Bruins will probably win, but I’m calling Blackhawks in seven

The Hawks are the best team in the NHL, but the Bruins are just some kind of playoff machine. While my head is telling me the Bruins will win, I can’t stand the thought of them winning two Stanley Cups in three years.

I’m calling Hawks in seven with Corey Crawford winning the Conn Smythe.

The PQ sides with the racist choice? I’m shocked.

From The Gazette: Marois backs Quebec soccer federation

“I think the Quebec federation has the right to establish its own regulations,” Marois said. ”It is not subject (to the Canadian federation), it is autonomous, not subject to the Canadian Federation and in this regard I support it in its orientations.”

Unfortunately for you, Ms. Marois, the QSF most definitely is subject to the CSF whether you like it or not. The QSF is invoking its interpretation of a FIFA rule to justify the racist decision to ban turbans… FIFA does not recognize the QSF – it recognizes the CSA and that the QSF is a branch of the national federation. Just because you want to be separate doesn’t mean you are.

Typical Marois/PQ logic to twist things to their convenience.

Dear Quebec Soccer Federation: Banning turbans from the field is racist.

There is simply no justification for banning turbans from a soccer field other than small-minded bigotry. This decision is based purely in racism, fear and hatred of others.

From the National Post: http://goo.gl/LFQf2

The Canadian Soccer Association says a provincial association has no right to ban turban-wearing youth from playing… “The Quebec Soccer Federation falls under our supervision. So they would apply the regulations the way we mandate them to.”

You can see it coming a mile away. One way or another – whether they’re pressured into it by people who aren’t, you know, raging racists, or a human rights tribunal drags them through the mud first, eventually the FDSDQ will have to allow turbans on the field.

I just wish common decency would have prevailed before they embarrassed themselves.

#NHL conference finals: #Pens in 6 & #Kings 7

I’ve got the Penguins in six: Sidney Crosby is on a mission this year and he’s going to take this series on his shoulders. I also like the Tomas Vokoun story and I have a feeling he has what it takes to out-duel Tuukka Rask of the Bruins.

The most interesting storyline will be how Jarome Iginla performs, considering Boston thought they had him at the trade deadline before he nixed the deal and went to Pittsburgh instead.

The Bruins got Jaromir Jags instead, but the Pens clearly won the tradeoff. Here’s a look at their playoff lines: Iginla is eighth in scoring with four goals and 12 points, while Jagr is all the back on Page 4 of the NHL.com stats roundup in 96th place with four assists and a minus-2 rating.

Whoever wins the Western series will probably win the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks have been the best team in the league wire-to-wire this season, but the Kings are still the defending champs and you should never bet against the champs.

PassionFootball.ca: RedBlacks will grow on fans

This is the original English version of this column on PassionFootball.ca

The bottom line is that they should be the Rough Riders. They won’t be, but they should. So what to do now?

Well, if you’re an Ottawa sports fan, you probably want the name to start with an “R”, you want the colours to be red, black and white, and you want to see the team trot Russ Jackson out as much as possible.

So that leads to the coming announcement from the new CFL club in a couple of weeks that will almost certainly be the Ottawa RedBlacks.

RedBlacks? RedBlacks, you say? What the heck is a RedBlack? Sounds like a soccer team. Sounds like a college team. Sounds somehow not right.

The only thing renegade about the Renegades was their refusal to win games

The reaction from fans across the Internet has been, let’s say, less than excited about the RedBlacks moniker.

Personally, I think the Ottawa Red & Black would be a little easier to wrap our heads around (and would translate much better for the team’s Gatineau fan base), but my initial reaction to RedBlacks is one of intrigue, not disgust of laughter like most people on the Internet.

I actually think RedBlacks is pretty bold and is certainly better than Renegades ever was (Renegades in Ottawa? Really? The most buttoned-down city in the country had a team called the Renegades? The only thing renegade about the Renegades was their refusal to win games).

Off the bat, fans are going to be fans… a lot of people will hide behind pseudonyms and write nasty things on websites and some media are sure to write funny columns about the name. But I think in time, the Ottawa franchise is going to win people over by being a good team and fans will adopt the name and logo as part of a winning brand.

How creative is a name like the Cincinnati Reds? Or the St. Louis Cardinals – they were named for the colour, not the bird (they added the bird later)? There are no Eskimos in Edmonton and everyone gladly accepts that name and brand.

The reason the Reds, Cardinals, Esks, and a lot of other team names are adored by so many is that these franchises have built histories and a winning cultures.

Sure, the reactions off the bat haven’t been great, but Ottawa indeed confirms RedBlacks as the team name (possibly at a June 8 press conference), the team will be starting with a fresh slate, a creative identity, and most importantly, good football people running the show.

If the Ottawa RedBlacks win games, no one will be discussing their name.

Photo gallery of possible logos: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Microgalleries/2013/04/26/20774541.html

Another reminder the PQ is fundamentally bigoted and intolerant

Just when you think the PQ is going to be quiet and stop being overtly racist, along comes the “reasonable accommodations” debate to flare up their purlaine base and create headlines.

Regarding NDG-CDN relaxing parking rules for the Jewish holiday Shavuot – PQ Minister for Encouraging Racism – or whatever they officially call him, Bernard Drainville, comes out with this gem (from: CBC.ca):

“How can we live together in the same society, if we start having different parking regulations according to different religions?”

Why is a provincial minister that doesn’t even represent the NDG-CDN riding chiming in about parking enforcement???!!! Does he have nothing smaller and even less relevant to discuss publicly?

It’s not about a Jewish holiday, big guy – it’s about civility. This is what people do to take care of each other… they make reasonable exceptions for reasonable reasons. This is a part of every day life and it affects more than just Jews. It’s about living in a society with other people and treating them properly. I would argue the same for other religions.

Where does it end, Bernard? It doesn’t. Get over it.

Benoit Dutrizac blocked me from Twitter. Very cowardly to attack people on your show and block them when they challenge you.

Wow, Benoît Dutrizac does things like tell people to fart and honk horns on the holiest day of the year in a mostly-Jewish neighbourhood and when a nobody like me criticizes him for it on Twitter – the only venue that gives people a chance to respond to him publicly that he can’t control – he blocks me! I’m not surprised that a person of his calibre would do something like this, but still, it’s worth highlighting.

It’s very easy to spew vitriol and incite people towards hatred of a minority or minorities you don’t like from behind a microphone in a studio where you’re the boss, eh, Benoit?