What we witnessed in the last week in the Philadelphia Flyers-Boston Bruins Eastern Conference semifinals series is only the latest evidence that the Stanley Cup playoffs are the most compelling and unpredictable in all of pro sports.
The Flyers had to win a shootout against the New York Rangers in their final regular-season game to even make the playoffs. A big underdog against Marty Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia cruised to 4-1 series victory in the first round.
Then it looked like reality finally had set in on Philadelphia when it went down 3-0 in its series against the favored Boston Bruins. But the Flyers rallied not only from that series deficit, but from a 3-0 hole in Game 7 on the road to win the game and the series 4-3.
So we've got the No. 7 seed Flyers against the No. 8 seed Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals.
If you can eliminate sports preferences from the debate, and I realize I'm in the minority in preferring hockey over pro basketball, this shows why the Stanley Cup playoffs are so much better than the NBA playoffs.
Incredible upsets such as this rarely happen in the NBA.
This season, it's hard to even find a competitive series. Three of the four conference-semifinal series in the NBA were four-game sweeps. The other series, the Boston Celtics' 4-2 victory over Cleveland Cavaliers, did last six games, but most of the games weren't either close or compelling. Yes, that series was an upset, but nothing like the Flyers' victories. After all, the Celtics did win the NBA title two seasons ago.
Any team that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs knows by just reviewing history that they have a shot at making a run to the Cup. In the NBA, there usually are only three or possibly four teams that have decent shots at winning the championship.
That fact is what frustrated me so much when my Carolina Hurricanes couldn't quite recover from the early- season hole it had created. The Canes played well the last two months of the regular season and I thought they had a chance of making another thrilling run if they could have slipped into the field. Sadly, it didn't happen.
Since coach Peter Laviolette was the coach who guided the Canes to the 2006 Stanley Cup, I'm definitely cheering for Philadelphia even though it pains me to be backing the Flyers.
I'm extremely happy for goalie Michael Leighton, a former Norfolk Admiral who got released by Carolina. Philadelphia smartly picked him up, but then he had to deal with an injury. But an injury to Brian Boucher thrust Leighton into a tough high-pressure playoff situation and he's performed well.
Sure we won't have Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin in conference-finals series, but the Sharks-Blackhawks and Habs-Flyers series should be entertaining.
Wake me up when the NBA playoffs end.
Opinions and perspectives on Carolina athletics, running, newspapers and more
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
I'm officially a reformed newspaper man
It's a time of excitement and sadness at the same time for me.
I'm looking forward to the challenge of my first professional non-newspaper job, as a proofreader with AICPA. But this feels like a divorce from a profession I loved. I still love it, but it's just too painful to give it another chance.
When I was a little kid, I looked forward to reading the newspaper each day. The business fascinated me and I knew at a very young age that I wanted a career in newspapers.
I've been lucky enough to spend 27 years in the business and, until the last 10, couldn't imagine doing anything else.
You don't work for newspapers unless you have a passion for it. It's certainly not for the money, the work on nights and weekends and the numerous holidays spent at the office. There were countless nights coming back from work when I truly felt fortunate to be able to do make a living in newspapers.
My first jolt of the new newspaper reality came in 2005 shortly after Paxton Media Group bought The (Durham, N.C.) Herald-Sun. The new owners laid off many good people that first week in January, and I was stunned to suddenly be looking for a job.
It started more of a love/hate relationship with the business. It's fun work, but I hate where the business is going. It's sad to see the damage it inflicts on the lives of the people trying to do good journalism and on the product weakened with every cut.
I realize that newspapers are struggling to make money and that they have no choice but to cut budgets. But newspaper companies around the country are making curious decisions as they continue to lose readers.
If your cable or satellite TV provider cuts numerous channels from your package but keeps the price the same (or even increases the price), you'd be outraged. Newspapers, while giving executives bonuses in some cases, basically are doing something similar and shouldn't be surprised that the drop in readership is accelerating. The future is online, but how many newspapers are generating much website revenue?
I never seriously discussed any job outside of newspapers in 2005. My job search produced seven interviews in five states, three job offers and a sports copy-editing job at the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press.
I enjoyed the challenges there, learned a lot and had the privilege of working with some terrific journalists. There were numerous good times in Newport News. But in my five years at the Daily Press, I survived six rounds of layoffs/buyouts before Tribune Company, which owns the newspaper, came up with an outsourcing plan that led to the elimination of my job and the jobs of many others.
I actually had an interview for a newspaper job on the day I got laid off in March. But I reluctantly came to the conclusion that if I wanted some sort of job stability, I'd probably have to look outside of the industry.
The difference in the economy in general and the newspaper business in particular from five years ago was obvious. I only had three interviews in two states, although I canceled a fourth interview in a third state when I accepted the AICPA job. My discussions with several newspapers were short once I realized the money they were offering.
I applied for an out-of-state newspaper copy-editing job weeks ago and was told in an e-mail message this week that I was one of 28 people who still were under consideration. I'm obviously no longer interested, but that's pretty competitive!
That number illustrates to me how many good out-of work newspaper people are out there and how few good jobs are available. There also are scores of talented journalists who are employed, but miserable. Their companies handcuff their ability to produce a newspaper that is even close to the same quality of years ago. But the jobs that could look good today, could be the target of corporate brass tomorrow.
Do people still working at a newspaper look elsewhere in the industry? These days, comparing which newspaper company is better is like me debating which Cubs failure frustrated me the most. Nearly all are bad. Few can promise much stability and most lack the financial commitment to good journalism.
Before interviewing with AICPA, my last previous non-newspaper job interview was for a public-relations position with the LPGA in 1983. Earlier that year, I had interviewed for a PR job with the Denver Nuggets. Neither worked out, but that was fine because I began my newspaper career that year.
A career ended this year.
There were so many highlights. I felt like a kid on Christmas day covering ACC basketball and football games and, in particular, the ACC tournament. Covering the Stanley Cup finals in 2002 was incredible for somebody like me who loves hockey, even the game that ended after 1 a.m.
I wrote the first story ever written about a kid who was then a dazzling freshman at Kinston High School by the name of Jerry Stackhouse. I covered Mike Hargrove in his first year as a professional manager with the Kinston Indians, and Kinston's Carolina League championship team in 1988.
I remember sitting in the Kinston Indians office one Friday afternoon watching a few innings of a Cubs game with Joey Belle just days before he went AWOL in 1988. He had a torrid relationship with the press in the major leagues as Albert Belle, but we always got a long fine.
One morning in 1993 at the Burlington Times-News, when it was an afternoon paper, I made a call to the pressroom to tell them to "stop the presses!" It was the only time I made that call to change A1 to get a breaking story into the newspaper. Jim Valvano had died.
More memorable than the games was the camaraderie with many terrific people I was fortunate to work with at five newspapers. Every newsroom was a little different, but the commitment to readers was the same.
But I'm officially a reformed newspaper person as I begin a new challenge next week with AICPA. I'm excited to get started. Clearly, I won't miss working nights, weekends and holidays and the anxiety of wondering when (not if) more layoffs will go down.
I feel fortunate to be starting a job just two months after getting laid off and to be working for a company that's been around for more than 100 years.
When there is a big story breaking, I'm going to miss the adrenaline of being in the newsroom as the story is coming together. I'll miss trying to come up with the perfect headline or the best possible display for a story. I'll miss facing seemingly impossible deadlines on a nightly basis and somehow making it anyway.
But when my Tar Heels play next season, it will be nice that the bulk of my game viewing won't happen via the DVR the next day.
--30--
I'm looking forward to the challenge of my first professional non-newspaper job, as a proofreader with AICPA. But this feels like a divorce from a profession I loved. I still love it, but it's just too painful to give it another chance.
When I was a little kid, I looked forward to reading the newspaper each day. The business fascinated me and I knew at a very young age that I wanted a career in newspapers.
I've been lucky enough to spend 27 years in the business and, until the last 10, couldn't imagine doing anything else.
You don't work for newspapers unless you have a passion for it. It's certainly not for the money, the work on nights and weekends and the numerous holidays spent at the office. There were countless nights coming back from work when I truly felt fortunate to be able to do make a living in newspapers.
My first jolt of the new newspaper reality came in 2005 shortly after Paxton Media Group bought The (Durham, N.C.) Herald-Sun. The new owners laid off many good people that first week in January, and I was stunned to suddenly be looking for a job.
It started more of a love/hate relationship with the business. It's fun work, but I hate where the business is going. It's sad to see the damage it inflicts on the lives of the people trying to do good journalism and on the product weakened with every cut.
I realize that newspapers are struggling to make money and that they have no choice but to cut budgets. But newspaper companies around the country are making curious decisions as they continue to lose readers.
If your cable or satellite TV provider cuts numerous channels from your package but keeps the price the same (or even increases the price), you'd be outraged. Newspapers, while giving executives bonuses in some cases, basically are doing something similar and shouldn't be surprised that the drop in readership is accelerating. The future is online, but how many newspapers are generating much website revenue?
I never seriously discussed any job outside of newspapers in 2005. My job search produced seven interviews in five states, three job offers and a sports copy-editing job at the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press.
I enjoyed the challenges there, learned a lot and had the privilege of working with some terrific journalists. There were numerous good times in Newport News. But in my five years at the Daily Press, I survived six rounds of layoffs/buyouts before Tribune Company, which owns the newspaper, came up with an outsourcing plan that led to the elimination of my job and the jobs of many others.
I actually had an interview for a newspaper job on the day I got laid off in March. But I reluctantly came to the conclusion that if I wanted some sort of job stability, I'd probably have to look outside of the industry.
The difference in the economy in general and the newspaper business in particular from five years ago was obvious. I only had three interviews in two states, although I canceled a fourth interview in a third state when I accepted the AICPA job. My discussions with several newspapers were short once I realized the money they were offering.
I applied for an out-of-state newspaper copy-editing job weeks ago and was told in an e-mail message this week that I was one of 28 people who still were under consideration. I'm obviously no longer interested, but that's pretty competitive!
That number illustrates to me how many good out-of work newspaper people are out there and how few good jobs are available. There also are scores of talented journalists who are employed, but miserable. Their companies handcuff their ability to produce a newspaper that is even close to the same quality of years ago. But the jobs that could look good today, could be the target of corporate brass tomorrow.
Do people still working at a newspaper look elsewhere in the industry? These days, comparing which newspaper company is better is like me debating which Cubs failure frustrated me the most. Nearly all are bad. Few can promise much stability and most lack the financial commitment to good journalism.
Before interviewing with AICPA, my last previous non-newspaper job interview was for a public-relations position with the LPGA in 1983. Earlier that year, I had interviewed for a PR job with the Denver Nuggets. Neither worked out, but that was fine because I began my newspaper career that year.
A career ended this year.
I wrote the first story ever written about a kid who was then a dazzling freshman at Kinston High School by the name of Jerry Stackhouse. I covered Mike Hargrove in his first year as a professional manager with the Kinston Indians, and Kinston's Carolina League championship team in 1988.
One morning in 1993 at the Burlington Times-News, when it was an afternoon paper, I made a call to the pressroom to tell them to "stop the presses!" It was the only time I made that call to change A1 to get a breaking story into the newspaper. Jim Valvano had died.
More memorable than the games was the camaraderie with many terrific people I was fortunate to work with at five newspapers. Every newsroom was a little different, but the commitment to readers was the same.
But I'm officially a reformed newspaper person as I begin a new challenge next week with AICPA. I'm excited to get started. Clearly, I won't miss working nights, weekends and holidays and the anxiety of wondering when (not if) more layoffs will go down.
I feel fortunate to be starting a job just two months after getting laid off and to be working for a company that's been around for more than 100 years.
When there is a big story breaking, I'm going to miss the adrenaline of being in the newsroom as the story is coming together. I'll miss trying to come up with the perfect headline or the best possible display for a story. I'll miss facing seemingly impossible deadlines on a nightly basis and somehow making it anyway.
But when my Tar Heels play next season, it will be nice that the bulk of my game viewing won't happen via the DVR the next day.
--30--
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Getting to know Jack
After the unexpected departure of the Wear twins, one of names that quickly emerged to possibly fill the gap for North Carolina was 6-foot-9 Kadeem Jack.
Jack, left, is a senior at Rice High School in Harlem who announced last week that he would attend prep school instead of going directly to college. Fortunately for the Tar Heels, he appears to be reconsidering that decision.
The good news is that Jack is expected to visit the Chapel Hill campus soon. The bad news is that he also appears to be planning to visit Kentucky.
Recruiting expert (and former co-worker of mine) Dave Telep speaks highly of Jack, who would give the Tar Heels badly needed front-court depth. The Wildcats, who currently have only two players taller than 6-7 on next season's roster, also could use his services.
Jack apparently is a raw talent, but it appears that he's likely the best option to fill a gap. At 210 pounds, he's not going to be a physical force, at least next season, but hopefully a player who could develop into a star.
He is from Trinidad and Tobago, barely picked up a basketball before he was 13 and really didn't start to become a star until his junior year of high school. The prep-school decision apparently wasn't driven by academic concerns, but in order to give him more time to develop athletically.
The more I read about David Wear's injury, it appears that he may not have played next season, anyway. So, for next season, UNC is going to miss one Wear instead of two.
There are rumors out there that his dad, Dave, thought that UNC misdiagnosed his hip injury and that had something to do with the decision to transfer.
Reports suggest that Jack's scheduled visit to Chapel Hill likely will be before his visit to Lexington. Hopefully he's so impressed that he'll commit on the spot and not bother visiting UK.
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