Team of 18,000 Reams Denver Post Columnist

In his Tuesday sports column in the Denver Post, writer Mark Kiszla complained about some rough play from the Wild. Minnesota fans decided to give him a piece of their collective mind on the Post's discussion boards. Ouch.

Once the faithful team of 18,000 caught wind of Kiszla's nagging about 'mugging' being the only Minnesota will win the series, the board became one giant crap on Kiszla fest. He claims, ignoring the major injury issue the Wild have had, that their weapon of choice against the aging Avs is brute force. He takes the liberty of bestowing a motto upon the Wild: 'If you can't beat 'em, break 'em.' Which isn't entirely true, but at least it's clearly marked as his opinion. Kiszla does cross the line however when recounting the Wild's Pierre-Marc Bouchard's game-winning overtime goal in game three as the result of luck. That is in no way an accurate portrayal of the goal, which could adequately be described as 'pretty darn snazzy'. And to add fuel to the fire, one smart reader posted a 2003 Kiszla column which was, er, very similar to this one. Anyway, there have been more than 500 comments left on the Post's site about this column, mostly it appears from Wild fans. Here are some choice comments:

'I didn't realize the Denver Post hired 12 year olds to write articles for them.'

'Grow up and stop the sour grapes, juvenile journalism.'

'Rip the uniforms, rip the fans and rip the state. It's all you can do when you know absolutely nothing about the sport that you are trying to cover. The truth is, fans from both teams have seen three great hockey games with plenty of scoring chances and great goaltending at both ends. I expect it will continue tonight and look forward to another great game.'

'Wow. You weren't watching the game, fella. Our "Goons" didn't even make a difference last night. Voros was ineffective, as was Simon, and the Boogeyman didn't play a lick.'

'And finally, the best posting, to lauded for its succinct, pointed analysis:
Kiszla overall I think you are as worthless as a rubber crutch in a polio ward, but congratulations, you have everyone in the Twin Cities laughing this morning with your cut-and-paste job from your 2003 article.

P.S. It shocks me that you have a job.'

The thrashing continues here.