Patricia Greuter, one half of the makers of 2 Man Advantage, has been causing waves in her short time within the NHL blogosphere. Her expertise in journalism and graphic design, along with a nice touch of sarcasm has been put to good use in this web-page, focusing mainly on the New Jersey Devils.
LS ~ Judging by the amount of type you pump into your page, is it safe to say that ‘2 Man Advantage’ has quickly gained a large audience of dedicated readers?
Patricia ~ The site itself has only been around since about mid-October or so, so we’re really still in the baby stages of blogging, you know? I think what really helped the site was having a large following from a New Jersey Devils message board I had been an administrator for about five years. Still yet though, we’re ranging close to a thousand readers a day now, it’s crazy!
LS ~ Has your blog earned you any recognition from a player, member of staff, or media personality?
Patricia ~ The blog has been a mainstay on the Devils’ page of MSGNetwork.com for a couple months now, which is incredible. Apparently someone mentioned the blog to Stan Fischler, who is a staple in metro area hockey, and he liked what he saw and had the blog added to the site. After that happened, we’ve been linked to the blogs of MSG/FSNY personalities like Chico Resch, Billy Jaffe, Joe Micheletti, and Rick Jeanneret among others. We’ve also recently been quoted a few times on The Score.ca.
LS ~ When ‘2 Man Advantage’ first hit the internet scene and readership was scarce, how did you keep yourself motivated to write regularly?
Patricia ~ Love of the team and love of writing, without-a-gosh-darn-doubt. I really love hockey, I couldn’t live without it. Add it with two other things I can’t live without, writing and sarcasm, and there ya go.
LS ~ Where do you see yourself and ‘2 Man Advantage’ 10 years from now?
Patricia ~ I’d love to keep the blog going for 10 years! It can get hard maintaining the site sometimes, both Joe (the site’s other writer) and I have busy lives with work and school and all, but at the end of the day, it feels really good putting our hearts on our sleeves and gushing a 10-paragraph blog on the site. Who knows, maybe the Devils will actually want us to write for them someday, eh? Yeah..right…
LS ~ If you did not happen to be a fan of the New Jersey Devils, what do you think you’d be writing about instead?
Patricia ~ If I maintained a web-blog, I’d tell you for certain I would not be whining about how bad my day was or how a boy didn’t smile at me the right way so I had to go and cry in a bathroom for the whole day. Then again, this isn’t high school…and I’m almost done with college, so, my options are somewhat limited I suppose. I’d probably write a lot of music reviews — if there’s something I love nearly as much as hockey, it would be music.
LS ~ Considering that you have taken courses in journalism, would you say that the better NHL bloggers out there are ‘professional’ writers, or simply die hard enthusiasts of the game?
Patricia ~ Hey, it doesn’t matter if you’re a professional writer or not — we’re all die hard fans of the game, and I respect each and every one of the bloggers out there, even if they happen to be blogging about the Flyers, ha! Seriously, I have nothing but love for all the writers of the world, and you all are invited to my house for donuts and Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes.
…anyone get those references?
LS ~ If we could unfold a scandal today, what’s the first thing that comes to mind about yourself, that your readers have yet to learn?
Patricia ~ I’m secretly a hooker. And I have a fancy for the blow.
JayKayz!
Let’s see…a scandal…hrmm…what juicy goodness do I have up my sleeve for everyone?
Well, I suppose it’s a bit scandalous that I’m actually banned from the Continental Airlines Arena, where the Devils play. I should have been arrested, actually, for what happened a little over a year ago, but I guess the Hockey Gods were in my favor that night. It wasn’t something that would even be mildly entertaining though, in fact, I kind of got a bum wrap for something that really wasn’t my fault. I was at the game with Mr. Bechtel, along with his girlfriend, their best friend and HIS girlfriend at the time. Low and behold, best friend’s girlfriend was only something like sixteen years old. Uh oh.
Stupid me handed my alcoholic beverage to said 16 year old to hold while I used the facilities and she decided to take it and run. Of course, arena security mobbed us and came to the quick conclusion I was purchasing alcohol for a minor, despite my best efforts to explain the truth to them.
The girl’s mother ended up agreeing not to press charges and released her into my custody since she was from Long Island and couldn’t exactly come and pick her daughter up, and I got a mere slap on the wrist from the head of arena security, more or less saying that I was never to set foot in the arena or I’d be arrested for trespassing.
…and let’s just say I’ve been to about 40 games since. Shh!
LS ~ For those that might be considering starting up NHL related blogs of their own, what advice would you give them to achieve a formula for success?
Patricia ~ Have fun with it and don’t take everything so seriously! Don’t feel like you have to be reduced to merely writing game previews and recaps, feel free to express your opinions and, yeah, like I already said, have fun! I’ve seen on message boards where there are fans who live and die by their team, which, hey, that’s great and all, but the world doesn’t end when your goalie lets in a bad goal or a call doesn’t go your way, you know?
LS ~ In your opinion, what type of hockey fan is a regular reader of your blog?
Patricia ~ One thing I’ve noticed is that all of our readers who comment on the posts seem to be extremely knowledgeable about the game and the team itself. It’s amazingly awesome to see it, really. We also have a lot of hockey fans with a sense of humor which is great because Joe and I both write highly sarcastic posts filled with lots of humor. I’m surprised we haven’t had anyone try to punch us through the computer screen!
LS ~ And last of all, what were your thoughts on Lou the Lamb’s decision to fire his head coach just days before the playoffs after a rather impressive regular season?
Patricia ~ Heh, I’ve done a few interviews recently and this question has managed to pop up in each one. Hey, I don’t mind Louie Lams firing Claude Julien. It’s not like he hasn’t done it before. Just ask Robbie Ftorek, seriously. I can easily see how throughout the league this is perceived to be a cheap move, but we still don’t know Lou’s true reasoning behind the canning. For me, I watched a coach who more or less coasted through the season with his team. The players, for the most part, did well, and that’s great and all, but the New Jersey Devils are notorious for tuning head coaches out at the snap of a finger. I think Lou might have seen something coming and he simply wanted to nip it in the butt before it was too late and we watched a first-round exit. Granted, they’re not doing so hot against Ottawa right now, but it’s not a coaching problem I see. Rather, I see a team being outperformed and outclassed right now. It could still turn around, though, so don’t count the Devils out yet. At the end of the day, though, Claude Julien, while a great coach, just didn’t fit with the Devils. I definitely wish him the best in the future though.
