Yes, it's a bus tire.
The Simpsonsian Takes on Baghdad Bryan
An influential member of the non-sports media has gotten off the Bryan Murray bus and is now trying to run him over with it. Jeff Simpson is about as Ottawa Establishment as you can get without being an ex-wife of Michael Potter or Mike Cowpland, so this is serious.
According to Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) Globe columnist Jeff Simpson, a#Sens superfan, has written to club prez Cyril Leeder, demanding a change in mgt.
“It is delusional for him (B. Murray) to say, as was reported yesterday, that this team is a player or two short of making the playoffs. ..if the club does not have a new GM in place by May 1, I will not be renewing my tickets. Nor will I attend any game thereafter.”
Update: The letter itself!
Baghdad Bryan
Eugene, we have a problem.
I’m not sure if Bryan gets any TV reception up at his cottage (Rogers doesn’t work at all up there) but methinks he’s out of sync with what’s going down.
Rebuild Time: It’s official
Roy MacGregor out-scoops the lads at the Ottawa Sun with this little gem, which was quietly whipped up while Bruce and Don were still wondering what The Euge meant.
More later. But if Bruce reads this: what that is called is reporting.
Is 29th place within reach?
The Senators have 40 points in 46 games. Edmonton and the Islanders have 35 points but have played 3 fewer games. Unless New Jersey goes on an epic tear they are heading for last place and first pick with 27 points in 44 games.
If the Leafs are buyers for a playoff run, ahem, then it leaves the Senators as challengers for the number 2 pick.
What are the chances of the Senators finishing 29th? Higher than ever, especially if they dump talent before the deadline, which the in-rebuild teams are less able to do because the talent they have they want to keep.
**Update: Currently that chance stands at 40%. No longer unlikely.
Avoiding Flailure
I’ve started or been an early hire in several high tech companies, and now work for a big one. Some succeeded (if you define success as reacquisition or IPO so someone else can fuck it up). Some failed. All had one thing in common: Avoiding the deathmarch, or if on it, ending it and fast.
Few get everything right in the beginning. The smart ones change course when they sense they are going down the wrong path. Change requires innovation. There is one small problem however, summarized by this axiom:
Innovation is inversely proportional to organizational strength.
Organizational strength increases over time.
New companies and larger companies that have successfully survived a near-death experience (hello, Apple) can innovate. Newer companies have little organizational strength, so change is easy. Larger companies can only do this by purging themselves of existing organizational strength, and to do so radically. In other words, they must change their executives, discard, isolate or encapsulate the current organization, and reboot.
Apple, at one time, needed a US$150 million investment from Microsoft to make payroll and survive. The giant today is a result of a reboot in technology and mindset (OS9? Power PC?) . For larger companies the situation has to be this extreme, as only a true rebirth allows for a return to real innovation. Half measures don’t count. Half-measures result in flailure, in other words, being good enough, but no better, and in reality getting worse.
If you haven’t heard of flailure, here’s a definition.
flailure: (noun): misfortune that occurs because of clumsiness; an accident that includes a wild flailing of limbs.
What does this have to do with hockey? Well, everything.
The Senators have been in flailure state for a while now. Doesn’t matter who’s fault it is. Too many favorites. Too many empires. The only way forward is to take the great leap into rebirth. This, of course, means that everything must be on the table, from management to player personnel to expectations of the fans and the media.
Such a decision can only come from ownership. The fans seem ready, some media (not Sun media) are there, it appears some players are there, as is some management. Is the team ready, willing and able for a rebirth, or will it continue to sadly march along in seemingly endless flailure?
