How Alexander Ovechkin went from being awesome to being a douche, without really changing

The summer of 2011 was rightfully seen by many as the most tragic time in hockey's history.

Unfortunately, from about August 2011 onwards, it has been shaping up to be the most embarassing.

I've already said what I needed to say on the ludicrous tinkering proposed by the research and development camp, on the flavour-of-the-month coverage of concussions and head trauma, and most recently on Tim Thomas: Objectivist Asshole.

Some may say I'm intentionally baiting objectivists. Please don't accuse me of that until after you've read my upcoming post "Ayn Rand: Has the World Ever Seen a Bigger Fucking Cunt?" 

But the insanity that is this year in hockey isn't coming from Gary Bettman, or the media, or even a tea bagging partying goalie.

It's coming from a Russian - Alexander Ovechkin.

Hey Tim Thomas, Ayn Rand called, she thinks you're an asshole

When I first heard about Tim Thomas' decision to skip the Boston Bruins team visit to the Obama White House, I thought the same thing that every other self-styled-Canadian-twitterverse-dwelling- hockey pundit did.

"Tim Thomas," I thought, "while I enjoy your clutch playoff goaltending brilliance, you're clearly an asshole."

But no sooner had popular opinion settled on the idea of Thomas as Tea Party douchebag, than did a few reputable hockey and sports writers start criticising the general public for giving creedence to such ideas.

Trailer for Pittsburgh Penguins Movie

The other day I was going on about Sam Worthington's hair looking like Mario Lemieux's, and how Worthington should play Lemieux in the movie of the 1992 Pittsburgh Penguins.

That got me to thinking, so instead of watching The Help tonight, I went online and found this.

Awesome.

I LIVE BLOG THE LEAFS VS. CANADIENS OUTDOOR ALUMNI GAME

4:49 - The game hasn't started yet. I'm about ready to grab a Go Train to Hamilton... the Hammer... home of adequate and functional Ivor Wynn stadium; the facility that was not quite good enough for the Pan Am games.

I can't hide my disappointment that Aki Berg will not be playing with the Leafs alumni. Have I ever mentioned the time a friend saw him buying his own game-used sticks at the ACC?
True story. 

More to come.

Is the Movie "Man on a Ledge" a Mario Lemieux Bio-pic?

Holy crap, is it just me, or does Sam Worthington capture the subtle, understated essence of Mario Lemieux's hair, circa 1991?

The movie looks like a flaming turd, however I may watch it if, and only if this early 90s Pittsburgh Penguins vibe is carried throughout the movie, and Ed Harris rocks Jagr's haircut at least once in the film.

Who is the Best Resident and/or ex-Resident of Stratford, Ontario?

I don't know how to decide. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Who do you think is the best resident and/or ex-resident of Stratford, Ontario?
Why do you think they deserve the honour?
Am I just looking for excuses to mention Justin Bieber in a desperate attempt to drive traffic to my blog?
Sound off in the comments.

Is Anthopoulos' "Comfort" Turning the Jays into Meg Ryan?

People believe Alex Anthopoulos is making a lot of phone calls on behalf of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Unfortunately the way things have been going for the Jays he'd have better luck calling radio talk shows in search of a wife for Tom Hanks.  

Last year I set about trying to drum up interest in a tent-pole blockbuster about your 2011 Toronto Blue Jays.

At the time I pegged Terrence Malick to direct, thinking he’d be willing to change pace from his usual visually-stunning-but-boring-as-hell style to take on the Blue Jays tale. Early reports of Tree of Life being a massive turd made me think he’d want a change of pace.

Well apparently my sources were wrong, as Tree of Life is being ranked amongst the best movies of the year. I refuse to see it out of the fact I know it’s going to a narcoleptic’s wet dream (anyone familiar with Malick’s work who disagrees with me is a liar).

But that got me thinking: what if the Blue Jays story isn’t a sprawling epic?

What if it’s actually a romantic comedy?

Directed by Nora Ephron..

What do I mean?

Preview of CBC's Exciting Midseason Television Line-Up

So if you've read this blog before, you're probably aware of my opinion of Canadian television.

Long story short, there are three major problems with Canadian TV:

1. "Little-man syndrome" a.k.a. "Hey Canadian television viewers: look at us, look what we can do. We're as cool as U.S. network television, right? Please?"
2. Shoddy production values
3. Derivative concepts, plot lines, characters, etc...

So with that in mind, I'm going to take a look at three of the most exciting new or returning shows hitting Canadian airwaves this winter, thanks to the publicly funded CBC.