Vote For Rory - How SAS Destroyed the Sanctity of the NHL All-Star Game

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Vote For Rory - How SAS Destroyed the Sanctity of the NHL All-Star Game

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

I sent the link along to Team 1200 in Ottawa - I'll try a few different angles to get an on-air mention.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2006 16:00

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 09:05

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

HPL posted:

Poor Rory. He'd be so if he knew why we started this whole thing in the first place.

It's like a sarcastic version of Rudy..what's not to like?

# ¿ Dec 2, 2006 02:42

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

SubCrid TC posted:

It seems that you're a mastermind now!

Front page of The Province's sports section:

The National Post also carried the story today, so I bet it was in every CanWest newspaper.

Hopefully this media attention doesn't make people lazy about voting. I'm going to go kick in another 100 votes for Rory :patriot:

# ¿ Dec 7, 2006 16:08

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

Do you need to see Mark Messier's ugly mug in order for your vote to count? Sometimes I see him and sometimes I don't, however when I see Messier the confirm page takes a little bit longer to load. :tinfoil:

# ¿ Dec 11, 2006 22:58

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

CanWest newspapers have embraced the Rory campaign from the beginning and the NHL isn't hating:

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=ab0f711a-7053-4eef-910c-a6acb907828f

League likes Rory for 'fun' factor
'Let's not make it into something catastrophic,' says spokesman

quote:

Much like Sylvester Stallone has done with Rocky, Rory Fitzpatrick campaigners have taken a charming story and launched it into the realm of the ridiculous -- and the NHL couldn't be happier.

The league is embracing the 'Vote for Rory' efforts which now seem poised to elect to the all-star game a bottom-roster Canucks defenceman who has as many points as the fans voting for him (zero).

"I hope that from a human standpoint, for once, we can all just have a moment of fun with something without sentencing ourselves to paralysis by analysis," said NHL spokesman Frank Brown. "I have a pretty strong feeling that everyone who has played this year at an all-star calibre will end up on the ice in Dallas.

"If one of those players is a player who has been picked by the fans, who have made use of the opportunity granted them by fan balloting then so be it. Let's not make it into something catastrophic."

Thanks to fans who go on 'Rory Diets' -- where they do nothing but vote for Fitzpatrick for hours -- Fitzpatrick is in second place among Western Conference defencemen after his biggest week yet.

In one week, he jumped from sixth to second. If voting trends continue he will take over the No. 1 spot held by Scott Niedermayer before voting wraps on Jan. 2.

"You gotta laugh at it all," Brown said. "We all have to remember, they're hockey players, not hockey workers.

"It's good that a lot of people are having fun with it."

The campaign originated with the website voteforrory.com when creator Steve Schmid set out to shine the spotlight on a lesser-known player. Many got involved in the campaign to show the flaw in the NHL voting system that allows fans to vote online as many times as they want.

There has been a belief in some circles that the NHL has been appalled by these developments and is planning to change the way it selects all stars next year. Not even close to reality, Brown said.

"This is what passionate fans do and we have some of the most passionate fans in sport," Brown said. "This story underscores the respect we have for our fans' passion.

"It is a delight when there is a positive story to tell from a hockey standpoint. If there is going to be a hockey story that will make people feel good about their ability to have an impact on a national event, then that is a really nice story."

Brown said no matter what system the league uses there are always people who complain about who got in and who didn't.

The biggest question left is whether Fitzpatrick will decide to go to the game if he's voted in.

"There's almost 500,000 voters who think he should go already," Brown said. "We welcomed their participation in making the decision."

There is no question the story has brought a lot of attention to the NHL and its all-star game.

It has been picked up and discussed throughout Canada, by Sports Illustrated and media outlets in Los Angeles and New York.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2006 18:56

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

One of the Sedin twins but not the other

# ¿ Dec 21, 2006 21:22

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

Could he be a US Senator? Hillary looks like she's running for the big job, which could open up a slot for Senator Fitzpatrick. :patriot:

# ¿ Jan 4, 2007 20:12

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

derk posted:

Figures the year i move to Florida ...

Not a real hockey fan..a real hockey fan lives where it snows. Further - how's your skating? Skating ability is the true sign of hockey fandom.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2007 05:25

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 09:05

JungleMan: Apr 6, 2004

I think the most damning stat is the ratio of published votes for Western D vs. Forwards and Goalies.

Up until Dec 18th it was what you would expect
2.01914 D per Goalie
1.47036 Forwards per D

I don't have the individual weekly stats, but I bet those ratios stayed pretty flat through the first few weeks of voting.

Then all of a sudden in the last week the ratios go to
1.671777 D per Goalie
1.765884 Forwards per D

There were only ~331,406 votes cast in the last week (based on goalie votes)
We also know you can only vote in one Western write-in candidate per vote. So you know 129,620 of those votes had one of Rory, Michalek or Toskala on them.

So of the ~200k other votes, half voted for a write-in defensemen other than Rory?

# ¿ Jan 10, 2007 15:39

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