Morning musings: August 22

It’s never too soon…

Round 2 match-ups are set in the NHL. Naturally, the tussle of titans between Tampa Bay and Boston headlines the pairings.

I loathe the inevitable ‘anti-format’ complaints fans will echo now. They’ll argue this match-up should have happened 2 weeks from now and blame the format as being ‘unfair.’

While not without merit, in truth, you can find at least one or two such marquee match-ups across all the playoff formats used since the old days of Smythe, Norris, et al divisions.

There’ll always be a few classics early and ‘less sexy’ draws later but, ultimately, you gotta play who you gotta play and if a team is slotted somewhere, it’s because they earned it (under the same rules as every other team).

Just sit back, enjoy the match-ups, and give props to the deserving champion after W 16.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out…

A major pet peeve of mine in the NHL is their ‘old boys club’ mentality and that they consistently need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the current decade.

The latest case in point: how does Mike Milbury still have a job after another round of sexist comments (during an NHL broadcast no less!).

Let’s put aside how bad he is at his job, offering little insight or analysis, his repeatedly anti-_____ comments are those of a typically misogynistic, out-of-touch, jerkface (jerkface being, yes, the proper scientific term).

When are students not students? When they’re athletes…

The NCAA has decided it’s not safe enough for college athletes to play this year (for ‘d’uh!’ reasons).

Apparently, however, Wolverine’s immunity powers must be in the DNA of football players since that highest-of-revenue-generating sport, somehow, is immune from both the disease and logic, has been green lit to return.

Professional athletes given the option to return to jobs is one thing. They’re adults, employed, financially secure, and were offered fair opportunities and compensation to decline.

College kids, whose futures are dependent on their participation and completion of degrees? They will certainly exponentially more pressured to play at much greater risk, both in health and long-term life-building.

Sigh. While par for the NCAA course, it’s still a sad day when the almighty dollar overrides the almighty everything else.