[thanks to The Philly Phans and 610 WIP for the audio]
Jeremy Roenick spoke to Angelo Cataldi on 610 WIP this morning about Phiadelphia fans' backlash to his emotional rant on NBC.
Roenick didn't apologize for crying over the Blackhawks' win, but he did say that he would have been the same way had the Flyers won.
I think he's missing the point.
The reason fans were upset at him was not because he was emotional over the Blackhawks' win, but because he did it as part of an objective national broadcast. If cameras had caught "fan" JR sitting in a luxury box tearing up when the Hawks lifted the cup, I don't think anyone would have cared. The ire, at least from me, comes when you have to watch a supposed objective broadcaster cry tears of joy for the opposing team. And it certainly doesn't help when he was a beloved figure who you considered one of your own.
He's not going to do himself any favors by calling fans "these people" and ticking off his injuries in his life-long quest for the cup. Many fans will gladly tick off a list of hardships that don't include millions of dollars, a nice house, an expensive car, and playing a sport for a living.
No one is blaming him for being emotional, just don't do it in front of the faces of thousands of fans who just had their hearts ripped out.
Listen to the interview here.
11 Responses
Somebody tell Roenick that Michael Douglas called, and he wants his hair back.
Hey guys.. pick something better to write about? in all honesty.. its not a big deal.. and youre saying anyone on tv should not be human when all’s said and done.. I don’t hear ANYBODY bashing how HORRIBLE Eddie Olcyzk (Spelling) was for favoring the Hawks during every single game of the series doing color behind Doc.. every Play they did that was remotely beneficial to them.. well thats just a nice play by the Blackhawks.. Great execution.. amd if the Flyers did something well.. He talked about the Hawks’ failure.. Or Mike Millbury.. that scumbag hates the Flyers. Every damn series it’s allllllllll about the opposing team.. JR was unbiased the whole series in his analysis on NBC as well as Comcast SportsNet. He’s a former player.. of course he has a favorite team.. and guess what.. IF JR cried when we won the cup.. You would not have posted this article.. talk about Rebuilding nex year.. or Leighton’s failure.. but not something NOBODY cares about..
by the way.. Maybe you have not realized life isn’t all about money? He’s not asking for your attention.. and to feel bad for him..theres so much better things to talk about
I don’t think the writer of this article knows what it’s like to be a hockey player. I hope other Philly fans don’t take it personal and realize how great Hockey is. How great their team played and how lucky it is just to get your team into the cup finals.
Please, there was nothing objective about any of those broadcasters – they were on their knees for the blackhawks for the whole game. That said, why hate on the man for showing some emotion. The game was over and he was happy.
If you listen to him in his broadcasts, he honestly thinks and talks more about himself than he shows partiality for one team or the other. While I do think the tv broadcasters, in general, were more excited for the Hawks than the Flyers. But when JR started crying, it wasn’t out of emotion for seeing the Hawks win — it wasn’t because he wasn’t objective — it was out of pity for himself because he never achieved that goal.
The Measure of the Man: Jeremy Roenick and the Heart of a Lion
Much has been made of former Chicago Blackhawk now turned NBC commentator Jeremy Roenick’s emotional reaction to the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup Victory last evening in Philadelphia. As with much in today’s fast-paced informational laden world, taking his tears and words at face value could be seen by some as breaking the line of neutrality that we expect of sports commentary.
Yet, by not knowing or being willing to see the big picture for JR, you miss the nuance of the moment and the heart that has endeared JR to Hawk fans for decades. JR was a fan favorite and we loved him just as much as he loved us. I moved to CHI in 1989 and, to borrow a phrase from Billy Chrystal when he refers to his beloved NY Yankees, from the moment I watched my first Hawks game I started a love affairs with this team that still continues today.
JR just ate up the crowd’s love and during his stint in CHI he fell in love with our city and our fans as only a young pro-hockey player could. He played with heart, he played for the fans and he uniquely understood the ‘working man’ mentality of the Chicago Blackhawk fan base at the time. He understood that folks were spending their hard-earned money to come out and see him play and he wasn’t about to disappoint.
I can still remember, as many comments on blogs and the like across the Web have as well, that dark day in 1996 when it was announced that JR would be leaving the Blackhawks to go to Phoenix. It was no different than hearing the news that a close friend was moving away without warning; it stung. I can still remember crying at the sight of the huge sign that JR had put up on one of the Chicago expressways, “Chicago, Thank you for the memories,” with his patented ‘JR’ signature. He certainly didn’t want to go and we could go on for hours about the way the team was run at the time and how the loss of Chelios and Roenick were the end of the last true Blackhawk Dynasty.
JR’s comments last night were the lamenting of a man who has the heart of a lion and the love of a fan base that still today reveres him whenever he is in their house. Watching the celebration last night, he was reminded of the night when the Blackhawks lost the Cup in Chicago in 1992 and the little boy he saw outside their dressing room crying uncontrollably. Obviously, JR remembered that child’s heartbreak and his own and being a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, he was thinking of that little boy and how happy he must be today.
JR would have loved to give Hawk fans what Kane, Toews, Sharp, Niemi et al. were able to give us last night; the title of the best team in hockey. That was part of his tears; the thought of that little boy, now a man, reveling down Michigan Avenue or through Wrigleyville in a euphoria that JR wasn’t able to give him.
That is the way it is when there is a connection between people that transcends words. It speaks profoundly to the foundation of that special relationship and it also, to an outsider, very easy to misunderstand. I can only imagine what it must have been like for JR, to see all those Hawk jerseys flashing across the ice. I am sure that although he saw Kane, Towes, Hossa, Ladd and Versteeg in celebration; in an almost mystical moment, I am sure he saw his own face, that of Chris Chelios, Bob Probert and Eddie Belfour, just to name a few… in a much different time.
Call them tears or simply, the measure of the man.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a non-story, being perpetrated by the WIP/Fanatic crowd just so that fans have a scapegoat for a generally likeable opponent? Everyone’s human. It’s not a big deal.
Hell, if they would have waited a day or so, they’d have had that douchebag Scrub What’shisface saying he wanted to punch Pronger the next time he saw him from the comfort of a press box to unload on.
I have always thought that Philly fans have gotten a bad rap as far as the poor behavior thing goes…but I guess its true. JR is class, and you folks are generally (I say generally because one should NEVER stereotype) a bunch of battery throwing, mean spirited, whiners. I could keep going but what is the point.
Oh by the way…going to a parade tomorrow!
I think hes just a bit loose with his emotions. He was misty eyed at the winter classic as well.
On Chicago Tonightsubj: Asian Carp in Chicago pondsThe get there the way any fish gets into a secluded pond. By ducks. The ducks dive down in the water to eat grass on the bttoom of the pond/lake/river etc. The ducks brush up aganst the fish eggs clinging to the grass. The fish eggs stick to the fethers of the duck and are flowen by the duck to the next lake/pond etc. Where the fish eggs are brushed off while the duck is eating grass in the bttoom of that body of water. The eggs hatch and you have fish where you didn’t before. I am supprised Chicago Tonight’s experts didn’t know that.
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