs fan, I have no choice but to address this, even though I really shouldn't reward Maich's transparent attention-seeking tactics. It is Pavlovian response. I am helpless. See how it works?)
Anyway, Mr. Maich isn't a big fan of computers, but he probably didn't have a problem with Maclean's blowing the Photoshop budget on this week's cover:
Maclean's really pulled out all the stops on this one: not only do the Leafs stink, but all the other Canadian teams are awesome! Does Maclean's not realize they already made fans of the other teams happy by simply stating that the Leafs stink? No need to waste ink on the graffiti-style pandering to the fans of the provincial teams.The content of the actual article reads like your standard mittenstringer screed. First off, we have the strawman argument:
It would be comforting to believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are cursed. After 41 years of failure, supernatural explanations start to seem pretty attractive, especially when hard facts are just too painful to face.
Not once in my life have I ever heard a Leaf fan claim that a curse is responsible for the Leafs woes. Nope. It is ownership's fault. Always has been, from Ballard through Stavros right on into the current disaster. (Note that Mr. Maich, who has expressed disdain for bloggers in the past because they don't interview people for their stories, doesn't actually interview any Leafs fans for this piece).
The only problem with all this talk of curses is that there are perfectly logical reasons for the Leafs' legacy of failure.
The problem, of course, is ownership. Mr. Maich goes on in detail: A dysfunctional management group, no real desire to win, a monopoly on the largest market in the country...a surefire recipe for disaster. It is all true, but the thing is, everybody knows this already. Everybody. Leafs fans can't escape it. Leaf-haters revel in it. Damien Cox writes about it every day. This is old news, even for a magazine that does little other than publish old news.
There are lots of hockey stories that could have graced the cover of Maclean's this week. How about an article on the amazing success of the Habs in 07-08? A feel-good story for a lot of people this season (as annoying as they may be right now). How about them Sens and their stunning collapse? Or, how about an article on why the Canucks stink? Large market, die-hard fans, and that team has never won shit (and they're one Luongo away from being the worst team in the league).
Nope. Maclean's simply trolls to get cheap attention, and it works.
Bizarrely, and despite its best efforts, Maclean's hasn't succeed in producing the most ridiculous magazine cover of the hockey season . That honour goes to another Canadian institution struggling for relevance:
View image
Consider yourself counted, tough guy.
Just to clarify...I meant that I'm counting the Sens out in the playoffs, not referring to Alfredson's injury. Till thinks I'm some kind of jerk...
Maclean's could have done something of interest had they continued with an insightful economic analysis into the Leafs history of failure. Instead Maich quickly abandons that tack and spirals down into the anecdotal, tired and recycled (which, come to think of it just might be Maclean's new tag-line).
Perhaps these shortcomings will be addressed by Maclean's in their upcoming cover story on the Vancouver Canucks, seeing as they 'Nucks are cupless and out of the playoffs once again...
Bravo! A very spirited takedown. I hope Maich and Maclean's are suitably embarassed.
Maich was on the program I work for on TVO on Friday night. Our host, and my boss, Steve Paikin (a huge Leafs fan) gave him hell over the article and especially the cover...
penaltyshots.ca
I'm sure Macleans is stoked to see their sales up this week. Nothing like a cheap shot at the Leafs and their fans for some easy sales. They didn't even have to do any real research or analysis of their own. It looked a lot like the essays I used to do in grade six copied right out of the Britannica.
What they didn't count on though is how numerous and united Leaf fans can be. That is why they call us a "Nation". If I actually subscribed to the magazine I would cancel it. People are always saying that we should boycott the Leafs until they improve, maybe we should get some practice with Macleans.
Whoa..did Paul Maurice drop a steamer on Dave Feschuk's lawn or something? WTF is up with his piece in the Star today?
Somebody drank some of Cox and Summons' crazy juice...can't wait to read your thoughts on this one.