I couldn't believe my ears, the other day, when a panel of so-called "experts" (guess who they are: an illiterate former NHL coach, a former player from the same franchise and some other guy...!) chose to blast Toronto forward Jason Blake for running his mouth at Philadelphia goon Steve Downie during an NHL contest recently (it is the only chance NHLers get to exchange pleasanteries, right? Along the boards and crashing into the net!)
And so, the three stooges were WITH STEVIE DOWNIE, imagine that, approving of the insidious punch (a love tap, really) he delivered to Blake while the two were all wrapped up (not nearly well enough though) by two referees ATTEMPTING to break up the melee. And the REASONS why the three stooges were siding with rough guy Downie were utterly ridiculous as probably repulsive too: it appears that Jason Blake has a rep for being a player who likes to "run his mouth". Yeah - so? Léo Labine and Ken Linseman did this WONDERFULLY well for the Boston Bruins in two different eras - it is an ungrateful job, but somebody's got to do it! IT IS PART OF THE GAME! And preferable, to me, than endless fist fights or, especially, cowardly hits from behind that injure players unnecessarily... So, Jason Blake says things that makes blood boil and temperaments lose their focus. GOOD. But that is not the story here, really - EVERYBODY has a RIGHT to express his opinion in the Western world (or so they say!) and all Blake was doing was displaying GUTS by expressing it IN THE GUY'S FACE! And his opinion was that Downie should have been suspended FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR and not merely 20 games as he was, for his disgusting hit (from behind?) on Senators player Dean McAmmond. A hit that was deemed as "deliberate and dangerous" and was aimed at the head, on top of that. Truly a disgracious gesture that wound up only costing Downie $63,101 during his suspension, money that goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund... Hmm, an emergency such as when a player becomes handicapped, overnight, after a vicious hit like that? Should be, eh? One can hope so.
Thus, Jason Blake has an opinion and is not afraid to share it. Jason Blake, the one who also has chronic myelogenous leukaemia, a treatable and rare form of the disease, and undergoes treatment while he continues playing... And THOSE THREE STOOGES ARE OKAY WITH A GOON HITTING HIM IN THE MOUTH SO AS TO TELL HIM TO SHUT UP? Maybe they'd like to get some of that treatment, as well? Maybe, by the same logic, Roger Clemens should add insult to injury and try and apply the ol' baseball bat to the skulls of everyone in baseball who's criticized him since revelations were made about him that explain his longevity... (I'd like to see him try that on Curt Schilling - just because I'm confident Schill is the one who'd come out on top, in this confrontation! Won't hold my breath for this to happen - obviously! I don't believe in 'steroid rage' anyway - only in "steroid degenerative after-effects", yes! But I am digressing...)
Back to the three stooges' comments now... This sort of "expert commentary" is why the NHL remains the neanderthal of the sports world! "Don't like what someone says - punch him into silence!" Anything goes, on the ice! It's not the Ice Capades but the Savagecapades! That sort of mentality led to a kid's proud dad to go and beat up the coach who wasn't using his kid enough, in his humble opinion! It seems like North Americans (Canadians, mostly) de-evolve once they lace up a pair of skates - no matter how odd that sounds, the facts are there! A regular, civilized discussion cannot take place on ice - if anything unpleasant is said, punches will be thrown! It doesn't matter if the target's got cancer or not - you don't like what he says and you're a goon, hip, young and able? PUNCH HIM! That'll settle the argument! It doesn't matter if, off the ice, that sort of behaviour would be highly-reprehensible... Loathed and characterized as sickening and more disgusting than your "average ratio of disgusting"... And lead to criminal charges too! Nooooooo - on the ice, especially in an NHL rink, there is ANOTHER SET OF RULES AND CONVENTIONS that supersede all normal ones from "regular society"... "Thou shall not talk about thy brother player's recent suspensions and disgracious acts committed in the heat of competition" appears to be one of the foremost commandments carved in stone by the NHLPA... Fine example there, yay.
Well then - if no one respects cancer patients (the moment it's a "highly-treatable" form of the c-word, it's pretty much open season on the guy who has it...) why hasn't anyone roughed up Saku Koivu yet? Seems to me like he's had a number of beatings coming on to him... Oh, right - it's simply because HE HAS NO OPINION. He's simply a spineless Fin (just like Don Cherry likes them!) who will administer roughness along the boards, FROM BEHIND - but will cowardly elude any direct confrontation otherwise! Not all cancer sufferers are equal, folks - nope!
But that is another story...
In other "newsies"...
(read: "niaiseries" - as some Frenchies out there certainly can...!)
- They punished severely and reprimanded harshly the lady broadcaster (well, she may be no lady and just a HO...?) who said something that had not its place in sports broadcasting... Something, hell and damnation, about our saintly Blessed Tiger Woods...! Heaven forbid THAT would go unpunished: he is after all only an extremely gifted athlete who is exploiting the system and raking in the millions without breaking much of a sweat because he chose to play with whire men who can't jump, dribble, tackle or get down and dirty in any way, shape or form... Woods could have chosen a sport worthy of his genes - but why bother with that? Playing golf is much more relaxing, dominating it as the novelty that stands out from the pack (which is comprised of older, slower, lazier white guys - read back a little; I am not repaeting the insults!) and cashing supplementary revenue in the form of 1001 profitable endorsements is THE WAY TO GO... Why bother with a short-lived career that only makes you enemies in the end, like Terrell Owens' or O.J. Simpson's careers? Tiger's got it all figured out - plus, he chose himself the bride to suit all of his aspirations, perfecting Sammy Davis Jr's pionnering example in the process! Truly, in the light of all these facts, any ho who DARES shoot her mouth at Lord Woods had better be flailed, tarred and feathered ON THE SPOT...!
- Nerds and other envious losers keep expecting to see the Perfect Patriots falter... They were 16-0 in the regular season, established a NUMBER of records in the process, both teamwise and individually, and were nearly flawless again in their first playoff game against the Jaguars on Saturday... AND STILL - there are those who will be running their mouths about a possible "impossible mission" to even reach the Super Bowl; for the next game will be against either the arch-rival Colts or the Chargers. If against the Colts, the daunting task of beating them twice in the same season appears to be "impossible" to the so-called experts - especially since the Pats could not do it, for the first time EVER, in last year's playoffs... And if against the Chargers, the Patriots would then be facing the team that bested the Colts twice in a row indeed - impossible to defeat the team that ACCOMPLISHED the "impossible" - right? That's logical... NOT! NOTHING is impossible - ANY team can beat ANY opponent at ANY time! Which is why the 17-0 cumulative record the Perfect Patriots put together is so awesome, in this day and age where PARITY is prevalent in ALL of sports... And that is also why EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE for these Patriots to accomplish - EVERYTHING.
- A little comparative note, to end with...
Slick Ric and Sloppy Celtics.
Both could win a 17th championship this year. But Ric Flair is truly at the twilight of his career - and, anyway, we're talking about "Sports Entertainment" there. We're talking about a pre-determined drama, scripted, acted out... Athleticism is involved, sure - and Flair is the best cardio-vascular athlete of all, considering he is 57 or 58 already and has enough in the tank to last through every match he is in, competing against mastodonts half his age...! But "sports entertainment" is a controlled environment - where the "happy ending" can assuredly happen. In the NBA, the Boston Celtics are not the masters of their own destiny. Instead, the basketball is. If it decided to roll off the rim and fall outside the basket, they don't win! Simple as that, Tim! ;)
(Could be a nod to Horton - or to another Tim entirely! Don't ask!)
The Celtics were deemed "sloppy" for dropping a second game out of their last three (while the Patriots remained perfect - and even the Bruins won in dramatic fashion, in accursed Philadelphia, aka goontown!) on Saturday night...
It could happen that Ray, Kevin and Paul get tired of the "quest" already - ANYTHING can happen, you know...! Unlikely, since they are consummate pros and they CRAVE a championship. But, man, losing to the Bobcats and then TWICE to the Wizards by allowing late rallies each time...?!? At least they handed the hated Nets another loss in-between that, but still...
Refocusing on the ultimate goal and avoiding to look past ANY opponent should do it for the Celtics - and, hopefully by the end of 2008, the Boston Celtics will have won another championship, their 17th in 19 or 20 appearances in the Big Dance (in this case, the NBA Finals - tis the best percentage of all pro franchises that have been seen in the final championship rounds often...!)
AND Nature Boy Ric Flair will have retired, AFTER winning his 17th World Title too; something he could have done anytime he wanted to, years ago, in WCW...
But that is another story too - for, now, the self-proclaimed "dirtiest player in the game" is a part of the wretched WWE, where different rules prevail...
'Nuff rambled...!
