A kick at the Oil can

Wikipedia readers take offence to our team

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It's just getting worse, isn't it? Last week the Oilers put together another disappointing string of games. The LA Kings came to town and edged the Oilers 3-1. The kicker? Former Oiler Matt Greene scored in the game (his fourth goal in 260 NHL games). Then the Oilers stood up to the red-hot San Jose Sharks but lost in the shootout (5-4). The kicker? The Oilers gave up a shorthanded goal with 86 seconds left in the game to give up the lead. A trip to Vancouver left the Oilers with an embarrassing 7-3 result. The kicker? Really? The Canucks scored seven goals. That alone is bad enough. One more kicker. In the LA game, Ales Hemsky suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Stupid kickers.

Slogans from Hell This year's Grey Cup championship game was certainly exciting but the ending was definitely memorable. A last-second penalty assessed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders allowed the Alouettes' kicker a do-over on the eventual game winning field goal. Montréal stole the win from the Green Machine. The penalty? The green Riders had 13 men on the field—one more than the rules allow. What made the back-breaking penalty ironic? The team's unofficial playoff slogan this year was "The Thirteenth Man Makes All The Difference!"

Yup. 'Twas true. So that got me thinking. Here are some other poorly named sports slogans I completely made up for cheap laughs found on the Internet:

"Best Curved Sticks in the League!" LA Kings – 1993 Cup Finals

"Unless We Score On Our Own Net, We've Got This Series Locked Up, Baby!!" Edmonton Oilers – 1986 Smythe Division Final

"Belarus, Schmelarus. We've got Tommy Salo!" Swedish National Hockey Team – 2002 Olympics

Complaint Line The Oilers, as of last Tuesday, are sitting in 27th place in the league. The team seems to be playing without spark or any particular identity. The veterans are slowly falling out of favour and the new coaches and GM seem to be holding space until the next front-office shakeup. Now Hemsky is out. What I've always enjoyed about watching Oiler hockey was that feeling of anticipation when the puck drops. Who's going to win? How will the team do? It's like hearing a new CD or starting a new book. You never really know what the end result will be and the discovery alone is a fun trip.

Lately anticipation has started giving way to dread. When that puck drops there is only a glimpse of possibility or potential. I've started expecting a loss. That's not a fun trip.

Who needs facts? Cruising through Wikipedia, I noticed the Edmonton Oilers page was littered with Wikipedia's own quality-control warnings at the top. These warnings give guidance to those contributing information and give caveats to web surfers hoping to learn something. As a general rule, the more warnings at the top of the webpage, the less accurate and unbiased the information could prove to be. Among the alerts: it needs additional sources or references for verification; its quality may be compromised by "peacock terms" (terms that promote the subject without imparting verifiable information); its neutrality is disputed; its tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia; it may require cleanup. I assumed, due to the nature of sports fans' emotional connection to their teams compromising an objective delivery of facts, this would be the case throughout Wikipedia. Nope. Only the Edmonton Oiler and Vancouver Canucks listings had warnings among the NHL teams.

Oiler player of the week: Ales Hemsky. The OPOTW isn't always the most effective or productive Oiler but the player who makes the biggest contribution. Hemsky's season-ending shoulder injury made the biggest impact. Honourable mention: Ryan Potulny, Sam Gagner. V

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A kick at the Oil can

Wikipedia readers take offence to our team

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