The Shadow
12-11-2003, 06:23 PM
The more I learn about the IIHL, the more I am reminded of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".
Those fans who dare to ask questions about the league, or request information on it, are the equivalent of the Emerald Citizens or Dorothy and her band of friends. Their questions and requests are met with thunderous, yet empty pronouncements from a disembodied "head/voice" in the "throne room" that is the Internet. Instead of being given concrete answers in response to their queries, those who dare to question are mis-directed to the IIHL mouthpiece that is SDN... not unlike Dorothy and her friends being sent out on an errand that was meant to detour them away from that which they truly desired.
The reason for this is clear: Just as Baum's "Wizard of Oz" was incapable of producing anything more than a cheap side-show of electric lights and amplified sound, the IIHL's "Wizard of Obfustication" is incapable of producing anything more than a stream of semi-literate press releases, shaky franchise agreements and unfulfilled arena leases. Just as the "Wizard of Oz" was unable to step out from behind his curtain for fear of revealing himself as the patent medicine salesman Professor Marvel, the "Wizard of Obfuscation" desperately hides behind posts on internet message boards, an incomplete league website and the hard work put in by the management of a single well-run team (the Predators). The fear of the IIHL "Wizard of Obfuscation" is that if his "curtain" is pulled away, he'll be revealed as the so-called mastermind behind a string of failed sports start-ups that weren't worth the paper their questionable business plans were written on.
At the end of the day, Baum's "Oz" series and the IIHL have one other major thing in common: they are both FANTASIES. The difference is that Baum's works all had "story-book endings". Meanwhile, the IIHL's story promises to be a tawdry tale of self-deception and disappointment.
The Shadow
Those fans who dare to ask questions about the league, or request information on it, are the equivalent of the Emerald Citizens or Dorothy and her band of friends. Their questions and requests are met with thunderous, yet empty pronouncements from a disembodied "head/voice" in the "throne room" that is the Internet. Instead of being given concrete answers in response to their queries, those who dare to question are mis-directed to the IIHL mouthpiece that is SDN... not unlike Dorothy and her friends being sent out on an errand that was meant to detour them away from that which they truly desired.
The reason for this is clear: Just as Baum's "Wizard of Oz" was incapable of producing anything more than a cheap side-show of electric lights and amplified sound, the IIHL's "Wizard of Obfustication" is incapable of producing anything more than a stream of semi-literate press releases, shaky franchise agreements and unfulfilled arena leases. Just as the "Wizard of Oz" was unable to step out from behind his curtain for fear of revealing himself as the patent medicine salesman Professor Marvel, the "Wizard of Obfuscation" desperately hides behind posts on internet message boards, an incomplete league website and the hard work put in by the management of a single well-run team (the Predators). The fear of the IIHL "Wizard of Obfuscation" is that if his "curtain" is pulled away, he'll be revealed as the so-called mastermind behind a string of failed sports start-ups that weren't worth the paper their questionable business plans were written on.
At the end of the day, Baum's "Oz" series and the IIHL have one other major thing in common: they are both FANTASIES. The difference is that Baum's works all had "story-book endings". Meanwhile, the IIHL's story promises to be a tawdry tale of self-deception and disappointment.
The Shadow