Who mourns for Messier?

Lost in last week's hijacking of the country's soul by narrow-minded bigots...oops, sorry, I meant "election", was an announcement that the NHL has cancelled its All-Star game; and it's fairly certain that the season will be cancelled this year.

To which I say, "oh, poop".

I've been a New Jersey Devils fan since their inception, and had the old-style red and mucus-green jacket to prove it, and I would've liked to see them go for the Cup again this year. Since they've started making the playoffs consistently, they've either went for that or gagged miserably in the first round; there doesn't seem to be a middle ground.

Well, that's gone, and in fact, my sports-watching for the winter is gone with them. Football's OK, but weekly. Basketball? Meh, except I'll watch Miami-LA games now to see the Shaq/Kobe fights. College basketball? I dig the tourney and Final Four, but otherwise, meh. Nothing else that's on is particularly great in my opinion, with the exception of that noble sport of kings, poker.

I think networks are missing an opportunity to try and get a fringe sport that'd be cheaper than hockey coverage (not hard) and more popular than hockey coverage (again, not hard). This was the stuff that Wide World of Sports used to kick ass on. Let's see some creativity. How about Australian rules football? I used to wake up early on Saturday mornings to catch that on ESPN. How about cricket? Yeah, but it'd be different. Some martial arts? Competitive darts? Or hurling, or curling, or candlepin bowling?

In the meantime, though, Scott Stevens will be checking Tie Domi in my mind...