Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Bizarro Leafs

Here it is, post number 2! I realize that it’s been over a month since my first post, and my lack of production has been pretty staggering. At this rate, JFJ wouldn't sign me for much more than a million. In my defence, I've had a legitimate excuse. I won’t go into the details, but heretofore the girlfriend will now be known as the wife.

Incidentally, you’ve never known fear until the

woman you love says to you: “Why don’t you pick the music for our first dance?” Wow. In the end she changed her mind and chose the music though, and I think that’s wise. You really don’t want to be leaving a decision of that magnitude to somebody that believes w
e should change the national anthem to Thunderstruck.

But I digress…

In any case, since I’ve been away it's fair to say that a lot has happened to the Blue and White.

Consider if you will a professional hockey team. They’re a relatively young club, with a media friendly coach who (if past experience is any indication) runs a pretty structured system that emphasises defence. Their blue line is probably their best asset, although goaltending could be problem. Scoring could also be an issue.

Sounds like the opposite of everything we’ve come to expect as Leaf fans right?

That's my dilemma. I really don’t know what to make of this new look team. It’s not that I have my doubts about Hal Gill, or that I question giving up a prospect like Rask for a goalie with the worst GAA in the league last season (although I do). It’s that everything I’ve known about the Leafs is now wrong. It’s like up is down, black is white, cats and dogs living together… Nothing makes sense any more.

I am gonna get Domi a nice fruitbasket. I'm gonna MISS him!

Think about what this really means. There will be no more cantankerous Quinn post-game interviews. No more jokes about a Leaf roster that saves money on flights and hotels by getting the senior's discount. No more round the clock coverage of Ed Belfour’s back. No more 30 minutes of defensive pairings that would look shaky in my Friday pickup game.

(On a side note, are most Leaf fans aware that Alexander Khavanov logged over a thousand hours of ice time last season? I have no recollection of this at all. Does he have some kind of ninja power that renders him completely invisible?)

Is this man some sort of shadow warrior?

I’m not saying I’m going to miss the geriatric defensively challenged soap opera that’s been my team for nearly a decade. It’s a bit like trading in an old car though. The newer model might very well be more efficient and reliable, but occasionally you long for the familiar quirkiness of the old beater.
For better or for worse though, the JFJ era begins in earnest this October. Welcome to the age of the Bizzaro Leafs.

1 Comments:

Blogger Jeff Langin said...

Who wants to join me? Who wants to join me in a serious concerted effort to bring the cup back to Toronto? In case you do not know what the problem is I will tell you. It is really quite simple. The 58% ownership of the team and the voting rights lays in the hands of the OTPF- Ontario Teachers Pension Fund. These people hire bean counters who ensure that the maximum profits are retrieved to go back into the bean pile. The Maple Leaf hockey club is the biggest money maker in hockey regardless of how they play on the ice. The bean counters at the OTPF say, "Well, it ain't broke so why should we fix it" In other words the Air Canada Center in Sold Out for every game. To the bean counters the priority is 'beans' and not Stanley Cups. If someone should threaten the bean pile, they do not want him. Any President, PR man or General Manager who speaks out and actually says what he thinks is a threat to the bean pile as thus is not wanted. So the bean counters hire nice people who say 'Yes' to them like John Ferguson Jr...Essentially people who say 'yes' regardless of their record in hockey. Remember JFJ and the St. Louis Blues? JFJ was part and parcel of the demise of that organization. But, who cares...his daddy played in the NHL and most importantly he's a 'yes' man.
If JFJ is fired, who will replace him? Of course...another 'yes' man and hopes will be renewed and fans will be soothed...until this time next year and on and on.
I wonder if Harold Ballard's ghost is amongst the bean counters.
Steve Stavros was our best hope. He surrounded himself with 'hockey people'. Remember Cliff Fletcher?
That was the closest we've come in 40 years. Mr. Stavros decided to sell out his shares and the OTPF was only too willing to oblige and buy them.

Now here is the clue:
They way to get the cup back here in T.O. is this; PUBLIC AWARENESS. Rallies, even demonstrations in front of the OTPF offices 'en mass' and unified voices. Make them accountable for the Leafs and not just their glorious pile of beans.
Once they realize that people stop with the excuses and have found the real culprits...hey, maybe something will change.
Anyone who wants to contact me can.
If you are serious about brining the cup home let's DO SOMTHING ABOUT IT and NOT WHINE WHINE WHINE about the symptoms...let's go after the cause.
Jeff Langin
bruce_jlang@yahoo.com

3:43 PM  

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