The Weekly Dis
A busy week in Dystopia
Disrespected Media is trying to get to Clearwater, Fla, for Crew training next week. I can do it with your help. Click the blue "Tip for travel" button to aid in getting me there, and we'll get our own one-on-one with the new coach. Twenty contributors, selected at random, will receive a limited-edition, DM T-shirt. If you're a business, you can contact me directly (thedisrespected614@gmail.com). Grazie. -- Arace
Molta grazie
I want to thank all the readers who've supported my fundraising effort (see above) to facilitate a trip to Clearwater, Fla., so I can pop in for a few days of Columbus Crew training camp. I haven't raised enough to cover all of my expenses – but I've raised more than enough to get my ass down there. My plan is to fly Monday or Tuesday.
If you have you have any questions to pose to the new coach, Henrik Rydström, put them in comments below or hit me up @michaelarace1.bsky.social. I will not promise that I'll get all or even any of the questions, but I'm interested in your ideas. It's all food for thought.
The Bowness effect
I've got a Pages file with 3,312 words, most of it quotes, from and about the Blue Jackets' new coach, the first impressions of him, and his initial impressions on the team. I'll add more to the file at morning skate in Pittsburgh Saturday. I'll augment during and after the game against the Penguins. A big Bowness piece is coming ...
Keep an eye out for the latest episode of the Cannon Balls podcast, which I'll be recording between the skate and the game. I've got a special guest, one who has known Dean Evason for 50 years and has, in the past, covered Bowness on a daily basis.
Look for Cannon Balls and The Crewcible at Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Like, follow, subscribe, review, etc. Have a nice day.
Posts
I always plan on writing columns that post on M-W-F for paid subscribers and The Weekly Dis, free for everyone, on Saturday mornings. This week, news of the sacking of Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason (and the hiring of Rick Bowness) brought some bonus material for subscribers, both in front of and behind the paywall.
Monday:
Likely, Waddell's players will determine whether Waddell takes the bold stand of keeping the gang together or the bold stand to rebuild. (He'd call it a "quick rebuild" or a "retool" or something like that, but whatever.) One must assume that Waddell acts boldly, one way or another. Point the way, Uncle Don.
Michael Arace
Tuesday morning:
Uncle Don did indeed act boldly and it's fair to say he went in a direction nobody saw coming. I didn't, anyway. Waddell fired Dean Evason, who led the team through tragedy last year and whose 127-game record with the Jackets was 59-52-16. Waddell lured Rick Bowness, who will turn 71 on Jan. 25, out of retirement to take Evason's place.
Michael Arace
Tuesday evening:
Bowness was, not surprisingly, full of energy (that's how he is) when he was introduced to the Columbus media by Waddell at noon Tuesday. "Bones," as he is know, ratta-tat-tatted off his areas of concern and said he he'd have some fixes.
The elephant in the room is, of course, the dread third-period meltdowns. The Jackets have lost 26 games (regulation and OT) to this point. They've blown a third-period lead in nine of those losses. They've been outscored in third periods by a margin of 63-39. Their third-period goals against total and goal differential figure (minus-24) are the worst in the league.
"I don't mean to bash (Evason)," Waddell said, "but I could tell they were frustrated with how things were going."
Michael Arace
Wednesday:
Bowness' behind-the-bench persona is a departure from that of Evason. Bowness stalks up and down, exhorting, cajoling, castigating, directing. His debut was a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames before an appreciative audience at Nationwide Arena Tuesday night.
Michael Arace
Friday morning:
Henrik Rydström has not set foot in Columbus since was hired to succeed the great Wilfried Nancy as the next coach of the Columbus Crew on New Year's Eve. He was stuck in Sweden until his visa paperwork/interviews process was completed in Sweden on Jan. 16. In the meantime, he conducted a number of interviews with Swedish journalists, two of which I found particularly edifying. Many thanks to Christian Gustafsson, of the Kalmar-based newspaper Barometern-OT. I translated his stuff and poached it to give readers over here a baseline bio. Rydström is an interesting cat.
Michael Arace
Friday evening:
I reached out to Evason Monday. He said he was putting off talking to media for a few days, which is perfectly understandable. He got back to me, and granted Disrespected Media one of the few interviews he is granting, on Friday. This is a stand-up dude.
When I got let go in Minnesota, it was a little bit of a different situation. I had five, six years there. ... I had a lot of opportunity to get past the first round as a head coach, and we didn't. So, I understood that. But when Billy (Guerin, the Wild GM) spoke with me when he fired me, it was respect and admiration. I asked him what I could do differently. He asked me what I thought the team needed. We had probably an hour conversation about things I could do better, things I thought he could do better, things I thought the team needed, all of that. He was one of the very first texts I got after I was let go the other day. That feeling wasn't the same (with Waddell) the other day.
Michael Arace
The happiest day of the week
Columbus Dispatch and Newark Advocate reporters officially voted to create the Dispatch News Guild, which, according to the literature, "is part of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild Local 1 of The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents more than 27,000 journalists, media workers, and nonprofit employees across the U.S. and Canada. The NewsGuild is one of six sectors under Communications Workers of America (CWA), which has 350,000 members across the U.S. and Canada."
Viva yo.
I joined my former colleagues, including the Podfather (second from right in the photo above) for the celebration at Nocterra Brewing Co.-Audubon Park. It was joyous. I'm so happy for my friends.
On a related front, and not to pander here, but the beer and the food at Nocterra is first-rate. They'd be a great sponsor. Just a thought.
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