570News - Gary Doyle

I’m at a loss. How can anyone dump a child in a mall stairwell and leave her there? It happened in Toronto yesterday and only a passerby saved the girls life. No on knows who left her or why. Yet. Some tough questions need answering. I’m also at a loss to explain the tragedy on a First Nations near Saskatoon. A dad, intoxicated, somehow left his two daughers outside at 5:30 in the morning. They were in T-shirts and diapers and were both found frozen to death. Tragic doesn’t begin to say it all.

This is the defination of heartache.

It’s cold, it’s windy and it’s dangerous. And that’s just locally. My friends and family in the west are actually griping about the weather too. And that’s uncommon. Yesterday in Edmonton, with the windchill, it hit minus 51. It was minus 47 in Saskatoon, and I was interviewed on a Swift Current radio station yesterday where they reported a balmy minus 37. Common sense tells us those are dangerous conditions. When it comes to Owen Sound, it’s true, you can’t get there from here. Driving into work this morning was not as big a problem as walking across the parking lot. Fortunately the city threw down enough salt to rim the glasses at Mexicana. While I don’t use salt at my house, I tossed around enough sand this morning to build castles! If I could, I would have pulled up the drawbridge and stayed in the big chair next to the fire. (beside Rusty and Jerome)

You’ve heard them all.. jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, leafs hockey. Add to the list of contradictory statements NATO ALLIES. Where are they? Why is Canada running point in Afghanistan with little troop support from other Nato members. Where are the Brits, the Dutch? I’m not opposed to doing our part, but I’m becoming opposed at doing others.

In the absence of my good friend Louis B. let me offer up a summation of the two movies I went to see this past weekend.

1. The Bucket List…very clever, often sappy. Made me want to write my own list.

2. Atonement…any slower, it would be a painting. It actually made the English Patient
look like Die Hard…it was that slow. thankfully, the coffee at Galaxy is good.

A famous, albeit tongue in cheek, comment from former/present Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher. When it comes to the NHL draft and it’s reliability may I present Alexandre Daigle on one hand and David Clarkson on the other. Daigle had a storied junior career, was the top pick by Ottawa and a bust on the ice. Clarkson was draft eligible for three years and still nobody took notice. New Jersey offered a free agent contract after his final year of junior with Kitchener. Not only has David parlayed that into NHL-money and the lifestyle that comes with it, he’s on his way to the All Star Game this weekend. He won’t be playing in the main event, but will pariticpate in the “Young Stars” three-on-three shinny game instead. One of the best parts of this story is how he hasn’t changed. He still says “thanks” when you interview him, just like he did in junior. Well grounded, and a role model worthy of the title.

I found their missing idiot. I made my usually stop for my morning coffee. Parked the car and walked in. Some guy, much younger and in better shape than me, wheels into the handicapped spot, jumps out and leaves the car idling. I gave him my best “disbelief” look and he said “you gotta problem?”, to which I felt compelled to retort, “No, and I don’t believe you do either.” Subtley is lost on morons.

Matt Halischuk will have to watch his Kitchener Rangers buddies go it without him for the next month. Trust me, hockey players do not enjoy watching games. The good news is, his badly sprained ankle will be 100% long before the play-offs begin. That’s when the Rangers will need the Golden-Goal boy to be at his best. In the meantime, after surrendering 15 goals in two weekend road games last week, the Rangers should be focusing on team defense. They’ll need it friday when east-leading Belleville arrives at the Aud.

Good luck to the next GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who would want the job? You face more scrutiny than any other hockey gig in the world, you have to answer to a Board of Directors and a media scrum that grows deeper (in number, not thought) by the hour. John Ferguson Jr. will be shown the door today. Not the most likeable guy, but five years ago the braintrust believed in him. If you’re up to the challenge, contact MLSE. They’re in the book.

Don’t panic Ranger fans. Don’t prepare the effigies… The Kitchener Rangers are still the same team that has been ranked the best in Canada most of the year. (although the method is far from scientific) Two outings that were forgetable, and they still managed to win one of those. Losing in London is never fun for the Rangers. It’s the Hatfields tapping out in the McCoys ring. The best defensive team in the league gives up 15 goals in two road games. Consider that more a “thanks I needed that” kinda thing and not a flushing noise.

A couple of items this week make me smile.

1. A newspaper headline that says “Castro says he’s too sick to talk.” Begs the question
how did he relay the message?

2. A Las Vegas Judge says she doesn’t know if OJ is “arrogant or ignorant.” Check yes
to both and move on.

3. And the quote of the week comes from Michael Marzolini, CEO of Pollara Inc., a Canadian
Polling Company. While on my show this week talking about pollsters, Michael laid this
one on me.. “A pollster is just a statisician lacking the personality to become an
accountant.”

nuff said