And the Winner of the 2008 Mittenstringer of the Year Award Is...
...Damien Cox.
It is over folks.* No matter how many injuries Simmons invents, no matter how much Working Class Howard smashes the state, no one is catching Cox this year. No way. Not after the day he had today.
Cox's Diei Horribilis really started sometime yesterday when he submitted his column for today's Star. The leading hockey columnist at the biggest paper in the largest hockey market in the the known universe went to print with a column about the Leafs endless dithering over a management change on the very morning that the Leafs ... uh ... made a management change. Talk about having your finger on the pulse! If this whole sports columnist thing doesn't work out, Cox might be able to find work as a pollster in New Hampshire.
Cox wasn't content with just being completely, 100%, absolubadubadably wrong about the immediate future of the Leafs. Nope, he also felt the need to get in a low-blow on Toronto Football Club as well:
Not MLSE, however, and not the Leafs. The arrogance of these people knows no bounds. They think because they can sell condos and sucker people into watching a horrific expansion soccer team that they know the right way to get things done in the hockey world.
Pension Plan Puppets (on the ball all day today, with four posts, including a live blog of today's presser, while being featured on Mirtle's blog to boot) did an amazing job of tearing Cox a new one for this ridiculous insult to the passionate fans of TFC:
Damien has absolutely no clue about what being a fan means. No wonder he hates MLSE so much. In his world, you would ignore a sport until the championship was on the verge of being awarded and then you'd cheer for the team most likely to win.
Exactly. The betting here says that Damien likes the Pats chances in the Super Bowl this year. Be sure to check out the rest of PPP's destruction of Damien here. There isn't much I can add to this, but I would like to take the opportunity to dig one of Mr. Till's gems from the Cox Bloc vault. This one comes from last August, when Cox ridiculed fans of TFC for drinking MLSE's kool-aid:
The lunacy of this column, in which Cox castigates a first year expansion team, with five starters injured, for its lack of success, boggles.
Imagine if he'd been around way back in '77...
"Yesterday, the visiting Boston Red Sox hammered the Blue Jays 11-4 at Exhibition Stadium. The Jays dropped to 23-48 in front of 25 000 deluded baseballists who must be too stupid to realize how crappy this team is."
It just goes to show that Cox is, amongst other things, consistent.
This dedication to consistency might explain why Cox didn't use his blog this morning to issue a Mea Culpa, along the lines of "Holy fucking shit, did I mess up in my column this morning. Don't I look like a tool." Instead, Cox continuedto be to go on the offensive, with a withering indictment of Cliff Fletcher's record during his first stint as Leafs GM.
Many of us remember the string of assorted deals that Fletcher made that eventually resulted in Doug Gilmour, Grant Fuhr, and Dave Andreychuk coming to the Leafs. Many of us also remember that these trades were a major reason why the Leafs made it to two Conference Finals and were one MFing Kerry Fraser away from a Stanley Cup Final. Sure, many of us remember that, but what Damien remembers is that those trades cost the Leafs Vincent Damphousse, Luke Richardson, and Scott Thornton (aka, the Three Keys to Stanley Cup Glory, apparently).
Oddly enough, a man who wrote a column just three weeks ago advocating that the Leafs follow the Flyers blueprint for a quick rebuild, is adamantly opposed to the hiring of Fletcher, who quickly and successfully rebuilt the moribund Leafs in the early 90s with one of the shrewdest trades in NHL history. Fletcher also demonstrated an ability to rid the Leafs of aging veterans for young stars and key parts (Clark for Sundin, Gilmour for Smith and McCauley). Do you think those skills might come in handy if the Leafs are to attempt a Philly-style turnaround?
Cox topped off his day with a stellar performance at this afternoon's press conference. After Fletcher answered a question about Sundin's future by saying that the team needed to do right by Mats, Cox jumped in with this follow-up:
You said the most important thing is to do what's right for Mats. Isn't the most important thing to do what's right for the Toronto Maple Leafs first, ahead of Mats?
Oooohhh! Gotcha there Cliffy. What do you have to say to that:
That's right Damien, but Mats is driving the engine here. He's an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and he has a no trade clause.
Huh? Facts? The reality of the situation? A truthful answer to a pathetically obvious question that amounted to nothing more than Cox grandstanding before his mittenstrung peers? An answer that translates simply to: "Are you some kind of moron?"
I have a hard time believing that Cox didn't already know the answer to his question, but considering this comes from the man who started the day chastising the Leafs for waiting until next week to fire Fergie, anything is possible. Don't forget, we're dealing with the 2008 Mittenstringer of the Year here.
*Note - We're going to have to come up with some sort of second-tier MOY award to keep things interesting. Maybe an Intercontinental Mittenstringer Championship, or something...we don't want Simmons and the rest of them going easy on the crazy this year since there is nothing left to play for. Especially Simmons, who tried to give up his crown today by writing a good column in the Sun and by grilling Peddie at the presser. We expect better (well, worse, truthfully) of you Steve.
It is over folks.* No matter how many injuries Simmons invents, no matter how much Working Class Howard smashes the state, no one is catching Cox this year. No way. Not after the day he had today.
Cox's Diei Horribilis really started sometime yesterday when he submitted his column for today's Star. The leading hockey columnist at the biggest paper in the largest hockey market in the the known universe went to print with a column about the Leafs endless dithering over a management change on the very morning that the Leafs ... uh ... made a management change. Talk about having your finger on the pulse! If this whole sports columnist thing doesn't work out, Cox might be able to find work as a pollster in New Hampshire.
Cox wasn't content with just being completely, 100%, absolubadubadably wrong about the immediate future of the Leafs. Nope, he also felt the need to get in a low-blow on Toronto Football Club as well:
Not MLSE, however, and not the Leafs. The arrogance of these people knows no bounds. They think because they can sell condos and sucker people into watching a horrific expansion soccer team that they know the right way to get things done in the hockey world.
Pension Plan Puppets (on the ball all day today, with four posts, including a live blog of today's presser, while being featured on Mirtle's blog to boot) did an amazing job of tearing Cox a new one for this ridiculous insult to the passionate fans of TFC:
Damien has absolutely no clue about what being a fan means. No wonder he hates MLSE so much. In his world, you would ignore a sport until the championship was on the verge of being awarded and then you'd cheer for the team most likely to win.
Exactly. The betting here says that Damien likes the Pats chances in the Super Bowl this year. Be sure to check out the rest of PPP's destruction of Damien here. There isn't much I can add to this, but I would like to take the opportunity to dig one of Mr. Till's gems from the Cox Bloc vault. This one comes from last August, when Cox ridiculed fans of TFC for drinking MLSE's kool-aid:
The lunacy of this column, in which Cox castigates a first year expansion team, with five starters injured, for its lack of success, boggles.
Imagine if he'd been around way back in '77...
"Yesterday, the visiting Boston Red Sox hammered the Blue Jays 11-4 at Exhibition Stadium. The Jays dropped to 23-48 in front of 25 000 deluded baseballists who must be too stupid to realize how crappy this team is."
It just goes to show that Cox is, amongst other things, consistent.
This dedication to consistency might explain why Cox didn't use his blog this morning to issue a Mea Culpa, along the lines of "Holy fucking shit, did I mess up in my column this morning. Don't I look like a tool." Instead, Cox continued
Many of us remember the string of assorted deals that Fletcher made that eventually resulted in Doug Gilmour, Grant Fuhr, and Dave Andreychuk coming to the Leafs. Many of us also remember that these trades were a major reason why the Leafs made it to two Conference Finals and were one MFing Kerry Fraser away from a Stanley Cup Final. Sure, many of us remember that, but what Damien remembers is that those trades cost the Leafs Vincent Damphousse, Luke Richardson, and Scott Thornton (aka, the Three Keys to Stanley Cup Glory, apparently).
Oddly enough, a man who wrote a column just three weeks ago advocating that the Leafs follow the Flyers blueprint for a quick rebuild, is adamantly opposed to the hiring of Fletcher, who quickly and successfully rebuilt the moribund Leafs in the early 90s with one of the shrewdest trades in NHL history. Fletcher also demonstrated an ability to rid the Leafs of aging veterans for young stars and key parts (Clark for Sundin, Gilmour for Smith and McCauley). Do you think those skills might come in handy if the Leafs are to attempt a Philly-style turnaround?
Cox topped off his day with a stellar performance at this afternoon's press conference. After Fletcher answered a question about Sundin's future by saying that the team needed to do right by Mats, Cox jumped in with this follow-up:
You said the most important thing is to do what's right for Mats. Isn't the most important thing to do what's right for the Toronto Maple Leafs first, ahead of Mats?
Oooohhh! Gotcha there Cliffy. What do you have to say to that:
That's right Damien, but Mats is driving the engine here. He's an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and he has a no trade clause.
Huh? Facts? The reality of the situation? A truthful answer to a pathetically obvious question that amounted to nothing more than Cox grandstanding before his mittenstrung peers? An answer that translates simply to: "Are you some kind of moron?"
I have a hard time believing that Cox didn't already know the answer to his question, but considering this comes from the man who started the day chastising the Leafs for waiting until next week to fire Fergie, anything is possible. Don't forget, we're dealing with the 2008 Mittenstringer of the Year here.
*Note - We're going to have to come up with some sort of second-tier MOY award to keep things interesting. Maybe an Intercontinental Mittenstringer Championship, or something...we don't want Simmons and the rest of them going easy on the crazy this year since there is nothing left to play for. Especially Simmons, who tried to give up his crown today by writing a good column in the Sun and by grilling Peddie at the presser. We expect better (well, worse, truthfully) of you Steve.
Till,
You owe me five bucks.
Awesome. Today he continues on the offensive against Fletcher completely ignoring that two of Fletcher's biggest moves, as you pointed out, involved moving aging veterans (and fan favourite's) for great young prospects.
Hell, that's how we got SUNDIN!
It is so hard to choose just one favourite morsel of idiocy from Cox's "snoozefest" column, but I think I have to go with the following:
Those who were in the room back in March 1994 when Fletcher was a man in full panic on deadline day without a deal to make until he hastily pulled the trigger on the Mike Gartner-for-Glenn Anderson swap with the Rangers might tell you he's not the cool trading cucumber some would tell you he is.
That's his example of trade deadline incompetence? Gartner for Anderson? Gartner, who scored 11 points in 18 playoff games that season, for Anderson, who scored 6 points in 23 playoff games that year? Gartner, who would score another 164 points before retiring, for Anderson, who immediately signed with the Blues and would score another 40 NHL points before playing out the string in Switzerland? Where's DC Talk going with this?
Oh, yes, the Rangers won the Cup, while the Leafs were swamped in the Western Conference final by Vancouver.
Oh, of course! QED, mo-fo's. This fleecing of Cliff Fletcher won NY the Cup! Messier, Schmessier!
Varry, that 1994 example made me laugh. I wonder who scored a huge OT goal against San Jose that Spring?
But don't dismiss Messier, DC Talk thinks that he could be the next GM because 'he is looking for a team to run'.