Something in the Water in the City of Saints

A couple days ago a video appeared showing two men being swarmed and beaten by a crowd of people in Montreal. Varying reports have come in since, some saying the two men were near death, others like that linked saying the men suffered cuts and bruises and were able to avoid hospitalization. Of course wanting to avoid hospitalization may speak to the two men's own guilt in the matter, with differing reports saying that racial taunts may have incited the violent attack. In reality, there's no place for either behaviour.

Then, after last night's Montreal Canadiens win to advance in the playoffs, the fans decided to honour the win and celebrate the pride in their home team in their own way, by looting stores and burning police cars in their home town. I have never understood the reasoning behind rioting over a sporting event. We get it, you're excited that your team won, but why trash the store of a fellow citizen who him or herself is likely a fan of the same damned team. Why endanger the lives of police officers who, were they not out watching over your dumb asses, would likely be home watching the game and celebrating as well.

Sure there are those cases where there are two clubs from the same city, New York, LA, Chicago have their sports with multiple teams, along with cities all over Europe, where they are even more accustomed to witnessing rioting like this.

I've been reminded that the same thing happened when the Oilers went deep in the playoffs a few years back. Not that the magnitude of the event in any way justifies this kind of behaviour, but this was a first round win. The Senators fans last year at least had it right, and the Flames fans tonight have a chance to show that this isn't a growing tradition that needs to be continued. If this kind of thing continues in Montreal, they won't deserve to have the first Canadian team to win the Cup since they won it in 1993.

This Just In

The Leafs didn't make the playoffs. They were essentially out of the running for 2 months before the season ended. You still droned on about their chances during that time. The season is over now. Stop fucking talking about them and give some more respect to the teams that did make it. Even if you only give attention to the Canadian teams. What happens with your Swedish meatball and your 10 million dollar D-line can wait til the other teams are on their offseason as well. And to the assclown that tried to say that the Leafs are as good as any team from 5-8 in either conference; how do you even wake up and dress yourself in the morning, let alone be allowed to spout such nonsense on a national sports program. They finished 11 points back, in 12th place, in the East.

But hey, its your kind of thinking that will be infectious to all the rest who bleed blue, and will prevent the kind of wholesale changes that the club really needs in the offseason. And anything that causes the Leafs to miss the playoffs is alright with me, but seriously take it off the TV and give some time to the teams who do matter.

Allan H. Selig

I got to my first Jays game of the year yesterday, and it didn't disappoint. Hilarious Boston fans who made the trip, combined with a Jays blowout, and finally catching a ball at a game after going to so many, along with quasi-t-shirt weather, made it a great trip. Hopefully I'll make it down again for at least one of the $2 games in the first few months of the season.

I learned that Bud Selig's real name is infact Allan Huber Selig by way of his signature on the ball. Who knew? What kind of name is Huber?

Walter Gretzky was also at the game for 'Brantford Day' and lived up to his reputation of being great with signing autographs for kids and other fans. He actually sat in the section next to us instead of rubbing shoulders with all the execs up in the boxes.

And on the hockey note, the standings are finally almost clear, and the pick sheet for the pool just needs a few more players slotted in. Within a couple hours (since tonight's game doesn't have any implications) I should have the sheet uploaded for everyone. Get em in ASAP!

NHL Season 2

I could bitch and moan about how Hoover, its products, and warranties are garbage; but I'll just tell you not to buy one and leave it at that.

I could whine some more about how it was snowing again today, and how this shit still won't end; but I'll tell myself that this is still Canada, I have to get the hell over it.

I could tell you all about St. Patrick's day drunkenness; but there'd be gaps, and the non gaps weren't very exciting.

So instead, I'll let everyone know that I'm putting together a playoff hockey pool, and that you should get in on it.

Pro Bore

The NFL's version of the all star game is the most useless one in all of pro sports. I understand that in football with the players playing through injury as they do, playing an exhibition game mid-season is more of a penalty than anything, but why bother even playing the Pro Bowl? Does anyone actually care? Why not just make it like John Madden's Horse Trailer, give the players the distinction they deserve, whether they are injured and unable to play or not.

Its not that the other pro sports offer a substantially better all-star 'game', though they at least do offer better showcases in the home run derby or the slam dunk competition. And baseball even took the step, after that awful tied game in Milwaukee, to make the actual game mean something, giving home field advantage to the winning league in the World Series.

Hockey did its best, with mixed results, to make its talent exhibition better this year. I actually didn't see a second of the breakaway competition, but even the game itself tends to be filled with some dazzling plays.

The Pro Bowl misses the boat on all these things, and comes across like an afterthought the week after the Superbowl; something to placate the Sunday football hangover for some, for others, ruining chances to see the local pro basketball team play an actual meaningful game.

EDIT: Also, in the sports vein, I've set up a Fantasy Baseball league for this season. If you can commit to actually managing your team til the end of the season, feel free to join.

ID: 41506
Pass: void
Draft: Live draft; March 22, 12:00pm EST

Gary Bettman Is A Douchebag...

...but this has already been well established. The latest is this farce of an opening of the season in London, England. While I'm all for spreading the game, and developing new interest, Britain seems to be about the last place that would make sense to go. Are there even any active British players? Doubtful. Sure the 2 games between the Ducks and Kings have sold out, but on multiple networks I tuned into yesterday there was speculation about perhaps having a group of teams in Europe as part of the NHL as well. If Gary Bettman thinks he can compete with soccer, cricket and rugby in England, and most of the rest of Europe, he is going to be shown, once again, how wrong he really is.

He can't even get it done right in a bunch of American markets, nevermind the complete shunning of Canada. What's that you say? You are a billionaire investor looking to grossly overpay just so you can bring a team up into a market where people will actually go out to the games? You sir shall be cockblocked. Twice.

And don't think I didn't notice that the pre-game opening of yesterday's game included the British and American national anthems with no sign of standing on guard for thee. A cookie goes to the first person who correctly responds with the country that 12 of 24 of the Kings, and 16 of 27 of the Ducks come from.

I'm fully in support of another player strike just to see Bettman take a walk. The NHL's players (for the most part) aren't involved in murder trials, its referees aren't involved in game fixing, sure some of its owners may be tied up in gambling rings, but the hockey pool is the one thing the NHL has and always will have going for it. It was fantasy hockey before fantasy hockey. Despite all this, the NHL still is pretty much ignored anywhere but Canada. But lets not bring a team up here Gary, lets look at Las Vegas and London, England. Just ask the Coyotes how well a hockey team in the desert works.

Abusive Relationship

Well, the paramedics were sent in to Kanata, Ontario last night some time in the late second period, and prevented a mass choking event that appeared to be well on its way. The obstruction of the Senators' airways could be heard across Canada (that is if you could block out the sound of Harry Neale and Bob Cole's atrocious play-by-play). But now instead of 3-0, its 2-1 and a series has broken out. Pronger should get suspended for at least a game for his elbow to McAmmond, more if you take into consideration the proximity to his hit from behind in the Detroit series. Its one thing to play aggressively and with fire, its another to play dangerously. Add to that the events around his departure from Edmonton after a season last year, and you're looking at one unclassy player.

Speaking of dangerous blows to the head, Carolyn needs a two game suspension for her actions. I took a Chronicles of Narnia DVD in the nose thrown by her while I had dozed off on the futon waiting for her to pick a movie. The claim is that it was intended to land on my chest, but I am not willing to believe that. Abuse I tell you.

The movie itself was okay, for the parts where I wasn't asleep, but talk about some bad green-screen special effects. Maybe the people at the Weta workshop responsible for LOTR have set the bar too high for themselves with effects in these fantasy movies now, but there were some moments in there that look like they could have come straight off the same special effects stage as some 80's classic like Willow or Labyrinth, without the additional bonus of David Bowie in an 80's power rock mullet wig or little people midgets.

As an aside, you haven't seen anything until you've seen a midget with a mullet.

Endless Distraction

Around this time of year every year is like christmas for all the sports networks. With the NHL and NBA winding down their seasons with tight playoff races, the Masters kicking off the golf grand slam tour, and baseball and auto racing starting up for the summer, there is no need for the fluff pieces on some local phenom who never comes to fruition, or annoying banter between hosts.

All that sports activity also serves as a major distraction to the tri-annual studying season. Being a resident minority here in Leaf nation, I get sucked into the whims of the vast blind majority and all their uneducated devotion to a shitty hockey team. And so last night saw me crammed into an overcrowded bar, packed with blue and white jerseys, as well as the disgustingly tacky pink alternatives whining about every possible bullshit non-call or call against possible.

And then what do you know, the Leafs get some absolute shit luck garbage goals as are so typical of their teams over the years, and they keep themselves alive in the playoffs. To top the evening off, the Avalanche dropped the ball on their playoff run, only to get the help they would have needed from the Oilers beating Calgary and leaving the control in the hands of Colorado.

So where does that leave me today?

After actually managing to get some productive studying in, its left me channel surfing between the Jays game, the Masters, and the New York Islanders game hoping beyond hopes that the acquisition of Ryan Smyth from the Oilers pays dividends, if only to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Right now the Isles are up 1-0 and holding tough, making it look like those Canadian teams that aren't in Ottawa will soon get a whole bunch more blind bandwagon hopping support from the large proportion of Leafs fans who actually know nothing of the sport. At this point I don't become much better throwing my support towards the Sens and Canucks, but not so much blindly as hoping to get a cup in Canada for a talented team that isn't the Red Wings for example. The best possible outcome being a Sens cup win just to incense all the Leaf fans that much more.

With that I wish you a happy easter if you celebrate it, and a happy playoffs which you definitely should be celebrating.

Update: In the same vein as last night's fans: na na naa naa, na na naa naa heeyyy heeyyy heyyy, goodbye. What's another year to wait after 40 anyways right?