Flyers Beat Writers Become Butthurt When Bryz Doesn't Wanna Smile & Dance a Jig
Frank Seravalli has been a Philadelphia Flyers beat writer for the past three NHL seasons. He, like most of his colleagues, stick a mic in players faces after/before games, record their thoughts, then jot 'em down in a blog column, adding his own witty little quips between the quotations.
When writers like Seravalli don't receive much expressive feedback from the players, then Frank's compelled to report the news using dry facts and/or observations.
Or, in this case, when Ilya Bryzgalov doesn't dance like a monkey for the cameras in his post-game interview from last night, Frank Seravalli posts a video about how Bryz is unhappy and has an "attitude" problem. I don't know about there being an issue with Ilya's attitude, but the interview was a bit droll --
Seravalli followed that up with video addition to his blog here. I apologize, but we're unable to obtain the embedded coding from the video and share it using this article.
The guy in the video to Seravalli's left is Marcus Hayes, another Daily News columnist. Right out of the gates he's asked what he thinks about Bryzgalov's recent demeanor following his success between the pipes.
"I don't wanna talk about it. OH! Wait, that's Bryzgalov's line," Hayes says. And then they get a good chuckle from it.
Marcus, that's hilarious. You should do stand-up! I see what you did there. You...you were mocking our goaltender who's just coming off his third straight shutout by pretending to say what Bryzgalov's said in recent interviews! That's....that is sooooo impertinent!
Ahem.....
Together these muppets attempt to dissect the differences between Bryzgalov's on-camera behavior nowadays relative to what it used to be when he began this season earlier on.
I'm sure you remember how the press bombarded Ilya in the beginning of the schedule which led to bench boss Peter Laviolette generating the "Silent Island" debacle.
This created a storm throughout the team's beat writers. Sam Carchidi, Frank Seravalli, Anthony SanFilippo, Tim Pannacio, etc etc etc.....the whole Microphone & Pen armed forces rose as one and tore down the walls that surrounded this refuge built for Bryzgalov's healthy state of mind.
That all occurred while Ilya's save-percentage suffered, and he was chastised to no end.
Now that #30 has seemed to turn the corner and instituted some crushing momentum in his game before heading into the Playoffs, these same muckrakers want the Song & Dance out of Bryzgalov. But they're not getting it.
And why the hell should they?
If you can recall, back in early January, Ilya Bryzgalov sat out a stretch of games due to feeling ill. We all get sick. We're human. And when we're sick with the flu, most of us lay in bed at home, flipping through the channels on the television or open up the laptops to post statuses about "I haven't been this sick in sooooo long!"
Bryzgalov was doing much of the same, except he decided to Tweet about his Russia's World Junior hockey team after they had lost in the Championship game --
Seravalli notices this Tweet and follows up with --
That's terrific, Frank. Next time you get the flu, stay home from work, and get out of bed to take a shit, I hope there's someone right there to expose you for having the time to evacuate your bowels while skipping a day on the job.
Bryzgalov wasn't bedridden. He wasn't dying. Ilya was sick. And when you're sick you can't do your job or find the strength to yap at a group of journalists. It doesn't mean you're unable to pound a few keys on your phone using your thumbs.
If you notice, Seravalli tagged Bryzgalov in that Tweet. Which means Ilya more than likely saw it. Our franchise goaltender saw a professional columnist dispraising his name for the millions of Flyers fans to see. And if you open the Tweet, you'll notice Pannacio Re-Tweeted it, assuring Seravalli wasn't alone with his opinion.
My question is -- How in the hell could you possibly expect Bryzgalov to open up now when he's doing well, after the press had virtually crucified him throughout the start of his tenure here?
And now Seravalli and Hayes have the audacity to try and convince the readers/viewers that Bryzgalov is not only snubbing the press, but "ignoring" and "punishing" the fans as well!?!?!?
Frank.... can I call you Frank? Okay, good.
Frank, we're not all brainless sheep who buy into your inane bullshit. Granted there are many out there prepared to drink whatever kool-aid you hand them, but the majority of Flyers fans have the ability to put two and two together. We saw how Bryzgalov's adjustment period was handled by the beat writers earlier in the season. We noticed how the beat writers disrespected Laviolette's wishes to leave the goaltender alone.
He's not snubbing the fans. He's snubbing quacks like you.
He's not "miserable." Bryz just doesn't want anything to do with you.
Instead of getting the hint, you try to turn it around and pawn it off like he's the bad guy. He had douchebags like me cursing his very existence while he played badly, then it was followed up by people like you asking him to dance a jig in front of the camera so you get your story.
And now that his game's turned around, his head's on straight and he's ready for Playoff hockey, you want his colorful character back.
Sorry, chief. It doesn't work that way. I guess life ain't fair. Sell crazy somewhere else.
And change your goddamn headshot photo. You look like an extra from the Super Mario Bros. movie.
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