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Radwanski's Ramblings... Pat Quinn would be a much more interesting candidate... I have to admit this whole Ken Dryden/Art Eggleton thing caught me off-guard. For whatever reason, parties have been trying for years to recruit Dryden, and he decides now - on the eve of the diciest election for the Liberals in more than a decade - to run for them? He's sure to win in York Centre, one of the safest Grit seats in the country, but I'm still not sure why he wants the headache. It's a bit baffling from the Liberals' perspective, too. I mean, he's a big name, but have they ever actually heard the guy speak? It takes him 10 minutes to answer a simple hockey question. What's going to happen when he has to talk public policy? Vote Argos As for Eggleton, his departure is all the more baffling because just yesterday he appeared to be paving the way for a pre-election spending announcement in Toronto. I have to admit, I'm a bit torn on this one. As an Argos season ticket holder, I desperately want the team to have a new stadium - and the Varsity site is perfect. But even if a different government were likely to pull back on any assistance, that's not a good reason to hope the Liberal get re-elected...right? Um, right? Showdown in Steeltown Tomorrow is by-election day in Hamilton, and by all accounts it's going to be a close one. Only a hunch, but I have a feeling the NDP's Andrea Horwath is going to knock off Liberal Ralph Agostino. I don't know how their ground campaign is going, but the Liberals' handling of the nomination and call was a little shaky. One day, they're all self-righteous about not getting caught up in the by-election too close to the untimely death of the incumbent MPP, Dominic Agostino; the next, they're strong-arming his brother into the riding. Not the smoothest move in the world, and not a great way to keep the locals onside. If the NDP does win, the victory will bring party status with it. But if I were a New Democrat, I wouldn't let that stop me from jettisoning Howard Hampton sooner rather than later. The man is good in the Legislature, but he's hopeless everywhere else. Update: It was pointed out to me by several attentive visitors that I had two glaring errors in this entry. The first one ("Andrew" instead of "Andrea" Horvat) was just a typo. Honest. The second (identifying Ralph Agostino as Dominic's cousin, rather than his brother) was just me being a dumbass. Sorry about that. I'm officially a bad influence on all those teens reading the Post If you haven't seen it, I have a short op-ed in today's Post in support of teenage drinking. Okay, not exactly...but that's why you have to read it. Or, if you belong to MADD, you can just start sending your indignant letters now. It's available here, if you have an online subscription. If not, get one. Or wait a few days, and it'll probably turn up somewhere on this site. But preferably the former. My version of CBC Watch Managed to catch bits and pieces of today's Flames/Sharks game (nice one), and was surprised to find that despite this series being the much bigger draw north of the border, CBC has relegated its "#1" broadcast crew (Cole/Neale) to Philly/Tampa Bay, while the Cuthbert/Millen pairing is in San Jose. Could this be a harbinger of all those HNIC lineup changes we keep hearing about? If you caught my dispatches from Ottawa, you know that I'm enough of a Bob Cole fan to nearly come to blows defending him. But I relucantly acknowledge that his best-before date may be approaching. The thing is, I can't stand the idea of Chris Cuthbert being the voice of hockey that the next generation grows up with. For one thing, it's the voice itself. Say what you will about Cole - the man delivers a goal like nobody else. By contrast, Cuthbert sounds like he's auditioning for the Vienna Boys Choir. More importantly, it's the style. Cole is old-school - he calls the game straight-up, lending a flow to the action even if he's mostly telling us what we can see for ourselves. Cuthbert, on the other hand, only calls what he thinks is relevant, and spends the rest of his time dabbling as an analyst, engaging in lengthy chats with his colour guy, or telling us which town San Jose's fourth-line winger came from. Inadvertantly, he winds up conveying that he's lost interest in the action - which leads the viewer (at least this viewer) to have the same reaction. The solution? Bring back Fergie Olver. No, wait...that's my baseball solution. Never mind. It's called karma If you're wondering why the media's suddenly turned on Paul Martin do the point of almost being gratuitous (see today's Doug Fisher column, in which the dean of the press gallery calls the Prime Minister a "fool"), have a look at today's offering from Paul Wells. Quoth the columnist: "One night in March of 2000, one of Martin's people poked my chest and said: 'One day, Wells, maybe you'll learn something about politics.' And you know what? It's true. The more I watch, the more I learn." Martin's defenders would probably say Wells is just being petty by letting an old grudge affect his coverage now. But to his credit, he was one of the few journalists who was openly critical of Martin way back when. Others weren't, for several reasons. First, they needed the Martinites to keep feeding them stuff. Second, they didn't want to get on the wrong side of someone who promised to be Prime Minister for a very long time. And third, it didn't fit the narrative - Chretien was supposed to be the bad guy, and Martin the white knight. Now, much has changed. They're no longer looking for the Martinites to feed them stuff, the PM looks weak enough that there's not much worry about offending him, and the narrative is that he's let us all down. But memories have lasted, and nobody much minds sticking to a guy (or guys, since we're mostly talking about his supporters) who spent years trying to bully them. Anyway, that's my interpretation...not that I ever had any run-ins with Martinites myself, of course. On the bright side, Jian Ghomeshi is not yet on the bill Jack Layton is calling on Steven Page and friends again to help him raise money. The most interesting thing about "Let's Jack It Up," scheduled for May 22 at Toronto's Palais Royal, is that the Constantines will be among the acts performing. They're awfully good, having won accolades on both sides of the border, but they're also pretty hardcore. I'm not sure if they've toned down their live act since then (I'm told they're very mild-mannered in person), but if not the crunchy granola crowd that tends to come out to NDP events could be in for a bit of a surprise. >> Send your comments to Adam RadwanskiSpeaking of the NDP... Ipsos-Reid is saying that Layton's party will win 18-22 seats on June 28, or whenever it is we go to the polls. I'm not so sure it won't be a bit higher. At present, the NDP has 14 seats, 13 of which should be relatively safe (Svend's Burnaby-Douglas riding is a little sketchier, for obvious reasons). In Ontario alone, New Democrats think they can win at least four in Toronto(I'd say three - Toronto-Danforth, Beaches-East York and Trinity-Spadina) and all three in Hamilton (I'll go with one), plus pick up Ottawa Centre with Ed Broadbent. That means, by my count, at least five new seats. That means 18, assuming they lose Burnaby-Douglas and keep everything else, without taking into account what should be a bunch of new seats in BC/Saskatchewan/Manitoba, and maybe even Atlantic Canada. >> Send your comments to Adam RadwanskiFriday May 7, 2004 Either way, it can only be an improvement... If I were an Ontario Tory, even a really right-wing one, I'd be thrilled by John Tory's candidacy. The best way to regroup after getting your ass kicked in an election is to quickly, efficiently and decisively choose which direction to move in, and then start moving there ASAP. The PCs will now have a chance to do that, with the former Rogers VP representing a return to red Toryism, and Jim Flaherty offering some hard-line neo-conservatism. Whoever wins, it'll be clear which direction the party wants to go in. That said, Tory's biggest challenge will be to convince us (or at least his party) that he's sufficiently different from Dalton McGuinty to go head-to-head with him in an election. As of now, they look awfully similar...probably because both are basically Bill Davis Tories. I just realized how tricky it's going to be to navigate my way through this campaign without completely running the word "Tory" into the ground. Bear with me. >> Send your comments to Adam RadwanskiI'm not lovin' it All right, I'm officially sick of Morgan Spurlock. In case you've been living in a cave, Spurlock is the maker of Supersize Me, a documentary that tracks the rapid decline of his health when he goes on an all-McDonald's (and often super-sized) diet for a month. I'll be honest - I haven't seen the film. I'm sure it's very good, insofar as making for decent viewing (based on Rotten Tomatoes, critics certainly seem to think so). But what boggles the mind is how much press he's getting for what is, as New York Times critic A.O. Scott acknowledges, a "statement of the obvious." Gee, McDonald's is bad for you? And if you switch from a healthy diet to wall-to-wall fast food, your body won't appreciate it? Wow, Morgan, tell me more! Americans are obese? Man, this guy's not afraid to tell it like it is! As you may have guessed by now, I enjoy the occasional quarter pounder. Once in a while, I even crack open a box of McNuggets. But it's not really all that dramatic, because like the vast majority of consumers, I do it in moderation. Just like, to name but one other vice, I drink in moderation. Maybe for his next project, Spurlock could consume alcohol for a month, then serve up the ensuing liver damage as evidence that liquor producers are trying to kill us. >> Send your comments to Adam RadwanskiRadwanski's Ramblings from April 23-May 6, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 16-22, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 9-15, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 2-8, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from March 26-April 1, 2004 All rights reserved. |