Exclusive: Remenda Responds To Sharks Firing

DREW REMENDA E-MAIL To 415 Media:

Drew Remenda <DRemenda@sjsharks.com>	9:08 AM (46 minutes ago)

Rich:




Don't know how you found out besides you work at your craft. Everybody jumped on it after you broke the news.

Thank you for the kind words. However I have to say the Sharks treated me very well. John Totora was a gentleman and very compassionate.

So be it. I have no ill will or hard feelings. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the people that make up that team both on and off the ice.


Thank you for all the nice things you wrote about me over the years.
Take care of yourself.

All the Best
Drew

Remenda San Jose Exit: Too Honest; Sharks TV Color Analyst Ouster Still a Shocker Day After

 Drew Remenda took the high road in his reaction to the news on Tuesday that the Sharks fired him.

"They decided not to renew my contract," Remenda told the San Jose Mercury News. "It wasn't because of anything I did or anything wrong. It was explained to me they wanted to take the broadcast in a different direction. Honestly, we parted amicably."

I would beg to differ.


Because I'm not a hockey guy and because this is a mostly media blog I'm going to offer you an opinion as to why the mucho-popular Sharks TV color analyst was shown the door. This comes from someone close to the subject in question and who knows the franchise inside and out.


Too honest. Maybe too expensive too. But more of the former than the latter. Nevertheless, a "shocking development" said the individual who also indicated they were as surprised as anyone else.


Moreover, the person told me, the Remenda ouster might be something of an ominous sea change for the entire Sharks organization.


Which, in the big picture, might explain this matter.


Remenda had a sort of take-no-prisoners attitude when it came to his broadcasting style; he pulled no punches and told it like it is; good, bad or indifferent. He was fiercely loyal to the team and didn't mind showing his disgust at critics, like this volatile encounter.


Apparently the Sharks have cherry-picked an unlikely scapegoat for their latest playoff meltdown and that involves, curiously, Remenda. Not a face of the franchise, but a huge fan favorite off the ice who, ironically enough, after leaving the organization in 2006 to go back to his native Canada, was lured back a year later.


My gut says the Sharks weren't happy with Remenda's critical assessment after the LA Kings disaster. I also believe, and this is just a guess, they weren't entirely thrilled with his non-Sharks work with the NBC Sports cable network. Again, just a guess.


Even so, by showing him the door in a rather out-of-the-blue moment, the organization has enraged its passionate fan base. It's also very clearly taken a gigantic risk that the outrage will, with time, pass.


I don't think so.


Which only further reinforces the notion that as a TV analyst, Remenda was too honest. When the team played well, he was the first to offer a huzzah. And then some.


But when they went south, he was also not afraid to speak his mind. Not the Remenda way to sugarcoat. That, and his paycheck to a lesser extent, may have led to his firing.




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Civil Debate and Discourse: The Lost Art in America

Last Thursday on my radio show I began the program with a guest, Drew Remenda, (of all people), the San Jose Sharks terrific color analyst on cable, (CSN California).

I mention, "of all people", because Remenda appeared on the program to talk hockey at about the time many thousands of mourners were gathering inside the HP Pavilion for a memorial service honoring the two fallen Santa Cruz Police officers that were ambushed a few weeks back.

I had debated whether or not it was appropriate to have on a sports person in light of what was taking place in the very building where Drew did the interview. Talk about surreal. I finally relented and decided the interview would proceed. I'm glad we talked.

The first ten minutes were devoted to the memorial service; the tragic events that led to the officers' demise. Remenda talked about his kids asking him "what's going on there in, (San Jose)?", and how he broke the news that two police officers were shot and killed and were being memorialized.

Remenda is a Canadian. Outside of a few exceptions, there's not a lot of gun-related homicides in Canada. Knifes, yes, as he pointed out, but guns, not so much. I made it a point not to get bogged down in a gun-control discussion because it wasn't the time nor the place but Remenda, again, of all people, offered the idea of how difficult it is in our country to simply sit down and talk about a very serious issue. That the concept of a reasonable dialogue and national town-hall discussion(s) dealing with something so profound, so immensely on the mind and conscience of nearly all Americans was so difficult to take place.

I agree with Drew. Furthermore, the idea that collectively, we all are unwilling, or simply incapable of having a reasonable dialogue without any shouting, any ad-hominem attacks speaks volumes about our society as a whole. There's several reasons for this predicament we're in; part of it deals with the present polarization of the country; the us vs. them mentality that has been cemented by the cable channels and reinforced by their amen corner. What is a decidedly gray area, (like gun-control), has been turned into a black and white issue with each side dug in and devoid of the prospect of a fairly ordinary, polite discussion. It's a shame we can't even agree to simply talk. And when we do talk, inevitably it gets so heated and personal we're unable or unwilling to respect the other side's feelings and opinions.

That's rather sad if you ask me.

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