Ever wonder if the quotes you see in the articles you read are correct?  Do you wish you could hear HOW it was said in order to know the true meaning of the words?  As someone who has been on the wrong side of ‘written word misunderstanding’, I know that HOW you say something is as important as the words you use.

Thanks to ITV’s pre & post game coverage, now we can all see and HEAR exactly what is being said during these media interviews.  It’s surprising to hear some of the really lame, pointed questions these players have to endure, especially from those reporters outside our little Islanders enclave.  Some of them sound tentative and stumbling.  Others sound like they are just trying to tweak the player into a tirade.

Such was the case with Ruslan Fedotenko being interviewed in Tampa Bay by the Florida media.  Watch it for yourself.  See if you too don’t cringe wondering why Tank doesn’t just lash out at them.  You’ll also see how someone as emotionally delicate as Jason Blake can get sucked into their little game.  “How do you FEEL about being back in the building where you won the Cup?”  “What do you MISS most about this team and this arena?”  Questions such as these are designed to invoke an emotional response they can use, sometime against them.  Considering that Tank won the cup the year BEFORE the lock-out, the question has quite a few years of DUST on it.  MOVE ON!

However, this sort of unprecedented coverage by ITV gave me an idea.  If all 30 teams have this, we get to watch what opposing players are saying before they play the Islanders.  And not just WHAT they say but HOW they say it.  Granted, some of the coverage may be bland and boring.  But there is always some tidbit of information to be attained from the most mundane conversations, especially those that have the subject off guard.

ITV:  The window into what they REALLY say!  I may never watch network TV again.  Who the heck has time?

Have a good flight to Buffalo boys.  Come back with TWO and make us all happy.