It's Not the Band I Hate, It's Their Fans

I’m pretty sure Chris Murphy or Patrick Pentland or whoever wrote Coax Me wasn’t referring to the Montreal Canadiens, but I am. I stole this line, not only from a pop band who had huge potential and spoiled it, but from two friends. Unbeknownst to them (see how I stole another Sloan line, clever huh?), they both use that line. Specifically, Meesh uses it to describe Habs fans; that’s the slant I’m taking.

You see, Habs fans are typically referred to as the smartest fans in hockey. They know the rules, they know when a player is playing well on both sides of the ice (goal scoring is not all that matters) and they know when a player isn’t. But I take exception to that view. Is it smart to boo your number one goalie after he lets in his first goal of the season in the first game of the preseason? A game that doesn’t even matter? That’s what happened on Wednesday night. Carey Price, loved and hated equally in Montreal, let in a soft goal, his first of the pre-season, and was immediately booed by the fans in attendance. Likely 10,000 people since the other half of the 20,000 in attendance like him and chanted his name as he took the ice.

There have been tons of blogs, news stories and tweets about this so I’m just reinforcing the negative here, but I have to rant from time to time. The best I’ve heard was from Dave Stubbs who writes for the Montreal Gazette (http://www.habsinsideout.com/) who said, in a series of tweets:

Fans' booing of #Habs Price reminds me of my 1980s-90s days as a ref in the WWF (now WWE)... #Habs

Fans would throw garbage at villains in ring, then stand outside Forum in -20C winter to get their autographs #Habs

It’s no wonder people hate us (Habs fans). You fuckers make them hate us. Ole your ass.

Why?

There's an urban legend out there about an exam question on a university exam. It was a bonus mark question that was simply "why?" The answer, according to the legend, is "why not."

I haven't been much of a blogger lately because I've become bored with writing. I was initially inspired by two things; an incident that inspired me and a friend who blogs who also inspired me. Since then I've been pissed off less and less. Hard to imagine, I know.

But something happened that killed my urge to blog. It was the question "why?" Specifically "why blog?"

I've thought long and hard about this over the last drunken 20 minutes. I've come up with four (I've changed that number numerous times) answers:

1. I want to be heard (i.e., I'm vain).
2. I want to educate.
3. I want to entertain.
4. It's cathartic.

The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. No, wait, they're all true.

I do want to be heard. I want you to hear what I have to say, otherwise I'd just think these thoughts and carry on.

I want to educate. I hope to teach you things like "don't bike on the sidewalk."

I want to entertain. I can't say for certain that I do, but if you're here again, I can't help but think I do.

It is cathartic. I type this shit that I hope you read (i.e., to fulfill my need to be heard), that will educate you (that's up to you), and that is entertaining (I hope I didn't fail) and it feels good. I need to get this shit out. If you spend time with me, and I'm sure my 20 readers do, you know I'm opinionated. I need to tell it like I see it and this is a way to get it out without pissing you off face to face (not that I don't anyway). And after I type it, I won't bring it up in person and get into stupid arguments like why singing the national anthem at sporting events is stupid.

I want to blog more and I hope I do. But the "why?" still haunts me. I started out having fun with it and kept trying to one-up each post. Maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I don't' have to be better with each post. Maybe I just have to do it to feel better or to get shit out. Or, most likely, I'm drunk and I shouldn't be sitting in front of this keyboard right now.

Superheroes Without the Power and Motivation

I'm back!

I was uninspired for some time and this weekend an event occurred that I have to write about. But before I do that, I have to give all y'all some background.

I've been robbed a few times. At first it was somebody breaking into my car in Montreal and stealing all my CDs. Then, it was crackheads breaking into my car in my parking garage on a fairly regular basis. In fact, at one point the lock on my car door was busted and I decided not to lock it anymore to make sure my windows were never busted (side note - my uncle cracks up over one particular robbery. I called the police and told them about a break in. They asked me when it happened. I rarely drive my car so I say sometime in the past three months). The final (I think) theft was my bicycle, which wasn't even 6 months old at the time. So I've got a pretty negative outlook towards thieves.

Fast forward to Saturday night. It was starting off as a pretty low key night. We went out for food and drinks and then back to the good doctor's place to hang with the newlyweds. As we left I convinced Greg (or was it the other way around) to grab a drink downtown before calling it a night. We were walking on Lewis Street towards Elgin (here's a map for the out of towners) and about halfway between O'Connor and Metcalfe there is a parking lot and you can see the next Street up, Gilmour. As we get to the parking lot we see a disturbance. Some guy is shoving this girl around and yanking at her purse. I point it out to Greg and he says "you go that way (straight through the parking lot) and I'll go this way (around the corner and up O'Connor)." So I beat it. I beat it like I've never beaten it before. (side note - my ankle held up great, I hadn't really tested it until then and I didn't even think about it until a day or so later). I get straight through the lot and run past the girl, who is still on the ground, following the purse snatcher when I hear her yell for help. So I stop, turn around, help her up, and ask if she's OK. She seems to be and says "get my purse." So, I turn back around and see the guy in the distance. I beat it again, but know this time he's out of my reach. But, as luck would have it, he turns left on O'Connor, running right into Greg. I slow my pace and continue on, hoping this doesn't turn ugly. Then I see Greg come around the corner with a huge smile on his face and the purse in his hands.

The rest of the story is from Greg, I've asked him to review and edit the following:

The guy runs down the middle of O'Connor Street and straight towards Greg. Greg stands there (Greg is a tall guy and can be imposing, unless you know him) arms spread wide and says "I got you, where you going, I got you. Let's do this. Come on." The guy tries to deke him a couple of times without success. Greg is matching his every move. Then he drops the purse and runs in the other direction. Superfrickinhero.

So Greg returns the purse to the girl and she is ecstatic. She's doing fine, although she has a few bruises on her arm from the incident. I ask her where she lives and she says just the other side of Elgin, which is where we were heading anyway so we tell her we'll walk her home. Greg recommends that she call the cops and she decides to go straight to the police station to report it ASAP. We walk her down Elgin to the Pump and suggest following her all the way to the police station but she declines as Elgin is a pretty busy and safe street.

So Greg and I finish our initial plan and grab a few pints and celebratory shots. Greg's a hero and worth rebooting the blog for.

Also, the girl was hammered and she had a full bottle of wine in the purse. I love centretown.

The Last Post - 2 Wilco Shows in 3 Nights

I'm horrible at blogging lately. I just can't find the time or something that ticks me off enough to make a curmudgeonly post. So I'm giving this blog up. That's not to say I'll never blog again, in fact I want to, but I think it'll be without a curmudgeonly twist. Rather, I'll just blog about my life in general, maybe some concert reviews, things like that.

So I'm ending this baby the way I started it; with a concert review. But this time you get a two for one deal. I saw two Wilco shows in 3 nights last week. Don't know who Wilco is? For shame. Go to YouTube and check some shit out. Jesus etc. may be the best song of the 2000s.

We showed up late for the first show that was at the Olympia in Montreal. It's such a beautiful venue, with red and gold trim on the inside. It reminds me of an old theater, most likely because it is (built in 1925). As we walk in I can hear "Bull Black Nova", a song off the new album "Wilco". They apparently started with "Wilco (the Song)", which isn't one of my favourites anyway and followed that with "I am Trying to Break Your Heart", a song I'm upset I missed but I'll live.

So, I wasn't pleased about showing up late, but we didn't really miss much. We walk into the theater and have to settle for a spot at the back. No problems there, I generally like the back, though it's not tough to get to the front at a Wilco show, people are pretty mellow. But the crowd was buzzing. There was an excitement in the air, although it could have been just me being in MTL or the 4 shots of Jagermeister.

The show progressed as follows:

You Are My Face
One Wing
A Shot In The Arm
Muzzle Of Bees
Pot Kettle Black
Deeper Down

At this point, I'm thinking they don't have it tonight. The band wasn't tight and I wasn't feeling it, even after hearing my favourite song "A Shot in the Arm". Then they played "Impossible Germany". Now this song has one of the greatest solos in the world and Nels Cline nailed it. I almost bought a Jazzmaster because of him. I still think it wouldn't have been a bad idea, but I'm more than happy with my Tele.

Needless to say I was won over instantly. His guitar solo changed the whole complexion of the show like a fight can change momentum in a hockey game. And it was all gravy from there. The rest of the show went like this:

Impossible Germany
She's A Jar
California Stars
Summer Teeth
Jesus, Etc.
Handshake Drugs
You Never Know
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You

Encore:
Broken Arrow (Neil Young cover)
Via Chicago
The Late Greats (dedicated "tonight, and always, to Anvil")
Heavy Metal Drummer
Red-Eyed And Blue
I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
Casino Queen
Hoodoo Voodoo
I'm A Wheel

Tweedy, a well known curmudgeon, was even in a good mood. Congratulating us on all of our gold medals and inviting us to sing "Jesus etc." He then said that it was the best he's ever heard (it wasn't, the crowd sang the first chorus twice). I also got a kick out of him dedicating "The Late Greats" to Anvil. Good stuff.

All in all, a good show. It started slowly, but hit high gear after "Impossible Germany".

I had a well deserved day of rest on Sunday, though I stayed up long enough to see that hockey game that a whole lot of people watched. The next day I was well rested, but fighting a cold. No matter, it wasn't going to keep me from the National Arts Centre to see Wilco.

We arrived very early, right before the opening act started. So we grabbed a beer and checked out the merchandise. Nice stuff, but nothing I really needed to add to my collection.

The opening act (Bahamas) starts and we head down to our seats. The NAC is a theater where you get all sorts of stuff; opera, theater, rock shows. I was concerned because it's seated. Seated places tend to have seated people. You don't sit at a Wilco show.

So we walk down to our seats and notice that we'd walk in front of half the row to get there. We weren't prepared to do that and the opener, while good, wasn't really something we wanted to check out. "Want to go back to the bar?" "Do I?!"

In all fairness, the opener was talented, it was just too quiet for my liking.

So, immediately after the opening act is done we make our way to our seats. There's no way we're missing any of this. We get to our seats, chat up some folks we know and then the lights go down. Here we go. The crowd stands right away as Wilco starts with "Wilco (the song)". So far the band seems much tighter than on Saturday night. Good sign.

They follow it up with "Bull Black Nova" and the crowd starts to sit. I say to Dino "Do not sit down; this is a rock show not an opera." Yet we sit anyway. The crowd rises again when "Company in my Back" starts next and I say "I don't care what happens, I'm not sitting again. This isn't church; you don't rise and sit and rise and sit." And we didn't.

The rest of the show progressed like this:

I am Trying to Break Your Heart
One Wing
Shot In The Arm
Side With The Seeds
Deeper Down
California Stars
Impossible Germany
Blue Eyed Soul
Handshake Drugs
You Never Know
Jesus, Etc
Poor Places
Reservations
Spiders
Hummingbird

Encore:
Broken Arrow
Via Chicago
Passenger Side
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You

Another great show and the band was better on this night than Saturday. However, they still picked it up a notch during "Impossible Germany". Tweedy was genial again, though there were a couple of instances that I thought we'd be in for trouble. He noted how happy we all were and asked if we had won some major sporting event. Someone in the crowd yelled "entertain us" which made me cringe. I suspect he heard, though he said "I can't hear you, but it doesn't matter" and broke into whatever song was next. Things could have turned then and I suspect he's mellowed out (ahem).

He also asked us to sing Jesus etc. and noted that the crowd in MTL had done it better than anyone. He challenged us to top it. I suspect he knows nothing of Ottawa crowds. Anyway, we did fine, though he pointed out that we messed up the second verse (we did).

The guy beside me thought it'd be fun to guess every song before it was played. He'd been following them around for a bit and was in MTL too. So before every song he yells "Heavy Metal Drummer" or "Via Chicago" and then proceeds to sing whatever song they are playing. I don't like this. I came to hear Wilco, not drunk dude next to me. But I wasn't about to let that spoil my night. I let it go and it was all good from there. In fact, he was a good guy and he was just having his fun.

I was lucky enough to see two great shows in three nights. I also read online that my friend had two tickets to the show in Halifax and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about flying down. I hope you ladies had as much fun as I had.

Well, the curmudgeon is signing off. Follow me on Twitter for microblogs and I'll post something new someday without the curmudgeon twist. Hope you had as much fun as I did.

Failure to Launch

A giant Ipod touch with a data plan or a giant Iphone with no phone. That's what Apple unveiled as their tablet, the Ipad. Ignoring the obvious, and already trying too hard jokes, about the name, Apple underwhelmed me and others today.

Gizmodo has a great post about the disappointments with the Ipad's capabilities. My buddy G had a great blog post about Apple potentially missing the boat (and they did) with the Ipad's functionality. It appears to me that Apple is happy producing an entertainment device. I won't go into detail as you can read Gizmodo's post or G's post for the details. But what gets me is Apple's apparent ignorance (hubris perhaps) to what it needs to fix with respect to its handheld system; multitasking.

You can say what you will about a physical vs touch keyboard or a typical OS file structure, I don't see either as an issue with respect to the Iphone or Ipad. You can get used to the touch keyboard and I actually prefer the lack of a visible folder structure (you don't see folders, you just access the files needed through an app's gui). But the lack of multitasking is beyond me, especially with the Ipad.

I assume that Apple's main competition here are net books; small, media focused laptops. You can multitask on net books, search the net while playing a game or writing an email. If you've paid attention you've heard the lack of multitasking gripe from Apple devotees and Apple haters alike. Yet Apple has seemingly ignored the issue. This is a functionality that should be commonplace on any computing device, even smart phones (as I type this on my Blackberry I switch with ease without saving or closing my memo application to check email, scores, twitter and other applications that are running concurrently).

It reminds me of an issue with Itunes. I've heard many Apple devotees state the reason the Ipod is king of the MP3 players is the ease of use and functionality of Itunes. I disagree. While Itunes is not difficult to use, it's not the simplest media management tool and lacks an important feature that other media management software have; the ability to monitor folders and automatically add new files to its library. The idea seems so simple and mandatory, yet it is nonexistent in Itunes.

Apple is a great manufacturer of entertainment devices, I love my Ipod and would rather have an Iphone than my Blackberry, but they could be better and if they didn't have the hip cachet they wouldn't be doing as well as they are. There are better MP3 players, better smartphones, better software, and better computing devices available for better prices. At some point they'll be forced to pay attention and give us what we need.

Also, check out G's new post at the Luddite Times. He properly spells Apple's iLine of products and is an Apple devotee who isn't sold.

RIP Jay Reatard

Jay Reatard's show was short and sparse. He may have played for a total of 30 or 45 minutes but they were the greatest 30 or 45 minutes I've ever spent at the Babylon night club. I don't recall him saying a word between songs but I do recall the vigor with which he strummed the chords to My Shadow and his long, curly red hair flying around violently.

Jay Reatard died earlier this week and many of you don't know who he is. Who he was was one of North America best young punk rockers. And by punk, this is what I mean:

If you are unfamiliar with the incident or the widely circulated YouTube video that came out afterward, the story goes something like this: Reatard (real name Jay Lindsey) hit the stage at Toronto's Silver Dollar at about 11 p.m. He and his band were in the middle of their fourth song when one audience member sauntered on stage and managed to disconnect Reatard's microphone. Reatard swung the concert goer around by the shirt and landed a punch square in the young man's face. Then he promptly packed up his things and walked out of the venue.

Apparently Jay didn't fuck around. I recall someone mentioning that he looked a bit like Carrot Top and I suddenly expected that person to end up with a fist or boot in the face. Sadly I was disappointed.

If you haven't heard Jay's music you should. I recently read he was on the cusp of greatness. Bullshit. He was great. The fact that the rest of the world didn't know it yet changes nothing.

Toronto Sports Network - UPDATED

Updated at bottom.

I've complained about TSN being very Toronto-centric in my NHL draft diary but today's headlines really annoyed me. Here's a list of all the links to stories on TSN's main page this morning:

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Canucks' Burrows slams referee after loss to Predators
Serena Williams dominates in Sydney to win 2010 debut
Veteran sumo wrestler Kaio notches record 808th win
Weber's game-winner leads Predators to road win over Canucks
Anderson makes 44 saves as Avs drop Flames in shootout
Pacers rally from 23 points down to stun Raptors
Maynard beats Diaz in Ultimate Fight Night main event

Monday, January 11, 2010

Serena Williams dominates in Sydney to win 2010 debut
Huge night by Nash helps Suns hold off Bucks
Pound: Figure skating a 'nightmare sport'
Wilson may shake up Leafs' lines to help Kessel out of slump
Walling: Saint Mary's to welcome Danton
Fast Break: Rautins says Bosh is the best Raptor ever
McGwire admits to steroid use during 1998 home run race
Report: Blue Jays scouting Delgado in winter league
McGwire's original testimony before Congress in 2005
Fleury apologizes for ripping Flames on his blog
Coveted LHP Chapman signs 6-year deal with Reds
Coyotes' Jovanovski suspended 2 games for elbowing
Bucks lose Redd for remainder of the season
Rangers, Guerrero agree on one-year deal
Double Play: McGwire deserves to be forgiven like Rodriguez
Blackhawks extend president McDonough through 2016
Stronger, Higher, Homer? Simpsons go curling
Canada names its Olympic long track team
Seahawks make it official with Pete Carroll
Flames host Avs, Canucks battle Preds in Monday action
Danton cleared to attend St. Mary's; expected to play hockey
Lindsey Vonn dimisses the hype
Eagles say McNabb will return for 12th season with team
Langenbrunner picked as USA's captain for Vancouver
Mark McGwire's full statement
Streaking Canucks gain ground in TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings
Canadian foursome set to tee off on PGA Tour in 2010
Heavy rain closes Olympic host mountain
Razor's Edge: Red Wings a model for resiliency
Watkins, Bowman, Chiu top Als' list of potential free agents
Texas Longhorns top men's hoops poll for the first time
Flashback: Beckie Scott waited to receive gold
Bosh, Raptors start brief road swing in Indy on TSN
More Wizards meet authorities about Arenas investigation
Six-goal week earns Canucks' Burrows first star honours
Chisholm: Of Bosh, Turkoglu, and the NBA trade deadline
Hall tops Seguin in Central Scouting mid-season rankings
Doughty piling up points since Team Canada announcement
Armstrong: Five improvements for Raptors to take next step
Jones versus Vera set for main event of UFC Fight Night 21
Tiger-Cats ink Peter Dyakowski to contract extension
Pens go for consecutive wins in clash with Wild on TSN2
Jayson Williams pleads guilty to '02 shooting; to serve time
Mavericks acquire Najera from New Jersey
Man U aims to reduce massive debts with bond sale
Bus attack highlights security concerns ahead of WCup
Sutter furious at laser pointer wielding Canucks fan
Cullen: First Fantasy Puck Mail of 2010
Schumacher's return to F1 begins with drive of GP2 car
Tom Hicks' son resigns as director of Liverpool
FIA to appeal court's decision to overturn Briatore's ban
Report: Canadians Stout, Goulet added to UFC 113 in Montreal
Henin pulls out with injury; upsets rule Monday in Sydney
Monfils withdraws from Sydney tournament
Lightning beat Devils in completion of suspended game
Henderson unifies lightweight title at WEC 46
Dansby's fumble return in OT helps Arizona to record victory

Noticeably absent is a story about a 4 point (FOUR!) game by Mr. Guillaume Latendresse of the Minnesota Wild. Gui! had a hand in every goal scored by the Wild last night. You'd think that in a country obsessed with hockey this would be headline news. Especially considering the network aired the game and Gui! is a Canadian boy. But it's not and I'll tell you why. It's the Toronto Sports Network and he's French (yep, I went there)!

First, the Toronto bias.

TSN needs room on its site for stories about who Phil Kessel's linemates are going to be, why Chris Bosh is the greatest Raptor of all time, who the Blue Jays are scouting and something about Homer Simpson. As if a story about who will be playing on a line with a guy on one of the worst teams in the NHL is bigger news than a guy who notches 4 points in a game and is a part of every scoring play. A 4 point night is nothing to scoff at and should be an entry on your site the day after it happens. You even showed the game, you must have had reporters on hand.

I'm tired of TSN calling itself Canada's National sports leader. It is Toronto's sporst leader. At least Sportsnet has 4 different channels based on region. TSN has 2 stations, but focused on Toronto. While RDS is obviously biased towards Montreal it is a French speaking station; it should be biased towards Canada's only French based team.

Now, the French Bias. This was covered by Bob Sirois in his book Le Québec mis en échec: la discrimination envers les Québécois dans le LNH (Quebec bodychecked: discrimination against Quebeckers in the NHL). Mr. Sirois contends that prejudice is alive and well in the NHL and he points this out with the lack of esteem held for French players when compared to anglophone peers.

You think Sirois' crazy? Again, the Latendresse story was not included in TSN's links. Also, have a look at all of the hockey related news above and see if you can find a French name. You can't. I understand that Fleury is a French based name, Theo is not French.

If it weren't for its grapple on sports in Canada, I'd be done with TSN. As it is now I watch RDS almost exclusively for games and news updates and will no longer visit TSN on the web. Frapper la rue TSN.

Update

Alex Burrows is from Quebec. His story is the first on the list above. However, his story is a story of a vendetta between him and a referree. The ref, Stephane Auger, was also involved during the Shane Doan racial slur. It all smells a tad funny, and while I'm not entirely sure what to think of it, since both Burrows and Auger are from Quebec, I still think it's incredible there was (and still) no mention of Gui!'s 4 point night against the Stanley Cup champion Pens.

Bad Corporate Citizens

It's been a while since something really grinded my gears enough to blog about (in case you didn't notice) but I just saw an article regarding what Wal-Mart and H&M do with unsold clothing. Here, read it and then come back, I'll wait.

So, how do you like them apples? Wal-Mart and H&M destroy and toss out clothing they can't sell rather than donate the clothing to charity. This incenses me to no end. Even sports teams send off the losing championship game clothing to third world countries (poor Jian thinks the Bills won 4 SuperBowls in a row).

Donating the clothing does more than help the poor people of NYC; it creates an image of a good corporate citizen. While I understand that Wal-Mart's image as a corporate citizen is spotless (where's that sarcastic font?), you can really never be too nice in the corporate world.

I don't really have much else to say that wasn't said in the article but if you didn't already have enough reasons to not shop at Wal-Mart, there's another. As for H&M, I could never handle the lineups so it's not like I have to stop shopping there, but I certainly won't even consider it now.

For shame.

Happy New Year

Wow, has it really been almost a month since my last post? Time flies when you're driving to Kingston every day to teach the business and charity world about Harmonization.

Happy New Year folks. Hope yours doesn't involve sitting for 3 hours in the Montreal airport tomorrow. If it does, meet me at Moes.

I've spent the past two weeks in my hometown for the holidays and, contrary to most people's expectations, I didn't end up bored for long. The first day I was bored about 1/2 hour after waking, so I called my cousin and next thing I know I'm staring at the giant axe in Nackawic walking into the rink for a hockey game.

What followed is 2 days of shopping, 2 days of work (boo-urns), Xmas eve, Xmas, Boxing (aka drinking and games) day, 3 days of Boxing day shopping/returning items, a day of four wheeling (w00t), a day of recovery, preparation for New Years, New Years Eve, New Years Day Levee, and a day of recovery. I know I'm an accountant and the days probably don't add up. If I've missed one it likely involved Picarroons Yippee IPA or Best Bitter and a game of Blockus (kind 0f like tetris, but table top with the intention of screwing up your opponents' plans).

All in all I had a great holiday home with the family. As always with theses visits, I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to and I'm sorry for that folks. I do miss you all and hope to see you all soon.

Have a great 2010, we're entering the teens of the 2000s, so don't worry about that pimple, you won't remember in in 2030.