Collusion is alive and well in ................ Basketball?

With all the hype surrounding bosh and james (names in lower case for a reason) I have spent some time thinking about their collective behaviour. I really don't care much for the Raptors or basketball for that matter, but I wonder why it's illegal for teams to work together for the betterment of the league and legal for players to work together for their own pocketbooks. I do realize that the collusion in baseball was not necessarily for the betterment of the league, but for the owners, but I digress.

Now I am all for free markets, free agents and choice in most matters. However, this attempt to create a "dream team" has me questioning much about these players. Player is an apt definition for these guys. Their abject selfishness explains a lot about many of today's athletes and does little to define them as positive examples for any of today's youth. The message, clearly, is that by ganging up they can accomplish what they want, without regard for the rest of the players and teams. After all it is a team sport, isn't it? Can you imagine being one of the other two players on the court with these jokers?

Sports are clearly a business proposition to the management and players. The fans though, see it differently. The fans are the ones whose loyalty has been demolished by these "championship" seeking players. The fans buy the tickets and merchandise to support "their" team and develop a sense of hero worship with these players, only to see that these players are not worthy of any worship at all, because they worship at the altar of mammon. Nothing and no one comes before that.

Sad really when you think about the myopic selfishness displayed by these players. This is one sports fan who will cheer for anyone except these players, even Kobe, yikes!

Leafs beat Sens, does life get better?

OK, so life does get better, but you have to agree that the Leafs beating the hated Sens on a Saturday night is pretty awesome. Not only did they beat them with newer, younger and much less experienced team, they beat them with speed and, as always, with class.

The Sens, with the likes of Chris Neil(and the other unnamed neanderthals) swarming around trying to kneecap anyone in blue, has to be an embarrassment to not only the Sens, but also to the league. In my humble opinion, this man is offensive but not in the sense of the word that means scoring goals. He plays to hurt people, you can see it in his approach. When did they allow assault in the game anyway?

My young lad suggests that I spent too much time administrating a minor hockey association and look at the game with those blinders on. I disagree, I (and many think the same as I do) think the purpose of the body check is to separate the player from the puck. The purpose is not to separate him from his fillings and mental capacity. 

Don't get me wrong, I love a good physical hockey game, in fact one of the best "hits" I ever saw was doled out by a minor hockey player whose Dad is a Pastor and good friend of mine. What made me proud of my young friend (Caleb R.) was not the hit (a beautiful clean open ice hit that separated the young player from the puck and his between period gatorades, that was a mess), but rather the thing that impressed me most was that after the young man finally made it to his skates, Caleb skated over to him and patted him on the head as if to say "are you ok?"

Never will you see the likes of Chris Neil or the other idiot Avery go to another player to check on their well being. They can only stay in the game because of their brute nature. Their time in the game will never add up to the time that someone like Luke Schenn should be able to. Their game is to annihilate and dole out pain. There should be no place for intentional pain in this game. It will happen automatically due to the physical nature of the game.   

Is there anything better than a win over the hated Sens? Sure, hockey, plain and simple, is just a game. Life brings many more important things than a win or loss on a Saturday. Life brings love and laughter it brings community and faith and it brings another day to enjoy the simple and complex things that we call family.