A the Winner is....PK Subban

You'll notice a recurring theme of my blogs lately, but my dislike for PK Subban runs deeper than most oceans.  Thursday night, the Montreal Canadians and the Tampa Bay Lightning played one another and there was some controversy that surprisingly involved PK Subban.  Early in the game Subban and Lightnings captain Vincent Lecavalier were getting into it a bit in front of the net.  Cross checks were exchanged, some jostling ensued and I'm sure some friendly words, such as "PK how's your family?", "They're fine thank you Vinny.  How's your family?", you know f words.  As the play progressed Lecavalier broke away from Subban, to pursue the puck and attempt a wrap around, when he received a couple of vicious slashes from Subban.  The slashes resulted in Lecavalier losing the puck and scoring opportunity and in retaliation he gave Subban a whack to the hip area.  You would have thought that Subban had just been shot, it was like watching the eye witness video of the JFK assassination.  Subban dropped to the ice and began to roll around in pain as if his femur had been broken.  Lecavalier was assessed a 5 minute slashing major and game misconduct.  Subban, what did he get?  2 minutes for slashing and when his penalty was over he was back in the game.  He could have got an Academy Award for his performance.  This kid has been a problem since he started in the league.  It goes back to the the 2010 playoffs when he was called up during Montreal's run to the conference finals.  He was and is still a pest.  Not even a pest, he won't fight so I guess he can't be deemed a pest.  He has this arrogance to him that is undeserved and is only fueled by the rioting, protesting, anti anyone else in the league hockey fans in Montreal.  In this season alone Subban has made many an enemy this season, being called out on different occasions by veteran players.  He has also been a healthy scratch many games this season because of his play and I don't mean because he is poor offensively or defensively, but because he is a PUNK!  He plays the game with no accord of anyone else on the ice.  He gets in a guys face and will stir the pot, but when the pot boils he will just skate away.  This kid is built like a brick shit house but he won't fight.  He has 3 fighting majors in his career, one of which was against Clarke MaCarthur where Subban sucker punched MaCarthur, so that wasn't much of a fight, because Subban threw a blind punch like a coward.  Subban is a stain on the NHL who over the last couple of years have been defending the game because of incidences of head shots and unsportsmanlike play.  Subban needs to grow up and realize that he is lucky to be playing in the greatest league in sport and that every kid in this nation would love to be in his shoes.  Check on the link below, it has the entire events of Subban vs. Lecavalier.   

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZyZ1aIsqcI&feature=related


Dear PK Subban,
   You are a EXPLICIT WORD HERE!!!.  I don't like you and if you were ever traded to my team I would have to find a new team to like, because you are intolerable.  You are a big kid who could easily hold your own in a NHL fight, but you choose not to.  I play hockey in an adult safe hockey league and I've been in more fights in my two years in that league than you have you punk.  If you are going to talk the talk, walk the walk and if that means a black eye once and a while then maybe that would be good for you.  I'd like to be the one who gives you that black eye you, EXPLICIT WORD HERE!!!!

*Disclaimer*  EXPLICIT WORD HERE does not indicate a racial slur as some of you may assume based on my last blog, in which that comment of PK Subban was misinterpreted as a racial remark, which it was not intended to be.

Get a Life Montreal!

Since yesterday when reports surfaced that the Montreal Police will be investigating the body check that Zdeno Chara administered to Max Pacioretty in Tuesday nights match up I have just been fuming!  Even more so today in the wake of the unfortunate incidents in Japan.  For once Montreal, let's think of someone other than yourselves.  I want to start my rant with saying I am okay with this hit.  It is a hockey play that as Gary Bettman said this hit "was part of the game" or as Vancouver Canucks assistant coach said "this play would have happened 10 years ago".  The fact that it was a hockey play and that the stanchion is in play makes this hit less sever than perhaps a Matt Cooke on Marc Savard or even the Erskin hit on Crosby in the winter classic.  Hockey is a fast pace game and a play of this nature is bound to occur once and a while.  The end result is unfortunate and it's never easy to see a player get hurt, especially with a broken neck, but my dark side finds it easier to accept because he plays for Montreal.  Since the hit occurred Montreal residence have been up in arms, just furious, feeling like Chara had committed murder!  They have inundated the NHL head offices with letters and phone calls demanding action, the only thing they haven't done is called in the army.  If this hit had been delivered by a Montreal Canadian, most likely P.K. Subban, on a player from the Bruins lets say Patrice Bergeron, it would have been the best hit in the history of the game and a new Quebec holiday would be implemented and statues all over the city would be erected.  No one likes to see their player get hurt, but hockey is hockey.  It's physical, fast paced and injuries of all nature will happen, some worse than others.  The reaction of the fans it a bit much though.  In 1993 we got robbed of a trip to the Stanley Cup Final when Wayne Gretzky slashed Doug Gilmore in game six of the conference final and instead of being penalized went on to score the goal that tied the game and Los Angeles eventually went on to win the game and the series.  Were Toronto fans pissed, sure we were, but did we inundate the NHL offices with phone calls and letters, NO!  We sucked it up and moved on with life.  Montreal you should do that same!  Chara isn't being suspended or fined, so get over it!  And I don't even want to get into the debate about who is a bigger hockey market, because Toronto is going to win that battle 9 out of 10 times.  Plus that isn't what this is about.  This is about the mentality that the universe revolves around all that is Montreal and the fact that they can't admit that the Chara hit was a hockey play.  Reaction around the NHL has been mixed but for the most part despite the unfortunate result of the hit, players and managers, coaches and owners can recognize that it is a hockey play, resulting from two players in a fast pace game trying to gain puck possession.  I'm not hear to defend Chara, even though as I have said I don't see the play as "dirty", my beef is with the fans of the Montreal Canadians.  There have been facebook groups started, demonstrations planned for next Tuesdays game and reports of fans calling 911 asking for Chara to be arrested.  Then we have the possible criminal investigation, which is a whole other can of worms.  The police have no business involving themselves in a professional environment.  These players go into every game with the knowledge that they are risk of injury and when something happens and an injury occurs it's part of their job.  The hit had it been two inches to the right may not have caused any injury!  The hit resulted in a job related injury, don't call the cops, call workman's comp Pacioretty!  But you won't have to do that because you make millions of dollars.  The fact that Montreal fans are going to have a demonstration or "rally" during the next home game to send a message to the NHL, well who is that really going to effect?  Will it effect the team?  Will it effect fans trying to watch the game live?  Will it ultimately effect the game itself?  Perhaps, before you think about your demonstration you should think about a small child, who this is going to be his or her first NHL game.  Going to watch their hero's the Montreal Canadians for the first time ever.  All day the excitement builds, they can't wait to see their favorite player hit the ice...or a stanchion (BOOM!).  But all that is ruined because the fans around them have large banners with harsh words for the NHL, or because fans around them are so enraged that they are continuously on their feet starting chants and  blocking this young fans view.  Then it happens.  Someone will get annoyed and one fight will begin, then another and next thing you know, riot!  It'll move from the arena into the streets and then really what good have you done?  This whole event has already effect the team, they lost last night to the St. Louis Blues 4 - 1, and in the midst of a playoff race I think the team needs to put this whole situation behind them and focus on hockey, but that is just for my logical stand point.  I honestly hope that they implode and miss the playoffs, that would be a happy ending to this story...for me. 

Dear Montreal Fans,

    You've had a hockey team since 1909.  This isn't the first, nor will it be the last time you encounter a controversial play and it won't be the last.  But pull your heads out of your asses and realized that hockey happens.  Players get hurt.  Injuries happen.  Stop your bitching and moaning and accept the decisions laid before you.  You are acting like murder has been committed, but the verdict that the NHL handed down was one of fairness and careful consideration.  Suck it up you babies!

  Va sucer un oeuf vous grenouilles sale!!!! 

Dear P.K. Subban,
   I do not like you and I now refer to having to take a dump as saying "I have to take a P.K." and it has nothing to do with your skin colour as much as it is that I think you're a piece of s....     

Expectations, Why Have Them, They Only Get Crushed

The Major League Baseball season is upon us and already on most major sports websites, talk shows and blogs there is talk about this up coming season and what to expect from each team.  This happens every year at the beginning of every sports season.  Who's going to be the best, who will be status qou, who will rise from the basement and make a run for the playoffs.  And every year us die hard fans we fall for it, we raise our expectations, start to believe "we have a chance this year."  But it's all for not, well for Toronto fans anyways.  There is a motto I have coined a phrase for Toronto Sports fans; There's Always Next Year.  At seasons end no matter what, we always seem to have to wait until next year.  What has miffed me to such a degree that I am ranting you ask?  This article on TSN's website  http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=356987.  This article (if you choose not to read it), basically talks about what the Jays need to make the MLB postseason.  The article is well written and makes some very valid points, points that again would make a fan of the Jays start to really think; "we have a chance."  The very big detail that this article seems to miss is that fact that the Jays have a limited pitching staff in terms of big league experience or success.  Another thing this article doesn't take into account is that we are now missing 31 home runs from Vernon Wells and who knows if Jose Bautista will crush another 54 home runs!  I know that sports writers, bloggers and talk shows need material to talk, write and discuss, but I'm just saying why can't they be more realistic.  Now the article I reference is from a Canadian media outlet, based in Toronto, so of course they are trying to show fans the optimistic view from the top and I'm sure larger media outlets such as ESPN or the Baseball News won't be so kind when predictions are made in the next couple of weeks, but that's not the point.  I would say that it's likely that only a small percentage of Toronto sports fans would look at what ESPN or the Baseball News is saying, because again, articles such as the one on TSN give us such hope that we choose to ignore reality.  I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I am simply being a realist.  I love my hometown teams, but I also know what expectations should really be.  Do I hope I am wrong and that the Jays win 100 games and make the playoffs, sure I do!  But it's not going to happen.  The positives that come out of a season like last year, or even the previous 2 or 3 is that we are making progress.  We are winning 80 plus games a year, being competitive and the future looks bright, but to put such pressure on a young team in a city that doesn't really support them except for Opening Night or when Boston or New York comes to town.  You want my prediction, Jays will finish 4th in the East behind New York (3), Boston (2), Tampa Bay (1) and only 2 or 3 games ahead of the new look Orioles and in the Wild Card, we won't even be on the board at the end of the year when it shows the top 5 teams in the hunt.  Sorry my beloved Jays, I hope you prove me wrong, but realism is the way to go, I'm not blowing smoke up any ones ass, because where there is smoke there is fire and the Jays don't need any other help to burn themselves.


Dear Toronto Media,
    Just tell it like it is.  We only have so many sports channels to watch, so if you rag on our favorite team we don't really have a whole lot of other options to watch, so stop kissing ass and give us the raw truth.

Dear American Media,
    Do us a favor, don't even mention the Jays in your preview shows, just tell your viewers/listeners that the MLB reduced the American League East by one team, I don't really think anyone in America knows we exist.
   

Work Stoppages Hurt No One...Except the Fans!

Here I am about to blow off some steam about the impending NFL work stoppage and I've been on a work stoppage of my own!  This is my first rant in over a month and I apologize for that.  Life gets busy and believe me I could rant about a few things in life, but that's not what this blog is about, it's about SPORTS!!!
   Tonight as 11:59 p.m. the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement runs out between the league, owners and players.  There has been a lot of mud slinging all season in regards to this pending situation and as the weeks have run down it seems that neither side wants to rectify the situation before it becomes a work stoppage!  Earlier this week the talks to prevent a lockout went to mediation, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will resolve anything.  Not since 2004-05 has there been a sports related lockout and that was the NHL which cost the league the entire season.  No games, no all star game, no playoffs, no champion.  Prior to that there was a scare with the NBA in 1998-99, but they were able to resolve the that labor dispute before it lead to any games lost.  Now as the 2010-11 season closes in the NBA there is fears of a work stoppage pending as owners are sick of these new long term, high pay contracts being handed out by big market teams.  Then we all remember the MLB lockout that cost the league to miss the 1994-95 playoffs and no World Series Champion.  I have a personal connection with that lockout as most Canadians do, as that year the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays were poised to meet in the World Series and in directly that lockout was the beginning of the end of baseball in Montreal.  At the time of the lockout in 1994-95 the Blue Jays and Expos lead there respective divisions and were clear favorites to make runs to the World Series.
  What really gets me is that fact that these multi-million dollar sports leagues allow these situations to lead to lockouts.  These are businesses and I understand that, but there is more to these businesses than the owners and players, there are the FANS!!!  The fans make these leagues and these players their money.  We are the ones that sit in the stands when our team is just awful, we are the ones who by the merchandise and pay for over priced beer and food at the stadiums or arenas.  These owners become blinded by the dollar signs in their eyes and the players just get greedier and greedier with absurd contracts and endorsements deals.  For example and this is just a recent example, Cam Newton, highly touted prospect coming eligible for the NFL draft (if one happens), just signed a multi-million dollar deal with Under Armour, so you can't tell me he's too concerned about the NFL season. 
     I can't even imagine what is being discussed in these meetings to try and rectify the unrest and to reestablish a CBA, not only will these teams loose millions of dollars with empty stadiums all year, but we all know about the t.v. contracts that the NFL garners.  Just the t.v. revenue alone would be astronomical!  Can't fathom allowing the season to be scrapped, why not just take a hundred million dollars and flush it down the toilet and that's probably only a small percentage of what a lockout would cost!
       Work stoppages only affect one person and often times that person is over looked, even though that person is the most important person to any professional sports league, that person...you, the fan.

Dear NFL, Owners and Players,
    Do something about this!  Get off your soap boxes and give your fans a season.  You've had three straight years of amazing Super Bowls, do you really want to miss out on the because you lockout the players!
     Owners, stop being so greedy.  You have millions of dollars already, last time I looked at my bank account I'm pretty sure it would allow for me to purchase an NFL team, but what do you care, any loses you'll just write off next tax season, you doucebags!
  Players...whatever, you all have so much money you'll probably spend your time buy stupid fancy cars, raping women and going to NYC night clubs and shooting yourselves or some other felony incident.  TMZ will be all over because the Kardashian's will be rotating from NFL'er to NFL'er with all their free time!
     I would give anything to play in a professional sports league, it would be an honor and I would play for below league minimums, it would just be the thrill of playing in front of thousands of people every night and knowing that somewhere, I'm giving a fan, old or young a thrill when my team scores the winning goal, hits a home run, or runs back a kick return for a touchdown.  Re-asses your priorities...all of you.
  Notice I didn't mention the NBA in my sentimental moment...I hate the fuck'n NBA!