Canucks & Beyond
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Waiting for Sundin? Just Find Religion
by Alanah McGinley on 08/05/08 at 02:19 PM ET
Comments (5)
I’ve ignored almost everything “Mats Sundin” that’s come along in recent weeks, which is probably foolish from a popularity point of view. Judging from the glut of stories being published daily on the subject, the mainstream media and a few shrewd hockey blogs have found a sure-fire way to generate summer hockey traffic.
That is: think about Mats Sundin; write about Mats Sundin; post about Mats Sundin; think about writing and then posting about Mats Sundin… etc.
Mostly I just find it boring, but I suppose the matter needs to be dragged up and aired out once in a while. Especially when Howard Berger says something dumb enough I’m forced to actually defend the Toronto Maple Leafs…
From a Berger column this week (*don’t have the link; sorry):
“Exactly why Fletcher is allowing Sundin to wag his – and the club’s – tail into the month of August, is an unsolvable mystery.”
Wagging Fletcher’s tail? What kind of alternate reality is Howard living in now?
Far be it from me to miss an opportunity to make fun of the Leafs organization (hey, a girl’s gotta live) but methinks the only tail getting wagged here is Howard’s. I doubt anyone in the Leafs organization has obsessed on the subject half as much as the Toronto media does, and the Toronto Sports Media Blog seems to agree:
Cliff has said publicly that any money he may use on Sundin has no effect on the McCabe situation. That being the case, who the hell cares how long it takes Mats to do anything, except for, of course, Howard.
Besides, I sincerely doubt Sundin is considering the Leafs anyway. But since he was polite enough not to discard the notion outright when asked about his contemplations back in July, I suppose the idea will continue to get air-time.
Meanwhile, How God Can Help
Howard Berger & Co. aside, that doesn’t mean there isn’t good stuff being written on the Wazzup, Mats? saga.
Case in point: this post from Four Habs Fans is an epic piece of work. Turns out some Jewish fans have had just about enough of this Mats Sundin waiting game…
Mats, I just want to tell you that my tribe has done enough waiting to last a lifetime. We’re done with it. We’ve made enormous mistakes in the throes of our waiting game.
Prance around the desert and cook bread that looks like a feeble cracker. - The Messiah never came.
Build the Temple. - The Messiah never showed up.
Rebuild the Temple. - The Messiah stood us up.
Conquer Palestinian Land, evict the Palestinians - you know, violate a bunch of human rights and all that jazz. - No Messiah.
Read the rest here. An absolute classic. (* my thanks to Habs Inside/Out for the pointer).
If only I could write something half as brilliant about my own ancestors and our waiting game for Mats. The problem is, my ancestors don’t really go for that suffering-in-silent-pain approach.
First of all, we whine a lot, and second we damn well know how to distract ourselves while awaiting the Second Coming: when forced into a corner Irish Catholics will simply start ordering beer, experimenting with potato recipes and singing folk songs from the Old Country.
And so that’s what I’m doing.
Remember the 5 Stages of Grief? I’m deep into “Acceptance”... which is always better with beer.
And generally speaking, I think it’s probably a whole lot less stressful than being a Jew. But we all cope how we can. 
Filed in: | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: cliff+fletcher, howard+berger, mats+sundin, media,
Comments
Ha! Well, I figure guys like Howard (and Garrioch, etc) never even threaten to jump. They just assimilate new information and use it to create new realities upon which to write yet another column that has no relation to either reality or common sense.
That’s my theory, anyway.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 08/05/08 at 03:33 PM ET
Great post Alanah. I am near the acceptance stage, but I still feel that I have to post about Mats if something different comes up, even if there are a lot of people who are sick of hearing about it. I wonder if a large portion of these people who are “sick of it” still look at hockey sites every day to see if Mats has made up his mind. If people are truly sick of it, then they should skip the Sundin articles.
I am going to keep talking about this topic until the jackass makes up his mind.
Posted by Zandberg from Smithers on 08/05/08 at 03:55 PM ET
Well, I didn’t say anyone was sick of it, only that I personally find it boring to read or write about at this point, unless something notable happens. But that’s cool… everyone’s interested in different things, right? Besides, it’s summer—crazy that we’re interested in hockey at all, frankly.
I don’t think Sundin’s a jackass, myself. He’s been consistent that he wasn’t certain he’d return and that he’d take his time to be sure he made the right choice. While it’s a pain-in-the-butt for all the teams who are interested in him, it’s not like anyone is forcing them to wait.
(Besides, in Vancouver’s case, it’s not like they have a back-up plan they’re waiting to put into action, or anything…) 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 08/05/08 at 04:49 PM ET
Last year the hype was the new jersey… this year it’s an indecisive Swede… the cruel summers never end!!
Posted by Zandberg from Smithers on 08/05/08 at 06:45 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading “parenting for complete idiots” during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Thanks for the quote. You know you are having a lame trip to the west coast when you write the crap that Howie has been writing. Can you imagine Howard’s reaction to JP Barry telling TSN yesterday that Sundin is nowhere close to making a decision? Thank god they have put wires on the golden gate bridge so people can’t jump off.
Posted by torontosportsmedia from center of the hockey universe on 08/05/08 at 02:58 PM ET