Analysts suggest that Blue Jackets players may be falling on their swords for Babcock
Mike Babcock stole the headlines yesterday after Paul Bissonnette reported that the head coach had been asking his players to show him their photos from their phones and then AirPlaying them on a TV in his office. Babcock and Boone Jenner then released statements essentially denying the inflammatory accusations and Johnny Gaudreau also came forward in defense of his head coach.
One of the main issues with this story - at least until it gets resolved - is that everything Babcock does gets blown out of proportion and brings about a lot of mayhem, as Brian Hayes from OverDrive mentions:
"I'm not of the belief that he's been rehabilitating for 4 years. I don't think it was some coincidence that the second his deal with the Maple Leafs ended, he signed with Columbus. He was waiting for every cheque to cash and then he said I'm back in... but everything he does is not necessarily from the "I'm a bad guy angle"... and because it's Babcock, the flares are going off naturally and if Bonne Jenner came out and said I don't like it, then this guy should've been gone."
Hayes, Jamie McLennan, and Jeff O'Neill discussed at length both sides of the coin because the Blue Jackets and their players have defended their head coach and have refuted the notion of the initial report. Jenner and Gaudreau could have easily gone the other way and tanked Babcock's career:
"It would suggest to me, Boone Jenner effectively had the career of Mike Babcock in his hands. If his interpretation was "I felt there was a violation, I don't know why he asked for it, I didn't like it" and he went public with it, I don't think Mike Babcock is the coach of the Blue Jackets right now. Instead he said, 'I have no problem with this, we were sharing, he asked, I showed', so if that's the case, again we have this perception of Babcock and I think it's understandable why people feel the way they feel about him and, as a result, he gets labelled as a guy that's always going to do the wrong thing or always going to be anti-player because he has a history with that."
Hayes then talked about how, in a situation like this, there could be a power struggle between head coach and player - even if Jenner is the captain and a representative of the NHLPA. As Hayes says, there's a level of interpretation based on the power struggle because "he's the coach" and that the captain might not want to ruffle feathers so early on:
"There is a superior, and not an inferiority complex here with Jenner - Jenner is a player, he's represented by the association, he's the captain, he's got money - but there is a power struggle here... Boone Jenner is not an equal here to Mike Babcock. That is where there still is a level of interpretation here, regardless of what Jenner said, Gaudreau said, he's the coach... and if the coach asks you to do something, it can be awkward, not that it has to be awful or this massive violation... I guess what I'm saying is, it feels that when it's Babcock, everything is [inflammatory]."
At the very least there is always two sides to a coin and to be able to discuss both angles is important with something as inflammatory as this. As they mentioned a few times, everything surrounding Babcock is breaking news, but if he did go up to his players - by taking advantage of the perceived power struggle - and asked them for their photos and then circulated them, then he should be ousted yet again.
| POLL | ||
13 SEPTEMBRE | 114 ANSWERS Analysts suggest that Blue Jackets players may be falling on their swords for Babcock Do you think Blue Jackets players are bailing Babcock out of the mess he's created for himself? | ||
| No, I think Babs is being honest | 40 | 35.1 % |
| Yes, I think they're bailing him out | 43 | 37.7 % |
| Don't care either way | 31 | 27.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
