Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sked
Any idea when the NHL decided that 4 games in 5 nights was OK? I don't recall ever seeing it before. The league has done all manners of loony things with the schedule, but has never (again, to my recollection, and I do pay attention to these things) okayed
- 3 games in 3 nights
- 4 games in 5 nights
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Feschuk on Heatley
This post is so good I almost can't stand it, and not just on account of the humour ("To be fair, a small number of Ottawa residents are still keen to give him the key to the city, though only if he agrees to accept it rectally."). Try to find something to disagree with here:
If anyone still read this here blog, this statement might hurt someone's feelings, but we gotta keep it real: to an outsider, Dany Heatley comes off as the NHL's Patrick Bateman.
It really doesn't matter that you've been forgiven for your past mistakes, Dany: you should still be keeping your head down, working hard, being easy to get along with, and basically thanking the stars for your good luck on a daily basis. You drove your car into a wall and killed your buddy, and you're neither dead yourself nor in jail. Displeasure with your work environment is probably something you ought to be suffering in silence.
Craig MacTavish wasn't one-half the hockey player you are, but Christ could you learn some stuff from him -- the first being that you, like him, are never, never allowed to feel sorry for yourself for any reason. It's the price you owe, in perpetuity. Deal.
What’s truly fascinating in all this is the utter ham-handedness with which Heatley has “managed” this situation. You’d think a guy who’s raking in millions might be willing to part with $10,000 or $20,000 for some top-notch strategic advice. Nothing fancy – just the basics: precondition the fans to expect an ultimatum, praise the community for its past support (…but golly, I’m an elite player in this league and want to go somewhere where the coaching staff sees me as such, etc. etc.), sit down with a sympathetic reporter and lay out the reasons for wanting out, enlist a teammate or two to speak out as a third-party supporter, maybe visit Ottawa and do a charity thing to emphasize the It’s Nothing Personal aspect of it all.
But nooooooooo. Heatley has done none of that. His trade request was crude and insulting and not couched by any (genuine or manufactured) love for Ottawa and its fans. He’s remained silent for weeks now, allowing the Senators to portray him as a total douche and giving reporters and columnists nothing to write about except those douchey musings. And now, having demanded out, he’s gone and vetoed the only decent trade the Senators could come up with – naturally, without so much as a word as to why.
Would most Ottawa fans be down on Heatley no matter what right now? Absolutely. But the level of hatred in the city could have been diminished, and the degree to which he’s now viewed as a Problem Child in cities around the league could have been avoided entirely.
If anyone still read this here blog, this statement might hurt someone's feelings, but we gotta keep it real: to an outsider, Dany Heatley comes off as the NHL's Patrick Bateman.
It really doesn't matter that you've been forgiven for your past mistakes, Dany: you should still be keeping your head down, working hard, being easy to get along with, and basically thanking the stars for your good luck on a daily basis. You drove your car into a wall and killed your buddy, and you're neither dead yourself nor in jail. Displeasure with your work environment is probably something you ought to be suffering in silence.
Craig MacTavish wasn't one-half the hockey player you are, but Christ could you learn some stuff from him -- the first being that you, like him, are never, never allowed to feel sorry for yourself for any reason. It's the price you owe, in perpetuity. Deal.
