Weekly Takes - Monday, March 2nd Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 2nd Edition 

1. I was incredibly disappointed that Auston Matthews went to the White House to be used as a political prop by a man who very well could be a pedophile.

Miss me with the “oh, it was just a continuation of our celebration and it is always an honour to visit the White House and visit the President.” The President who is probably a pedophile? Hello?

A stain on all of their legacies, particularly Auston, who has Martin Luther King Jr. 's “the ultimate measure of a man” quote tattooed to his body! In the moment where he could have stood up for everything that is right, he decided to go with the flow and be used as a political prop.

And make no mistake about it, the entire team was used as a political prop. Going to the White House. Going on Fox News. They knew that doing these things would give off the “good, respectful, white men” narrative. They were legitimating a fascist. They did this in Nazi Germany. They do it in Saudi Arabia.  Facists use sports to help legitimize themselves. Saudi Arabia has quite literally mastered it with soccer and WWE.

2. My three stars from the Leafs awful loss to the Lightning on Wednesday…

1. Anthony Stolarz

2. Matthew Knies

3. John Tavares

I am grasping at straws. The Leafs were thoroughly dominated. 

3. There are no three stars from the Leafs horrific loss to the Panthers on Thursday, but there is a blessing in disguise. 

Losing – and losing as bad as they have – coming out of the Olympic break makes the Leafs clear sellers. The false hope that was created after a successful Western Canadian trip is gone.

This will be the best thing for the franchise, as long as Brad Treliving doesn’t mess it up.

4. Again – no three stars from the Leafs awful loss to the Senators on Saturday.

This is Peter Horachek level bad. Craig Berube, as I have written for months, needs to be fired because you need to determine how deeply rooted the team’s issues are. But he also needs to be fired because someone, somehow, needs to be held to account. 

This is embarrassing. 

5. My outline for the Leafs’ trade deadline:

Must Trade Now…

• Matias Maccelli (you are not qualifying him given how expensive his QO will be, so get whatever you can for him)

• Scott Laughton (pending UFA, no-brainer)

• Bobby McMann pending UFA, no-brainer)

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson (value will never be higher)

Must Trade, but can wait until the summer…

• Max Domi (negative asset)

• Dakota Joshua (negative asset)

• Morgan Rielly (negative asset)

Can Trade or Not Trade…

• Nicolas Roy

• Brandon Carlo

• Stolarz or Joseph Woll (ideally Stolarz)

This team has next to nothing when it comes to prospects and picks. This week can help determine the next half-decade of Leafs hockey.

6. I love that the Blue Jays re-signed Max Scherzer.

I cannot wrap my head around the fit from a baseball perspective, but I truly believed the Jays had to be careful this offseason when it came to getting better, not wanting to stay complacent, while also not destabilising a clubhouse that was a big reason for their success a season ago.

Losing both Scherzer and Chris Bassitt would have hurt.

7. The war in Iran was a longtime coming for a blood-thirsty President who has and will continue to do anything to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein files.

When news first broke, I, like anyone, had a million thoughts go through my head. But to break it down as short as I can, all anyone with a heart can say is… it is sad. It is sad that an evil man is going to send a generation of Americans to die for Israel. It is sad that so many innocent Iranians are going to die. It is sad that we live in a society that is truly run by two groups of people: The Israeli government and the Military Industrial Complex. It is sad that I am almost… numb to it all.

And all anyone with a brain can say is… how stupid is this? A war with Iran is Iraq on steroids. The process to achieve victory will be catastrophic. And even then, victory is impossible. Go ahead and do regime change in Iran. That will definitely end well.

This cements Donald Trump as the worst President in modern American history, a badge of honour that belonged to George W. Bush.

8. As for Mark Carney, he too cemented himself on the wrong side of history by supporting Trump’s latest war.

Anything short of fully condemning the war would have been pathetic, but to outright support it was breathtaking to read. He is what everyone thought he was: A slimy globalist who will get in line to get along.

Too bad our opposition leader bent the knee to Trump on Iran. It’s a big club that we are not a part of.