Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Dealing With the Lockout

People have different ways of dealing with the lockout. Personally, I think my way of taking the time off to do something other than the all-consuming Canadiens coverage is a breath of fresh air. I certainly think its better than some of the other things out there.

For example, is anyone following the Canadiens fantasy progress on NHL13, complete with banal reports and invented quotes?

I know it takes some creativity to retain readers when it matters to the bottom line (no ads anymore here, so quite time can be, well quiet), but these are ideas that should have been left on the cutting room floor. I worked for a few years back when as a copywriter for an ad agency and I can remember the silence that would surround such non-starter ideas as this one from the Habs media.

When the guy said: "I know, let's play some games on a Playstation, and report the results exactly as we normally would.", the next thing said should have been: "OK, well obviously we need to try and do this over a beer or two to get the creative juices flowing." (as opposed to: "Great idea, let's do that.")

Now, in fairness, I haven't actually read the coverage. I merely know of its existence under the end of my upheld nose, but come on, it doesn't take intimate knowledge to mock a silly idea. I did perchance take a minute to open the report and see the quotes and the typical flow of mainstream reporting (so popular that it has led to an explosion of coverage for those who will snap up any alternative from any level of scribe). I also noticed that none of the comments that ran underneath the piece related to the inane subject matter at all. The piece is a placeholder for those still holding the security blanket of the comments section during a hockeyless episode. It's like newspaper for wrapping fish.

On the bright side for those who insist on keeping the coverage tally high, it is making the coverage of a season 20 years ago look like a good idea.

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