All attention off ice

Well, there's my hockey season shot to rat crap. The Habs haven't made the next round of Stanley Cup play.

I've been a Canadiens fan nearly since birth. I remember the Richard brothers and Jean Beliveau. I recall netminder Ken Dryden (before he fell in with a dubious political crowd - didn't we all? - but then tried to make it a better one). Hell, I'd still be a Canadiens fan even if the “yes” side had won the sovereignty referendum. Some things are beyond crass worldly things: blind loyalty to the Habs are one of them.

I was in non-athlete hockey heaven during the Canadiens and Bruins series. I may take a gander at the tube during final games if they have one of the real NHL teams playing - one of the original six. Since the Canadiens’ loss Saturday evening - the debacle - I'd been banking on the Rangers or Wings to carry the flag for the real NHL. Without such representation, it's as foreign to me as cricket finals between Sri Lanka and the U.K.

Since when did San Jose and Colorado start up teams? Bad enough those impertinent Pennsylvania teams got admitted. The next thing we know, they’ll have an NHL team in Tampa Bay of all places - and they’ll be taking the Stanley Cup!

I can't imagine!

I'll stick with my first favourite blood sport: politics. Unlike hockey, it's the field to which I've given fuller attention.

In the States, the presidential political season is dragging on, with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton locked in a death match for the Democratic leadership. Both represent traditional constituencies of their party.

On the other side, what we're seeing with John McCain is the real Republicans, not that pack of self-centred, neo-con fanatics that hijacked and very nearly wrecked the Grand Old Party of Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford and Bush I. Can McCain overcome the neo-con taint of his party? Yes, if conditions are right. The dream ticket for the Republicans would be McCain and current State Secretary Condoleezza Rice as vice president. Each was personally affected by history as it unfolded during the 1960s: McCain as a prisoner of war of the North Vietnamese and Rice as a child in the violent American South during the civil rights movement. Both are of the more centrist elements of the Republicans and, despite Rice being in the administration, are not seen to be as tight with the worst, grief-ridden Bush II actions.

When the dust settles with the Democrats, a combined ticket of Hillary and Barack, or vice-versa, would match anything the Republicans can field.

We're in for a political rumble bar none in November. Really.