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NHL fan death story, eight years later

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by playthrough, Mar 23, 2010.

  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    This was on the hockey thread, but felt it deserved posting on the j-board. Well done.

    http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/21/brittanies-legacy.html?sid=101

    I've been working on an NHL project and was on the Blue Jackets' site yesterday. In their franchise timeline, along with wins and losses and draft picks, was an entry for March 16, 2002. Thought that was moderately surprising, though admirable, that a team wouldn't just "forget" that kind of history on its own Web site.
     
  2. daemon

    daemon Well-Known Member

    Thanks for linking to that.

    So many different feelings. Think it says a lot about Knusten (in a positive way) that Brittanie's death affected him so much. I mean, it was a complete freak accident. His shot wouldn't even have gone into the stands if it hadn't been deflected.

    Looking at the Sports Illustrated cover is like a punch in the gut. In hindsight, you have to wonder what the magazine was thinking putting Knusten out there.
     
  3. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    What was the magazine thinking?

    "Sensationalize the incident, sell lots of copies, make $$$$$......"
     
  4. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    And that sucks.
     
  5. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    It does indeed.

    Too bad they decided not to use another picture that would have been more appropriate - say, of the Blue Jackets standing at their bench in a moment of silence for Brittanie.
     
  6. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    I never post on the Journalist Board but sometimes it really gets to me, the constant pandering to the lowest common denominator in the interest of sales.
     
  7. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Got quite dusty in the Scicluna household, especially with the final quote.
     
  8. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    The whining from spectators about the netting at each end of the rink was short-lived, eh? And who knows how many injuries were prevented because the NHL acted quickly and decisively to install those nets.
     
  9. Totally agree. What's baseball waiting for? I hate to think it will take the death of some kid behind a dugout to get them to act.
     
  10. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member


    The baseball equivalent of the hockey netting is the screen behind home plate.

    The hockey equivalent of dugout area protection would be screens along the sides of the rink.
     
  11. Not really the equivalents. Pucks don't often fly into the stands along the sides with the same velocity as when they come from a player taking a shot toward the goal. The same can not be said about a ball going into the stands behind dugouts. Those are almost all rockets. And one day a kid is going to get hit in the head and everyone is going to wonder why MLB didn't put up nets.
     
  12. Really? I can't imagine that putting Espen Knutsen on the cover helped "sensationalize" the story and sell copies. Probably just an artistic decision that wasn't thought through.

    The cover really works, until you stop to realize that there's a guy behind the photo.

    S.L. Price's SI article about the Mike Coolbaugh death (as well as the subsequent book) was half about the guy who swung the bat, although I guess that's somewhat distinct because the batter was a willing participant.
     
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