As I’ve told a few of you–or as anyone has learned by running a Technorati search on my name–I’ve become an enemy of the Caniac Nation. ‘Tis all based on this little piece, one that incensed people way more than I ever expected. I spent about a week being pelted with e-mails, drilled on message boards, and all that jazz. I could deal with it. That’s just part of this job.
I just never saw it coming. That was an account of my work on a story. Many people e-mailed me and let me know that I just didn’t go to the right places to find Canes fans. They may be right, but you can’t help but wonder how many people really care that much if I have to go to one of a handful of places to watch a game with Canes fans. That’s not to say people don’t care. I see the car flags all over this place (and a lot more now that a championship is pending, which raises a bunch of other questions). But I went out and didn’t find the people. I talked to the manager of a bar, and he said he didn’t experience a spike in turnout behind hockey…and I’ve seen that place packed for boxing, which no one’s cared about since the late-’80s.
People upset with that piece seemed to miss a couple of things. First, it seems that kids really love the Canes, something that bodes will for the long-term success of the team and something that proves that people around here are beginning to get into hockey. Those upset people also seemed to miss that I never said there aren’t Canes fans. I just said I don’t know any of them.
(And I know what a couple of you are thinking. You see my picture see an obvious reason I don’t know any hockey fans. I have but one response to that–I’ve got lots of white friends…)
Around the time I wrote this piece, Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a similar piece about going around Miami looking for Sammy Sosa. He never found Sammy in that piece. People told him places to go to find Sammy, but Sammy was never where he went. Does that mean Sammy doesn’t exist? I don’t think so.
Now extend that example to my piece and I think you’ll understand why I’m confused about why people got so upset over this one.
But oh well. People were upset at the notion that I may have questioned their allegiance to their team. Really–I could care less if people like the Hurricanes or not. If the worst thing I can say about the Triangle is that people aren’t thrilled about hockey, then this place is pretty nice. Hell, nice enough for me to buy a house.
After a couple of weeks without being e-mailed about this, I figured the issue was dead.
Wrong.
I got this e-mail from Rick Ball in Vancouver. On Memorial Day, I appeared on his show on Team 1040 to discuss the piece, Steve Nash, Ricky Williams and a few other things.

Hey, Bomani-
Rick Ball from the TEAM 1040 in Vancouver. Had you on my show a couple weeks back re. your ESPN piece on Hurricane fans.
Anyway, our afternoon drive show was attempting to arrange and interview with Hurricane’s GM Jim Rutherford today, only to be told he would not appear on our radio station. The reason? Because you were on our station talking about your column.
Apparently, Rutherford has family in Vancouver who heard it and told him about it. The fact he made a note of it and used it as an excuse to boycott the station two weeks later tells me he was none to pleased (and has skin thinner than rice paper).
I find this hilarious. His team is a win away from a Stanley Cup, we want to give him free publicity, and he still has his knickers in a knot over an interview with a columnist! Nobody holds a grudge like a hockey old schooler.
Let me know the next time you piss off somebody, and we’ll get you on again.
Hope all is well…

Color me speechless. If you know Jim Rutherford, tell him to give me a call. I’d love to talk to him.