I’m not sure who runs the social media accounts of Sportsnet and The Score, but whomever it is evidently has no love and little respect for the Edmonton Oilers. Both sports media companies posted tweets on Twitter denigrating the Oilers after the team’s Western Conference finals loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Oilers went deeper into the playoffs than any other Canadian NHL team this year, making it to the Final Four, where a powerhouse Colorado Avalanche team swept them in four games.
It was a hard knock loss for a team already battered by major injuries to star players like Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse. Nonetheless, Edmonton went down fighting hard, with neither Draisaitl nor Nurse missing a playoff game due to injury and both providing inspiration to their teammates with their grit.
If the two players had been healthy perhaps the playoff outcome would have been different, but not to be, not this year.
The Score’s response to Edmonton’s playoff run, the most success the Alberta team has had since 2006?
In a now deleted tweet, they showed an Oilers logo being spray-painted over with the word “LOSERS.”
And Sportsnet’s response?
In a now deleted tweet, they showed an Oiler character in a bog trying to grab the Stanley Cup, only to land facedown in the mud, while an Avs character flew overhead with with a broom, indicating the series sweep.
And the reaction from fans of the Edmonton Oilers?
Oilers fan Burt Schoeppe said he’d been a Sportsnet subscriber for more than a decade and asked,
“Why was this posted then taken down? If you meant to sneer at Oilers fans stand by it. If you think it was a mistake address the issue.”
Said Edmonton fan Keri L. Kettle: “My initial reaction to both Tweets was disbelief. Sportsnet was denigrating its business partner. The Score – a former sports network – was embarrassing itself. As a Marketing Prof, I am stunned they didn’t give their social media staff clear direction on what is acceptable.”
And Oilers fan Goodfella @DhillonSteve: “Just embarrassing. What a bunch of clowns.”
And Daniel Ficca @oilers49er: “The envy that Toronto has that they lost the McDavid draft continues to this day. It’s constant over here in Ontario. I would say well over 80% of the NHL articles on the Score app are about how Matthews is going to win all the hardware and is the best (insert lie) in hockey.”
And Jason Cobb @alpinejcobb: “Any other team get similar treatment from The Score or Sportsnet?”
Replied JB @JackieBee_16: “Nope. It’s a classless, trashy and quite pathetic tweet
1. It’s not news to anyone in Edmonton that some (certainly not all) media people in Toronto are anti-Alberta and anti-Oilers. Hockey is a tribal sport so no surprise to see this prejudiced attitude expressed in this context. In some ways, it’s part of the fun of hockey, a place where otherwise taboo angry and jealous tribal emotions can be freely and harmlessly expressed. At the same time, it’s bizarre to see Ontario-based corporations with many paying customers in Edmonton take such a partisan and class-less swipe at the Oilers and at Edmonton.
2. It’s wise that both companies took down the offending tweets. If they also promptly apologize, I’ll consider the matter closed. Not every Oilers fan will feel the same way, but almost everyone on Twitter makes the odd stupid, glib, ill-advised or offensive tweet. I’ve certainly done so in my 12 years on Twitter. I’m no fan of cancel culture and will not support it, save for the gravest of cases. If someone errs, but apologizes in good time, that’s works for me. Of course, we’ve yet to see any apology here.
P.S. At least they are better sports in Calgary:
LEAVINS: Player grades in final loss of the season
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
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