Are you an expert?

[kimronspringle]

Ray Fittipaldo exchange with Andy Sutton. Worth watching.

 

[SixToe]

What a ****ing douchenozzle.

Dude said he saw it on the replay. Just answer the ****ing question without being an ass.

 

[JC]

Well, the reporter was wrong, it was a clean hit. His elbow was tucked into his body.

 

[Double J]

Exactly. Why the hell should he answer the question when he knows it's based on a false premise?

If Fittipaldo had really seen the replay, he'd know that Sutton's elbow came up after the hit, because of the momentum associated with the collision.

 

[derwood]

Incident in question





Ian Mendes: Ask the expert
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/04/17/sutton_mendes/

 

[Gator]

I totally agree with Mendes here, and agree that the hit looked clean. But this is the first time I've ever seen a journalist call out another journalist for a line of questioning. Sure, we've all said in our heads, "What was he thinking asking that?" But I've never seen anyone actually call someone out in a column with such detail.

 

[Rhody31]

I'm not big on hockey, so I don't know the difference between a clean and dirty hit, but that guy who put the check on brought his arm up on the hit.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

I agree with Mendes. Three questions were apparently asked, so what else could be asked?

But, if he wanted to pursue the issue, the reporter should have asked, "the replay seems to show your elbow coming up at least after, if not during the hit; was that your intent? Or, was it just part of finishing a hit?"

 

[JC]

I'm not big on hockey, so I don't know the difference between a clean and dirty hit, but that guy who put the check on brought his arm up on the hit.

clean hit, plain and simple. Reporter was an ass, a Pittsburgh fan boy.

 

[Football_Bat]

I'm not big on hockey, so I don't know the difference between a clean and dirty hit, but that guy who put the check on brought his arm up on the hit.

clean hit, plain and simple. Reporter was an ass, a Pittsburgh fan boy.

Not another one!

 

[tagline]

Ian Mendes: Ask the expert
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/04/17/sutton_mendes/

I don't know this Mendes guy from anybody. I'd never heard of him until I read this thread. But I thought this part of his official bio might explain why he sticks up for the player: "In December 2001, I had a very difficult choice to make: Keep my job in the Ottawa Senators PR department or jump 'to the dark side' and take a TV reporting job with Sportsnet."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/bios/ian_mendes/

 

[Double J]

I thought PR was the so-called dark side. ???

 

[Babs]

I thought PR was the so-called dark side. ???

I consider it to be.

 

[fishwrapper]

A reporter from Pittsburgh asked: "Did you know that you got your elbow up on that hit?"
Sutton replied, "Are you asking me, or are you telling me?"
In Sutton's defense, the question was awkwardly worded. It was more of a statement than a question; and it was a loaded one at that.

1) What was so awkward?
2) You thought it more of a question because you put one of these little suckers at the end: "?"
3) If the arm or or elbow question isn't asked, you're not doing your job. Clean hit or not. How was it the fourth question?

ex·pert (kspûrt)
n.
1. A person with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject.

Hmmm...(to append to tagline's post)

After graduating from Carleton University's Journalism Program in 1998, he took a job at the Ottawa Lynx baseball club in public relations, and wound up working on two occasions as Lenny the Lynx.

He later joined the Ottawa Senators public relations department. In December 2001, Mendes faced a tough choice: keep his job with the Senators or take a TV reporting job with Sportsnet.

I love when PR "professionals" working for the team are then given jobs "covering" the team.
Really fosters objectivity.

 

[cwilson3]

As a guy who played hockey through high school, that was as clean of big hit as you're going to see. The guy was skating laterally with his head down, which is a death wish. Sutton turned to get in front of him, so not to board him, didn't charge, which is taking three steps or more into a hit, and had his hands down when the initial contact started. Leopold had his head so far down, that it was below Sutton's shoulder, which makes it look like he followed through with his elbow, but if you watch it slow, his arm doesn't really come up until Leopold is falling off him.
Give the guy credit, he could have said, "**** you, it wasn't a dirty play, fanboy."

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

Ian Mendes: Ask the expert
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/04/17/sutton_mendes/

I don't know this Mendes guy from anybody. I'd never heard of him until I read this thread. But I thought this part of his official bio might explain why he sticks up for the player: "In December 2001, I had a very difficult choice to make: Keep my job in the Ottawa Senators PR department or jump 'to the dark side' and take a TV reporting job with Sportsnet."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/bios/ian_mendes/

Sorry, but Mendes column is now worthless, IMO.

He once worked for the very team he's covering/writing about?

 

[Versatile]

Side note: WHAT A ****ING HIT.

 

[cwilson3]

Side note: WHAT A ****ING HIT.

No ****. That's a defenseman's dream. A guy coming straight down the ice with his head down.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

I wasn't in the scrum, but am covering this series.

Here's what I can tell you: Ian (yes, a former Senators staffer), asked the first question. He asked Sutton to walk them through the hit, which is pretty fair, I think. Before Fittipaldo (who I don't know at all) started with Sutton, there were at least two other questions asked. Both came from Ottawa-area reporters.

One of them pointed out that it would be reviewed by the league (which turned out to be untrue, but I'm not sure how this reporter could have known that at the time), while the other said something along the lines of, "You know that was illegal, don't you?" So Sutton, who's been suspended twice previously, was already on edge and defensive.

The thing is, Fittipaldo was wrong. Sutton's elbow wasn't up. It was down.

 

[fishwrapper]

Elliotte,
Doesn't matter if it was up, or down, to the side, or in his ear. By your account: Three previous questions... Isn't that enough reason for a follow-up stance or question? Really, was he supposed to ask about neutral zone faceoffs?
It shouldn't allow a "house shill" to make an inglorious attempt at an ethical stance.