Thursday, April 12, 2007

Thursday digest

- Apparently Oprah today featured members of the Rutgers basketball team.

Tomorrow's edition features the Duke lacrosse team.

- The more things change, the more they stay the same, in both the East and the West.

- Read this piece and tell me if you really think that Syria deserves to be treated as a credible actor in the Middle East by major powers. There will always be those who think that W. is a bigger threat to world peace than the likes of Bashar Assad, but come on.

- Meanwhile, al-Qaeda in Iraq blew up that country's parliament today with a suicide bombing. This is the enemy we are to run from? Not if you ask John McCain, every Democrat's favourite Republican.

- Newt: more useful on the outside?

- Did you really think that Oprah would have the Duke lacrosse team on her show?

You poor, naive soul.

- The next season of "24" will feature Quebec separatists as the bad guys. I can't wait to see Canada's political elites twist themselves into a knot over this one.

- When I was surfing Andrew Coyne's website and reading his take on the boom-bust-echo political career of Belinda Stronach, I came across some golden commentary on the much-hated Toronto Maple Leafs. From poster "GWGM":

Thank God the Islanders put a stake through the beast's heart.

By doing so, they spared the rest of us two full weeks of listening to sports phone-in shows featuring 'Tony from Woodbridge' swearing on the Virgin Mary that "We're goin' all da way."

40 years and counting. Talk about an enviable business plan. Freedom to suck beyond belief, and still be a cash cow.

Hmmm... would I like to pay to watch the Leafs figure skate for an hour, or take my wife on a holiday for a few days? But I guess no one really makes that decision. No one actually digs into their own jeans for Laugh tickets.

No, it's mostly executives giving themselves perks under the pretense of doing business, leaving the burden of paying the tab to poor schmucks who never go to the games, via their taxes.

And would someone explain to me what's up with everyone kissing Sundin's backside in spite of him starting his spring suck-a-thon a month earlier than usual this year? He must be a better person than Ghandi because no one ever says a bad word about Captain Pants Load.

Hopefully, missing the playoffs yet again will cause some people to raise their expectations for this joke of an organization. But I won't hold my breath.

On the bright side, the heat is off Gord Stellick for being the worst GM in Laughs history.

Leafs Hater Nation, unite!

13 Comments:

At 9:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That Coyne article is great!! Best comment from Joan Tintor:

Insiders said she has shown strength in driving Magna's overall direction and human-resources issues. However, they added that she needs to improve her skills in understanding finances and keeping a focus on important issues.

"She tends to get bored quickly and jump to something that would interest her," one former executive said.
--Toronto Star business section, today

i.e. detail-challenged, good at HR, couldn't read financial statements

 
At 9:54 AM, Blogger David said...

I hate Tony from Woodbridge.

Don Imus is going to make a killing on satellite radio.

 
At 10:12 AM, Blogger greenchief said...

On Sports Centre this morning, they showed three Leafs (Stajan, Colaiacovo, Wozniewski) sitting behind homeplate at the Jays game. Apparantly, they were booed by the crowd when their presence was introduced .... class all the way.

As for the Sundin worship ... I don't get it either. Why is Sundin held up to Bobby Orr status when he can't even lead his team to the second season, while Alfredsson is constantly chastised as a playoff choker, even though the Sens underperforming has much more to do with crappy goaltending than his leadership abilities.

BTW, is Sundin visiting Barry Bonds' doctor. That guy must be mainlining HGH. He's about a size 19 hat size.

 
At 10:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

do any of you listen to toronto sports radio? Sundin is bashed and has been bashed by hardcore leaf fans for years. Trust me, I'm a Sundin fan and I'm constantly defending him among my fellow leaf fans.
And don't dare compare sundin to the 'human rat' Alfredsson. Sundin carries a very crappy team farther than they should go. That leaf roster had no business contending for a playoff spot. Ratman gets no points in the playoffs on a roster that resembles an allstar team and that is often favoured to win the cup.
As for Sundin's poor play down the stretch...he still got 12 points in his last 12 games playing with Antropov and Ponikarovsky. Poni couldn't even make the sens fourth line. And admittedly this (one- point-a-game) was sundin playing poorly. Oh, what did man-rodent do in his last 12 games playing with heatley? That's right, 12 points.

 
At 11:05 AM, Blogger Road Hammer said...

Good to see that there are Leafs fans who use the Sens rather than success in their own right as a yardstick by which to measure performace.

 
At 12:21 PM, Blogger greenchief said...

you're right Saddy ... sign up Sundin for $6.3 million next year. Put him right beside McCabe and Kubina as the highest paid pylons in the league.

The only thing more delusional than Leafs fans is Leafs management.

Don't compare Alfredsson to Sundin? Alfredsson was +42 ... second in the league. He also had 10 pts. in 10 playoff games last year. Not bad for a guy who "gets no points" in the playoffs.

You're right. A comparison is silly

 
At 1:42 PM, Blogger Skeelo said...

Sundin was been torched by Leaf fans for years and it is only recently that Leafs fans realized that he was one of the only reasons to watch them play. The only decent winger he has ever had in Toronto was Mogilny. It really is pathetic what he has been surrounded by.

You need to understand two things: 1. Leafs are a religion like The Cubs and Red Sox. Going to the ACC or watching a game is like worshipping at the alter. 2. Unfortunately MLSE has no damn reason to improve the team. I blogged about this a year ago and it remains true.

What I would actually like to see is the Leafs be really bad for a few years, not half way decent fighting for a playoff spot like recent years, so they can get some decent draft picks and play some young guys. And they could completely get away with because of the whole Leaf is a religion point I made earlier.

 
At 2:00 PM, Blogger Road Hammer said...

That would assume they know how to draft.

They don't.

 
At 2:05 PM, Blogger greenchief said...

Skeelo, your solution to the Leafs's woes only works if you have a scouting staff that can identify good young players, and a GM who has the sense and patience to recognize and develop talent.

It's a non-starter as long as the guy who, for example, traded blue-chipper Tukka Rask for Raycroft, is still pulling the strings.

 
At 2:28 PM, Blogger Road Hammer said...

Exactly. Trades like that one, the Nolan for Boyes, McCaulay and a second rounder fiasco, and the Kubina signing means that we should change the slogan of the ACC to "Come Worship at the Altar of Suck".

 
At 2:33 PM, Blogger Road Hammer said...

Sorry - make that a FIRST rounder as part of the Nolan trade.

 
At 3:33 PM, Blogger Skeelo said...

Every team has shitting signings, not just the Leafs (weren't the Devs paying Mogilny to play in the AHL last year for example). The Leafs just have more because their management is terrible. As I said earlier this week I think they should let Bryan Colangelo try to run the Leafs as well as the Raps. He couldn't do worse than Ferguson Jr.

 
At 3:44 PM, Blogger Road Hammer said...

It's not just about shitty signings. It's about making sound personnel decisions all around.

Altar of Suck.

 

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