With the NHL all-star game being played this week, it is time to talk about all things techno and the all-star selections. Selecting the players who are thought to be the best in the league for the first part of the season, is a hard task in itself. But to leave it to the mindless masses that we are, and then toss in technology, and you have a system gone bonkers.
It was bad enough that in the baseball voting you used to be able to go ballparks, grab 100 paper ballots and poke out the “chad” of your choice and stuff the balloting with the players of your choice. At least this method took some work, patience and a fair amount of dedication or stupidity. You REALLY wanted to vote if you took the time to do that. But now we have the internet and the text messaging cell phones which allow you to vote until your little heart desires or you hit that “maximum of 100 text messages per phone” limit is reached.
Are we THAT impressed with numbers that we need to multiply our votes by 10, 20 or even 100 just to see bigger totals for our favorite players? Has “American Idol” taken over society so much that we need to mimic their every idea? And as for the text messaging, you didn’t even need to vote for a player, but you could vote for a team and all of that team’s players would receive a vote. Talk about laziness. And yes, I felt a little guilty voting “PENS” knowing there were two defensemen on the ballot that never even played a single game! Don't get me wrong, I love technology. But in the hands of fanatic voters, it's a nightmare.
And then there is the players selected by the masses. Of the 12 players starting the game, there are only four teams represented!! Are these four teams that dominate that the other players around the league “need not apply”? I’m tired of hearing “that’s who the fans want to see”. Most fans want to see the best, not the most popular. I’m sure the fans of the Red Wings, Sharks, Rangers, and Sabres are wondering how their teams are in first place without at least one starting all-star player among them.
Let’s leave the voting to the fans, but let’s take away the ability to vote numerous times, and for teams instead of players. We may still see some “home cooking” on the selections, but at least we won’t see more votes going to a player than there are people in the world.
It was bad enough that in the baseball voting you used to be able to go ballparks, grab 100 paper ballots and poke out the “chad” of your choice and stuff the balloting with the players of your choice. At least this method took some work, patience and a fair amount of dedication or stupidity. You REALLY wanted to vote if you took the time to do that. But now we have the internet and the text messaging cell phones which allow you to vote until your little heart desires or you hit that “maximum of 100 text messages per phone” limit is reached.Are we THAT impressed with numbers that we need to multiply our votes by 10, 20 or even 100 just to see bigger totals for our favorite players? Has “American Idol” taken over society so much that we need to mimic their every idea? And as for the text messaging, you didn’t even need to vote for a player, but you could vote for a team and all of that team’s players would receive a vote. Talk about laziness. And yes, I felt a little guilty voting “PENS” knowing there were two defensemen on the ballot that never even played a single game! Don't get me wrong, I love technology. But in the hands of fanatic voters, it's a nightmare.And then there is the players selected by the masses. Of the 12 players starting the game, there are only four teams represented!! Are these four teams that dominate that the other players around the league “need not apply”? I’m tired of hearing “that’s who the fans want to see”. Most fans want to see the best, not the most popular. I’m sure the fans of the Red Wings, Sharks, Rangers, and Sabres are wondering how their teams are in first place without at least one starting all-star player among them.Let’s leave the voting to the fans, but let’s take away the ability to vote numerous times, and for teams instead of players. We may still see some “home cooking” on the selections, but at least we won’t see more votes going to a player than there are people in the world.
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