Biz Was Right: Mike Babcock Resigns As Head Coach Of The Columbus Blue Jackets
Nobody in hockey media is getting more rock solid information than the Spittin Chiclets crew. Because they're dealing straight with the players. They're not going through any weasels within the organization who just want them to be a mouthpiece for the team in exchange for more access later down the road. They're a podcast for players, by players. Which is why the blowback on Biz's original claim about Mike Babcock being a weirdo going through all his players' phones was baffling. Just a bunch of jealous plugs in the hockey community who can't fathom the idea that players will actually talk to Chiclets instead of all the canned answers those nerds in suits get after games. They can't fathom the idea that Chiclets doesn't need to just make up wild shit for the sake of clicks, because they're getting all those clicks and downloads anyway.
Anyone who doesn't have worms for brains knows that in order for Biz to make those claims public on the podcast, he clearly had some rock solid intel coming in from players who were very much in the know. And turns out it only took a few days of an investigation to back him up.
Now here's the thing--we all know that Mike Babcock is an asshole. He's already been fired for being a prick to his players, and up until the information came from Biz, it seemed like the entire hockey community was in agreement that he's just a bad dude. Somehow when Biz is the source, that finally makes hockey media want to wait to hear both sides of the story. But I digress. The fact of the matter here is that none of this is surprising whatsoever. Mike Babcock probably didn't deserve to have another job in the NHL again after Toronto in the first place, and now he won't.
But the message sent to the rest of the coaches around the league is where Biz and Chiclets can really make a difference here. Because again, we all knew Babcock was a prick. But there's probably some other coaches out there who fly under the radar of being gigantic pieces of shit. They may not go to the level of perusing through their players' photos, but I'm sure they are absolute pricks to play for and abuse the shit out of their position of power. Now those guys are all put on notice. Now the players can finally at least feel like they have a little more control of how their careers turn out. You know, the guys who are actually out there playing the game and making things happen.
Guys like Mike Babcock shouldn't have any sort of control on the trajectory of a player's career. He's hands down one of the most overrated coaches we've ever come across. We've never seen another coach get as much credit for a team carrying him to becoming a Stanley Cup Champion to the degree of which Mike Babcock has. People will talk about Babcock as if he's one of the all-time greats, but just look at the team he had. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg BOTH had 90+ point seasons in 2008. Niklas Lidstrom has a 70-point season as a defenseman. They had Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek between the pipes for the playoffs. That team was loaded with Hall of Famers. Thank god that was just the beginning of the iPhone era or else I'm sure Babcock would have found a way to freak all those guys out and ruin that team as well.
Anyways, I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there who feel foolish today. But if they could untuck their tails from between their legs for just a moment, they better apologize to Biz and tell him thank you for bringing this situation to light. ESPECIALLY Columbus fans. Now they'll never have to worry about Mike Babcock destroying the career of Adam Fantilli.
A superstar has been saved.