A lot of final, final entries but I can hang in until the WC ends Sunday.
After that I could care less if Charles Wang or the Islanders are on the front page every day or what any paper writes about anything whether it be Lighthouse Approval of the Islanders moving to Msg and kicking out the Rangers.
I'm pretty much done.
I did receive an e-mail asking why I do not mention some amateur blogs.
If you have followed NYIFC from the beginning you know I do not comment on amateur fan blogs even those that appear on some major websites and require the writing to come from a professional newspaper or someone with a real media credential or hockey background whether it be Jay Feaster writing or even Mike Milbury writing along with someone like Mr Botta.
I felt from day one there is a line to be respected and I have drawn a very conservative line with what I consider professional. Many things others consider professional I frankly do not (call it generational or whatever) which is why you never saw their work here or you saw me scale back and drop some sites because I do not see them as professional media as I linked to their content.
This is not an insult to anyone but just the way I see it.
Competition? I could have posted a dozen or so great fan blogs here and anyone who asked to be included on my sidebar was never turned away. I was never into the page view game here and stopped counting after a hundred thousand plus hits because I was thanking everyone almost weekly that first year.
That kind of thing was simply just not an interest of mine. If I wanted to do that I could have gotten some sponsors and put advertising all over the place but I did not start NYIFC for that kind of thing either nor did I have any aspiration to write for anyone but myself out of enjoyment. I did offer to include my writing here for some publications and websites but I frankly this would never be about some kind of personal gain but only to promote the team in my own way.
As I wrote the other day I was never into the funny picture game from professional media who write blogs to supplement quality and need that to produce daily or weekly information as part of the job description. I also never broke news or played the inside source shock jock game here because I respect those lines above all.
I also did not play the rumors game unless it comes from a professional newspaper and promised from the beginning my goal was to be dead last and a hundred percent correct in what was presented here out of respect and kept my promise.
New York Islander Fan Central is, was and always has been an amateur blog and I have made clear countless time I am not a media nor is my viewpoint professional or ever to be taken in that light. If you did you have you misjudged what this blog was about or placed too much importance in my commentary.
Having written that I feel I have acted with professionalism in my own way by keeping the funny pictures and shock jock game out of NYIFC because you deserve as close as a professional blog an amateur can present.
My comments on professional media articles or in Mr Botta's case have always
been along the same lines you would see a Phil Mushnick, Bob Raissman, Richard Sandomir or even a Neil Best comments on announcers viewpoints or how they call something during a game. I simply extended that to professional hockey articles or professional viewpoints about our team with a ton of my own articles, game reviews and whatever.
I get the impression many viewed this as a blog about media, that was just one small aspect of NYIFC but many responded because it was a new concept, my only regret there is we had more articles to praise than to be critical of and maybe a few days I worked so hard on the mountains of critical content I neglected praising some other things I should have given equal time to.
Beyond that I respect and encourage everyone's efforts to write what they wish in their own way amateur or professional and to draw their own lines in terms of content.
Everyone has their own way of doing things, this was my way and I feel the correct one.