posted 2007/02/28 at 21:55
(Couple of housekeeping notes here: First of all, my number never came up for jury duty, so hopefully that is the end of that. Secondly, I now have a DeviantArt account for showcasing the best-of-the-best of my photography and hopefully getting advice from other photographers on there. If you click the "Download" link on each photo's page, you can get the original high-resolution photo for that image.)
Anyway, I know I've really been laying on the political talk lately, so let's take a break with some hockey stuff. Unfortunately I am pissed to no end at the Red Wings right now for trading to get Todd Bertuzzi. For those of you who don't follow hockey like I do, a few years ago Bertuzzi was suspended for seventeen months for this cheap shot that ended Steve Moore's career. As much as I harp on Claude Lemieux damn near killing Kris Draper in the 1996 Western Conference Finals with that check from behind, at least Draper was able to play again after the incident.
I'll be the first to say that the Wings were in desperate need of a tough guy, especially after losing Darren McCarty and then Brendan Shanahan. The closest thing the Wings had to an enforcer before this trade was Chris Chelios, and I don't think Geritol is an effective treatment for fighting-related injuries. Nevertheless, there is a difference between being a tough guy and being a cheap-shotting punk, and after what he did to Moore, Todd Bertuzzi showed that he has absolutely no place in the NHL, let alone wearing the Wing Wheel on his chest. The Detroit Red Wings are a proud and honourable franchise, and Todd Bertuzzi wouldn't know honour if it punched him from behind and slammed his face into the ice.
This isn't enough to make me swear off the Red Wings or hockey, but I am not happy and I can only hope that Bertuzzi never gets medical clearance to play in the NHL ever again. This will have the side effect of reigniting the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry, but now the Red Wings are going to be the bad guys in the rivalry and I never like rooting for the bad guys.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon