Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Mar 26

It must be the silly season already. There can be no other explanation for what I'm seeing out there. I mean, I have so many examples that I don't even know where to begin! So in no particular order here are some individuals who have earned my ridicule and contempt:

This may be slightly off topic but I'm going to go ahead with it anyways. What the hell, it's my blog, right? Y'know, there are a few people out there who really grate on my nerves. Not just merely annoying or a nuisance, the mere sight of them makes you want to put a fist right through your TV. NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman is one of those people. So smug and smarmy, so slick and insincere that you want to rip your own arm off just so you can hit him over the head with it. In other words, it's a special kind of hatred reserved for a select few. So what's gotten a burr under my saddle you ask? In a word, it's fighting in the NHL. Here's my take on this: I love hockey. I love its toughness, its scrappiness and the emotions it brings out in its fans. What I fail to understand is why do guys like Wade Belak (Toronto Maple Leafs), Cam Janssen (New Jersey Devils), the recently suspended Chris Simon (New York Islanders) and Donald Brashear (Washington Capitals) still have a job in the NHL? I'm sorry, but I think the NHL has dropped the ball on this. My main point (and I do have one) is that there should be no place on any NHL team for a guy that plays only two or three shifts a game, has more penalty minutes than ice time and contributes nothing offensively to his team. If you can't skate, pass, shoot or score an occasional goal in today's NHL you have no business being out on the ice. Period. Look, if a guy wants to drop the gloves on occasion then so be it. However, if he can't play sound defensive hockey and maybe score 10-15 goals a season (or 25 points or higher), then fuhgeddaboutit. This to me sounds eminently reasonable. Do the knuckle-dragging Neanderthals at the NHL understand this? Noooo, of course not. Actually, I think Neanderthals were probably kinder and better looking than Donald Brashear but that is beside the point. Guys like Colin Campbell and Ron MacLean understand what's at stake here. But not Gary. No sir, because he is just so much smarter than you and I. Nothing but contempt for the fans collective intelligience he has. After all, he is a lawyer. Oooooh! What tripe. What nonsense.

Another loser that's gotten my attention is Aussie turncoat David Hicks who was seen openly and freely fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan. I wonder if David can play hockey for Gary? Ah, maybe not. Sorry, no sympathy for this one. You make your bed, you lie in it.

OK, so here's another one that shares the same spotlight as Mr. Bettman and that's 'America's Sweetheart', Katie Couric. She's another one that's also superficial and mean-spirited. You know Katie wouldn't even hesitate to stab you in the back if it meant a career advancement. Here's an excerpt from this article on her mindless fawning over Al Gore to show you what I mean:

For her part, Dr. Couric sort of showed her lack of objectivity when she opined that a special session of congress should be convened to evict George W. Bush and install Al Gore as president.
Calling for Al Gore to be sworn in by April 22, 2007, which is also Earth Day, placed an additional strain on Couric's vanishing credibility.

Please note that Katie Couric is not an accredited doctor. That's just part of the satirical nature of the article.

Here's another group that would fit right in with Gary and Katie and that's the Liberal Party of Canada. Positively reeking of insincerity over their superfluous support of our troops, they play mind games as Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor makes a legitimate gaffe in the House of Commons. Fortunately, Stephen Harper is not a man that rattles easily. Actually, he sees right through them and isn't afraid to call their bluff. To give you an example, in the recent federal budget both the Grits and the NDP knew that the budget had enough votes to pass because of the Bloc's support of the gov't. So they play this ridiculous game of saying, "Well we can't endorse this budget because it doesn't give enough to blah, blah, blah ....." knowing full well the budget was a done deal. Listen, only a moron takes seriously the claims these guys make. Another full-out assault on Canadian's intelligience in other words.

What is going on with the Holy Land nowadays? The madness is spreading I tell you. Why else would a woman strap on live crocodiles while trying to cross from the Gaza Strip to Egypt? When I think of stupidity in Israel is usually think of Ehud Olmert or one of Condi's breathless announcements of some meaningless 'peace' proposal but this one takes the cake.

Speaking of Israel, did you know that Hooters is opening a restaurant in Tel Aviv? Gosh, what could go wrong with that? I mean doesn't Hamas and its murderous militias have enough reason to kill Jews and other assorted fat and bloated tourists? Pure nuttiness.

Lastly, here's an article on why it's good to believe in a God who cares for us. Man, I just couldn't be an atheist. Looks too much like hard work to me.

Johnny Cash