Before I begin, I must be honest. It wasn’t until I read Diff’s column that I realized that Boxing Day was yesterday and I was up today. Nevertheless, I’m here running… out the clock.
(SOUTH) BUFFALO, NY – It’s Christmastime – or the Holiday Season – as we call it at MTM, because we’re ultra politically-correct and diverse. Our faiths range from Jewish, to Christian, to Yimologists (those following uber-fan JG Clancy). We even have some whose faith is “not having one at all.” Deacon Blaber, yours truly, loves and respects all his fellow staff members and their various faiths.
That’s why today’s piece will be on issues that sports fans of all faiths can agree on: including the painful task of trying to get work done at the office through the holidays, the disastrous New York Knicks season (of which there is no debate), and finally a look at the New Jersey Devils.
End Of Year Work: It is a special kind of torture being in the office from the second week in December until the second week in January. It’s painful because everyone is usually running out the clock. At the vast majority of non-retail jobs time slows to a crawl. Your clients aren’t answering calls, nor are they calling you. Half the staff is on vacation. You would much rather be at home than working. It is an unspoken agreement between you and your coworkers that as long as the boss doesn’t make you do any work, you won’t bother them to do anything. And so… we all sit there reading sports stuff and preparing our fantasy football team for their inevitable failure, just running out the clock.
New York Knicks: Sweet baby Jesus! This team is terrible. They have as many wins as you have fingers on a hand (unless you’re Jose Canseco). Those of us with a brain knew Carmelo shouldn’t have been re-signed.
From ESPN.com:
“The fans are dying, we’re dying. We’re out there, we’re not producing. We didn’t expect, I didn’t expect to be sitting at 5-26,” he said. “So as much as I feel for the fans, I feel for us going through it, too. I don’t expect nobody to feel sorry for us, I don’t expect nobody to feel sorry for me.”
First of all, that was a double negative. Secondly. we don’t feel sorry for you. We feel sorry for ourselves.
New Jersey Devils: The Devils stand at 12-17-7. That’s the second worst record in the Metropolitan (spit!) Division. It’s really not that bad a record when you consider this is life after Martin Brodeur. However, after winning Stanley Cups and being competitive for years, the Devils have a higher standard – higher than the Knicks it appears. So with that said, Peter DeBoer was given his walking papers. He’s not a bad coach. He just got stuck with the reconstruction of a team in transition. If there’s any bright spot for DeBoer, it’s that he isn’t the first NHL coach to be fired this season; but the third to be shown the door. Hopefully, he will find his feet.
And that’s it for now. Comeback tomorrow for Cheesy Bruin.
