There was a nasty bit of the old telephone game this afternoon on message boards like Calgary Puck and the HF Boards regarding Chris Pronger's interview on Jim Rome's radio show today.Fans who quickly listened to the live interview came away thinking that the Anaheim defenseman -- whose bitter departure from Edmonton is the stuff of hockey lore -- had accused Oilers fans of "breaking" into his house, stealing furniture that included his child's crib, and then burning it.
After hearing a recording of the interview, I can tell you there was a major miscommunication between what was said and what was reported. So where would listeners get the impression that Oilers fans broke into Pronger's house and went Devil's Night on his baby bed? You can thank Jim Rome for that. Here are Pronger's comments, following Rome's question about Edmonton fans' feelings towards him:
PRONGER: "You know what? There's nothing I can do about it now. It's happened. I think they obviously need to turn the page a little bit. I won't be going back there to play for their team. Having said that, you know, it keeps it interesting. It's another team that can boo me and it's a way for fans to stay entertained. As I said earlier in the program, at the end of the day you're trying to entertain the fans and if that's what it takes on any given night, it's just probably one building in maybe 20 now that I get booed in."The interview ended after Pronger's statement about Edmonton, at which time Rome continued with a short rant about the bombshell accusation (emphasis mine, dramatic speech pattern Rome's):
ROME: Does it erase the good times that you have there, and leave a bad taste in your mouth because of it?
PRONGER: "Um, yeah, there's obviously a few things that didn't sit well with me. For instance, taking the furniture that I had in my house and burning it and having a 'Burn Chris Pronger's Furniture Day', that didn't sit well with me very much. They burned my kid's crib, and things like that. So when you hear stories like that, it doesn't sit well. But having said that, you know, I've turned the page. It'd be nice to see them turn the page, but I doubt that's going to happen any time soon."
"You hear something like that and ... it ended acrimoniously, and the fans were upset and he left. But then to hear him say 'hey listen, it is what it is and I can't really change it and I can't fix it, but' ... certain things didn't sit well. To go into my house and get my furniture out and to burn it and to burn my kid's crib -- that's messed up. No matter how badly you think he wronged you or the team or whatever happened, to burn a guy's child's crib ... that's messed up. Were you so wronged by what a guy did to the local team, in your mind, that you'd go and find a guy's crib and burn it? Does it matter that much?"Pronger said "taking my furniture." Rome amplified that into "go into my house and get my furniture out." Big, huge, misleading difference, isn't it? But where did this story about a bonfire of the vanities (and cribs) come from anyway? Who took the furniture? Who roasted it?
This isn't the first time Pronger has made this accusation, having previously floated the notion in a 2006 interview with the Edmonton Journal: "I knew I'd be Public Enemy No. 1 ... but I'm pissed off by all the rumors and innuendo surrounding my leaving," Pronger told The Edmonton Journal. "I've heard all the nasty stuff, about all my girlfriends ... that I've got more kids than I started with. I must have six kids out there.The good people at Oil Fans had their say on that 2006 interview. The CBC's Elliotte Friedman made a reference to the furniture burning in a 2006 column. Sean McCormick of Sportsnet mentioned furniture burning in a 2006 blog entry, and the comments referred to burning rental furniture.
"It started off with I slept with so-and-so, and I'm having kids, then it moved to my wife sleeping with some of my teammates. I was supposed to be having a kid with a reporter, then she said, 'I don't know what they're talking about.' Then it went from story to story. Some people even took my rental furniture from my house and burned it."
David Staples of the Edmonton Journal's Cult of Hockey blog has his own transcript of the Rome interview and offered additional insight into where this story may have originated.
Indeed, there seems to be a notion from some fans that The Bear 100.3-FM, an Edmonton rock station, has some association with the stunt. But I couldn't find any citation or documentation of this actually happening -- and this might be one radio stunt the Edmonton media would have covered. More from Staples:"Unless he is certain of the truth of this particular slander, Pronger should be careful about making such allegagtions if he truly wants to put this behind him. On the Hockey's Future board, there is talk that an unnamed Edmonton radio station did indeed bat around this stupid idea of having a "Burn Chris's Furniture Day," but there's been no confirmation that this ever happened."
Mr. Rome, there is no proof right now of any crib being burned, so you can rest easy.From suspensions in the postseason to the lingering animosity of his former fans to his status as one of the League's top defensemen, Pronger certainly remains polarizing.
And Mr. Pronger, your leaving will always rankle so long as you don't clear the air about why you left and instead stoke the fires around the bad feelings surrounding your departure.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Pronger seems to have taken everything that has happened since he has left Edmonton pretty personally. I'm from Edmonton and normally I'm fairly sympathetic to players who have fallen into disfavour with the public, because we have a way of eating our own here. But for Pronger it's been pretty standard. He would expect people not to be bewildered by the circumstances of him leaving? He was the best player in the playoffs and a week later, without explanation (but with four years remaining on the contract he signed with the Oilers a year previous), he's out of there? I've heard various rumours and explanations for him leaving but I've never heard anything about this crib burning. Pronger proved himself to be a major league asshole last year in the playoffs. It's not surprising he's still be playing the victim more than eighteen months later.
Posted at 6:44AM on Jan 17th 2008 by Ben Carter
2. I've lived in Edmonton for 23 of my 29 years on this earth and to hear what Chris Pronger has said doesn't shock me. Around Edmonton its " us against the league & world and a divine right to win the cup every year without any questions asked. The Oilers made it to the stanley cup finals and people should party and have a good time. Go to the rink and have fan gatherings and show support for their team. But what do they do in Edmonton they burn teleohone booths and start fires in the street. Showing the true class of a small market and minded second rate NHL city. At least in montreal they would have waited to they won game 7 before distroying the citys reputation. People should leave hockey players alone when there not on the ice and allow them to live their lives off the job. Does anyone want to stand and sign autographs for 3 hours for 40 year old men who clam to have 5 kids to get autographs for. No wonder no one wants to play here.
Posted at 3:05PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Leafsfreak
3. Those pictures at the top of this article anger me to no end. Pronger could have ended Holmstrom's career through his dirty hit.
One of my favorite moments ever is when Pronger tried to run and already injured Steve Yzerman, who simply bent down and sent Pronger flying. Pronger ended up tearing his ACL and being out for the remainder of the playoffs.
Pronger is a dirty player, classless and crass. I can't stand him and don't care one iota about his whiny comments. If he didn't play dirty and walk out on contracts, people wouldn't hate him. End of story.
Posted at 3:07PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Joshua
4. Andy,
There's no question that Pronger was trying to provoke a reaction by tossing out that "crib" line. It's rather disgusting, akin to a talentless horror film director putting a child in danger just to get a scream from the audience.
But obviously there was a notion out there in hockeyland that Pronger had claimed that people had broken into his house, yanked out a crib and burned it. My goal in this post was to help shed some light on all three claims, and judging from the response, I think it cleared up some misconceptions.
Thanks for reading, and congrats on the award nomination. I, of course, must throw my support behind that James fellow. ;)
Posted at 3:21PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Greg Wyshynski
5. Greg, you say that it was Rome who amped it up by talking about people breaking into Pronger's house. But it was Pronger himself who threw out the "they burned my kid's crib" line.
"For instance, taking the furniture that I had in my house and burning it and having a 'Burn Chris Pronger's Furniture Day', that didn't sit well with me very much. They burned my kid's crib, and things like that."
Fact is, he shouldn't be complaining about people spreading false rumours about him when he's doing the same. I'd comment more, but this is a private matter between me and my city.
Posted at 3:56PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Andy Grabia
6. Jim Rome is a moron and so are the people who listen to his show. For a guy who never played a sport at any high level to talk like he does is moronic. His encouragement of his "clones" to ramble the way they do makes his show unlistenable. It is just a matter of people with nothing better to do trying to feel like they belong to something. Listening to Rome try and use buzz words over and over again is sad and pathetic.
Posted at 8:22AM on Jan 19th 2008 by wyldsyde53
7. Yep, they are hard folk up there!! This clown got what he sowed.
Posted at 10:47AM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Luis Abeyta
8. if people really broke into the guys house and burnt furniture that is MESSED UP! OMG! It is just a game. I love hockey BUT that's just nuts!
Posted at 10:48AM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Kate
9. WHY do people take sports so seriously???? They're just games!!! There are a WHOLE LOT more things to be concerned about these days!! Get your priorities straight, people!!!!!
Posted at 1:19PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by Leigh
10. i don't see anything wrong with that. i absolutely think they should have removed all his furniture from his house and burned it. especially the kid's crib.
Posted at 1:54PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by conan the barbarian
11. and furthermore they should have burned all their clothes and forced them to stand naked in downtown edmonton and starve during the holidays.
Posted at 1:58PM on Jan 22nd 2008 by conan the barbarian again
12. The crib burning never happened. Global News followed up this story and contacted the guy who bought Pronger's house. There was no break-in. No furnature stolen (it was all moved into storage). No fires. The Oiler fans took Pronger's departure to heart. We hate him now, because we loved him when he was here, and he dumped our city with no explanation. But nobody burned his crib. We'll boo him on the ice, but nobody cares enough about this to do something that dumb.
Posted at 7:35PM on Jan 29th 2008 by allan
13. First of all jim rome is an asshole for even allowing chris pronger to make such comments..if they were true everyone in edmonton would know about it and it would make the news.second jim rome and his mindless clones can just continue to amuse themselves listening to miss south carolina and her now famous q&a session.
Posted at 7:27PM on Feb 17th 2008 by rob