Hersom weighs in…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
You’ve heard me say on a few occasions that sometimes I don’t feel qualified to talk about some of the matters regarding the history of the Blazers or the history of the hockey scene in Oklahoma City in general. I’ve read up on it, but you can’t replace the experience of actually being there.
But I’m sure none of you will have any qualms with letting someone who’s been around the block once or twice (or three times) chime in with his own thoughts.
I asked former Blazers beat writer and longtime sports writer Bob Hersom to give his thoughts. And though we had some e-mail issues a couple of times, it finally got through.
Here’s what he had to say:
Boneman has spoken. He has asked me for a “Blazers retrospective” for his blog, and I’m happy to oblige.
I certainly enjoyed my time as the Blazers’ beat writer for five years. The Blazers organization has always been – and still is – top notch. And hockey players have long had the reputation of being among the top athletes for us media types. I found that especially true of the Blazers. I hope Tyler Fleck and many other former Blazers players still consider me to be their friend. Doug Sauter, Chris Dashney and Wade Sundbye are all class acts. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have been with the Blazers in the first place.
I’m convinced that the AHL is where OKC should be in the hockey arena.
Oklahoma City just doesn’t fit in with most of the CHL cities anymore.
Maybe most fans won’t notice the difference in skill level, but those of us who have watched a lot of hockey certainly will.
Should OKC’s new AHL team be called the Blazers? I’d say yes, and I’m not aware of any valid reasons why not. Just continue the grand tradition but at a higher, AAA level – the way it used to be in the city.
***
Fellow chum Berry Tramel has also posted his own thoughts on his blog yesterday. You can go here for that one. As for my story in today’s edition, here ya go. And as for the NewsOK poll, it is now 76 percent for AHL (114 votes) to 24 percent for CHL (36).
Be safe today on the 4th of July, and I’ll be back tomorrow as I think I might have found something.
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Comments
Hersom Wrote: “Maybe most fans won’t notice the difference in skill level, but those of us who have watched a lot of hockey certainly will.”
Are you friggin kidding me ??? Hersom barely qualified as a fan, but now he considers himself some type of hockey guru (Sorry Mike J)???
Kudos to the Boneman, he can on the scene, showed humility in his hockey knowledge. The boneman has written more about CHL hockey in his short tenure than Hersom did in his many years while assigned to the same job. My hats off to you Boneman, you have done a great job as a rookie, and hope you will continue with the AHL!! I will put in a good word with your editor-in-chief if I see him on the street, he is a good guy, even if he is a Caps fan !
Tramel doesn’t really have any qualifications to speak about the hockey scene in OKC. Then he shoots his mouth off, calling many AHL markets po dunk towns(in not so many words).
I don’t really care what we call the team. But can we all agree to one rule? Let’s not change the jerseys for like 25-50 years. The Blazers were good about it for maybe the first 8 years, and then it went out the window. Hell, they even have a souvenir t-shirt of all the jerseys they have worn over the past 17 years (I know because I have one). There are like 12-15 jerseys on there. I mean that is lame to change jerseys that much. I love it that the Blackhawks, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Habs, Rangers, and the Red Wings all have the original logs and jerseys they once wore. The blackhawks have changed the colors of the logo a little over the years, but it is still petty similar to the original one.
I know the jersey changing decision is made by the front office to get us fans to buy more jerseys, but it’s really retarded and totally craps on tradition.
We haven’t heard from Scott Munn yet. He actually got on the bus with the Blazers and went to almost every road game as the beat writer. He is more qualified than Hersom.
Berry Tramel should be used as chum.