The Meatriarchy If God didn't want me to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?
Friday, March 05, 2004
What does $15,000.00 buy?
How about a performance artist who:
"suspended himself naked, filled his mouth with his own blood and assumed the lotus position. In Liaison Inter-Urbain he dug a shallow grave, inserted a vial of blood into his anus and contorted himself so that the blood flowed into his mouth."
That's right Istvan Kantor a "performance artist" has won a 15,000.00 award as part of the 2004 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts prize.
Remember when it was suggested last election campaign that Canadians wanted lower taxes Chretien proffered his standard "if we cut da taxes we will 'ave to cut da 'ealt care" line and the media lapped it up.
Canadians - you are overtaxed because you allow things like this to go on without punishment. I hope that the comments sections in this CBC story is representative of the majority of Canadians if so people do want change.
Now will they have the guts to make things like this an issue and vote on it?
Is this year's Formula 1 season destined to be another Ferrari walk off??
Last year the rule changes seem to catch the Italian carmaker and their German driver a bit off guard. But the season had a semblance of competition.
Perhaps they have now figured out the intricacies of the new rules and we will be treated to another year of weekly "race for second place" viewing on Sunday mornings?
Consensus in hockey mad Toronto is that the deal for Brian Leetch was a good move and in light of the Gonchar to Boston trade the only move that GM John Ferguson Jr. could have made.
Leetch is older than Gonchar and definitely in the twilight of his career but he still has a lot of miles left in him and the Leafs didn't give up as much to get him.
However was the price still too steep?
Both Steve Simmons (The Toronto Sun's sports columnist - who prides himself on being a contrarian) and Damian Cox (who never passes up a chance to criticize the Leafs, their fans or their management) feel that Leetch brings a lot to the team but that the price was a little steep.
Says Simmons:
When John Ferguson shook hands on the deal with Glen Sather he should have counted his fingers. One week after giving up his coaching job, Sather suddenly found his mind.
The Leafs paid heavily with two prospects and two draft picks -- a higher price than any sell-off has gotten in this buying spree prior to Tuesday's trade deadline.
Says Cox:
The cost was significant, arguably too much.
Defenseman Maxim Kondratiev is the most significant loss, but with Carlo Colaiacovo, Brendan Bell and Steffan Kronwall on the depth chart, it was an area from which the Leafs had some talent to spare.
Jarkko Immonen is a wild card, a speedy winger playing in Finland who impressed the team during its Scandinavian training camp last fall.
If the Leafs don't at the very least get to the Cup final for the first time since 1967, the aggregate loss of Kondratiev, Immonen, Alyn McCauley, Brad Boyes and two first-round picks to land Leetch this year and Owen Nolan last year could prove disastrous.
Ferguson knows the risk here. While in St. Louis, Ferguson was part of the Blues management team that drafted defenseman Christian Backman 24th in 1998, rearguard Barrett Jackman 17th in 1999 and forward Jeff Taffe at No. 30 in 2000.
All three of those players are viable NHLers, so Ferguson knows from experience that even picks in the bottom third of the first round can prove to be very helpful.
Ok Simmons feels that Slats fleeced a rookie GM and Cox feels that the Leafs HAVE to make it to the finals for it to be justified.
But if the Leafs didn't make this move you can bet both would be all over Ferguson for "standing pat" while all the other teams make moves. Just last week Simmons was snidely commenting on the failure of the team to do anything while all the other contenders were making moves. In short the whether the Leafs advance beyond the first round or not they had to make this move simply to remain competitive within a very competitive conference where arguably 6 teams feel they have a chance to make it to the finals (Ottawa, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, New Jersey and Tampa).
So was the price too high. At first glance the price is a little steep. Maxim Kondratiev was easily the best rookie defenseman in camp but he decided he would rather play in mother Russia than St. Johns and bailed on the baby Leafs in January ironically just days before some injuries to the Toronto defense core might have warranted a call up. Whether he makes it to the NHL or not one thing is for certain - he is no Brian Leetch and will not be a Norris Trophy contender in the next 5 years.
Jarrko Immonen is indeed a wild card but he is a small and fragile player - not the type that cup teams are built on; and as for draft picks Damian Cox doesn't actually believe that Backman, Jackmann and Taffe are in the same league as Leetch? Does he? I haven’t heard of any of them. But then again I live in hockey mad Toronto. Maybe these guys are serviceable NHL players but they aren't Norris trophy material and that is the crux of the matter. If you feel you have given up future hall-of-famers for the trade then maybe you paid too much. If you have merely given up potential journeymen then you don't have to worry one bit.
This season is a little different since not only are there several teams in "fire sale" mode leading up to the perceived labour difficulties next year (Washington, New York, Carolina) but also as many as ten teams are legitimate threats to win the cup. They are:
Philadelphia (toughest team in the East but somewhat injury riddled) Ottawa (talent galore and have added more) Tampa Bay (currently the best team in the East but a little green playoff wise) New Jersey (having a poor season but a team built for the playoffs) Boston (suddenly a serious contender with Gonchar on the point) Toronto (surprising everyone by being at or near the top all year and laden with playoff veterans)
Detroit (the rich keep getting richer - now have added the leagues leading scorer in Robert Lang) Colorado (will keep pace by adding some more players before the deadline) San Jose (out of nowhere suddenly a bonafide contender) Vancouver (might be a goalie short of going all the way but seriously talented)
The point is all of these teams are going to make moves before the deadline (at least 6 have already) all will claim that this is the missing piece needed to get them over the top. At the end of the day only one team will be right and 9 sets of fans in 9 cities are going to be terribly disappointed. Two of these teams will not make it out of the first round since the playoff format will find 4th and 5th teams in their conference squaring off in round one.
Yes trading future prospects for a run at the cup now is risky. But at least it gives you a shot. Doing nothing guarantees you will go nowhere.
Watch for more big deals to happen before next Tuesday.
The Boston Bruins who lost to Toronto on the ice last night won a victory at their head office when they beat out the Leafs for the services of Sergei Gonchar
Gonchar has been traded to Boston for a package that includes a prospect defenseman and two draft picks. Bill Watters of Leafs TV has described it as a "hell of a deal" for Washington claiming that you "never" get a first and second round pick in one year.
Forgive me if I beg to disagree about the quality of this deal. Scuttlebutt for weeks had been circulating that the Capitals had been looking for a: prospect; draft picks and a young roster player. This was supposedly what the Leafs were asked for to get Gonchar. Apparently the Leafs and Capitals had agreed to a framework around this but couldn't agree on which roster player the Leafs would give up.
From my perspective the Leafs did the right thing in not giving up one of their young guns. But they were willing to part with top defense prospect Carlo Colaiacovo and draft picks - how is this different from what Boston gave Washington?
The deal was probably jinxed when Gonchar expressed a desire to play in Toronto. His former defense partner Ken Klee plays here and Gonchar often spends part of the summer in Toronto. However history shows that when a player wants to play in Toronto the other team immediately trys to fleece the Leafs. Remember when Lindros said Toronto was the only city he would go to? GM Bob Clarke immediately figured he could hold the Leafs at ransom for Tomas Kaberle. Thank God that deal never came to light and Mr. Concussion Head is now (not) playing on Broadway.
However Leafs fans (and I am one) should ask themselves why so many other teams seem to be able to pick up marquee players for next to nothing while the Leafs are expected to pay a premium.
Some time ago Sports Illustrated (who picked the Leafs to finish 15 the last year) did a feature on the Leafs and how they were the most hated team in the league. Supposedly this was the general consensus among players and officials. Could this hatred extend to the front offices as well?
Leaf fans should be concerned that the General Management of the franchise aren't able to make deals that other teams can.
Meantime Boston - whom the Leafs could meet in the playoffs are now much stronger.
The lead up to the NHL trade deadline is always fun because of all the rumours and speculation about who is going where and who should make what deal and who needs what to get them over the hump for the Stanley Cup run.
Over the past few years as salaries have spiralled upward the trading deadline has become even more interesting as bonafide stars are often traded for unproven prospects and draft picks as struggling teams dump salary in order to rebuild.
The trade that everyone has been talking about for the past month has been the anticipated dealing of Washington defensemen Sergei Gonchar, who leads the league in scoring for defensemen.
At various times almost every contender has been said to be in the running but as of last night the three teams everyone seems to agree are closest to landing him are: Colorado, Boston, and Toronto.
Toronto has had the inside track for a long period of time but have apparently balked at Washington's steep asking price (a top prospect, high draft pick and a young roster player). Toronto has done well to balk considering Washington let the leagues leading scorer Robert Lang go to Detroit for considerably less.
Colorado entered the picture shortly after that - possibly because Detroit is their biggest rival in the West and the Avalanche need scoring - although most people would say that the Avs problem is up front, not on defense.
Should Toronto lose out to the Avalance this wouldn't be a complete disaster since the only time the could conceivably face Colorado in the playoffs would be in the final - and hey, if they get that far without Gonchar the team is pretty solid.
The worst case scenario would be for Boston to land Gonchar. The Leafs could very well face the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs and should Gonchar prove the difference in winning that series it would be a serious black eye to Leaf management.
In many respects the need for the Leafs to successfully complete the deal is less about improving their team and more about preventing Boston from dramatically improving theirs. And for Boston adding Gonchar would be a dramatic improvement.
That the Bruins would be so aggressive in the pursuit of this particular player is somewhat confusing. Gonchar is eligible for salary arbitration next year. Boston has been notoroious in recent history for refusing to abide by arbitration rulings and allowing the player to walk as a free agent. Gonchar is due for a wopping raise (some figure he could be awarded as much as 7 million) and if the Bruins walk away from his contract he will have essentially been a playoff rental. Washington seems determined to extract a high price for their star defensemen and for a playoff rental there are probably better choices out there for a lot less.
The Leafs have apparently been asked for Matt Stajan or Nik Antropov off the roster as part of the deal. This would be a mistake. Both players have been key contributors this year and Antropov has looked impressive in the past few games. In fact during the Leafs recent losing skid he was easily their best forward some nights and combined with fellow Russian (ok Nik is from Kazakhstan) Alexei Ponikarovsky and veteran Joe Nieuwendyk they form a forward line that can match almost any other team's. Stajan has played tremendously all season and if it wasn't for Pat Quinn's sometimes frustrating tendancy to limit his ice time he might be a candidate for rookie of the year.
Toronto instead should offer defense prospect Karel Pilar who appeared suddenly in mid season after a mysterious viral infection had finally dissipated and he was cleared to play. Pilar who is a young rushing defensemen with a little more grit than Thomas Kaberle will definitely get better over time and moving him would clear the logjam that would occur at defense should Gonchar be landed.
Interestingly enough Quinn has been tinkering with some unique defense combinations over the past week and this seems to have gone unnoticed by the horde of journalists who follow the teams every move.
For a while stalwart Ken Klee (who was Gonchar's defense partner in Washington) was paired with Aki Berg and Bryan McCabe and Thomas Kaberle were played together. This didn't go so well. Last night McCabe was paired with Penguins castoff Drake Berehowsky who realistically is supposed to be a 7th or 8th defenseman - not in the top four, yet there he was seeing serious ice time. To top it off he was +2 on the night.
With Berehowsky seeing more icetime (and seemingly playing well - except for one gaffe that almost cost a goal) could this mean that one of the Leafs defenders is on the block?? It would make more sense than trading their young forwards.
Meantime the Gonchar watch continues unabated. However he was a healthy scratch last night which means the deal could be done by the end of today.
Ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide who couldn't hold onto power in the tiny Carribean shithole is now invoking "victim" status.
Aristide is complaining that the CIA and the US military forcibly removed him from his little paradise and flew him to the Central African Republic with no regard for his "rights".
I think that the US should immediately fly back to Africa, pick him up, fly him back to Haiti and drop him in the middle of the capital. We'll see how he worried he is about his "rights" when he is surrounded by bloodthirsty rebels.
Equally bizarre in this story is the reaction of his host nation:
"His claim, made in an interview with The Associated Press, created diplomatic worries for his new host country, where he is staying in the official residence of President Francois Bozize.
"These kinds of declarations may compromise relations between the Central African Republic and the United States," Foreign Minister Charles Wenezoui told the AP."
Oh no! The Central African Republic is mad at the US. I'll be that they are shaking in their shoes. Of course if the US did nothing then everyone would be complaining about it as well.
And no story about US international policy would be complete without perennial busybody Jessie Jackson weighing in:
"U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who arranged the AP phone interview with Aristide, said Congress should investigate whether the United States, specifically the CIA , had a role in the two-week rebellion that led to Aristide's exile."
Gee yeah the US doesn't have enough on its plate right now with Iraq and Afghanistan and the economy without engineering a coup in some country that nobody cares about.
Yeah Haiti is of real strategic importance to the US Jessie.
Whilst scouring the sports sections for trade news I discovered this little tidbit in a Steve Simmons Column:
"from Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: 'The NCAA is cracking down on all the recruiting hi-jinks. One rule under consideration is limiting a stripper to three campus visits.' "
"Even documentary film maker Michael Moore appeared, parodying his own anti-George W. Bush tirade last year, by saying 'Shame on you hobbits' before being crushed by a large elephant-like creature from Lord of the Rings."
Of course someone will probably say that this type of thing might encourage gun nuts to find a large elephant-like creature to crush Moore with.
Meanwhile Tim Blair has some interesting tidbits about the socialist omnibus here.
One thing that stuck in my mind last night as I surfed by the Oscars occasionally was the surplus of stunning brunettes compared to blondes. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angelina Jolie, Liv Tyler, Penelope Cruz.... wow!!!
Also someone who had never seen a movie all last year could be forgiven for thinking that only 5 movies were released in the past 12 months.
It seems to be nominated in Best Picture category these days means you are nominated in every other category as well.
