Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Not Hate, But Indifference For This Rangers Team

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
-- Elie Wiesel
This losing tailspin of the Rangers combined with their 'sanitized soft' lineup, coaching chaos, and organizational mismanagement have all whittled away at our hockey spirits. The team's future looks as bleak as the economy. The passion, the excitement, and the hope for the Blueshirts making a serious run at the Cup anytime soon have been sucked out of Rangerland. Losing milktoast hockey is all that they are serving at the Garden this year.

As Elie Wiesel noted above the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. That is the current state of Rangerland. We are becoming indifferent to our Blueshirters. We don't care about this team like we have in the past. Sure we love Henrik, but the rest of the team with a few exceptions (Orr, Callahan) hasn't earned a chest bump, a pat on the back, or a even a beer.

But, how can you hate a hockey player for getting as much money as he can in a contract. The Rangers with the mega contracts: Redden, Drury, and Gomez are not and have never been superstars. They just have a couple of rookie awards and a handful of all-star appearances between them.

Redden, Drury, and Gomez were once above average players, who are now at best talented role players. How much more upside do they really have? They have been stirred and mixed in almost every possible combination on this team without success. So all that's left is to team them with a superstar/sniper and see how that works. But, that is not happening. So why sweat the impossible? They are what the are, slightly above average Joes.

Redden, Drury, and Gomez had fortune smile on them when they landed great deals from a senile Sather. But, who wouldn't take a long term, multi-million dollar contact if it was just handed to them like a leaflet on Broadway. Especially, when it means playing in NYC at the Garden. Name calling and booing just doesn't seem worth it anymore. Again, there is the indifference. There are so many holes in this team it seems like a big waste to focus negative energy on any one player. They all have their good moments and earn the occasional star.

The same logic applies to Renney. Why waste any more energy bashing the clueless one? Here at the Ranger Pundit we have been doing that for at least two years. Hammering Renney is now as much fun as going to the Special Olympics and booing the laggards. We just have to accept that we have a coach with special needs (like a PP). Ditto the GM and the owner. There simply is no adult supervision or accountability in the Rangers organization. A situation Knicks fans have known for years.

This pervasive indifference is perhaps why the idea of the Grate One, Sean Avery, returning to the Rangers has sparked the animal spirits. Avery, love him or hate him, doesn't leave people indifferent. That is probably why a few fans are still paying attention to this team.

However, this team and organization is way past getting our love or hate, they are now only earning our indifference.



Related Articles by Categories


6 comments:

  • Anonymous said...
     

    Does Redden really have a no-trade clause? I thought management stopped issuing those after the Bruce Driver debacle.
    Oh -- wait- Redden *is* Bruce Driver.

    Not that any teams would take his contact off our hands anyway...

  • jb said...
     

    The title to the 1964 Peter Sellers movie, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, sums up my feelings on Redden.

    Given his contract I think Wade Redden will be with us well into the next decade. So I think all we can do is stop worrying and learn to love Wade.

    According to the NY Post/Bleacher report Redden does not have a 'no trade' clause. But he does have a say in which teams he'd go to if traded.

  • Anonymous said...
     

    I think I will start following the Knicks.

  • Anonymous said...
     

    Indifference is what I have been saying since the jump..this team does not deserve your emotion or loyalty...the rangers for years have spent money when we all have learned that drafts build teams!

  • Anonymous said...
     

    This is the very first time that I have though about giving up my season tickets. I no longer enjoy watching the games.

    I am not saying I will do it. But, I will think about it further. In this economy, there are other needs that this money could be used for.

  • jb said...
     

    Sec 335, the Knicks will kill you too. I was watching the end of a late game last week from LA against the Clippers.

    Marc Berman at the NY Post describes how the brain-dead Knicks lost a game they had won in the final 30 seconds:

    LOS ANGELES - The Knicks are a Greek tragedy. They are Hamlet and MacBeth combined.

    Knucklehead Al Harrington cost the Knicks victory in regulation tonight by slapping the backboard and hanging on the rim after a putback dunk. The technical foul allowed the Clippers to rally from 3 points down in the final 25 seconds to steal the game before a whole slew of Knick fans inside Staples Center.

    Eric Gordon, whom the Knicks should have taken at 6, burns them for 30 points, with two big plays in overtime while Danilo Gallinari continues to regress, all done in front of Donnie Walsh and James Dolan. Zach Randolph ties the game to send it to overtime with a big inside hoop the Knicks never get in the clutch. And did I mention Fred Jones, whom the Knicks never considered re-signing, came off the bench with two big baskets down the stretch.

    A six-game losing streak. A season-worst 10 games under .500. A Chris Duhon ankle sprain that could turn out worse. A knucklehead forward who's considered their go-to scorer. A roster that has more dead spots than the old Boston Garden's parquet.
    -----------
    BlueKnight, you're right.

New York Rangers (@NYRangers) | Twitter

NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) | Twitter

NHL on TNT (@NHL_On_TNT) | Twitter

The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) | Twitter

Blueshirt Banter (@BlueshirtBanter) | Twitter

NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) | Twitter

Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) | Twitter

NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) | Twitter

Stephen Valiquette (@VallysView) | Twitter