The Media, bete noir of practically everybody rich/famous/important enough to warrant somebody writing about them, has lately been the subject of more hand-wringing opinion pieces and alarmist rhetoric than any particular person should be subjected to. The other day on NPR (yeah, yeah) I heard someone say, in regard to the destruction of the traditional print media, that the next 10 years are going to be great years if you're a corrupt politician. The implication being that newspapers, with their shrinking ad revenue, readership, and newsroom headcount, will leave dirt undug, muck unraked, and corrupt public servants free to award overexpensive garbage collection contracts to kickbacking insiders. You know, unlike now.

Who knows if all that is true? All I know is that Mark Purdy still has a job, and locker room access, in the South Bay for writing lazy articles that make me wince. For example, this bit of cluelessness about basically being called an idiot by Mike Babcock.

For those who don't want to give him any page hits (and bless your soul), he wanted Babcock to talk about how it was surely going to be awkward to be coaching the Red Wings against the Sharks when in mere weeks he will be COACHING SOME OF THOSE VERY SAME SHARKS as part of Team Canada. Oh ho ho. My dear Purdy, simply nothing escapes the reach your keenly honed mind!

I liked Babcock's response, which echoed my own: wait, what?

Purdy never lets the cold slap of reality pull him back from his fanciful yet batshit theories, though. Every single quote in his opinion piece, from Babcock and from Dany Heatley, contradicts his thesis that Babcock's loyalties will be strained by, um, coaching a hockey game. That doesn't keep Purdy from continuing his pathetic little thought experiment, and even ending the column with a refrain that Babcock simply MUST have an interesting job due to all the mental strain of keeping his priorities straight.

You guys are thinking way too much. -Mike Babcock

If only that were true, Mike. If only that were true.

Meanwhile, keep using all those J-school-acquired investigative and research skills in THE JOB YOU ARE PAID TO DO, Mark! It's not like some random asshole on the internet can just think shit up and post it.