Sports has a Sense of Humour

Michael Schumacher's chances of winning the world F1 title has taken a step back. The engine of his Ferrari blew while leading the race.

Guess who zoomed past him into first? That paranoid Fernando Alonso. It wasn't so long ago the Renault team led by their fearless boss Flavio Briatore were spewing all sorts of conspiracy theories about how the F1 season was rigged.

Now an engine blows in their favour. Funny how the gods on Mount Olympus work, eh? Life - she's-a-mighty unpredictable.

It can leave a bitter taste in the mouth of fans when teams like Renault complain only to subsequently win. The demons they thought were there were never present.

Heading into the last race of the year in Brazil, Alonso and Renault are sitting pretty while they wipe the crocodile tears off their infantile faces. I can just imagine the reaction if the opposite happens. That is, if Alonso's Renault blows over. Open season once again on the conspiracies!

"It's good for racing," one announcer on RDS proclaimed following the win. How is this good for racing? For the last few years the other teams attacked Ferrari for being too successful and rule changes were made to quiet the losers. The changes were put in place apparently to help all teams. All it did, of course, was shift some of the success into other big teams. Not very impressive.

In other words, teams like Renault are wealthy welfare recipients. Just like how some owners make money off the cap system in North American pro sports. In hockey, GM'S in the NHL always complain about Lou Lamouriello. Why? It's simple. He always finds a loophole before they do. The lesser minds are always the first to cry to the teacher.

Anyway, for that announcer, what he really meant was that it's always a good day when Ferrari doesn't win.

Speaking of boogey men to blame for ones troubles. Yesterday I heard a sports fan call in to the local sports radio show. He made quite the connection. In his eyes (and many delusional Montrealers think this way no doubt), the reason why Montreal lost the Expos was because of fiscally 'irresponsible' teams like the New York Yankees 'who win everything all the time.' I'm surprised he did not blame George Bush or Stephen Harper.

First of all, the Yankees don't 'win everything all the time.' They have not won since 2000. The last made the series in 2003. With the latest lost, we may even see the Yankees in slight trouble next year. They were a team built for the regular season. Their dynasty of the 90s was constructed on the bedrock of dominating pitching. The last few years, the Yankees have been an offensive juggernaut with little pitching. The old axiom in baseball is that strong pitching usually beats good hitting. In other sports, 'defense wins' is the saying.

So, he went off saying baseball needs a salary cap. Implied here of course is that a cap would have saved the Expos. Nonsense. The cap may attempt to give dead-weight franchises run by clowns a chance but it's not fullproof. How can you help an incorrigible person?

The cap has not helped the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions in the NFL. It sure isn't going to help the New York Islanders in the NHL. Heck, what did it do for the Montreal Canadiens? All we've done is give a bone to the incompetent. The cap is like communism. It claims to be egalitarian when in fact it's a license for shysters to profit from it. There's no way to help the dumb. If an owner does not want to win; he ain't going to win no matter what the cap does. Don't be fooled by parity. Parity is another word for mediocrity.

Meanwhile, look at how a little brains can do for teams like the Oakland A's and Detroit Tigers. They did not open the bank to produce winning teams. They soundly made their choices and built successful clubs. THAT'S what you want to see as a sports fan. We can cry all we want but it's how you make the best of situation that will determine if you succeed or fail. In Montreal, we chose to buckle our knees like a bad hitter does when they see a fast ball go by them.

Smart minds and competent people build great teams. Not superficial rules.

I've said this many times over. Here's why Montreal lost the Expos: Because fans did not support the team. Because Montreal is wannabe major league sports town with a minor-league fan base and business community. We prefer short one-week non-committal events like the Jazz Fest and an F1 race.

In, out. You can't market us for anything else. Blaming the Yankees is lacking in accountability for our own actions.