Just when I think I can retire, the stupid sucks me back in...

Earlier today, Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press chirped in his column, filled with poorly researched drivel, that:

A little birdie says the Wild lost $30 million during their abbreviated 2012-13 season, and a cash call was made to team investors in February. The Wild paid bonuses totaling $20 million to sign free agentsZach Parise and Ryan Suter.

Got it. "A little birdie." Great source, Shooter. A little bird once told me that Santa Claus was real, too.

That was picked up by Adrian Dater on Twitter. Of course it was. Why wouldn't it be? Puck Daddy also moved into the fray. Then, Monica McAlister wrote about it at Kukla's Korner. Except Monica took it a step further, titling her post "Could Minnesota Lose Another Team?"

This, according to the author was simply to get people to click the link:

Actually, the point of a title is to tell people what the article is about, but whatever. You want to be a link bait hack, that's fine. Though, it doesn't really jive that you simply wanted to get people to click the link, and then discuss financials, when you begin the article like this:

Reports are out that the Minnesota Wild have recorded a $30 Million loss this past season; according to Charley Walters of TwinCities.com out of St. Paul. Is the State of Hockey at risk of losing their second National Hockey League Franchise? It has been 20 years, nearly to the day, that the Minnesota North Stars packed up and moved to the sunbelt and became the Dallas Stars; and low attendance and lost revenue during seasons where the team did not play up to the standards of their fan base.

and end it like this:

A short term financial fall has hit the State of Hockey: the questions that remain to be answered is if it is just a case of spending money to make money or if this hit is just the start of a financial mess with economic down times across the country? or may Minnesota lose another NHL franchise in the coming years? Time can only reveal the answers to these questions.

This is flat out suggesting that the Wild might move, or even that they could move.

The owner of Kukla's Korner, Paul Kukla, jumped to the defense of his author, suggesting that this was not where the rumor started that the Wild might move. Except, you know... that it was.

Set that aside for now. Set aside that (best I can tell), the Wild are in a 26 year lease that started in 2000, so the legality of them moving is a little cloudy. Set aside the fact that the fan base was back in droves by the end of the season. Set aside the $20 million in bonuses paid out last season that would skew any numbers. Set aside the fact that even if it did happen, cash calls are made to investors for any number of reasons. Set aside that NHL teams rarely release if they lost money or made money.

Set aside all power of logic and reasonable thought, and you can maybe reach the conclusion that the Wild losing money would lead them to move.

One glaring thing missing from any of the reports today? Quotes. Where is the quote? I would be willing to bet a supply of Cuban cigars that no one asked the team for comment on the matter before they wrote their articles. That includes Shooter from an "old" media power, two PHWA members, and a blogger who shouldn't be writing for a school yearbook, let alone a site that could lend legitimacy to an article with as much childish hackery.

But why bother with all that, when it is just as easy to drum up a rumor to boost traffic numbers and then revel in the beating you took for being quite that stupid and arrogant about it?

Maybe the Wild lost money last year. I don't know. I know that if every major league sports team that lost money were in danger of moving, there would be no unemployed movers left in North America. The Wild are not moving. Anyone who writes that they are, or even insinuates that they are to get you to click on a link, needs to share whatever they are smoking.

Or, just do their job and ask a question or two.

(eStupid)