Sidewalk etiquette, and Hockey etiquette

Dear people with massive umbrellas. What the bloody hell are you compensating for? Yes, I know it’s raining but I manage to be a polite sidewalk user who shares the pavement with other pedestrians while holding my own, reasonably sized, umbrella.

I know it’s wet, gray and early; you probably haven’t had your double-double and a smoke; your blackberry thumb crank snapped off; and your previous life was a water buffalo but that doesn’t mean you need to walk like a water buffalo down the sidewalks as if everyone else is an inconvenience to your stampede. Seriously, go to the golf course with those things and wait for lighting or just get a fat person scooter and act like the rest of us who can share a sidewalk with other human beings are “the ones with the problem.”

Gad! What a pain in the ass walking on the sidewalks is, especially when it’s raining. Ottawa has some of the worst sidewalk etiquette as it is, adding umbrellas to the mix is like adding splinters to burnt toast – a bad thing made unnecessarily worse. I swear I almost uncapped my coffee and tossed it into the crotch of three people with umbrellas that were too big and were bumping into everyone in their path.

---

Yes I saw the elbow on Saturday and yes, I think Chris Pronger and his Bob Hope nose deserve the suspension. It was a reaction but it was also intended to hurt the guy.

Yes, I saw the Chris Neil hit, and no it doesn’t deserve to be reviewed although I think he was lucky to avoid a roughing or possibly a charging penalty.

There is a difference between a hit that was penalty worthy and an intent to injure. Guess which one was an intent to injure? Here’s a hint – the other player was knocked out.

---

When will Bob Cole realize that Volchenkov plays for Ottawa and that when Spezza turns it over to the Ducks, it isn’t Volchenkov who shoots the puck at Emery? I’m just saying, it’s happened like three times this series.

---

And finally, when will Redden be traded? That guy should, at least, be benched. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy, does well for the community, etc etc, blah blah blah. He's one of the highest paid players on the team and seems to want to play for the Ducks since he's giving them the puck so much. I keep hearing that he's better than this but I haven't seen it. I really think he needs to get his shit together or should be shown the door (or the pine).

Isn’t Sheldon Surray up on waivers this summer?

---