Dear Erik Johnson, Where's The Love?

by Brad Lee on Jul 28, 2010 9:01 AM CDT

(An open letter to Blues defenseman Erik Johnson. Or his Twitter account. Either or really.)

Dear Erik Johnson,

When we put on our site over the weekend the image of shirtless you getting hugged with both hands by shirtless Cuba Gooding Jr. in a cabana in Vegas, we did it all in good fun. You had talked about going on the trip on your Twitter, asked others if they were going to be there. You posted the photo to your image account and tweeted the link. You may have had other updates from your trip, but I can't go back and look at them (the updates aren't cached on Google). Now we'll never know because you deleted all mention of the trip in specific terms, including the photo. You know, this photo:

Erik_johnson_cuba_gooding_medium

Sir, we as fans have enjoyed and have been looking forward to the coming season with you, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, Ian Cole, Cam Janssen, Roman Polak, Brad Winchester and possibly T.J. Oshie all on Twitter. Even Louie the big blue bear has his own account. This social networking tool connects players and their fan base better than anything else in the past. Let us in on conversations, show us your personality and demonstrate some appreciation to fans and you will build a bridge to St. Louis few players have enjoyed during their careers.

Sure, there's a possibility some photos you don't want your parents to see end up on the account. What happens in Vegas will stay in Vegas...as long as you don't Tweet it. And there's always a chance you let your guard down and say something you regret later. That's always a potential pitfall. But that just lends to your personality and the authenticity of the account.

Take Paul Bissonnette with Phoenix. Not a well-known player. He's an enforcer for the Coyotes. He had started the Twitter account @PaulBizNasty. He started taking photos with homeless guys and talked about how many lap dances Ilya Kovalchuk could buy with his new contract. Of course when the Kovalchuk contract was thrown out by the league, he kind of went risque by saying, "sorry communist. back to the soviet." He's since apologized and deleted his account. And that sucks. It was a joke. But some people with Russian roots got their feelings hurt, they took offense to it and PaulBizNasty is no more.

Don't fall for the politically correct police, EJ. Stand your ground and Tweet whatever the hell you want to tweet. Tweet it big, Tweet it loud. Tweet it proud. Post some shirtless photos of Perron and Berglund. Play some jokes on teammates. Don't make every update "On the ice 3 days this week. Season getting closer, cant wait." Or, " Off to bed. Up early tmrw to get a workout in before a noon flight. Can't wait!" If that's all you want to say, I'm not sure Cuba wants to hug you anymore. He doesn't even follow you on Twitter.

Bring back the love, EJ.

Sincerely,

St. Louis Game Time and the undersigned in the comments.

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Brad Lee looking for more shirtless EJ pics. Got it.

Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.

by Chemmy on Jul 28, 2010 9:09 AM CDT reply actions

Put the shoe on the other foot:

Dear Luke Schenn,
You don’t know me, but people know me as Chemmy. I like long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners….

www.stlouisgametime.com

by Brad Lee on Jul 28, 2010 9:15 AM CDT up reply actions

Oooohhhhh.

Well spun, Boss.

St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.

by Donut King on Jul 28, 2010 10:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Louie??

A “Big Blue Bear?”
I thought he was a pantless Blue rat?

PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean?

by DanGNR on Jul 28, 2010 9:23 AM CDT reply actions

Bear-Rat? Like Jackman?

by BleedBlue42 on Jul 28, 2010 9:33 AM CDT up reply actions

Biznasty was some funny chit

For some reason I’m compelled to take pics of homeless people too. Had a homeless woman as a tour guide last evening as I explored/documented the tunnels under the town here. 99% of them are drunkards.

Just a chew toy for the hockey gods

by spectr17 on Jul 28, 2010 12:10 PM CDT reply actions

This is America, dammit!

If a hockey player who isn’t wearing a shirt can’t be hugged by the shirtless star of Ice Dogs, well, then that’s not the America that I live in!

Go forth and hug it out on camera, EJ! HUG. IT. OUT.

by Paperwork Ninja on Jul 28, 2010 12:39 PM CDT reply actions

Thankful I'm not getting blame

I’m only one of what 6,000 + followers on his twitter. Hell it’s Vegas…You’re there to see celebs, have fun and gamble. No matter what, EJ will always be MY #1 pick too! Since I’m being serious, I will not leave a johnson joke. Instead this I offer this lame expression…Being on twitt is the shitt! Show us love EJ

by Mo'FiZZle on Jul 28, 2010 6:57 PM CDT reply actions

I'm sure Eeej's agent alerted him to this.

But really, it’s the Internet. Anything goes.

C’mon, Eeej. You’re cooler than that.

St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.

by Donut King on Jul 28, 2010 10:54 PM CDT reply actions

Old man rant warning. . .

I don’t follow, and never have followed, anyone’s twitter account. Generally speaking, it’s because I don’t give a fuck what any celebrity or random jagoff is eating for breakfast, or what they thought about the new episode of Entourage, or that they’re standing in the longest line at the pharmacy.

That said, this picture is awesome. Really awesome. In at least five different ways. If you could guarantee that his tweets would be cool shit like this and not just lame random musings about life, I would sign up for Erik Johnson’s account in a second.

I mean, seriously—what the fuck is Cuba Gooding Jr. doing with his hands?

by Manbones on Jul 29, 2010 6:26 PM CDT reply actions