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Every time I think a new low has been set by the hockey media, I'm proven wrong. The off-season has been marked by an almost embarrassingly low level of quality with respect to hockey prose, but following the death of Wade Belak, I think it's safe to say the collective has hit rock bottom.
Media - by nature - is sensationalistic. Writers who make a living often tend to the extremes, and in the sport of hockey, it's no different. On an almost daily basis, we see the same kind of yellow journalism that plagues the rest of the news world. When you're doing it for a living, it's hard not to fall into this trap, and I'll be the first to admit this as an incontrovertible truth. Yet, it's the writers who are cognizant of the issue and attempt to stay away from it that generally rise to the top. No surprise here. Only problem, of course, is that this is such a small percentage of the overall media, meaning those who actually care about their work are marginalized by their cretinous peers who comprise the vast majority of the field.
Those 'peers', also known as the other side of this coin, are a collection of bloggers, writers, and columnists who act as vultures with every story that's sure to gravitate we have the large majority of bloggers, writers, and columnists who play the role of vulture quite well. It's almost as if grandstanding is an inherent trait that manifests whenever an issue - legitimate or otherwise - presents itself. They come in all shapes and sizes, yet their focus is the same: exploit and sensationailze, all whilst maintaining a holier-than-thou attitude.
They may have different agendas, but their goal is the same - personal benefit. Some used the tragic loss of Wade Belak as a reason to simply boost their overall viewership, which across the internet, can single-handedly make or break the success of a writer. Others used it as a way to get on their high horse and preach about the pitfalls of fighting in the sport, which of course was completely premature. You really have to wonder where those types have gone after the most recent reports regarding Belak have surfaced.
That's not all. You have the writers who have come absolutely out of the woodwork to grind their axes about the National Hockey League, and whether or not its doing enough for said players. And, don't forget the vile and disturbed human beings who are just waiting behind their computers to speculate on how a life was lost based on an agglomeration of largely unconfirmed details.
The only story here is mourning the loss of another hockey player in a tumultuous hockey offseason. No matter how his life was lost, Wade Belak was the consummate professional, and neither him nor his family deserve to be victimized by outlandish speculation through the unsubstantiated.
Yet, the media has taken his death and ran with it in a hundred different directions. The reason? Well, you'll be told in the introductions of each awful article that Belak and his story touched the columnist deeply, hence the rationale for the column.
Wade Belak may have deeply touched the hockey world, but he's being used as a stepping stone for the media to achieve their own personal agendas. Ratings boost? Check. Aggrandize? Check. Preach about the dangers of x, y, and z? Check.
To the hockey media: For the love of God, keep your unwanted opinions about Wade Belak off of the blogosphere. Stop using a player's death as a reason to push whatever the hell you think is more important than the passing of a father, husband, and friend. Let's remember the man we all grew to love for what he was, and leave the rest of it in the trash where it belongs.
And yes, I realize that this is just another blog about Wade Belak's death, which naturally opposes the point I'm trying to get across. Just think it's something that needed to be said.
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Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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