Roger Varley has been in the news business almost 40 years with The Canadian Press/Broadcast News, Uxbnridge Times-Journal, Richmond Hill Liberal and Uxbridge Cosmos. Co-winner with two others of CCNA national feature writing award. In Scout movement over 30 years, almost 25 as a leader. Took Uxbridge youths to World Jamboree in Holland. Involved in community theatre for 20 years as actor, director, playwright, stage manager etc. Born in England, came to Canada at 16, lived most of life north and east of Toronto with a five-year period in B.C.
Calling our a coward
On the same weekend that the people of Uxbridge honoured our veterans and war dead for their service and bravery, I discovered that we have at least one miserable coward skulking around our town. This coward goes by the pseudonym of CFAN.
CFAN often posts comments on an Internet forum called “The Man's Forum”, which is dedicated to discussion about the OHA Jr. C Central Division in which the Uxbridge Bruins play. On Saturday, CFAN posted a lengthy diatribe on The Man's Forum aimed at me, the Cosmos and the Bruins' executive. The following is the section he devoted to me and this newspaper, exactly as it appeared on the forum, complete with grammatical and spelling errors:
with respect to the interview in the ux paper, yer dead on there. the paper is a joke and the folks of ux feel the same way. even worse, the "author" is a disgrace to sports reporting. have you ever seen him in the crowd? he weards that same ridiculous fadora and silly bright yellow tie every day. and, the questions he asks are tremendously amateur when it comees to hockey... he is clueless. he needs to stick the main stage over at the uxbridge thetre where he does his "acting".
If CFAN believes I am a disgrace to sports reporting, he is entitled to say so. I am sure he is not alone in that opinion. As a reporter and columnist, I accept the fact that I am fair game for criticism. But CFAN crosses the line when he comments on my attire - (by the way, CFAN, it's fedora not fadora and it is a yellow-and-black scarf, the Bruins' colours, not a yellow tie). And then, because he places the word acting in quotes, he uses a punctuational insult to denigrate my abilities as an actor. Neither my clothing nor my hobby have anything to do with hockey. His remarks ridicule my personal life and that is unacceptable. In fact, I'd say such personal remarks are close to being an example of cyber-bullying.
So why do I believe CFAN is a coward? Because he hides behind the cloak of anonymity by using a pseudonym. This way he cannot be held accountable for his remarks. I should, at this point, make note of the fact that on the rare occasions that I comment on “The Man's Forum” I go by the moniker of ‘cosmosman’, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out who ‘cosmosman’ is. But the name CFAN could by used by any of the hundreds of people who follow the Central Division. Therefore, by using that pseudonym, CFAN can kick away at anyone he chooses without having to take responsibility for what he says.
As anyone who regularly reads the Cosmos knows, I have often been taken to task for opinions I have expressed in this column. But everyone who has written a letter to the editor to criticize my columns has had the courage to sign their name. CFAN has no such courage: he prefers to scuttle around in dark corners, sniping away without exposing himself.
If CFAN really believes the Cosmos is a joke, why doesn't he write a letter telling us what leads him to that conclusion? If he thinks my reporting is a disgrace, why doesn't he present himself to me at a Bruins game and tell me so to my face? Because that would take courage and it seems to me that courage is something CFAN probably couldn't even spell.
I actually pity this mean-spirited little person. As he chortles to himself while reading this column, I doubt that it will occur to him that he lacks any concept of fairness or what's right or how to behave like a straightforward adult, that he lacks any sense of playing by the rules or, more distressingly, that he lacks even an iota of self-respect. Anyone with self-respect would not stoop to such underhanded tactics: they'd have the intestinal fortitude to stand by their remarks.
How could you not pity such a person? Tell me, am I wrong?
(Editor's note: Roger will not be at tomorrow's Bruins game because has developed pneumonia and has been told by his doctor to stay at home until at least Sunday. Nor will he be at the next two games because he is scheduled to be on stage in Adam and Eve. But he assures us he will be at the arena on Friday. Dec. 7, same seat, same hat, same scarf.)
