Wednesday turned out to be an eventful day with plenty of blog fodder. I ended up with not one but three items to write about.
I was going to write a few words about the baseball Hall of Fame inductees – with Bonds, Clemons and Sosa on the ballot for the first time, I knew it would be interesting – and then MLSE dropped the Burke bombshell on us.
That evening I went on Facebook, hoping to catch up on my friends’ fun and games before bed. That’s when I got a taste of the ugly side of the teacher’s political protest.
The Cooperstown story was the news that intrigued me the most. With the three steroid kings on the ballot for the first time I really wanted to see what the baseball writers entrusted with selecting the honoured members would have to say.
Despite overwhelming numbers (from Bonds and Clemons at least), the writers made it very clear that cheaters will not be rewarded with a ticket into the hallowed halls. This year, anyway.
No player was elected. It’s the first time in more than 40 years that has happened.
The prevailing wisdom is the writers wanted to send a message to Bonds and Clemons and anyone else tainted by the steroid scandal. You might get in. But not this time.
I think it’s a tough call. There are many who have this debate crystallized very simply: no steroid cheaters allowed. But if ‘character’ was so important we would have a pretty small Hall of Fame. The place is full of racists, misogynists, alcoholics, drug abusers and general ne’er do wells. Hell, Ty Cobb – one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen – was such a bastard the other racists, misogynists, alcoholics, drug abusers and general ne’er do wells didn’t want anything to do with him.
And with so many players linked by the steroid scandal it makes it even harder to make the right choice.
I defined it thusly: if the player had the numbers before he got involved in steroids (admittedly difficult to pinpoint precisely) then he’s in. Bonds and Clemons were already the most feared hitter and pitcher of their generation. They’re in. Sosa’s numbers were likely manufactured primarily from the use of performance enhancing drugs. He’s out.
The Leaf news came out of left field for most people (in keeping with the baseball analogy) and dominated the chatter. It’s the GTA, so the Burke firing was the biggest news of the day.
Shocked? Damn right. Surprised? Maybe not. Burke’s track record was nothing to write home about, but people who said they saw it coming are enjoying liberal use of hindsight, I think.
In the end it was all about style. Burke’s bombastic approach didn’t jibe well with the new owners, who wanted him out and finally got their way. Leading the charge for his dismissal was George Cope, the CEO of Bell Canada, and a graduate of Port Perry High School (1981).
Nice to see Durham Region with the hammer sometimes, I guess.
The teacher’s news sprung up on me suddenly as well. It’s not an issue I wanted to touch with a long pole, but the poisonous bile spewing from some on the side of the teachers regarding an innocent Facebook post left me first defending and now commenting.
It was a common enough lament from a friend of mine about today’s job action causing her and other parents to scramble to find accommodation for their children.
The bitterness, the misplaced anger, the vitriol displayed on the thread was shocking. It’s as if the teachers and their supporters believed this job action should be the most important issue facing every Ontario resident.
It isn’t.
I appreciate that teachers believe this protest is of great consequence. I understand the importance of this issue to their future. I understand Bill 115 and I realize how much teachers hate it.
But it isn’t the parents’ fault, so stop acting like it is.
Militant unions don’t resonate with the public anymore, and the teacher unions may be the last of a dying breed. If you have any interest at all in currying public favour for your fight, trashing parents for not having the same opinion as yours isn’t the way to go about it.
Jes saying.
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