Day 44 - Jonesy

I just finished reading "Jonesy: Put Your Head Down & Skate" and it was an enjoyable read. It was written with John Buccigross' assistance and all of the proceeds from the books sales are being donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand, which is a very generous gesture.

The long and short of it is that Keith Jones was never supposed to make it to the NHL, much less be a decent player for portions of 9 seasons - scoring 258 points. He was never good enough to play Junior A or Major Junior in Canada, but one scout saw something in him and had the Capitals draft him, which enabled him to get a scholarship to Western Michigan University. This is where he really developed. He then went right to the AHL during what would have been his senior spring and began his NHL career the next season.

Not to be a stickler, but I could not believe how many grammatical errors and editorial oversights there were in this book. I'm not talking about questionable or tricky grammar rules either. I'm talking about sentences like:

"I am keeping my on the puck, attempting to beat Chris Osgood."

and

"The series shifted back to Philadelphia for what was a must-win game 3.....(later in the paragraph).... I was able to muster up a goal and two assists. On the road no less."

That game was in Pittsburgh, and was actually the game before Keith Primeau's historic 5th overtime goal. The account of game 3 in and of itself is one of the more confusing pieces of writing I've ever read. I don't mean to harp on this, and it's neither Jones' nor Bucigross' job to get everything right before printing, but some editor at Middle Atlantic Press needs to start reading things before he/she sends them to print.

Anyway, Jones doesn't have the best stories even though there are some good ones in here, and his road to the show was incredible, but I started thinking about some other players I'd love to write autobiographies. There were just too many, so here are 10 Flyers that popped into my head, in no order:

1. Dave Schultz
2. Bobby Clarke
3. Alexandre Daigle
4. Ron Hextall
5. Tim Kerr (does anyone have a copy of "Fighting Back"?)
6. Rick Tocchet
7. Craig Berube
8. Dave Brown
9. PJ Stock
10. Craig McTavish

Note: John Stevens had 2 fights as a Flyer and both were in the same game, against the same person - Brad Smith. He also fought Steve Leach, Owen Nolan, and Brad May.

Listened to: Franz Ferdinand - Fade Together