An OPEN LETTER to … Whoever Wrote the WAHA Letter

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Dear WAHA Letter Writer:

You took too many shots, and they were personal, unwarranted, mean-spirited, and without an ounce of community in mind. Worst of all, you lied about a man who proved most instrumental in bringing the Wheeling Thunderbirds to the city in the early 1990s, and has worked to keep the franchise here ever since.

Would WAHA still exist without professional hockey in Wheeling? “Of course!,” of course, is your immediate answer, but the truth is you don’t know. How many children have left a Nailers game and looked up to a parent and proclaimed, “I want to start playing hockey”?

Again, none of us knows.

What we do know, though, is this: The desecration you perpetrated against Mr. Magruder was cruel and deserving of a formal apology, one that should be distributed to the WAHA family just as the letter was, and to the local media. Oh, and this time, have the courage to sign it.

Sincerely,

We All Know Who You Are

Steve Novotney
Steve Novotney
Steve Novotney has been a professional journalist for 33 years, working in print for weekly, daily, and bi-weekly publications, writing for a number of regional and national magazines, host baseball-related talks shows on Pittsburgh’s ESPN, and as a daily, all-topics talk show host in the Wheeling and Steubenville markets since 2004. Novotney is the co-owner, editor, and co-publisher of LEDE News, and is the host of “Novotney Now,” a daily program that airs Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m. on River Talk 100.1 & 100.9 FM.

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