Isn’t this sad–  here is a columnist at Time Magazine– who is virtually begging for permission to keep on covering the great game of hockey? This cry for help was on the last page of this issue of Time Magazine–May 25th issue.

So give him a hand and vote away. Click here for details. And thanks Joel  Stein for caring so much.

At the same time Joel — I would recommend that you start to look for another job; your boss– Josh Tyrangiel– is asleep at the wheel; perhaps his lack of touch with large communities of interest is why Time Magazine was only  72 pages this week–with cover; and why circulation is down and revenues are down–but layoffs are up.Also–his calling Time Magazine a “mass circulation magazine” is kind of a double negative– how can it be mass when it is tiny and shrinking? He is obviously thinking of the good old days– today– Time Magazine  is more of a news weekly– with some short analysis–for old people– in doctors offices — where I read this column.

Joel– you would have done better by  printing your resume and asking one of the fast growing major market  NHL teams like the Washington Capitals  or the Chicago Blackhawks if we were in need of additional editorial  workers for our web sites– or perhaps  look to join SBNation– a fast growing blog network of sites– or even ESPN.com; the number 1 site for sports on the net–or the fast growing NHL.com.

You see– as an example–  here in DC– we captured the attention of the mass audience– our sales are way up– double digit growth– our sponsorship sales are way up– our payments to our employees are up too; by the way.Our TV ratings are way up–we reached a 5 .7 rating during our last playoff game– that is like 3 cable networks–all rolled into one– in prime time–in Pittsburgh that same night — their local ratings beat American Idol. We are already sold out for every game in terms of tickets for next year.And the value of our franchise is up ,too. We were front page news many times in the Washington Post– we led the NBC News 1100 pm broadcast as well several times– your boss is missing out on a good news growth story– a mass consumer story–  the masses connect with hockey more than they connect with you! Tell him that –and you can quote me:-).

And the hockey audience is the most educated –most wired–most traveled and wealthiest of all audiences– and  they live their life on the net–  and they are younger than all other major sports. Hockey is like a giant–real time–live action  video game– young kids– and women love the sport; men bond over it– and we sell as many tickets as the NBA does. We have the most passionate and loyal fans  of the 4 sports as well. Why would you want to offend that audience– or ignore it all together?

So– I hope you get enough votes to keep writing about the sport– but to be honest– if you don’t– it would just be reflective of a last generation editorial high priest who has lost touch with the masses–and doesn’t get it–you deserve better Joel; give me a call– or email me your resume– I am at washingtoncaps@aol.com.

As an aside– I did note that the new Time Magazine cover does one thing great–it Rocks the Red; red is a color that connects  with consumers and with fans. Good move.