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Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

DD#2 has this nailed, right down to the floor. No journalism going on at USCHO or CHN.

I can't speak on behalf of CHN, but I know they work hard to get to the root of stories like this, and if they had something, they would have published it.

When Joe's departure was announced, Jim Connelly was on the phone to a lot of people at Hockey East schools. The people he quoted in what he wrote are the ones who were willing to speak about it. The conference's ADs have a chairman and he's the one who was designated to comment.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

...The conference's ADs have a chairman and he's the one who was designated to comment.

Maybe I've lost something off my fastball (er...slapshot) but I can't make any sense out of this. Who is the "ADs chairman?" What was/were the comment(s). I can't recall any comments made anywhere by any AD chairman in any of the USCHO/CHN reporting.
 
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Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Maybe I've lost something off my fastball (er...slapshot) but I can't make any sense out of this. Who is the "ADs chairman?" What was/were the comment(s). I can't recall any comments made anywhere by any AD chairman in any of the USCHO/CHN reporting.

I was referring to UVM AD Jeff Schulman, who is the chair of Hockey East's men's executive committee.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Terrific. So all of the HE AD's get to hide behind Jeff's skirt - so to speak, I certainly don't want to offend anyone's sensitivities here - and then Jeff comes over the top with a terse "no comment" or "beyond my purview" . And no one calls him on it. Nice. That's 21st century journalism for you, right there.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

I'm not sure what more you expect them to do besides ask everyone they can ask. If no one talks, that's about it! I seriously doubt there's going to be an equivalent of the Pentagon Papers that Adam or Jimmy C. or whoever can expose.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

I should change my name to "Chuck Murray Fan Club" ... what a silly remark. "21st century journalism for you" - as if these sites aren't basically volunteer efforts, and as if we are trying to solve world peace here or something. My goodness. A commissioner of a hockey league is not being renewed. Stop making it sound like it's so friggin mysterious that it requires Woodward and Bernstein.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

C'mon guys. There's a story behind the story that isn't being reported. How did the sentiment to not extend the contract get started in the first place? Which AD(s) was/were the prime mover(s)? How united (or not) were the ADs as a group on the final decision? Did something else other than change for it's own sake play into this? Can't believe the USCHO and CHN reporting staffs haven't been able to find anyone who can fill in at least some of the blanks.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Of course there's a "story behind the story". If no one ever talks publicly about it, there's nothing to report. Y'all's metrics about what constitutes good journalism are messed up.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

I should change my name to "Chuck Murray Fan Club" ... what a silly remark. "21st century journalism for you" - as if these sites aren't basically volunteer efforts, and as if we are trying to solve world peace here or something. My goodness. A commissioner of a hockey league is not being renewed. Stop making it sound like it's so friggin mysterious that it requires Woodward and Bernstein.

I didn't realize getting paid was a prerequisite for being able to ask penetrating questions.

Like a, y'know, real journalist? I guess some of us just aren't the inquisitive, curious types, and are content to just suck down a convenient narrative, or will happily settle for a superficial pass at a story that bypasses those uncomfortable queries about "why" or "who" or "what" or "when" etc. Whatever floats your boat, SFC.

Bertagna has been running a D-1 league for 20+ years, and was even deemed "legendary" by one of the so-called reporters of the story. The "story" then skips all of those nagging "W's" they teach you to ask in journalism class (or at least they used to teach it) and focuses on 10 folks the reporter believes are in line as the possible successor. If you're one of those few folks in the running, or you're part of that cloistered network of insiders, then I'm sure you loved the story. But I'm willing to bet that more of us who are outside that bubble are more interested in gaining some insight into the "why's" and the "who's" of the decision to show Joey Buttons the door.

If having the nerve to expect folks to dig a little deeper for a real story offends you, my apologies. The line for the safe spaces forms on the left, move along … :rolleyes:
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Since being paid isn't a requirement and this is all so easy, I dont know why you guys don't just call the schools, ask the questions, and write the report yourselves?
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Of course there's a "story behind the story". If no one ever talks publicly about it, there's nothing to report.

You can read between the lines for the story behind the story, and we talked about it on our podcast. Hockey East is looking to go in a different direction and emphasize marketing and revenue, like UVM's AD said. All the Hockey East schools need to do is look at the NCHC's national TV contract, digital platform, and NCAA tournament success and say, "We want that, too." So they're looking for a different skill set as commissioner.
 
You can read between the lines for the story behind the story, and we talked about it on our podcast. Hockey East is looking to go in a different direction and emphasize marketing and revenue, like UVM's AD said. All the Hockey East schools need to do is look at the NCHC's national TV contract, digital platform, and NCAA tournament success and say, "We want that, too." So they're looking for a different skill set as commissioner.

That has to be one of the most delusional things I’ve ever read.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Would it make some of you feel better if Jimmy just made up quotes and fabricated his story to suit your needs? Should he go to the houses of the AD's in question and hold a gun to their head to make them talk? Or would you prefer he wildly speculate based on nothing? We have those people, especially in national politics. Those aren't journalists and real journalists don't take them seriously. Neither should you, but that ship has already sailed.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Hope all goes well under Bertagna's leadership.
 
Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Would it make some of you feel better if Jimmy just made up quotes and fabricated his story to suit your needs? Should he go to the houses of the AD's in question and hold a gun to their head to make them talk? Or would you prefer he wildly speculate based on nothing?

Didn't stop "Jimmy" from wildly speculating about a list of same old, same old potential replacements?
 
You need to read more.

Ha, I wasn’t having a go at you. Are there many people who think thy marketing is the problem? I’m not sure it is one of Hockey East’s top 10 issues. The league has had a lot of the excitement and buzz taken out of it over the course of the last however many years and a return to the glory days seems a long ways off. I hope the league can turn things, but don’t see it happening at this moment in time.
 
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