The great producer, screenwriter and director Billy Wilder said, "An audience is never wrong. An individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles together in the dark -- that is critical genius."

Wilder was at his peak at the end of Hollywood's golden age, which lasted from the beginning of the talking pictures (1927) until the advent of television (late 1950s). He was decades ahead of his time when it came to assessing critical genius.

Modern technology allows millions upon millions of imbeciles to gather in the dark. This is as true in the world of sports as it is in the worlds of celebrity, politics, entertainment and religion. A mere bump in the road results in a tremulous response that ripples through myriad electronic media, from instant messages to satellite television. Together, the critics can't be wrong.

The Blue Jackets have hit a few bumps in the past four weeks. They are mired in an eight-game road winless streak after last night's debacle in Denver against the Avalanche. And they have just two victories in their previous 16 games.

Restless Jackets fans are making ripples. A summary of gripes: Coach Ken Hitchcock is incapable of communicating with his young charges, and they are incapable of responding to his direction; general manager Scott Howson overrated his talent, and the team is still stuck without a No. 1 center and a top defenseman; Rick Nash is an inadequate captain who neither carries the team with his scoring nor sets the required physical tone.

There is some truth in each criticism. Hitchcock has, as yet, been unable to push the right buttons. Derick Brassard and Antoine Vermette, manning the pivots, have not been as effective as was hoped, and the defense has been plodding and, at times, awful. Nash certainly has not lit a fire under his teammates.

The question is: What is the answer? Here, I split with the critics -- who, generally speaking, profess that the Jackets need a radical shake-up.

There is a vociferous "fire Hitchcock" movement. There is a blockbuster-trade union, a faction of which would peddle anyone and everyone on the roster. There are those who want to see Nikita Filatov brought back from Russia. There are those who think Nash is dogging it and needs to have the "C" ripped off his chest. There are even some who are ready to see the team move to Hamilton, Ontario.

I do not believe that doing something stupid, and potentially damaging, is better than doing nothing. I wonder whether those who are causing the biggest ripples in this age of instant, wide-ranging criticism represent the majority opinion.

I do not believe that firing Hitchcock, at this juncture, would be an intelligent move.

I do not believe the players have quit on Hitchcock. The 2001-02 Dallas Stars and the 2006-07 Philadelphia Flyers quit on him. There are no signs that there is any sort of revolt afoot in Columbus. If anything, the Jackets still buy into the coach's message. They might roll their eyes in the next video session, but they will understand the message, and they will believe in it.

I believe the Jackets need a defenseman, and an enforcer, and that Howson must address these concerns. I believe that, other than some tinkering, the answers to the present problems are largely within the grasp of the players in the locker room.

After the loss in Denver, the Jackets find themselves on a 2-9-5 jag.

I think they lost their identity and suffered a crisis of confidence.

I do not think it is the end of the world.

I like that the program -- ownership, management, coaches, players -- are suffering together and plowing forward together, with few, if any, signs of schism.

I like that they are absorbing the critical genius of a thousand imbeciles in the dark.

All of us can't be wrong.

Billy Wilder left us that message in his epitaph:

I'm a writer , b ut then , n obody's perfect.

Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

marace@dispatch.com