New Blue Jackets' HC Resigns Before Season Even Starts

[*Awful Llama*]

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/18/sport/mike-babcock-resigns-columbus-blue-jackets-spt-intl/index.html

I've been a fan of this franchise since its inception, so I have to admit that this doesn't necessarily surprise me.  They've swung between snake bit and mediocre since day one, and in 23 years of mostly futility they've managed to win one playoff series (not counting the Covid play-in series they won in '20).  One series.  And now this nonsense.    

Good luck, Pascal.  Maybe you'll finally be able to accomplish with this franchise what no one else could.

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-18-2023, 12:04 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/18/sport/mike-babcock-resigns-columbus-blue-jackets-spt-intl/index.html

I've been a fan of this franchise since its inception, so I have to admit that this doesn't necessarily surprise me.  They've swung between snake bit and mediocre since day one, and in 23 years of mostly futility they've managed to win one playoff series (not counting the Covid play-in series they won in '20).  One series.  And now this nonsense.    

Good luck, Pascal.  Maybe you'll finally be able to accomplish with this franchise what no one else could.

Hmmm.   A few dozen looks but no replies.  Could be no one cares about your little hockey anecdote.

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-19-2023, 09:17 AM)Awful Llama Wrote: Hmmm.   A few dozen looks but no replies.  Could be no one cares about your little hockey anecdote.

That's a little harsh, and I don't believe it's true.  I distinctly recall having had CBJ discussions in the past with folks here.  And, a coach having to resign before he ever coach's a single game well hell, that should appeal to any fan of sport, I would think. 

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-19-2023, 09:19 AM)Awful Llama Wrote: That's a little harsh, and I don't believe it's true.  I distinctly recall having had CBJ discussions in the past with folks here.  And, a coach having to resign before he ever coach's a single game well hell, that should appeal to any fan of sport, I would think. 

That's an interesting point.  I would agree and would think people might respond just out of the ridiculousness of the situation.  Of course, it may just be that people are so completely focused on the 0-2 start to the season, and with questioning everyone's true level of the fan-ness (fanability?) and calling one another names, that they have little time to care about much else.  

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-19-2023, 09:24 AM)Awful Llama Wrote: That's an interesting point.  I would agree and would think people might respond just out of the ridiculousness of the situation.  Of course, it may just be that people are so completely focused on the 0-2 start to the season, and with questioning everyone's true level of the fan-ness (fanability?) and calling one another names, that they have little time to care about much else.  

You raise a valid point there.  A season potentially on the brink would suck all the oxygen out of the air.  But, hey, maybe Babcock will be so distraught at having to resign that he'll strip naked and run with a machete though the streets of the Arena District causing general mayhem and we can revisit this story later.  

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-19-2023, 09:28 AM)Awful Llama Wrote: You raise a valid point there.  A season potentially on the brink would suck all the oxygen out of the air.  But, hey, maybe Babcock will be so distraught at having to resign that he'll strip naked and run with a machete though the streets of the Arena District causing general mayhem and we can revisit this story later.  

It's a plan!

[SunsetBengal]

I was following that story on the morning news, about the "controversy" of him getting to know the team better through sharing their private selves via phone galleries. Seems like an outside force tried to make it seem like a coerced action. Can't really blame the guy for throwing up his hands and deciding that he simply wasn't going to deal with a "gotcha" type of mentality in local media, before he even got started on an actual coaching.

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-19-2023, 09:36 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I was following that story on the morning news, about the "controversy" of him getting to know the team better through sharing their private selves via phone galleries.  Seems like an outside force tried to make it seem like a coerced action.  Can't really blame the guy for throwing up his hands and deciding that he simply wasn't going to deal with a "gotcha" type of mentality in local media, before he even got started on an actual coaching.

Babcock is an old-school guy, and his management style and player interactions have been thoroughly documented, and it aint good.  So, I think when he got this CBJ gig he did a self inventory and maybe listened to some of his detractors and realized that he had to take a new approach, maybe be more of a touchy-feely player's coach. And, that was what he was trying to do with the phone nonsense, and what he was called out for in the podcast.  Personally, I believe it was an over-reaction by the NHLPA, especially since players directly involved say they had no issue with it.  

For a franchise in desperate need of some success, it's a missed opportunity, and we'll never know what he might have accomplished there.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(09-19-2023, 09:52 AM)Awful Llama Wrote: Babcock is an old-school guy, and his management style and player interactions have been thoroughly documented, and it aint good.  So, I think when he got this CBJ gig he did a self inventory and maybe listened to some of his detractors and realized that he had to take a new approach, maybe be more of a touchy-feely player's coach. And, that was what he was trying to do with the phone nonsense, and what he was called out for in the podcast.  Personally, I believe it was an over-reaction by the NHLPA, especially since players directly involved say they had no issue with it.

For a franchise in desperate need of some success, it's a missed opportunity, and we'll never know what he might have accomplished there.

A couple of the older married players to be clear. Some of the young guys were supposedly uncomfortable with it. You can probably imagine they have very different types of stuff in their camera rolls…

[*Awful Llama*]

(09-19-2023, 10:17 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: A couple of the older married players to be clear. Some of the young guys were supposedly uncomfortable with it. You can probably imagine they have very different types of stuff in their camera rolls…

He definitely could have handled it with more of a deft touch.  It's not an adult/child situation, or even a straight-forward employer/employee situation, but he was still coming from a position of power, and that requires extra diligence to assure you're not putting sometime in an uncomfortable position.  And he did not do that.  It's debatable what should have happened after that.