Strangely enough, my mind turns to Winston Churchill...
And why not? Churchill managed to cram enough to fill several lifetimes into his mere four score and ten - he went round the sun several times to the normal man's one. And some of it we will forever be grateful for (his vision and leadership in the long struggle gainst the Nazis), some we could do without (his involvement in the design of the modern Middle East), and some of it we're still arguing about (his role in the development of the modern British welfare state.) To name but three of his lifetimes.
But I myself am partial to men and women of language, and Churchill was a splendid phrasemaker from the very beginning. As a young reporter covering the Boer War, he observed that "there are few things in life more exhilirating than being shot at without result." And as it happens, one of his more memorable utterances was delivered not far from here, when he addressed the Canadian Parliament in December 1941:
If [France] had done this Italy might have been driven out of the war before the end of 1940, and France would have held her place as a nation in the counsels of the Allies and at the conference table of the victors. But their generals misled them. When I warned them that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did, their generals told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet, "In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken."
Some chicken; some neck.
Which brings me, by a commodious vicus of recirculation, to Bill Simmons.
I like Simmons a lot - he has the virtue of being entertaining, which goes a long way with me. And he doesn't mind telling you just how wrong he's been. Eventually. And just the other day, in the aftermath of his understandable glee over the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees, he wrote:
Boston finishes the last month of the season with seven games against Baltimore (who will have imploded by then), six against Toronto (an absolute train wreck) and six against Tampa Bay (headed for another 65-win season).
Ahem.
All together now, Bauxites!
Some train. Some wreck.
It was an excellent night for the Toronto teams. The Jays got back to .500, which was a step in the desired direction; the Raptors got back to .500 in their series gainst the Nets, which was absolutely essential; and the Leafs... didn't lose. What's not to like?
Okay, another injured regular. But what the hell. All of us who remember 1987 would rather see the injuries in the first month of the season.
And why not? Churchill managed to cram enough to fill several lifetimes into his mere four score and ten - he went round the sun several times to the normal man's one. And some of it we will forever be grateful for (his vision and leadership in the long struggle gainst the Nazis), some we could do without (his involvement in the design of the modern Middle East), and some of it we're still arguing about (his role in the development of the modern British welfare state.) To name but three of his lifetimes.
But I myself am partial to men and women of language, and Churchill was a splendid phrasemaker from the very beginning. As a young reporter covering the Boer War, he observed that "there are few things in life more exhilirating than being shot at without result." And as it happens, one of his more memorable utterances was delivered not far from here, when he addressed the Canadian Parliament in December 1941:
If [France] had done this Italy might have been driven out of the war before the end of 1940, and France would have held her place as a nation in the counsels of the Allies and at the conference table of the victors. But their generals misled them. When I warned them that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did, their generals told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet, "In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken."
Some chicken; some neck.
Which brings me, by a commodious vicus of recirculation, to Bill Simmons.
I like Simmons a lot - he has the virtue of being entertaining, which goes a long way with me. And he doesn't mind telling you just how wrong he's been. Eventually. And just the other day, in the aftermath of his understandable glee over the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees, he wrote:
Boston finishes the last month of the season with seven games against Baltimore (who will have imploded by then), six against Toronto (an absolute train wreck) and six against Tampa Bay (headed for another 65-win season).
Ahem.
All together now, Bauxites!
Some train. Some wreck.
It was an excellent night for the Toronto teams. The Jays got back to .500, which was a step in the desired direction; the Raptors got back to .500 in their series gainst the Nets, which was absolutely essential; and the Leafs... didn't lose. What's not to like?
Okay, another injured regular. But what the hell. All of us who remember 1987 would rather see the injuries in the first month of the season.
