It’s sort of a given that those of us who are in the Red Wings news business find ourselves followed on social media by players’ families.
I’ll readily admit that one really feels the weight of, “If you eff up, player X’s family are going to hold you accountable,” especially when it comes to player criticism…In the long run, however, I believe that it’s a good thing to be followed by players’ families.
Given that you have to gain your readers’ trust, especially when it comes to player-related observations, I think that it’s better to know that you’re going up against the “ultimate judges” of your work when you’re being critical or critiquing someone. That’s healthy in my opinion, because it reminds you that you answer to a very important set of people in your wider audience.
Put bluntly, you can’t bullshit when it comes to player evaluation or team criticism, but you can’t be afraid to stick your neck out and say, “I think player X should have done better in scenario Y.”
It it’s a reminder that it’s always a privilege to have your voice heard by the VIP’s of the world, and you have to remain firm and honest in your comments and criticism, but not unnecessarily heavy-handed.
Anyway, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff wrote an article regarding swashbuckling stay-at-home defenseman and Team Canada World Junior team assistant captain Donovan Sebrango, noting that Donovan’s mom, Kim, is something of a force of nature:
There are a number of players in the Red Wings system who are the sons of NHLers. Chase Pearson (Scott), Kienan Draper (Kris), Red Savage (Brian) and Kyle Aucoin (Adrian) are part of these father-son relationships.
In Sebrango’s case, when he gives thanks for parental guidance leading him to where he is today, mom’s the word.
“She had to be both a mom and a dad for me growing up,” Sebrango said of his mother. “As a single parent, it definitely isn’t easy, especially with the trouble making kid I was.”
On social media, Kim Sebrango is Donovan’s biggest fan.
“Getting her support and seeing how she supports me on social media, it’s great,” Sebrango said. “It makes you realize what you’re working for and why you want it so bad. She just motivates me every day. It’s what I use as motivation to come to the rink every day and get better and achieve my goal of making it to the NHL.”
Duff continues, and, all in all, I feel that knowing players’ families and being followed by them yield more pluses than minuses.
In Donovan and Kim’s case, I’ve learned how hard players and their families work in order to become professional athletes, and when you have a voice among that kind of audience, you want to be able to say that you’re accountable and fair to the most qualified of authorities.
In a league where not everybody is going to make it, those who author critiques and evaluations of player performance are better off not trying to curry favor with anyone, but it’s a great reality check to know what’s on the line when you speak.
It also does a great job of reminding you that you’re not that big a deal, honestly!
Anyway, all of it is part of the privileges and responsibilities of having a voice. That’s how it should be, and in the Sebrangos’ cases, riding that fine line between not bullshitting because you know they’re watching and reading and understanding that you owe everybody who reads your stuff as close as possible to objective truth gives authors a great target to aim for.
Top shelf. Like the quality of the vast majority of the players and their families.
