7 emails were awaiting me when I got home tonight asking for my take on Howie’s last blog. Here is my take and in return my response…. Whomever Thomas is, who replied on the fan site to the blog is my new hero:

No truer words could be said about the author….

For those who can’t see the image:

“For the longest time i couldnt understand whyeveryone i talk to thinks your an idiot now i know thanks”

With apologies to a certain grammar fanatic who reads this site, I think you get the gist.

Here is what i don’t get about Howie. What is the point in writing this article. What is he trying to accomplish. The first motive I guess is monetary. He writes dumb shit that infuriates people, the more they comment and or click on his stories the more money he makes. In that instance we are idiots and not sheep. Put me at the top of the idiot list. It is like the accident on the highway we all slow down to watch. I am not willing to think Berger is that smart though. Hence my confusion. I know Mike S disagrees, but I am telling you Howie grew up listening to foster Hewit call the blue and white. He is a leaf fan. It’s why he took the job. Despite his admission to not watching much of the game away from the rink, he is in essence a rink rat. He spends more time at rinks then zamboni drivers. He travels with the team, sits on planes, he is part of the entourage and has been for years. On deadline days and thinks like it he sits for hours and waits..doing nothing. He does it for a pay check for sure but also because he loves the leafs. He would find no greater joy then to be in the locker-room while champagne was being poured over his head from the cup interviewing a player.

What purpose does his attack on those who butter his bread serve? Suppose there were total apathy, and fans stopped caring about the leafs. Guess who would be out of a job? I am not suggesting this is going to happen, but why even go there. Leaf fan is in a now win situation here. If those at the game didn’t boo, well then we are a soft crowd. If we do boo, how dare we boo? If half the fans cheer when they show a video and another half boos when the featured player touches the puck we are schizo…How does it end?

I loved his clip the other day….” The Fan590 was waiting at the door to great Bryan McCabe when he entered the ACC for the first time as an opposition” Ooooooooooo, he got the first reaction…What a scoop. Did he sneak away from the pack? Did someone tip him off to where McCabe was coming in? Did he camp out there all night?? Gimme a break!

The realty is…who flippin cares. Berger should thank his luck stars his team is supported as well as it is. People care enough to listen, watch, live and breathe what goes on around this hockey team. That is a bad thing to a “journalist” covering the team how????? Go to Florida, or Tampa or Atlanta or any of the cities where newspapers aren’t covering the NHL then and see how much you wish you could write about fans who act as sheep… You got it good here Howie. Keeping bitch slapping those who feed your kids and the tide will turn. You are probably one more Avery incident from being Rob Parkered.

Man, I thought it was quiet over the holidays, there is nothing but crickets tonight. Everyone must be gassing up their snow-blowers (look out mr. Sakic). It is dead tonight. Not one interesting thing in one paper, in one media outlet anywhere(it is 12:20 am right now)

So here are some random thoughts:

Leafs were lousy last night vs. the Panthers. I have no problem with the losing. This is the first time in a long time where they didn’t even bother to show up. I sense another long skate in practice coming up.

To boo or not to boo. I am pretty tired of this argument. With very little exception every player who returns to their old team should expect to get razzed a little. Is it right? Who knows. It sports. As Seinfeld said, we don’t root for a player we root for a jersey. When the player changes teams he who we used to cheer for we now boo. McCabe made a lot of dough here, and really made his career here. Others have been treated way worse.

One of the reasons he was a thorn in the public’s side is that he just wasn’t that bright. He would have done much better with a no -comment, ummmm whenever he was asked a question. For him to call out Leaf Fans who may boo Sundin is just another example of the lack of brains in his melon. To say it’s ok to me just not Mats is just dumb. Who do you think you are? You don’t need to take one for him anymore. Fans are going to do what they want to do, so mind your own business. I give him credit for this, he said that he waived his NTC clause because he didn’t want to hijack the team. He is the only player who last year said, if there is a deal there to be made bring it to me. The reality is no one wanted him.

Is it just me, or is anyone else out there really hoping the Buds honor not only Team Canada but also Pat Quinn. I know there is no Saturday home game for a bit. I hope, the next chance they get they really whoop it up for old Pat.

I loved the Winter Classic. The all star games excites me about as much as going to the dentist. Really, if you are doing one, why the other? I know, it’s a big sponsor event for the league… The debate about who should be on the team or not is about as interesting as the never ending debate about fighting in hockey. Someone a hell of a lot smarter then me (and that is a BIG group) has to be able to come up with a better format then the current all star bore.

The fact that the NHL Poster boy isn’t Alexander Ovechkin is just a crock. There is no better player in the game right now then AO. The race isn’t close. As good as some of the other younger guys are, AO is the man. I find it hard to watch non-leaf games, but I do to try to keep an eye on the younger talent and other on-goings in the game (sorry Howie). I really try to watch as many Caps games as I can to catch a glimpse of AO on the ice.

Anyone else been listening to Roscoe Toth on the fan this week? He is miffed at all the attention the WJC’s get. He goes to a ton of junior games all season long (good for him) and feels that the folks who rave about junior hockey for these 2 weeks aren’t real junior hockey fans. Guess what? He is right. Compare if you will the NCAA basketball tournament. Those of you reading this from work, turn left, now turn right, how many people around you enter some sort of NCAA basketball tourney pool? Of those, how many are die hard fans all season long??? Fans get caught up in the hype, and we Canadians have such an inferiority complex that we will really pay attention in those areas where we may actually excel. I think it’s great Roscoe goes to a couple of junior games a week. If the local GTA area teams want to drum up support, look at this little gem. My son is in 3 different hockey programs right now. We get all kinds of stuff in the mail as a result. We have never, ever seen or heard a thing from any of the teams in our area. If those teams want to increase their fan base there is a huge hockey market they don’t tap into right in front of them.

Former Detroit Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli had his son in-law on his coaching staff for the past 0-16 campaign. After a loss on Dec 21, Rob Parker an eight year vet with the Detroit News, asked Marinelli in the post game press conference if Marinelli “wished his daughter had married a better defensive coordinator?” As a result of that question, Parker was demoted from from columnist to general assignment reporter. Parker, as a result of that demotion resigned. I, as you may recall lived in the burbs of Detroit for several years. Mrs. TSM was born and raised there and both little TSM’s were born there as well. I have never been a Parker fan (surprised? I love sooooo many columnists…)I will say this, Parker has written and said a hell of a lot worse things then this. To lose his job, in this economy, in that market for this comment is so thin skinned it is hard to believe. Parker has said that he will remain in Detroit. That whittles his writing options down to 1 (the Free Press is owned by the same company as the News), The Oakland Press at least as far as local papers go. He does do some work on ESPN. Here is hoping that he finds work really soon….

Since I started this blog I have had the good fortune to chat with some folks who cover the NHL. I asked one today to assess for those of us up here the seasons of Mr. Tucker and Mr. Raycroft in Colorado thus far. His response:

“Tucker has looked slow and taken lots of bad penalties. Raycroft is
6-1, maybe the most deceptive won-lost record of all time so far, but
wins are wins.”

Hope you all have an easy commute tomorrow. Sounds like the roads in the GTA are going to be hell