Now press boxes are not going to explode over this debate but Patrick Hoffman offers his own two cents on the subject. Please comment away and share your opinions and experiences.
Over the past day and a half, there has been a debate on Twitter between several MSM hockey writers and bloggers regarding cheering the press box, a topic that always generates a ton of responses.
With that in mind, I just wanted to say that I believe that there should be NO cheering of any sort in the press box, even if you are a blogger. If you are a blogger and are in the press box for a game, that means that the National Hockey League and one of its member organizations credentialed you.
Being credentialed is a privilege and one that simply cannot be abused. You need to dress appropriately and act like a professional since you are surrounded by a large number of professionals at the game.
Secondly, if you are a blogger, you have to remember that the MSM are there to do a job. They have a deadline they have to meet, which actually occurs during the game so they need to be able to get their work done without a blogger hounding them or cheering next to them.
Lastly, as bloggers, we need to do everything we can to show MSM that we are for real and that we can write/blog with the best of them. The last thing we want to do is be roudy and unprofessional in the press box.
While this is just my opinion, I do have a reason for stating it. During the 2006-07 season, I was lucky enough to get into the New York Rangers’ press box for 10 games as a volunteer correspondent for Hokeja Vestnesis.
If you know of my work, you know that I am a big Rangers’ fan. With that said, however, I never let that show while in the press box. Instead, I just showed that I had a lot of knowledge about the team and the game of hockey. I was able to earn a bit of respect that way.
I know it is tough and I’m certainly not trying to knock bloggers down. Fan bloggers have to realize that if they want to cheer, they can always either watch the game at home or buy a ticket and attend the game as a fan.
Pretty simple, right?
