JR should shut the hell up

[evilzyme 769]

Here's the full article: http://blogs.mercury...s-strong-words/

Anyways heres some of the quotes from it:

"Someone told me about them this morning," Marleau said. "I can't control what people say. I have to focus on what I can control and that's what I'm going to do."

He then proceeded to say the same thing about five differentways. Marleau, who is scoreless in this series, did add that he feels like he's ready to break out of the scoring slump.

"I do feel points are going to come," he said. "I've been all around it, close to the net and getting some good chances. It's bound to happen."

"I am a huge Sharks fan," said Roenick, whose last two NHLseasons were with the Sharks. "I am a huge Doug Wilson fan. I think Doug Wilson has stepped to the plate and been very loyal to people, including to Patrick Marleau.And I'm going to call things the way I see them. This is not a personal attack.It's my job to speak my mind. People can say whatever they want. I want the Sharks to win the Stanley Cup someday. I think the fans deserve it. I think Doug Wilson deserves it. But when you're in a position to close out yourarch-rival, I think you need a better effort. I don't think it was there and Istand by what I said."

"This is totally on the record," he said. "I am not a Patrick Marleau fan. I'm not going to pretend to be. But I also will tell you that he is an incredible, incredible talent. I wish I had the talent he has. If I had the talent Patrick Marleau has, I wouldn't even know what I could have done. But I have my opinion of his determination and effort level, especially with the amount of money that he makes. I respect people's opinions, but I have one, too. I really feel that the San Jose Sharks, the fans, and Doug Wilson deserve a better effort than they have gotten on a lot of nights in this series. And I have the ability to say that. This is not an act. This is me speaking my mind. Patrick Marleau has a lot of fans. I just happen to be not one of them."

Finishing with this quote:

"What if Marleau has the game of his life tomorrow, the San Jose Sharks win the series and they go on and win the Stanley Cup?" he asked."That's what I want to happen. As a loyal Sharks fan, I hope my comments areslammed down my throat and Patrick Marleau plays the best game of his life. Andif he does, I will be the first one to give him kudos."

This is exactly what I was thinking when I heard JR say this about Marleau last night, I really just think hes trying to lit a fire under his ass so he gets into his form.

Edited May 9, 2011 by evilzyme

[Uncle Danny 155]

I disagree. This is exactly why JR should be on TV and shouldn't shut the hell up. Unlike the rest of his talking head comrades, he says what he thinks and comes from a position of experience. I may not like the content, but I'd much rather watch this than the usual cliched drivel we get.

And to what, I think, is your point, if we lose the series because of something JR said on television, we have much, much larger problems.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I don't care if former players (who are now league-wide analysts) are fans of certain teams, but it shouldn't be apparent when they're commentating.

As far as telling Marleau he's been gutless....he's right.

[evilzyme 769]

I disagree. This is exactly why JR should be on TV and shouldn't shut the hell up. Unlike the rest of his talking head comrades, he says what he thinks and comes from a position of experience. I may not like the content, but I'd much rather watch this than the usual cliched drivel we get.

And to what, I think, is your point, if we lose the series because of something JR said on television, we have much, much larger problems.

No it isn't about if the Sharks win, its how he broadcast favoritism on national television. I understand everyone has their teams and biased opinion in the sports world but the number one rule in broadcasting is to not show emotion. I forgot what it was, but it was I believe a segment done by FSN-D about the pistons (forgive me if I massacre this, basketball isn't my speciality) and how a broadcaster said they werent allowed to cheer at any point of the game or show emotion. He went to say it was so hard not to show emotion during a really intense game, ect. If you're going to be a national broadcaster, you SHOULD speak your mind, but not make it so obvious you're favoring them.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Totally off topic-ish but.... I'd like the love affair CBC has with all their Canadian teams to just stop too. Those are some of the most sickening one sided broadcasts you will ever hear. Oh well....

[ComradeWasabi 109]

Totally off topic-ish but.... I'd like the love affair CBC has with all their Canadian teams to just stop too. Those are some of the most sickening one sided broadcasts you will ever hear. Oh well....

They're pretty unashamed of how much they love the Canadian teams. They never come out and state that the commentary favours Canadian teams, but it's always made apparent in the context of Canadian broadcasters supporting Canadian teams in general. I don't particularly enjoy it as a Canadian myself.

As far as JR goes, I like the fact that he's willing to speak his mind and tell it how he sees it. Patty Marleau has been pretty invisible this series, he's completely justified in commenting on that fact however he sees fit. I would agree, however, that he shouldn't be quite so obvious about being a Sharks fan, especially on national television. If he were working at CSN there, that would be one thing (although you'll still never hear an employee like that come right out and say, "I am a fan of team X"), but even the Canadian homers don't explicitly admit to supporting Canadian teams.

Overall, though, good for him. I hope he continues broadcasting, I like how blunt he is about hockey.

[rrasco 1,312]

I don't like the guy, but he does say some funny s***. There was something he said yesterday, I don't remember but said something about a lack of heart or something along those lines. I totally butchered that b/c I don't remember anything else about it but it was funny. I thought he said the Sharks were lacking heart.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

I'm OK with JR. I don't like his opinions, but they are his opinions to have. At least we know where he truly stands. I wish more announcers would come out clean like that.

Announcer aren't mindless machines (though some are mindless), and the clearer they are the better.

If you've got a homer announcer bitching at his co-star who's an away team homer, it's going to be more engaging, honest, and accurate. It will at least be better than both mindlessly agreeing with whatever the refs say (like Murph).

Edited May 9, 2011 by CaliWingsNut

[grwingfan 21]

He is right. Marleau is a choke artist.

[MulesWillFly93 199]

I don't consider this favoritism. It's biased, yes, but everybody has a bias. The way I see it, if he was showing favoritism, he would root for Marleau just because he's a Shark, but he's not, he's giving his opinion on Marleau separate from his opinion on the Sharks.

I mean, I still think the guy's a complete ass, and he could have worded his comments on Marleau differently. I don't mind him calling Marleau "gutless" because I think that's a fair assessment of his play, but I do have a problem with him saying he's not a Marleau fan. That's a little too personal, if you ask me; it's no longer analyzing his level of play.

Also, while I think that commentators should be as fair-minded as possible, we all know that JR is there to be the color guy who gets to shoot his mouth off about whatever he wants after the more level-headed analysts have their say. Does anybody really expect him to have grounded, balanced views? Didn't think so. Still, I think they could find somebody with a big personality who can express himself a little more professionally, so I'm not defending him, either.

[evilzyme 769]

I don't consider this favoritism. It's biased, yes, but everybody has a bias. The way I see it, if he was showing favoritism, he would root for Marleau just because he's a Shark, but he's not, he's giving his opinion on Marleau separate from his opinion on the Sharks.

But he comes out clean and says that he just has something against Marleau

“This is totally on the record,” he said. “I am not aPatrick Marleau fan. I’m not going to pretend to be. But I also will tell youthat he is an incredible, incredible talent. I wish I had the talent he has.

[MulesWillFly93 199]

But he comes out clean and says that he just has something against Marleau

Oh, I thought you meant favoritism toward entire teams. No, in that case I agree, if he's just going to say stuff like, "I like this guy" or "I don't like this guy," that adds absolutely nothing to the conversation. Like I said, I don't mind him calling Marleau's play gutless because that's keeping on task - talking about the game and his play and all that. Saying he's not a fan, though, is not part of his job - there's no analysis in that statement.

[rage 24]

J.R. has been great. Giving mad respect to Dats, Lids and the rest of the team.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

JR is a piece of garbage who seems to forget that he never accomplished anything in the postseason either.

[Theophany 110]

JR is completely justified in saying what he feels about certain players.

It says a hell of a lot about how we view the media when people have a problem with such bland and inconsequential comments like JR made.

I wish that more color guys and analysts would be more honest instead of taking the popular opinions on every player they talk about.

I'm sure there are one or two guys that like Matt Cooke, and one or two guys that hate Crosby. I'm sure there are one or two guys that hate Datsyuk, too.

Why not let them have their opinion? It makes for entertaining TV, FOX news has shown us that.

[vladdy16 2,154]

JR is America's Grapes. You don't have to like his opinion, but he's paid a hell of a lot of money to share that opinion with you. You can get upset or you can be entertained - take your pick.

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

He's a tool that never won a cup. Can't stand the ass.

[Canned Heat 4]

JR is essentially a "color guy". He is expressing his opinion. It created quite the stir, which is good drama! IMHO, he's right. Patty Marleau, the Sharks' leading goal-scorer during the regular season has been underwhelming, to put it mildly. Now using the word "gutless" on national television may not be the wisest choice of adjectives. We'll see if it fires-up Marleau . . . only time will tell.

[Konnan511 1,736]

Why should he STFU? Shark fans agreed with what he said.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

He's got the right to freely express himself. Good to see he's being honest, although it's not the popular opinion it seems.

Conclusion:

Jeremy Roenick should not shut the hell up.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Could've chose different choice of words, but I doubt Marleau is losing much sleep or time over it. Generally speaking the message is still the same if he used those words or something nicer - Marleau needs to play better. He doesn't need to really apologize for anything.

[Guest Crymson]

Totally off topic-ish but.... I'd like the love affair CBC has with all their Canadian teams to just stop too. Those are some of the most sickening one sided broadcasts you will ever hear. Oh well....

I was forced to watch much of the series against Calgary in '07 on CBC. Every game played in Calgary was broadcast on that channel. It was difficult at times.

Edited May 10, 2011 by Crymson

[Kira 451]

I have to admit, he has said some very nice things about Pasha. I don't usually like him, but I'll give him credit for his kind words about some of our guys.

[Konnan511 1,736]

He's a tool that never won a cup. Can't stand the ass.

Who cares if he's never won a cup? Lucky Luc and Dom only won the cups they have because of the Red Wings picking them up in the twilight of their careers.

Dan Marino and Jim Kelly never won a super bowl. Peter Stastny and Mike Gartner must also never voice their opinions because thy never won a cup. And if that Marcel Dionne EVER says something publicly, I will blast him since he never won a cup either!

Boo this man for never winning the cup!

Revere this man and heed his words, for he has won a cup! Boyd Devereaux our savior!

[puckloo39 5,686]

Who cares if he's never won a cup? Lucky Luc and Dom only won the cups they have because of the Red Wings picking them up in the twilight of their careers.

Really? Dom lead the league all season in wins, and broke the record for shutouts in the playoffs in 2002. Luc was definitely not a floating player. Very insulting that you would defame either by suggesting they only won because the Wings carried them to a Cup. Boo.

As for Marleau, I think his skills have faded, but he was quite a player 10 years ago. JR has a big mouth, and some sort of gripe about Patty. So be it. It often occurs that people like JR get a platform and public forum -- and when they tout their opinions, people believe them.

I am sure Patrick Marleau has a few stories of his own, not necessarily complimentary, about JR.