John Scott All-Star Game Votes Need to Stop
Nearly 48 hours into the new fan vote, we’re seeing John Scott all-star game votes that helped propel him to an early lead (which he still currently holds).
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via NBCsports.com,
"If you’re wondering how this happened, it all started on the Puck Daddy/Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast. Then Reddit got involved. Not long after, getting John Scott into the All-Star Game became the kind of viral sensation the Internet hasn’t seen since keyboard cat."
A link to the reddit page can be found here, where fans are taking pride in making a mockery of this year’s fan vote.
This years all-star game has been severely altered from past events, introducing a new 3-on-3 format. In the past we’ve seen fans negatively impact the voting process, as early as last year with Latvian’s over-stuffing the ballots with votes for Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons. Before that, we saw Canadiens fans up-voting defenseman Mike Komisarek.
Voting for this years all-star game opened yesterday (Dec.1st), and fans are once again making a mockery of the voting process. It was thought that by limiting fans involvement in 2016, that such incidents could be avoided by only giving people four choices for team captain of each division.
"“I think it’s more of a joke than anything, but I’ll take it,” Scott said.Some will remember the “Vote For Rory” campaign when Vancouver Canucks defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick nearly made the cut in 2006 or when Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons received over 1.5 million votes in 2015′s vote.“I don’t want to have my name in the headlines for this reason,” Scott said. “Like, it’s a fun little thing and hopefully it’ll die down over time. It’s not something — I definitely don’t want to be voted into the All-Star Game.”"
Scrolling through some of Reddit’s comments, there we a couple that stood out, that unfortunately share similar thoughts being expressed by fans.
“All star games are for the Fans, not the players. If the fans want to see how John Scott performs in a 3on3 against Kane and Toews, they should have it.”
and…
“I think as a fan I’d like to see Scott play in the All-Star game. It’d make it fun for me and I’m sure the rest of us to root for Scott and cheer for him.”
Sep 29, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Arizona Coyotes left winger John Scott (28) skates before the game against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports
All-Star games are certainly for the fans enjoyment, and largely based around treating/giving back to fans by offering a game featuring the league’s top players. Every professional sports league does it, but the only one that seems to hold any significance is baseball (MLB). The NHL needs to find a way to make the all-star game more significant/important for the players.
By adding an element that gives players a reason to be more competitive, fans then in-turn are offered a more quality and exciting product. The more reasons we give players to be dis-interested, the more Sidney Crosby type incidents we get similar to last season. We’re ultimately hurting the all-star game the more we attempt to incorporate fans.
As for the fans expressing interest in seeing players such as John Scott go head-to-head with Patrick Kane; the thought is absurd. He obviously doesn’t possess the endurance or skill-set to keep up with the league’s best. So it can only go one of two ways, and neither is pretty:
1) He embarrasses himself, unable to contribute whatsoever while looking glaringly out-of-place
2) Players give him the Vladimir Putin treatment, where Scott is given pity breakaway’s (at which point we’ve lost all hope)
We’re past the quarter-mark of 2015-16 with 3-on-3 having just been introduced this season, and already Erik Karlsson and Dustin Byfuglien have complained. Karlsson has since changed his attitude on the topic, but 3-on-3 is a stamina adjustment. With the frequency of turnovers and transition play, getting caught deep when you’re gassed is an all too real scenario if a player can’t properly manage his endurance.
Next: 2016 NHL Winter Classic Preview
It’s time for fans to do what’s right. The league has already made a statement by limiting your impact in 2016, and if we’re not careful, we’ll someday lose the small voice we’ve been limited to. Life offers many other outlets to help feed our need for daily amusement, so please let’s stop with the John Scott All-Star Game votes.