December 19, 2006
Fitpatrick Passes Lidstrom, Niedermayer Within Striking Distance
For those who might have missed it, this is the screen shot from Versus on Monday night when the latest NHL All-Star voting totals were announced. Yes, that's right, Rory Fitzpatrick is now in 2nd place overall among Western Conference defensemen. He's about 1,500 votes ahead of Lidstrom and less than 700 behind Niedermayer. That means Fitzpatrick made up about 100,000 votes in just one week.
A couple of questions:
* Has the Fitzpatrick campaign peaked too soon? The powers that be know that they have two weeks to stuff the ballot box in favor of either Lidstrom or Niedermayer. That's two weeks of dirty tricks, negative campaign ads and other chicanery that could possibly spring from the nefarious mind of Gary Bettman.
Never forget that Bettman has David Stern-like powers over the league, and could wipe all of this out with a wave of his hand. After all, he's the 11th most powerful man in sports!
* On the other hand, is it time for the campaign to go after a hgiher goal? At the current rate of voting, Fitpatrick ought to be leaving Niedermayer and Lidstrom in the dust momentarily. Might it be time to revise the ultimate goal upward, and take a serious shot at getting Fitzpatrick more All-Star votes than any other player?
One thing ought to be clear: The Fitzpatrick Campaign is playing with house money at this point. They've accomplished more than they could have ever possibly dreamed. If they don't go for the ultimate goal here, they may never have another chance, as the league is certain to alter the voting rules in the future.
But such a course is not without risks. Aiming for the top spot would mean going head to head with the hockey fans of Pittsburgh determined to see Sidney Crosby take the top spot. If you anger them, they might very well take their vengeance by crossing over into the Western Conference voting and lending their support to Lidstrom and Niedermayer.
What comes next? I don't know, but if you have any other ideas, stop by the discussion boards at Hockey's Future, which has served as headquarters for the Fitzpatrick Campaign from day one.
In the meantime, keep stuffing that electronic ballot box and Vote for Rory.
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.ericmcerlain.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/6909
1) The Fitzpatrick has become a 'screw you' to Bettman as much as anything.
2) Bettman the 11th most powerful? LOL LOL With the NHL barely on the radar south of the Border, thats laughable!
Posted by:
at December 19, 2006 08:34 AM
1) The Fitzpatrick vote has become a 'screw you' to Bettman as much as anything.
2) Bettman the 11th most powerful? LOL LOL With the NHL barely on the radar south of the Border, thats laughable!
Posted by:
at December 19, 2006 08:34 AM
Hey, good for Rory. I'm sure his newfound status as an internet punch line--umm, I mean "folk hero"--is a dream fulfilled.
Posted by:
at December 19, 2006 11:37 AM
The NHL is getting 10,000% more media coverage of the All-Star game because of the grassroots web campaign, see my catalogue of links to media and blog coverage at
http://canesallstars.wordpress.com/2006/12/19/rory-fitzpatrick-media-coverage-update/
or
http://tinyurl.com/yndm8y
Posted by:
at December 22, 2006 02:57 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in,
.
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
01:28 AM
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ericmcerlain.com/offwingopinion/nav-commenters.gif)