If I were Carey Price, here is what I would do -- get the hell out of town as fast as possible. There's nothing going to happen here that will make his life enjoyable. There are 29 other hockey cities in the NHL that would be perfectly happy to have Price in their line-up. This city has decided to hang him it seems. Put yourself in the shoes of Price. Why would anyone choose to face this booing, second-guessing, critiquing of every word and every save and every shrug of the shoulders? No one needs that. No one would choose that.
All of the arguments that suggest Price should bear down and take this criticism/booing/pain are nonsense.
Argument Number One: "He makes a lot of money, so he should realize that he's going to have to put up with this. When you're in the public eye, you get criticized, so live with it." Sorry, but I can't remember the psychology book where it is written that rich and famous people don't suffer human heartache. They sting. They suffer. They're human. In fact, they suffer more in many cases because they're so full of pride that their skills have brought them and the adulation that accompanies it, that there is not a natural disposition to accept criticism, so it hits them even harder. They're stung more in an odd kind of way. It's the man who has been criticized a lot in his life that is more prone to having the ability to shrug it off. These athletes do not shrug it off well, so forget that argument.
Argument Number Two: "We're the fans and we pay our money, so we can do what we want to do." Habs fans who pay their money to boo are fans of what? Themselves. Their own egos. Their opinion. Hal Gill said after the game that he can't figure out why the fans can't see that they are not doing anyone any good. He called the fans the 7th man and they are when they're behind the players, but when they're booing only 1 minute and 33 seconds in the first game on the first goal, it's pretty obvious they were waiting in ambush. The players themselves would prefer a quiet time amongst themselves in Nashville, rather than pre-season jeering. Many players have told me on the topic of playing in Montreal "Who needs that s**t?" Not my words, but NHL players preferring a simple life.
Argument Number Three: "A little bit of criticism is going to make him stronger and help him to grow." Did you say 'grow' or was that 'go'? Muscles do not react well to nervous tension. Ask any athlete anywhere. Relaxed mind. Relaxed body. Confident mind. Confident body. Criticism causes mental strife, causes physical weakness. An athlete will not give best performance being booed by his own fans. He will not. Any suggestion to the contrary is uneducated.
Argument Number Four: "We're booing the organization for trading Halak." I agree that you build with your heroes, you don't trade them. That's not Price's fault. He didn't trade Halak. Boo Gauthier then. You're angry about that trade, then boo with whom you're angry.
Talk radio targets Price
I thought the news cycle on this story was going to end in 24 hours, but now it seems that in lieu of having anything to talk about, talk radio is picking up the wrecking ball and aiming it right at Price's attitude in his news interviews the next day.
"How dare he tell us to relax? 'Chill out!!' he said. Who the hell does he think he is?"
It's always easy to appeal to the pride and ego of someone to rile them up. American TV pundits on Fox News, and MSNBC have learned very well that appealing to fear is also a good way to improve the ratings. See, the problem with talk radio is this: too much time. If you have five minutes and you deal with a particular issue, then you move on. You have 24 hours and all anyone wants to hear is the Habs, then suddenly talk radio expands on the conversation to the point that inanities get entertained.
To be a talk show host, and to be personally insulted that Carey Price told the fans to chill out is not even authentic. I don't believe the talk radio hosts who are insulted by that remark are genuine. They are only trying to incite the fans to hate that remark for more powerful radio. Their indignation is as phony as a three dollar bill. I was in the scrum when he said it and there wasn't a single person that wasn't smiling after he said it. Everyone had a chuckle. But six hours later with ratings important and listening trends in September for the Habs season being established the host realizes to get everyone bothered is in his best interests. And the defence is this: on the air for 24 hours straight, it's all talk of Price. For three days! No one wants to talk about anything else. It's true. They don't. You can try as hard as you want to get people to email and call about the Als or the Impact and everyone tries to steer the conversation back to the Habs. Angry radio is listened-to radio. So talk it up about the Habs, that's fine, but don't feign indignation that he's insulted you. What a crock!
In conclusion…
And that brings me to the beginning, and the beginning is the end. Price should go. His life will be enjoyable elsewhere. The fishbowl will at least have clear water in it in another city. If I were him, I would ask for a trade. I would not accept this challenge: 19 NHL shooters are hard enough to beat every night, never mind 1000 blowhards trying to run him out of town. Then he can return one day and make 35 saves leading his new club to victory and he can revel in it, and the fans who chose to set the course for his exit can lament in it, and the talk radio hosts with their phony indignation can seek out their next prey.
Here's my suggestion, if you want to make a difference and you're angry, but not at Price, but the way he is treated. Attend a game, and if someone is sitting beside you booing, then call them out on it. Ask them if they think helps him to play better. Ask them if everyone is relaxed to perform better. Ask them if being a Habs fans means destroying the Habs. Call them out! When they boo now, it's like being in a car when someone has angered you. We're all very bold in a car, but less bold when the car stops at a red light, then we don't even want to look over and meet the face of the man we just yelled at or honked at. Point is: Take the fans who boo out of the car.
This is the most negative blog I have ever written in my years of doing this. I am not by nature a negative person I don't believe, but I do not see this ending well. I pray that I am wrong. I fear that I am not. If Price is driven out of town, it will be an embarassment for the city in the eyes of the hockey world.
