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Canucks News: Alex Burrows Career Review, Saying Goodbye to Writers
Let’s take a look at Canucks forward Alex Burrows’ difficult path to success in his business, and some important issues in ours.
There aren’t many careers like that of Vancouver Canucks winger Alex Burrows. In hindsight, Burrows definitely should have been a first-round pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. It was the year of great players like Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Miller, Henrik Zetterberg and Radim Vrbata, but Burrows would have deserved to be picked in the top 10.
But, he didn’t get drafted that year. Or ever, for that matter.
Yet, Burrows has enjoyed tremendous success for many years, and he is still an important part of the Canucks hockey club. He talked about his rise from zero to hero in a Q&A with Sportsnet.
Plus, Paul Chapman of The Province talks about the issues of today’s sports writing industry once more. It impacts us all — both writers and readers — which is why I felt it should be linked and talked about here.
The Rise of Alex Burrows
Carol Schram (Sportsnet) — Q&A: Alex Burrows on going undrafted, trade rumours, Bo Horvat
For me, my goal was always—as a kid—the dream was to play in the NHL and play for the Canadiens, growing up in the ’80s, watching them win Stanley Cups.
Your dream as a young boy is to play in the NHL, but as you get older in your teenage years—my mom was a principal and always preaching school first and it’s not like I was dominating in minor hockey; I was mostly playing for fun.
Burrows is hated by fan bases across the NHL, because of his gritty, annoying style. Many fans think he’s no better than Brad Marchand. Yet, everyone loves him in Vancouver.
There is nothing better than a story of a young man defying all odds in pursuing his dream. And that is exactly what Burrows did. He simply took his career one step at a time, always working as hard as he can to advance to the next level.
Today, Burrows is still living by the same principles. Take life one step at a time and be the best you can.
An inspiring story that you should certainly check out.
Getting Chopped
Paul Chapman (The Province) — The Last Morning Skate, Jan. 31: The long goodbye, Horvat heralded, Olympic dreams, Coach of the Year, Steelers behaving badly
There are lots of people lamenting these losses on social media, saying kind things, wondering why popular, talented people are leaving. But the bottom line is, no one wants to pay for information anymore.
I’m not going to get too political, but in all the happenings we’ve seen down south, you know the ones that are clogging up 90 per cent of your Facebook and Twitter feeds, everyone is talking about the need to have a free media that will challenge the establishment. But does anyone pay for it?
This is a story we have read too many times over the past months. Great, successful writers of big media outlets get chopped, mostly for one reason: no one wants to pay for what they write.
Sports writing is a tough business to be in, and it gets tougher every day.
Want your voice heard? Join the The Canuck Way team!
There are several ways to try to make at least enough money to keep a website alive. Unfortunately, they are all frowned upon.
“This website is full of ads, it’s so annoying!”
“Stupid slideshows!”
“Ugh, they have a paywall…”
You won’t agree with or like everything you read. But if you want to keep the industry alive, try to be more understanding. Instead of getting angry, try to look past the ads and consider paying for the websites you regularly read.
Everyone in the business — including the readers — would profit greatly from that.
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