Sports Corner With The Resident Sock Puppet

Sportswriter Cam Cole has this to say about the NHL lockout:

"...All that's happening now is a further erosion of those myths we once clung to: That hockey players really are the best, the humblest, the most accommodating, the most human, of pro athletes.
And that owners are really guardians of a public trust - not so much businessmen as hockey fans who want the same things the fan does, but just happen to have the money to make them happen. Good people who "give back" to the community.

We know more about that now than we ever wanted to know. We know that most owners are themselves charity seekers from the public purse, strip-miners of their local markets, pyramid schemers who have gotten rich selling dreams to suckers in places never meant for hockey and now complain that the game's economics don't make sense.

We know that players, through their agents, have conspired with the very owners they now profess to despise, to subvert the salary structure.

Two villains, and no good guy. They deserve each other."

Quoted for truth.

T.C.'s son (if he had one): Pa, what's an NHL?
T.C.: A nilch? Not sure, son. Something that once may have meant something but has lost all importance?

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Victor Cruz and Jack Pinto.

I may just pull for the Giants on principle.

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Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg has a huge racial problem. Its fans are demanding an all-white heterosexual team.

They explain:

"Dark-skinned players are all but forced down Zenit's throat now, which only brings out a negative reaction and added  gay players were "unworthy of our great city."

Nice people.

Truth is, nothing like this happens in North America and I mean nothing. It does happen with relative frequency in Europe. Remember this the next time a 'Pean goes off about how "racist" America is.

Specifially, Eastern European countries are increasingly problematic in world soccer. The English, Dutch and Germans once had awful degenerate drunken (and in some cases racist) hooligans. They've been brought under control but now it's sprouting up elsewhere.

For his part, coach Luciano Spalletti had this to say:

"Tolerance for me is the ability to understand and accept differences.

"Furthermore, being tolerant means that you fight against any kind of stupidity.
"I can personally assure you that I will do everything I can to help those who seek to explain what tolerance is, and the need to respect other cultures and traditions.

"The team has gathered players from different countries and ethnic groups who work together to achieve a common goal. Their combined efforts bring tangible results."

I enjoyed Spalletti's tactics during his AS Roma days.

Anyway.

Here's the bit that caught my eye:

"..Zenit has its own identity in the world of football, along with a number of football clubs that have retained their own identity.

"As the most northern club of the major European cities, we have never been associated with Africa, South America or Australia and Oceania.

"We have absolutely nothing against the people of these and any other continent. But now black players are being imposed on Zenit almost by force.

"We only want players from other brotherly Slav nations, such as Ukraine and Belarus as well as from the Baltic states and Scandinavia. We have the same mentality and historical and cultural background as these nations."

In other paper they say, "we are not racists and for us the absence of black Zenit players is just an important tradition that underlines the team's identity and nothing else."

Familiar language?

This is the sort of logic and excuses PQ nationalists and language zealots apply whenever they're called out for their prejudicial behavior.

"Hey, we got nothing against the English language, it's just, well, we're French and Quebec has its own identity and, well, just keep it down, ok?"

The thing the PQ and their supporters don't get is they form a kind of segregationist blip on the North American political-cultural landscape. They simply don't grasp that whenever they come up with a travesty like Bill 14 they're actually affecting people for who they are. It's got absolutely nothing to do with "protecting" French and everything to do with silencing others under the pretext of "protection."

Basically, they're full of shit and their thinking is not that far off from Zenit soccer fans.

Spade a spade folks.

Oh. Not enough for you? Just go and read up on how they reacted to Randy Cunneyworth. An esteemed and respected coach who had the nerve to be hired by the Montreal Canadiens as a unilingual Anglo.

For shame! Barricade Rohan!

Dedicated to winning my ass.