When The Government Loses National Pride
Posted 6:27 PM ET | Comments 0
I am getting absolutely disgusted with what's being thrown around our Federal Government these days. Taxes, defence and other important issues are taking a backseat because - get this - Shane Doan is the captain of Team Canada. Can I please call for a by-election of any idiot who thinks this is an issue for our government to discuss?
Hockey Canada is going to address Parliament as to why he was chosen. I hope they send the bill to the government too. Some political people may be asking why I think the government should waste money on doing this. I ask them why the government is wasting time on this issue? You can sum it up here: Doan has represented Canada at 3 World Championships, winning a gold and a silver. He was a member of Canada's World Cup winning team, where he scored the Cup-winning goal. And he was a member of Canada's 2006 Winter Olympics team, which also prompted the same questioning from French members of government. Not bad for a man of 31.
As far as life experience, no one really tops that with the exception of Jamal Mayers, who is 2 years Doan's senior. Unfortunately, Mayers has zero international experience, at least from looking at my limited research resources. Hardly the guy you want empowered running to the refs after a questionable call. Dwayne Roloson is also older, but a goalie.
There are probably more talented players than Doan, namely Rick Nash and Eric Staal. Both are 23, and in a senior tournament, may not be ready to have an entire country putting their entire hopes on these kids. Give it a couple of years, and if these 2 aren't fighting tooth-and-nail for Stanley Cups, they'll be fighting for captaincy of our Worlds team.
Eric Brewer comes the closest to being captain, with an Olympic Gold Medal, World Cup and 2 World Championships under his belt. But this leads to another problem: Let's say we give Brewer the C. Logically, Doan would have to get an A, with his lengthy international experience behind him. But how far would the government go in calling for Doan's head?
MPs don't know the first thing about playing for your team and not yourself. They know nothing about the dressing room attitude. Our boys are a group of players who spend an entire season hating eachother, and then coming together when it matters again to give our country a little extra pride when they're down enough as it is from not going for the Stanley Cup. Not the best circumstances to play hockey. The best players on hockey's worst teams.
Hockey players are all taught to have the team first attitude. Politicians only care about what gets them ahead. If Belinda Stronach feels that following in her father's footsteps is more important than supporting her boy toy, everyone calls her names I don't want to publish in this blog. And yet the Conservatives seem to preach family values. Crazy how that works.
A referee defended his actions by saying Doan said a slur about French people. Shane Doan denied it. Our government has found Doan guilty. When did our government turn it's back on our constitution that gives everyone a fair trial? Last time I checked, "But he said this" wasn't a valid argument in court. But the Bloc Quebecois has already scheduled a date for sentencing.
Meanwhile, Team Canada just finished the first round undefeated, following the leadership of their captain, and my captain as a proud Canadian and fan of Team Canada, Shane Doan. He'll be dogged by these allegations all through his career, but if he keeps winning, the Bloc will only be hurting their cause. He'll be winning while facing the controversy of his own country turning on their national team. He'll be the constant choice for a team that needs a captain to rally the troops when they're down in the series. So hey, keep going after him. He'll either be a better player and more obvious choice in the future, or he'll quit in protest, and our team will be embarrassed when they don't have the leadership they always count on.
Oh wait... Don't talk to the Bloc Quebecois about national pride.
Hockey Canada is going to address Parliament as to why he was chosen. I hope they send the bill to the government too. Some political people may be asking why I think the government should waste money on doing this. I ask them why the government is wasting time on this issue? You can sum it up here: Doan has represented Canada at 3 World Championships, winning a gold and a silver. He was a member of Canada's World Cup winning team, where he scored the Cup-winning goal. And he was a member of Canada's 2006 Winter Olympics team, which also prompted the same questioning from French members of government. Not bad for a man of 31.
As far as life experience, no one really tops that with the exception of Jamal Mayers, who is 2 years Doan's senior. Unfortunately, Mayers has zero international experience, at least from looking at my limited research resources. Hardly the guy you want empowered running to the refs after a questionable call. Dwayne Roloson is also older, but a goalie.
There are probably more talented players than Doan, namely Rick Nash and Eric Staal. Both are 23, and in a senior tournament, may not be ready to have an entire country putting their entire hopes on these kids. Give it a couple of years, and if these 2 aren't fighting tooth-and-nail for Stanley Cups, they'll be fighting for captaincy of our Worlds team.
Eric Brewer comes the closest to being captain, with an Olympic Gold Medal, World Cup and 2 World Championships under his belt. But this leads to another problem: Let's say we give Brewer the C. Logically, Doan would have to get an A, with his lengthy international experience behind him. But how far would the government go in calling for Doan's head?
MPs don't know the first thing about playing for your team and not yourself. They know nothing about the dressing room attitude. Our boys are a group of players who spend an entire season hating eachother, and then coming together when it matters again to give our country a little extra pride when they're down enough as it is from not going for the Stanley Cup. Not the best circumstances to play hockey. The best players on hockey's worst teams.
Hockey players are all taught to have the team first attitude. Politicians only care about what gets them ahead. If Belinda Stronach feels that following in her father's footsteps is more important than supporting her boy toy, everyone calls her names I don't want to publish in this blog. And yet the Conservatives seem to preach family values. Crazy how that works.
A referee defended his actions by saying Doan said a slur about French people. Shane Doan denied it. Our government has found Doan guilty. When did our government turn it's back on our constitution that gives everyone a fair trial? Last time I checked, "But he said this" wasn't a valid argument in court. But the Bloc Quebecois has already scheduled a date for sentencing.
Meanwhile, Team Canada just finished the first round undefeated, following the leadership of their captain, and my captain as a proud Canadian and fan of Team Canada, Shane Doan. He'll be dogged by these allegations all through his career, but if he keeps winning, the Bloc will only be hurting their cause. He'll be winning while facing the controversy of his own country turning on their national team. He'll be the constant choice for a team that needs a captain to rally the troops when they're down in the series. So hey, keep going after him. He'll either be a better player and more obvious choice in the future, or he'll quit in protest, and our team will be embarrassed when they don't have the leadership they always count on.
Oh wait... Don't talk to the Bloc Quebecois about national pride.