By Jason Menard
We’re just days away from the start of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games and after hitting the slopes yesterday, I’m feeling pretty athletic (OK, I was tubing, not doing anything actually physical). Maybe that’s why my feelings towards the Olympics have somewhat softened.
OK, who am I trying to kid? The Olympic movement still hits me in the bowels, but I’ve realized that my real issue, like Sloan once sang, “it’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans.” Continue reading
By Jason Menard
Will NHL fans come flocking back to the league? Absolutely — it’s part of who we are and it’s part of what makes us a community.
I was asked this question yesterday by an old friend Scott Kitching on Blackburn Radio and I replied honestly: some fans may want to play hard ball, but once they start seeing the previous night’s highlights on TV, hearing the fans banter on sports talk radio, or overhearing the annual debates around the watercooler, they’ll want to be part of the action again.
Being an NHL fan isn’t just a choice — it’s a feeling.
And while I said and believed it yesterday; today I felt it for the first time in a long time. Continue reading
By Jason Menard,
It’s a day of mixed emotions for many NHL fans — they’re thrilled the league has resolved its differences and brought the lockout to an end, but they’re equally angry at both the owners and the players for depriving them of their game — and they don’t know how to react.
The answer? Fans just have to remember, this wasn’t personal — it’s just business. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
To quote one of Canada’s finest bands, Sloan, “it’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans.” And though you’ll likely never get them to agree to it, supporters of sports and the arts are often two sides of the same obnoxious coin.
First, an admission of guilt. I was once an arts’ snob: I judged certain music, literature, and art forms as somehow less worthy than others. I was at the same time an obnoxious sporto, judging people by the teams they supported.
All that to say that I’m now reformed (almost. I still think you Toronto Maple Leafs’ fans need to go get help). Continue reading
By Jason Menard
With its new realignment plans, the NHL has passed its geography test. But while the A-B-C-Ds of the conference format may satisfy the grammarians out there, if the NHL makes the smart move to embrace its history, not only will they pass the exercise with flying colours, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would come out of this with honours. Continue reading
The M-Dash by Jason Menard 