Ponderables
Considering all the controversy these days surrounding the Chinese tech company Huawei, I wonder how Ron MacLean and his colleagues on Hockey Night In Canada feel about being surrounded by its logos every Saturday?
Given Prime Minister Trudeau’s dismal policy record and opposition leader Andrew Scheer’s lack of policy details, will the 2019 federal election come down to a choice between dimples and hair?
Things I Firmly Believe
When a hockey player breaks his stick, it’s far more productive for him to immediately hustle to the bench for a replacement and quickly get back into the play than to waste his time uselessly floundering around like a one-legged flamingo until the next whistle, and quite often taking an otherwise needless penalty.
Elvis Presley was the most impactful entertainer ever. Doubters might want to consider that, even over four decades after his death, there are still thousands of entertainers all around the world making a living impersonating him.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s Ill-fated India Visit
All the 2018 year-end reviews that I read contained scathing criticisms of Prime Minister Trudeau’s impersonation of Mr. Dressup during his disastrous trip to India. Even the Toronto Star, which is basically a Liberal house organ, took him to task for his absurd behaviour and suggested that he needs to work on reducing his “public preening.”
Trudeau’s supporters try to play down his Indian fiasco as a minor blip; but it wasn’t. It was a major example of his lack of judgement and yet another indication that he lives in some fanciful world of his own and largely out of touch with reality.
Setting The Record Straight
This is probably a good time to set the record straight. I’m often asked why I dislike Justin Trudeau so much. It’ll likely come a a surprise to many of you that I actually don’t dislike him. I simply believe that he’s a hopelessly incompetent prime minister who has no grasp whatsoever of what the job really entails. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was clearly correct when he insisted that Justin “wasn’t ready.”
Maple Leaf Goaltenders
Before the current NHL season began, anyone asked who the Leafs’ goalies would be at this point in the season would likely have answered “Frederik Andersen and Curtis McElhinney,” with the possibility that either Calvin Pickard or Garret Sparks would be dressed if there was an injury. But Thursday’s rare afternoon home game against the Minnesota Wild saw Michael Hutchinson playing the game for the Leafs and Kasimir Kaskisuo being the backup. Before the season started neither of them would have been on any Leaf fan’s radar; Hutchison was with the Florida Panthers and Kaskisuo, having never played an NHL game, was buried deep in the minors
What no one foresaw was that Leaf GM Kyle Dubas would inexplicably let both McElhinney and Pickard be lost on waivers. McWlhinney, who last season was arguably the best back-up goalie in the league, is sharing duties with Petr Mrazek in Carolina, and Pickaard was picked up by Philadelphia.
Tulo’s Revenge
Even though he will receive thirty-eight million dollars from them over the next three years, injury-prone Troy Tulowitzki was clearly upset when the Toronto Blue Jays released him during baseball’s recent winter meetings in Las Vegas. But thanks to the New York Yankees, he’s set to get his revenge. Here’s the rub as far as the Jays are concerned.
Tulo immediately let it be known that he would sign a contract for the major league minimum salary, which is $555,000; and the New York Yankees have taken him up on it. If he plays for the Yankees this season he will receive $20,000,000, of which the Jays will be paying $19,445,000. This is bound to add more more interest in the nineteen games the two teams will play against each other this year.
An Amazing Canadian Sports Story
Even though the year is only a week old, the top Canadian sports story of 2019 may already have been written. Mississauga’s teenage tennis sensation Bianca Andreescu’s back-to-back wins in the ATP Auckland Open over the world’s number-3-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and former three-time number-1-ranked Venus Williams is going to be hard to beat.