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For those not in Winnipeg, another ‘media’ storm is moving through the NHL’s newest city. This one is different than the social media storms from earlier this season as it does not involve players and fans, rather it involves the head coach, a fan and Canada’s biggest paper.
On Friday night Paul Waldie of the Globe and Mail published an article detailing very intimate and private matters allegedly from head Coach Claude Noel about the team and certain players. In fact the details were so salacious it confirmed many observations fans have had all season about certain issues and players.
Read the article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/jets-season-ticket-holder-gets-inside-track-from-coach-noel/article2402393/
The star of this whole brewing controversy is Chuck Duboff a fan who happened to run into Claude Noel at local breakfast joint Stellas Café. However, little did Chuck know that he would be privy to some very interesting tidbits directly from the coach. He also didn’t know that he would become the central figure in the media controversy and that his personal credibility would be challenged as invested parties left him to fend for himself, the story far more important than the one who made it happen.
So how did this happen? How did Chuck Duboff connect with Paul Waldie with such extraordinary details about his chat with Noel?
The funny thing is Waldie left out that bit of information and perhaps that is where he should first get challenged. There are many options to tell this tale amongst the fanatics and local media before getting in touch with the national daily, one based out of Toronto and where Waldie is now located having left Winnipeg almost immediately after the season ended.
This writer has been contacted by a friend of Chuck’s, and I have put forward a request to talk to him and tell his side of the events leading to the article. There has been no response yet.
Where everything falls apart is the sources for Waldie’s quotes, as he does not provide one and even the quotes appear to quote Noel, a person Waldie was not near, or even in the same province. So how did he get them? There is some speculation but I have given my word that unless Chuck agrees to it I won’t go any further in that process. Where I will go is challenging the credibility of a national newspaper and it’s employee in doing their due diligence and fact checking. Even respected Winnipeg political and social commentator Colin Fast @policyfrog took to Twitter to denounce the article. When the media relations director will neither confirm or deny the facts because they are based on hearsay conversations is it time to take pause?
The structure of the article and the content would lead the casual reader to think that Waldie and the Globe and Mail were exclusive recipients to this information and almost looked for a fan who may have had this special and unique experience. The paper and writer could have been honest about where and how they acquired this information and how the final quote from Duboff came to be. It reads “Duboff said he stood by his recounting of the discussion. “I’d stake my life on every word,” he said. Noel “said every word that I wrote.””
So when did he say this to the Globe and/or Waldie, and how?
While this is not some smoking gun of controversy, unless you want to dissect what Claude Noel allegedly said, there has been fallout. Duboff has faced criticism amongst many for his comments, most of which are looked at with more than a sneering gaze of pessimism. He has also had his credibility under attack for how the information got out but no means to defend himself. He has no voice now that the goods are spilled and therein lies the problem.
In an age where almost every major hockey media outlet now regularly uses the term ‘unnamed sources’ in reference to rumours and speculation this fan could easily have been another ‘unnamed’ reference. It would have been easier for him. Instead he’s a ‘patsy’, some one to take the credibility hit for the biggest publication in Canada as it, author and editors, can claim ‘he told us he’d “stake his life on every word” at the time’.
Chuck made a mistake and he probably knows it. He shared and possibly disseminated information that was better left for casual chatter amongst friends. Did he deserve to have his fifteen minutes used and manipulated by some one else? I don’t think so and he’s owed an apology.
The damage is done though and once again the fifth estate gives way to breeding mistrust because it can’t uphold itself to standards above the ones perceived to be disregarded by many in the new media. The coach can no longer be relaxed in a place, and with people, where relations are built and fostered. The team and organization is now placed in an unfortunate position to protect their right to privacy and a fan gets run through the credibility wringer, all because some one wanted to break the story. It’s not about being first but it is about being the first to screw up and the Globe and Mail gets that honour.
Thanks for reading.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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