Monday mini-digest

- And they said it couldn't be done: Ottawa city council has crafted a budget - in record time, no less - that has a zero percent property tax increase. Some may quibble because it means that the odd user fee is about to go up, but I say "what's wrong with that"? As a general rule, and speaking within reason, I think people should pay for what they use and not have to pay for what they don't. It's only fair.

Congratulations to Mayor Larry O'Brien for winning round one with the special interests that dominate municipal politics here in the nation's capital.

- I don't often blog about sports, but I must take issue with St. Louis Blues-Atlanta Thrashers trade for Keith Tkachuk over the weekend. The Thrash gave up quality forward Glen Metropolit along with a first, second and third round pick with another first rounder to follow if the Thrash sign the soon-to-be-unrestricted Tkachuk, one of the laziest, half-assed guys ever to play the game of hockey.

To me, this trade demonstrates everything that is wrong with the NHL, new or old. You've got a team based in a non-hockey market that is so desperate for people in the city which they play to take notice of them that they will overpay big-time just to make the playoffs, because if they don't, the writing will be on the wall that they'll have to move. (To where, I might ask?) And why does that team exist in the first place? Because shortsighted owners, hungry for the quick bucks that an expansion fee would bring in, had to keep pace with the big-market teams like the Rangers, Flyers and Leafs who were all too happy to shell out the cash to high-priced free agents in recent years despite it being clear to anyone with an iota of common sense that this league just couldn't sustain those kind of salaries over even the short term (resulting in the ridiculousness of the cancelled season two years ago).

Take a look around. Carolina? No one cared about the Cup win last year outside of Raleigh. Nashville? Dominant, yet averaging a half-full rink. The Thrash? I would be surprised if they've had more than 5 sellouts this year. Then, you've got teams like Phoenix, Anaheim and Florida to boot, where I'm sure at least 20% of those "fans" in the seats got comped tickets. Even in places where hockey shouldn't be as tough a sell, like St. Louis, they've had to resort to handing out free concessions to get people into the building, and my beloved New Jersey Devils, despite setting a consistent standard of excellence over the last fifteen years that is rivalled by only Detroit, are basically a farce off the ice. Even Canadian markets like Ottawa and Vancouver have had their difficulties.

For the good of the game, everyone in pro hockey needs to recognize the limitations of the sport. It does no one any good to see a franchise basically go for broke in such a stupid way like Atlanta has done and only serves as a reminder that the game is never going to be major league if nonsense like this persists. When the Thrash get bounced in the first round, if they even make it to the post-season this year, and three years down the road, when management would kill to get even Municipal Stadium-era Cleveland Indians attendance numbers, you can point to this past weekend as the reason why.

- I was very happy to hear that "The Departed", probably the best movie I've ever seen, cleaned house last night at the Oscars, but the question that should have been on everyone's mind as posed by Fred is whether or not Al Gore used public transit to get to the show, and if not, did he at least carpool?