Olympic Level Conclusion Jumping

One of the things about hockey fans which has never, ever ceased to amaze me is the capacity for them to collectively read a press release, or hear an announcement from a club and then instantly pass highly inaccurate comment and judgement on it.

For instance, I am a member of The Hockey Forum, a quite superb resource dedicated to British hockey. A proper meeting place for fans of all clubs, EIHL, BNL, EPL, SNL, Rec - all treated equally and with respect. But the capacity for something verging on hysteria is remarkable.

The EIHL have announced that - barring the crossing of t's and dotting of i's - Newcastle will join the league. Edinburgh and Dundee have also attended an EIHL board meeting with a view to joining.

Hull and Bracknell have publicly floated the idea in their local papers, where Fife and Guildford haven't said anything. So, in the case of the Flyers and the Flames, what is the obvious conclusion to draw?

That they are keeping their powder dry with regards to an announcement?
That they are quietly in preliminary talks with EIHL?
Or that "they've applied to the EIHL and been turned down because of what happens two years ago when the EIHL was trying to form and because Guildfords Chairman has fallen out with Nottinghams Chairman over what he said about our Sharon? It must be true because I heard it from a mate of a friend who was in the pub overhearing one of the EIHL teaboys..."

Yeah but no but yeah but no.

Option 3, by the way, has been taken as gospel and debated. Various comments about a "10-team EIHL" have been taken as proof that the EIHL will only let in Newcastle, Dundee and Edinburgh and the rest will be left to go hang. This is ridiculous.

No league in its right mind is going to turn down Bracknell, Guildford or Fife. Successful clubs both on and off the ice, good fanbases and reputations - why would the EIHL not want them to play? Petty personal politics? Oh come on, this is a business

It reminds me of some shit stirring that went on prior to the Fans Forum over the summer. It was a hell of a job trying to calm people down, because people posted that they had heard a rumour, other people commented on the rumour, which was quickly taken as fact, then conclusions were drawn and people got het up over the conclusions.

It makes me want to scream sometimes at the sheer idiocy of it all.