Barnaby tweeted this picture about 10 hours before his arrest
Life is funny. One day you’re pegged as the guy to replace the legendary Barry Melrose as the lead hockey analyst for the largest sports media company in the world. You parlay that into a nice little relationship with Michelle Beadle. But of course, things can go the other way as well.
Melrose returned to reclaim his lead analyst status, Beadle moved on and is rumored to be interested in seeking a relationship with “a snarky Chinese Jew blogger type who really gets sports media” and a recent domestic dispute netted the former NHL player a whopping 500 hours of community service.
And now things have certainly spiraled to new lows for Barnaby as he was arrested for a DWI after spotted driving erratically on a rim, causing a lot of sparks that led to residents calling the police. Barnaby has since been let go by ESPN and there are signs of some more ominous things to come.
The first being that Barnaby’s Porsche Cayenne was found to have a lot of damage to the front and missing a front tire, which obviously points to some type of collision that the police are still investigating. Also, these quotes from the District Attorney point to the possibility that the agreement regarding his past arrest may put his Unites States residency in jeopardy…
“I hope Mr. Barnaby has a good lawyer because he is going to need one,” Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said.
Barnaby, 38, of Clarence, a native of Ottawa, Ont., who is not an American citizen, was told in July that his earlier charges would be dismissed only if he stayed out of trouble.
“He’s potentially in jeopardy of deportation,” Sedita said after his latest arrest.
While ESPN always gets banged on by hockey fans for not wholeheartedly covering hockey (something even hockey enthusiasts Steve Levy and Linda Cohn poke fun at), Barnaby’s hiring was planned as a replacement for Melrose’s departure back to coaching in what ended up being one of the shortest coaching stints of all time. The pair co-existed without much friction or fanfare for the last three years but I think most hockey fans won’t be too distraught with Barnaby’s exit and the likelihood of more Melrose.
It will be interesting to see if ESPN replaces Barnaby with another analyst. Given the limited airtime the NHL gets and ESPN has operated with only Melrose at times, it’s possible they’ll go that route again. On the flip side, having a second person in the fold might be a good insurance policy as ESPN personalities seem to have a 50% chance of taking a coaching job, joining a competitor, or being fired for some sketchy incident. With that in mind are there any former players you’d like to see land at the mother-ship?
Although highly unlikely, I think ESPN would be wise to consider Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski, aka Puck Daddy, as a possibility for a mostly web and radio role with some augmenting television coverage. Yahoo and ESPN are deadlocked in a battle for web supremacy in terms of overall audience numbers. Wyshynski is one of the most beloved and successful new media voices and by all accounts, a really good dude who would give ESPN a bit more street cred in the blog space. It would also provide a new voice hockey voice in Bristol and show hockey fans they care just a little bit about the sport.
It’s probably a longshot as ESPN seems pretty set in their ways of bringing in former players and coaches, but as we’ve seen that doesn’t always end up well.
Comments are closed.