More Jack Todd foolishness
Should I just create an Automatic Jack Todd Column Generator already and get it over with?
The Montreal Gazette’s sports columnist today declares the NHL dead in the U.S. because he couldn’t find league news in the local media in Louisville, Kentucky on All-Star weekend (ht: Eric via Facebook). A city with a legendary inferiority complex and smoke-and-mirrors claims to be the 16th-largest city in America (try 50th by metro area) ignores a league with no teams playing closer than 3.5 hours away. And for this reason, the NHL needs to abandon the South entirely and, of course, put franchises in Winnipeg and Hamilton, Ontario. (Why not Quebec City, Jack?)
Of course, after the Jets left, Winnipeg built a brand-new arena 3,000 seats short of NHL standard. And the biggest obstacles to Hamilton getting a team are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres (who draw a portion of their support from across the Niagara River). But let’s not let that stop us!
Todd’s not known for clear-headed, logical reasoning, though. Montreal blogger The Commentator provides some helpful background on him, including his visceral swipe at Carolina during the ‘06 playoffs because the Canes dared offend his delicate ears by handing out ThunderStix. Todd found his way to Canada as a U.S. Army deserter during the Vietnam War, and the attitude his columns take toward America (particularly the conservative regions thereof) is almost a parody of the aging burned-out expat plus the Canadian hockey superiority complex — complete with the use of the adjective “Nixonian” to describe Gary Bettman.
Oh well. Some people just prefer to live in the past, I guess.
10 March 2008 / 0 Comments / Tags: hockey, media, canada