Many of you have emailed me about a twitter dialogue I had with Greg Brady a couple of days ago. As you know, I have been riding the local print media to shine the light a little brighter on the Toronto Raptors. Last Monday, after their big home win vs. the LA Lakers the Toronto Sun buried the Raptors on page 6. Mr. Brady’s point was, to summarize, that this is a Leafs town first, it’s suicide to cover the Raptors ahead of the Leafs until the Raptors win a playoff round and that regular season NBA game of a mediocre team didn’t demand more attention than the AFC/NFC title games.

All that Brady has said is in fact true. When he says that the Raptors haven’t won a playoff round in 15 years, he’s right. Their road record sucks, as he says it does. This was just one game in January. All true, and he is in fact entitled to his opinion.

Personally, I like Michael Grange’s take this morning:

“Regardless of what happens the rest of season, the Toronto Raptors have accomplished something vital by pulling themselves off the NBA scrap heap in the space of six crisp weeks.

They’ve made themselves relevant.”

Well, if the Raptors totally crumble and return to their earlier ways then it’s all for not. Having said that, in a town where our hockey team is so bad that Brady and Watters debated why people would even go to a home game, at the very least the Raptors are still playing meaningful games. Does that mean a whole lot? NO. Does it mean that I may actually follow their games- YES. We citizens of Loserville only want a team that we can actually watch around the midpoint of the season. Our iced prodcut hasn’t really been to that level in years. Their hardwood brothers are there right now.

“Last night, the Air Canada Centre was rocking again as an energized crowd of 18,265 came out to see the Raptors duel Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, three days after the home team defeated Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in front of one of the biggest crowds in franchise history. ”

Look, their is a buzz starting to be generated about this team. If this were, I don’t know a lesser team, would the ACC have been filled tonight????? Good question. Let’s see what happens over the next little while. It is a nice change to see a team in this town put together a string of wins though.

“And while any basketball fan would be entertained watching Wade weave, slither and explode for 35 points and 10 assists, a Raptors fan could take heart that – as they have almost every night since early December – their club competed and for the most part had answers.

The result was a 111-103 win that improved Toronto to 17-9 since their season-low point last Dec. 4. ”

Ya see, people say Leafs fans are pulling their hair out over the teams performance therefore a real rebuild wouldn’t be tolerated. That’s utter nonsense. It’s not the losing that bothers me. It’s the way in which the team is losing. The Leafs haven’t for the most part competed. If the Leafs were comprised of younger players who busted their butts night in and out and lost, that would at least be hope. We get none of the that right now.

“You want to become part of the conversation in your local sports market? How about winning 11 of your last 12 games on home court?

Last night, Toronto (24-22) did it in pleasing fashion. ”

I agree, it is something to take note of. In Brady’s defence, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and pat ourselves on the back yet. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it lasts. It’s a hell of a lot more interesting to watch and talk about than which Leaf player floated the night before isn’t it. The Leafs these days are like a part of the Festivus ritual, the one where we tell someone all the ways they have disappointed us in the past year. Except with the Leafs we can do it about the previous night’s game.

By the way, most of the Toronto Sports Media personalities who are on twitter have really embraced it. They are not only commentating on twitter, they are part of the conversation. As a fan, I think that’s awesome. Guys like Brady do a phenomenal job on twitter.

So we here at TSM had a chance to speak with a very deep pocketed individual who happens to own a part of a professional sports team in one of the professional leagues (not NHL). We suggested to this person that they look hard at the Tampa Bay Lightning as it could be a good acquisition for this person, who has the wherewithal to pay cash for the team if it were for sale. The response was very telling. Basically, we were told that this person loves hockey, one of their favorite sports and at one time they considered buying a team. However, it won’t happen. The NHL, according to this person has “the worst TV deal and leadership (commissioners) in professional sports. Until both of those things change, “I have no interest”.

So, the Argos owners are looking to David Braley to buy them out, or so says the Globe and Mail’s David Naylor. I remember when I was younger having to explain to my American friend that there were other teams in the CFL than those named Roughriders. How the hell do you explain that own guy can own 2 teams in the same league when there are only 8 teams? Say this for Braley, 1/4 are great odds when it comes to winning isn’t it.

I love that Jamal Mayers and Exelby have asked to be traded. Don’t ya think that if Brian Burke could have he would have already?????

From Montreal

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Grange is here

Greetings from Seattle. Mike Zeisberger kept up the blasting of the Maple Leafs in the Toronto Sun Sunday. A few interesting takes, including his assessment of who is going to be gone when this campaign ends..

” Then Saint Toskala came to the rescue and made it four.

The same Vesa Toskala who had not won since Feb. 26, beating the Islanders on Long Island.

The same Vesa Toskala who had not posted a home ice victory since Feb. 25, turning aside the New York Rangers.

The same Vesa Toskala, the No. 1 target of Air Canada Centre boo birds, who last night was cheered when he blanked the Caps in the shootout, leading the Leafs to a 2-1 triumph. ”

Not sure why, but the whole begging part of his article is all Vessa. Is the point that we now love Toskala after last nights game? If so, I am missing the love in part. While last night’s game is nice- in the grand scheme of thigns right now it doesn’t mean ANYHTING. They beat a very good hockey team in the Capitals. They still are the same team who has only won 4 times this year. Again, I don’t get why “Maple Leaf Nation” is lumped into this BS full of crap catch all by guys like MZ.

” But in the long run, it does not change much.

With Toskala among 11 pending unrestricted free agents on the roster, a housecleaning by Burke is inevitable. In fact, by the time Burke, named team prez on Nov. 29, 2008, reaches his second anniversary at the post one year from now, the lineup will hardly resemble the one last night.

The writing is on the wall for Toskala, who earns $4 million this season. Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson, a pending restricted free agent, was brought in to be groomed as the starter, and likely will be re-signed early in the new year. ”

What? if it doesn’t mean much then why the hell all the focus on it? What a strange bit. Toskala is going to have to stand on his proverbial head to get renewed by the Maple Leafs. Burke has to be able to find better given what he and his coach have seen so far since they both got here. If Toskala improves enough that they want him, he will win goalie of the year this year!

” Of the forwards who dressed against the Caps, only five — Jason Blake, Phil Kessel, Niklas Hagman, Mikhail Grabovski and Colton Orr — are under contract for next season. Two others — John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin — will be RFA and likely will receive offers from Toronto before the summer, as will defenceman Ian White.

After that, all bets are off. ”

Isn’t this the type of stuff that was written on Saturday. I am not sure what is more confusing, why this is being written again or the fact that Colton Orr does have a contract that extends beyond this season.

” With the screws tightening for Burke to make a move, trade discussions have already been held, with Matt Stajan reportedly a target.

Stajan’s a stand-up guy who has shown modest chemistry with Kessel. Having said that, he never has consistently proved to management that he can be a full-time first or second-liner.

A rare survivor of the John Ferguson era, Stajan, a Mississauga native, might be better served with a change of scenery. That was the same logic used when two of his buddies, Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Steen, were traded to the St. Louis Blues for Lee Stempniak a year ago. ”

Who in their right mind is going to give up anything of value for this guy right now? How much would you give up for Matt Stajan? I am all for getting something back for unwanted assets, but you have to get something back. What round draft pick would we get at this point?

” The Stempniak experiment has not worked out. With just 16 goals in 82 games as a Leaf, Stempniak, a pending UFA, would seem as good as gone, just like Toskala, defenceman Garnet Exelby and blue liner Mike Van Ryn. The status of role players Wayne Primeau and Jamal Mayers would seem to be in doubt too.

On the other hand, the Leafs would like to retain Alex Ponikarovsky, one of the pending UFAs.

As for Blake, locked in for a cap hit of $4.5 million US for each of the next two seasons, his two goals in 21 game performance certainly is grounds for a buyout, although that could be very pricey. ”

Not much opinion or analysis there…I for one have more time for Stempniak then some of the other guys. I suspect he would get more on the open market than Stajan, but what the hell do I know. I know this, this is a lame article that shouldn’t have been written- nothing hear of value hasn’t been said the day before in another paper.

At the same time you have Stay At Home Berger with usual silly rants:

“Though it’s understandable why followers of the Maple Leafs are angry and disheartened by the club’s dreadful showing in the first quarter of the season, I’m astonished with the number of people that are essentially writing off the Brian Burke-Ron Wilson tandem. These are many of the same fans that celebrated Burke’s much-anticipated arrival almost one year ago; fervently endorsed his defensive make-over in the off-season, and sanctioned the hiring of Wilson the previous summer because of his long-time association and friendship with Burke. Now, after a tough stretch in their first full season together, folks are clamouring for heads to roll in the Leafs’ hockey department.

Give it a rest. ”

Take your own advice Stay At Home, give it a rest. The ‘number’ of people who want to take WIlson out back right now are on the majority from the MSM who are trying to sell either papers or ads. The fans who have been clamoring for that change are callers to your radio station. The sensible fan has made no such argument yet.

“And, while the first quarter of their initial campaign together has been an unmitigated disaster, it would hardly make sense for the Leafs to start over yet again; to resume their decades-long hunt for the perfect hockey amalgam. There’s still every chance it could be right beneath the tall foreheads that comprise Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Burke and Wilson enjoyed the proverbial honeymoon period last season, as they were directing what was primarily Fletcher’s team. Modest expectations were followed by predictable results. And though Burke did some restructuring with second and third-tier free agents, only the foolishly optimistic expected monumental advancement in 2009-10. ”

Now Howie, is that any way to talk about Sir Damien and others who predicted that the Leafs would make the playoffs? Remind me again by the way why they are tall foreheads at MLSE….

“But, double-B will truly begin to earn his keep next summer, when so many burdensome contracts are no longer on the Leafs’ ledger. With enormous cap space, he’ll be able to go after the biggest fish in the free agent pond, and a Toronto team built around Jonas Gustavsson, Phil Kessel, Luke Schenn and perhaps Tyler Bozak, Victor Stalberg, Christian Hanson and Nazem Kadri will begin to emerge. At that point, it will be fairer to judge Burke, and to gauge how Wilson is able to guide a representative team. ”

Write that in blood and let’s all remember this the next time he slams Burke or the Leafs. Stay At Homer Berger is more like Short Term Memory loss berger… Remember the words, folks- he won’t I gurantee you….

“This season is a complete write-off, which is extremely and legitimately disappointing for Leafs’ fans after the manner in which it was pre-positioned. Burke and Wilson either got caught up in their own excitement, or they tried to sell the city a bill of goods. In my view, it was the former. Burke accurately determined last year’s club to be devoid of valor and he sought to remedy the problem in free agency. But, he may have overestimated the caliber of his acquisitions and their ability to withstand the Toronto hockey spotlight. ”

Why is it so hard for people to understand what Burke said at the start of the season? He said, that the goal is to make the playoffs. That is not to say that he thought they would make the playoffs, rather that it is the goal. It’s no different than a start-up business esteeming to be profitable in year one. Doesn’t mean they are going to be, rather, it is a goal. Burke has said repeatedly, that if that isn’t your stated goal at the beginning of the year then why be in the game. He is right, he had to state that the goal was playoffs, the alternative is pretty lame, and how do you motivate your players when the goal isn’t even to make the playoffs.

“But, the feeling of dread among Leaf supporters has to stop for no other reason than its utter futility. If you choose to bang your head against the wall for 15 minutes at the notion of Peter Chiarelli selecting Taylor Hall with the No. 1 pick next June, you’ll simply wind up with a sore noggin. And, when you’re done, you’ll be no further ahead than when the conniption started. The deal has been made and nothing is going to reverse it. Instead, Burke, and fans of the hockey club, must turn their focus to building a team around Kessel and hoping for the best. ”

Remember that one too should the Bruins select number one or 2 next spring!

Shoalts comes back with another stellar piece of work in tomorrow’s globe:

“For example, Burke is talking to the Chicago Blackhawks about defenceman Brent Sopel, who is earning $2.5-million this season and will get $2-million next season. The Blackhawks have agreed to long-term contracts with star players Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith but cannot make it official because they do not have the cap space now nor next season to accommodate all three. So they have to move someone now to create some room.

Burke is offering to take Sopel, who played for him when he ran the Vancouver Canucks, plus, say, a second-round draft pick to solve the Blackhawks’ problem. But Sopel is a decent player, so Hawks GM Stan Bowman is getting a lot of calls and may get a better offer.”

A better offer than what? There is nothing mentioned here. This isn’t even a proper rumour, Leafs get a 2nd rounder and Sopel for what????

“Either way, look for Burke to make a move of this nature between now and the trade deadline on March 3″

That’s not exactly rocket science David. The only thing that Burke has to trade these days is cap space. To say that between now and the deadline he will try to use that leverage isn’t exactly news.

“The most encouraging signs came from goaltender Vesa Toskala and defenceman Luke Schenn.

Toskala played his best game since 2007-08, his first season with the Leafs, although hope has to be tempered with reason since his play has waxed and waned for the last two seasons. But some long-awaited consistency from him would go a long way to easing the Leafs’ terminal goal-scoring pains.

Schenn finally looked more like the 18-year-old rookie who took the team by storm last season instead of the uncertain sophomore he’s been this season.”

I’m sorry, but one game does not a trend make. A player can look as good or as bad in one game to not mean anything. Wake me when they actually do something consistently say over 5-10 games minimum.

All that said, I get more value by reading an article like this one, don’t you?

Sun article is here

Stay at Home is here

Shoalts is here

Our pals in all the major dailies took the swords out to the Maple Leafs today in collective force. Here’s a recap of the day that was in the papers:

That was the cover story of the Toronto Sun today. The accompanying story by Gary Loewen, actually the best story he has ever written, basically compared the current Maple Leafs to that of the Ballard era.

” During Ballard’s 19-year term as principal owner, the Leafs never won fewer than 20 games and missed the playoffs only five times from 1972 to 1990. The current Leafs, under the condo-flogging, basketball-dribbling, soccer-scuffling Maple Leaf Short of Entertainment Ltd., are on target to miss the playoffs for the fifth year in a row! ”

Hard to argue with the facts as Loewen lays them out.

” As the owner, Pal Hal was visible — he attended practices and watched games from his end-zone bunker at Maple Leaf Gardens. He was an easy target for vilification by fans. Nowadays, could anyone actually pick out an MLSEL governor from a line up of chablis-swilling navy suits in the platinum club at the Air Canada Centre? Club president Richard Peddie might be recognizable, but even he has disappeared into condo limbo since GM Brian Burke become the face of the Leafs on Nov. 29, 2008. ”

Well, I am not sure how valid that point is. A certain former assistant GM who’s fingers used to have problems with fax machines is pretty blunt in his opinion of the current group. Not only that all the media outlets have no problem identifying the figure heads either. As for the Peddie part, he isn’t an owner and the fact that we don’t hear from is a good thing…

” When Steve Stavro was bought out in February 2003, it laid the groundwork for the current board. Mistakes were made: Board members and players formed relationships; certain players got contracts they didn’t deserve; and the inexperienced John Ferguson Jr. was hired as GM.

The Leafs are still trying to dig their way out of the JFJ mess, which left some lingering, malodorous contracts.

The Leafs have the fourth least salary-cap space (about $600,000) in the NHL, so trying to pull off a trade can be a financial nightmare.

However, Burke’s arrival has accomplished two things: It has cut off interference from the board, and his personality has brought passion to the organization. ”

I think that’s a very fair assessment. The truth of the matter is, until this current group wins a cup- they can’t claim much more than Ballard did.

Still with the Sun, Joe Warmington had a very good article entitled ‘It’s time we held Wilson and Burke accountable’. A good story in that I think it fairly reflects the current state of the team and where the blame, if any, should lay:

” Since the Toronto Maple Leafs are the worst team in the National Hockey League, in a year when you gave up a potential first-round lottery pick and could miss out on a franchise player, it’s your turn to be called out for a change.

We are No. 30, after all.

We saw fans with bags over their heads in the more successful eras.

How long before it happens again? Anybody can coach or manage this team to last place — and for a lot less salary.

Despite all of the bombastic banter, and off-season acquisitions, the Leafs at the 20-game mark have won just three and lost 17. Spare us the argument that overtime or shootout losses are ties!

The “pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence” Burke promised seems to have instead become poor, pathetic, pitiful and pomposity.

Still Burke woos always wishful Leafs Nation with sweet-talking BS about “like a movie” one day the Leafs will “ride off with the girl on the horse followed by a parade.”

That seems to sum up the sentiments of every email I have received from similarly depressed Toronto Maple Leaf fans. It’s not about being impatient with the results per se, rather the pathetic display of hockey this team has played this year. The team appears to have gone backwards and forwards from the team we saw last year.

” After the last-second blowing of the Carolina Hurricanes game, Wilson said, in his usual caustic way: “We need more commitment from some people who are feeling sorry for themselves.”

Yet it was him who had a minus-five Nikolai Kulemin on the ice to help blow it.

Perhaps Wilson should be sent to the minors.

As for the reporters he seems to loathe, they are having a better season. Everytime he says something like “I am sure you guys would petition City Hall to have a street named after” a player who did “well,” I wonder if he would prefer to have the kind of interest they have in Phoenix? ”

I totally agree with the last part. These guys are working in the hockey mecca of the world. As much as they may loathe the MSM- at least they get coverage. At least people care.

” As Hans Christian Andersen wrote in 1837, perhaps the emperor has no clothes. People are starting to notice the clothes are not new — as illustrated by former Leaf Gary Roberts raising questions about the team’s potentially “ludicrous” training regimen and former NHL tough guy Jim Thomson telling TSN’s Michael Landsberg that “Ron Wilson is not a good coach” and “can’t motivate players.”

Time will tell on both because there are many years and millions of dollars owed to these “geniuses.”

I don’t have much faith in guys yapping from the sidelines. Everyone has an opinion and as long as you are on the sidelines you have an agenda. Is Wilson the next coming of Toe Blake? I have no clue, but the guy has won more than his fair share of games as a head coach. As the adage goes, he didn’t forget how to coach over night.

Over at the Toronto Star, Damien Cox chimed in on Wilson as well.

“Perception is everything in politics and sports, and in this case, there is a growing perception that Wilson would be safe even if the Leafs had zero victories because he has already by tabbed by Burke to coach the American Olympic team in February.

Leaf fans will take a lot. They’ve proven that over four decades. But keeping a coach in place so he can coach a U.S. team in the Olympics? That won’t fly, even if it’s not the reason Burke has indicated Wilson is safe.

So if the water keeps rising, and it’s rising very quickly around the Leaf enterprise right now, Burke may ultimately get pushed into doing something he is dead set against.”

I don’t believe Burke will get ‘pushed’ to do anything by anyone but the facts themselves. He doesn’t appear to be in the position to fire Wilson simply because ownership is unhappy. This is his bus and it’s way too early for him to do that. If Wilson’s team stays on this course 4 wins in 21 attempts, to 8 in 42, then Burke may be pushed to fire Wilson.

“The guess here is that Wilson has 10 more games to show some noticeably positive results.

The team is healthy, particularly the key players, Wilson was lucky enough to have a pure scorer in Phil Kessel added in early November and he’s working with a team that isn’t overly inexperienced.

The club, however, was dead last in defence and penalty killing last year. It still is. Youngsters like Luke Schenn, Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell are going backwards or sideways.

Whatever Wilson and his assistants are preaching either isn’t getting across to the players, or it’s a game plan they can’t execute”

I agree with that notion. To hear Burke suggest otherwise was laughable the other day. If this continues it just can’t be ALL the players, you have to look at the common denominator.

“Three wins in 20 games is pathetic. If, after 30 games, we’re still looking at six wins or less, the pressure on Burke to make a coaching change will be excruciating.

Maybe that won’t affect him. People should remember that his first two years in Vancouver were just as ugly as they have been so far in Toronto, maybe uglier.

But Burke wants to win, and so far, there is little or no evidence that Wilson is going to be able to fashion even a .500 club out of the current lineup, which may simply mean he’s no Criss Angel.”

I don’t disagree with any of that. Things just can’t keep on like this much longer. Tonight’s shootout win is a start. Let’s see it again and again and again…

“Burke, in London, Ont., watching top draft pick Nazem Kadri on Friday night, is working on at least two trades. He will undoubtedly attempt to make roster moves first, preferring to make a coaching change the last resort.”

Burke has to do something to get this team going. It doesn’t take rocket science to arrive at the conclusion that this squad doesn’t have the horses…

“Interestingly, Randy Carlyle has the Anaheim Ducks in last place in the West, and if he were to get canned there, Burke would have a bona fide option. Carlyle has worked for Burke with the Canucks and Ducks.

At the moment, there’s Wayne Gretzky, who was severely disappointing after failing to strike a free agent deal as a player with the Leafs in 1996 and probably isn’t done with coaching yet. It’s suggested Gretzky has lost 20 pounds and is feeling great these days, but also noted that a job that takes him far away from his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., might not be at the top of his wish list.

Interestingly, Gretzky shares Burke’s philosophy on the need for toughness in the sport and enforcers on the ice. He learned a great deal from his experiences in Phoenix and, like the late Ron Lancaster of football fame, could be that rare superstar who struggles in his first coaching assignment then excels in his second attempt.

Certainly, you couldn’t get a bigger name.

Craig MacTavish, Peter Laviolette and Mike Keenan are also out there, and Ted Nolan’s name always comes up.

Burke won’t like it that candidates are even being discussed. But that’s the dark cloud that three wins in 20 games brings.”

I don’t think anyone likes that the team is as shitty as they’ve been. At least not anyone with any love of the Leafs anyways. The fact that the papers are circling before December 1 is astounding.

Over at the Globe, David Shoalts checks in and to be honest, I think his latest work is mostly out to lunch.

“If most fans had their way, Brian Burke would be busy this weekend firing Ron Wilson, trading Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Luke Schenn and just about any other prospect the Toronto Maple Leafs have, and presto, they would no longer be the worst team in the NHL.:

While I have heard people suggest Wilson’s firing, no one that I know has suggested trading ANY of the names Shoalts listed. At least no fans with brains.

“The populace that bragged during the summer of 2008 that it was willing to wait while the Leafs underwent a massive rebuilding operation that promised to be a minimum of two years is, 14 months later, somehow under the impression that today’s 3-11-6 team is the equivalent of seeing the 1977 Montreal Canadiens going off the rails.”

That’s just utter bullshit. The fan base has the stomach to go the right route. Burke elected not to go that way. He didn’t break the whole thing down and go with kids, he went a non -traditional route of being half pregnant. By signing the guys he signed and saying the things he said, he send a message that things weren’t going to be as bad as they are. That people are pissed isn’t a sign of impatience. It’s one of disbelief and reality of having seen this before.

“In the meantime, fans should remember this is a rebuilding team. Unlike previous years, there are some prospects on the farm, though. Consider that the best centres in the organization (Bozak and Kadri) are not even with the Leafs and practise some patience.

As for the current edition of the team, there is not much hope for dramatic improvement. In the wake of Thursday’s ghastly blown lead and loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, Stempniak admitted the Leafs are a little short on fortitude.

“We don’t respond to adversity very well, I guess,” he said. “We play really well and then let one little mistake get to us and compound it.

“We need to do a better a job of being mentally tough and being a team that knows it takes 60 minutes to win a game.”

Stempniak and a few others may have to learn this with the marlies”

Um David, your MSM brothers and sisters should remember that too, don’t ya think???????

So, one win versus Washington and now we see what happens. Burke can’t be swayed that things have turned by this one win…

Loewen is here
Warmington is here
Cox is here
Shoalts is here

“Maple Leaf fans – and the media, and the city, it seems – aren’t even patient for a retooling, or at least a retooling that some believe is doomed to failure.”
Damien Cox

“The point is, most hockey commentators in Toronto have rolled over for Burke. They blame goaltending, the defense, the coach and the forwards for the team’s awful start, but give Burke a pass.”
William Houston

” Hey Leaf zealots, why overreact this early in a season in which your team can still finish 78-3-1? Get off the high bridges and shut those upstairs windows. Better days – as always – are just around the corner, right? In the interim, here are some observations after a 5-2 trampling of the Blue & White by the defending Stanley Cup champions at the Air Canada Centre”
Howard Berger

“Even more ominous would be the aftermath of a seventh consecutive defeat – Saturday night at home to the New York Rangers. An anomaly in the schedule has the Leafs idle for an entire week, which means that Burke, Wilson and the players would have to munch on an 0-6-1 record for a full seven days.”
Howard Berger

6899

12,179

13,103

13,280

5,000

So once again we are suckers, we are idiots and yes we are losers. Right, I mean, we still seem to love our hockey teams. The nerve. I mean, our team loses every game it has played so far and we are “panicked”. Oh the horror. Oh those idiot fans. Oh those losers. I know, let’s shit over the same people who indirectly put food on our plates. The more I piss them off the more they will read what I have to say the more money I will make. That’s the logic right? We all are sure that Stay At Home Berger is the world’s biggest closet Maple Leaf fan. He is negative, not because he believes it, but rather because the competition is and he thinks that he has to be in order to compete. He no longer is an insider. He hasn’t broken a story since I don’t know when. To be honest, I am no longer quite sure what the hell he’s an authority on at all. But I digress. Stay at Home Berger is doing what he thinks he has to do.

The question is, or perhaps the answer, I guess, is… What would these brains prefer? would they be happier if we stopped listening, reading, watching and going? No seriously. Would these guys prefer an apathetic fanbase? Look at the Jays. Do these think that their bosses would employ 1/4 of them if the ACC was as empty as the TED on a nightly basis? If the Leafs were 0-6 and the fans weren’t calling the talk shows, commenting on stories like the sky was falling what would these guys we talking about? If no one was reading, listening or watching would they really be happier? So the media would be happy if the love fell off the maple leafs, unemployed but happy…I don’t buy it. These guys are sellouts. They write what they believe will sell. No more and no more less.

The proof is in the Burke furor. Houston, the NY TImes and others are getting on the Toronto Sports Media for going soft on Burke. The problem these same guys have is they have sung the Burke song for so long they no longer have a choice. Seriously, go back in time as many years as you want, but I can’t remember the last time they had a GM that the press actually endorsed. They liked Cliff when he made the Gilmour deal. However the rose fell off pretty quickly as he dealt the picks away- TRADE SCHMAFT- remember that. Following Cliff in no specific order, Mike Smith, Ken Dryden, Pat Quinn, JFJ and Cliff part deux. The “experts” had issues with credentials of all of the above for a wide range of reasons. Each GM or acting manager had their own flaws according to those who are considered the brightest and best of our sports media team.

The battle cry from EVERYONE was to bring in a REAL hockey man. Someone like a Ken Hollan. Someone who had won. Someone who could build the modern day Maple Leafs. Go back over the last 10 years and read the comments on how the Leafs need a GM who can build a hockey department. One who will have total control and build the organization properly. As Burke became a possibility these experts zeroed in on him. In essence they wanted him here. Yes, he’s great for the media. He’s a great quote. There will always be a good story. Life won’t be dull under Brian Burke. The problem for each and every one of these guys is, they begged for and fully endorsed the hiring of Burke. When the team was struggling over the years they said that is what the team needed. Now that he is here they can’t start saying Ooops less than a year in. To do so would be to admit the unthinkable, that they don’t know shit. I mean if the guy they wrote about this team needing for years isn’t, what does that make them????

So, Cox’s article today isn’t all that surprising. Neither is the perceived hysteria over the current losing streak. The problem in his town is that neither the song nor the singers have changed despite lots of other things changing. GM’s, presidents, players and more have been run out of town. The commentators haven’t. The wise read, watch and listen to be entertained. The fools take it as anything more than that.

The numbers above, by the way, represent attendance at various NHL buildings over the last 2 weeks:

6899- announced in Phoenix

12,179 – Nashville announced attendance

13,103- Nashville announced attendance

13,280- Columbus announced attendance

5,000- number of unsold tickets in Tampa

So I ask the media, if the Leafs had numbers like that, do you think you would have a job???? Do you prefer the empty seats or the ship of fools?????

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

“”It’s not so much what the young guys are doing,” Wilson said before Tuesday night’s 3-2 pre-season shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Centre. “It’s that the veteran people have responded. They’re the ones who have played really well. I couldn’t say that last year, and we ended up with young people getting elevated roles in our lineup.” National Post

So, the question is….Should he stay or should he go?

What’s the answer Leaf fans?

This just hit my inbox:

Maple Leafs President and General Manager Brian Burke will introduce a new member of the team’s front office team on Thursday, July 23 at 10 a.m. at Air Canada Centre in the Rogers Media Room on the Event Level. Media are asked to enter the arena at Gate 2 on Bay Street.

Trying to see whom he is hiring…

TSM