Man on Fire, Sunday, October 30th

1 - To start things off we want to congradulate the Pittsburgh Penguins on winning their first game of the season, 7-5 over Atlanta last Thursday. The token Penguins fan is very impressed. Unfortuanetly though, after rallying from a 4-0 first period deficit to beat the Thrashers the Pens gave up four 3rd period goals yesterday to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3, the surest sign that what goes around comes around.

2 - Some baseball writers are already calling this century 'The Curse Breaker'. We had the Boston Red Sox last year, and now we have the Chicago White Sox, who last won the World Series 88 years ago. The logical conclusion to all this would be that Chicago's other hard luck team, the Cubs, will win it all next season. To this we say no. As long as the Astros and Cardinals live in the NL Central (which may change) there is no chance. We pick another hard luck team, the Clevland Indians (who haven't won since 1948), to go the distance. The only thing the Cubs have going for them is the law of averages, which states that since the last two curse busters came from the AL, the next one will come from the NL. To this we reply that the law of averages has never applied to the Cubs.

3 - For those of you who are interested in the White Sox we reccomend watching that classic baseball movie 'Eight Men Out', the story of what became known as the 'Black Sox Scandel'. There are definetly better baseball movies out their, but this one is still worth watching.

4 - Last time we spoke, the staff at Man on Fire opined that Iraqis were happy without Saddam. Now comes news that perhaps we were too quick to jump to a conclusion. Read this article and you'll know why we think this. Veteran Foreign Affairs Correspondant Don Murray writes at the end of his column about a survey done by the Iraqi people that was leaked to a London daily. According to the survey 45 percent of those asked believed attacks against British and American forces were justified, while a another 82 percent were 'strongly opposed' to the presence of those forces. Those are very serious statistics, but as far as Man of Fire is concerned, they mean nothing. Why? No information was given on who answered the survey, other than to say the Iraqi People. Was the survey conducted in the Anti-American Sunni-domminated province of Anbar, or in a province of supposedly pro-american Shiates and Kurds, or maybe both? If it was in the former, then we are not surprised, if it was in the latter, we are shocked, but we digress. The point is that this survey has no grounds to claim it represent the views of the entire country of Iraq. Maybe it is true, but based on the article in which it was sited, we're not ready to believe it.

5 - On a more personal (but less interesting) note, read this article by noted feminist Georgie Binks on the CBC website. The staff here at Man on Fire was pleasantly surprised to come across this gem of an article. If the world would start treating young boys and girls like they're equal instead of identical then we bet a lot of society's problems would drastically reduce themselves.

6 - The Token Winnipeg Jets fan at Man on Fire was cruising the columnist section on this site recently and discovered an alarming trend. As many columnits are quick to point out (see Jim Kernaghan, Bruce Garrioch, and Mike Ulmer) fighting in hockey is down, and according to some, on the way out. The reason, they say, is that the faster style of play combined with the penalty parade means less five on five hockey, and therefore less ice time for goons. Point taken, but The Token Jets fan still thinks this is silly. Fighting is down, just like hitting, but both will be back once the players get used to all the rule changes. Besides, as Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff noted in Mike Ulmer's column, if the NHL is serious about establishing some heated rivalries, goons will be back, and they won't be bringing popcorn.

7 - Today's famous person quote comes from Mr. October, Reggie Jackson:

"Nobodies don't get booed..."

Sounds like something Terrell Owens would take comfort in.

8 - Mike Ulmer is officially one of our favorite people after writing this. Mike and M.O.F. have some minor theological differences, but nothing worth starting a schism over. The fact is, he's right! While Man on Fire does believe in worshiping God through playing sports (another topic for another day) the pointing of the finger has got to go. It means nothing when it's being done by people who probably have no relationship with God (there are exceptions to every rule... well... almost every rule) and that kind of ruins it for everyone else. On a less serious note, Ulmer's comment on the NBA dress code is priceless.

That's all for today. Talk to you later.

M.O.F.