A year and a half ago, I made a choice that would forever change my relationship with the nation of Canada.
I became a fan of the Ottawa Senators.
When choosing to become a hockey fan, I knew I couldn’t pick an American team. As I wrote at the time:
“I couldn’t really befan any American team. It’d mean jumping in with the locale, and I’ve got enough odd city allegiances without confusing myself via the matter of whether I had to like the city as well as the team, whether I could just like the team but not the city, and whether I could convince the Carolina Hurricanes (Hurricane?) to move to Greensboro.”
What I didn’t really put together was how much this would immerse me in the nation of Canada. A consequence of needing to consume a lot of media about the Senators, to figure out what the hell was going on, is that I consume a lot of media about the Senators, and a consequence of consuming all that media about the Senators is that I’ve picked up broader Ottawa news at the same time. It’s kind of like a fishing net pulling in buried treasure. Or litter. Something between those two.
Ottawa, one might guess, is the most Canadian city. It’s the seat of government. It’s on the border between French Canada and Canadian Canada. It doesn’t exactly work this way, of course—though Ottawa probably does have people from all over, the ones I get my Sens news from seem to be lifers—but, you know, it’s a nice thought, and even if it isn’t the most Canadian city, it’s definitely a Canadian city. No dispute about that.
To me, Ottawa feels a lot like a Washington, D.C. but with the cool parts stripped out, having spent a lot of time in the latter and having literally never been to the former. So I guess what I mean is that the Sens blogosphere feels a lot like the D.C. blogosphere: Young, extremely white collar, very informed about a lot of specific things and completely out of touch with certain other circles of existence. I love the Sens blogosphere. It’s a good time. A culture that prides itself on its team pranking other teams by beating them in accidental fashion? All about that.
How has this changed how I feel about Canada? Well, I’m less sympathetic to the Blue Jays. Toronto’s huge, but as with most things, you can forget that if you never think about it. Think about Canada a lot, and you’ll remember that Toronto’s massive. Kind of nuts that the Blue Jays aren’t better. I also think of Canadians as less nice, but if you were judging Americans by Washingtonian bloggers, you’d get an even worse impression, so maybe I need to recalibrate. I have more of a desire to visit, and to visit Ottawa specifically, which was previously not on the list of places I wanted to see at any point in my life. Overall, though, while I’m more familiar with what’s going on in Canada, my feelings about it are…more neutral? And muted? I guess when you spend time getting to know something, it’s often a lot more normal and underwhelming than it appears from afar.
With that, uh, happy Canada Day, I guess. I don’t care as much as I used to that it isn’t in October like it should be.
Holy Nick Paul!
On the topic of the Sens, former forward Nick Paul, traded at the deadline to Tampa Bay for the well-vibed Mathieu Joseph, is signing a seven-year extension worth $3.15M a year, which I think means he’s worth about a third of Brady Tkachuk. I guess the age thing factors in? How old is Nick Paul? Nick Paul’s only 27? I always forget how young the Sens are. Still five years older than Tkachuk, though.
Texas and Realignment
I’m curious where Texas stands in this realignment game. They’re still in the Big 12, technically, and they’re also in the SEC, but they’re not exactly established over there nor are they anywhere near as powerful within their league as they once were. There seems to be some loyalty to Texas Tech (future nonconference scheduling there was agreed to almost immediately upon Texas’s Big 12 exit), but presumably nowhere near enough to actually help the good people of Lubbock in their effort to stave off mid-majordom.
One funny possibility that could happen here is that the new Big 12 could start winning. It sounds odd to say, but if we’re going by the current future alignment, the Big 12 had a playoff team this past year in Cincinnati, and it’s got a sleeping giant joining in the form of BYU, and it’s not like Oklahoma State and Baylor and TCU haven’t been highly competitive at times recently. The hill’s probably too high to climb in a few years, but then again—Clemson did it. If a Big 12 team breaks through and wins a title before this all gets settled, does that make this no longer a binary arms race?
On a similar token: What’s going to happen to the Big East, and to our friend Shaka Smart? In a world ruled by football, what does a basketball league do? In my own ponderings, I often forget the Big East exists. I would guess I’m not alone.
England, Ohio, America
It says all one needs to know about Formula 1 that on the weekend recognizing America’s independence from the tyranny of Britain, the circuit chooses to race in England.
Now, F1 doesn’t need to cater to Americans. No need for that. But taking a stance directly opposing us?
In the good racing circuits, NASCAR’s at Road America, a fitting destination, and IndyCar’s at the Mid-Ohio Sports Course, which is to Road America as IndyCar is to NASCAR. Nobody’s thinking about it, but I guess it’s pretty American too?
Burnley In, Burnley Out
Well, getting another sale. Wayne Hennessey is reportedly headed from Burnley to Nottingham Forest. This one’s surprising, but at the same time, Burnley’s trying to pick up Man City prospect Arijanet Muric, which tracks with the approach to get younger. Chris Boden of the Burnley Express is saying Burnley won’t let Hennessey leave unless they get a replacement they like, such as Muric.
In front of the keeper, Burnley added C.J. Egan-Riley officially today, and also picked up England U21 captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis on loan. Also from Man City. The alliance with Urban Burnley only grows.
Meanwhile, Burnley beat Rochdale in a friendly today 1-0 on a Scott Twine goal. The vibes are great. Too great, though? Don’t want to get too comfortable. The Championship might be setting us up.
Oh, also, Leeds dropped out of the complaint against Everton for breaking the don’t-lose-too-much-money rules. That’s Burnley’s lonely battle now.
Blu, Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di
Nothing too interesting from Aaron Rodgers’s girlfriend on Instagram this week, but only because I’m already numb to it. My explore page has gotten weird. Lot of stuff about “New Earth.”
Ate a Lot of Cheese
My lunch was mostly cheese today. Just a big block of cheddar. In related news (same cause, so related as siblings), License Plate Bracket III is not getting unveiled today. We’re going to be in Crystal Lake this weekend and we need to leave for the airport on the soon side.
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Viewing schedule for the weekend:
Friday, 2:20 PM EDT: Red Sox @ Cubs (MLB TV)
Saturday, 7:15 PM EDT: Red Sox @ Cubs (FOX)
Sunday, 2:20 PM EDT: Red Sox @ Cubs (MLB TV/ESPN+)
Monday, 4:10 PM EDT: Cubs @ Brewers (MLB TV)
Keegan Thompson starts on Sunday. Not that…I’m expecting anything good or anything.
Friday, 10:15 PM EDT: White Sox @ Giants (MLB TV)
Saturday, 4:05 PM EDT: White Sox @ Giants (MLB TV)
Sunday, 4:05 PM EDT: White Sox @ Giants (MLB TV, third screen)
Monday, 8:10 PM EDT: Twins @ White Sox (MLB TV)
San Francisco thought itself rid of Joe Kelly. Guess again, Bay Area.
Sunday, 9:55 AM EDT: F1 British Grand Prix (ESPN2)
Sunday, 12:30 PM EDT: IndyCar @ Mid-Ohio (NBC, second screen)
Sunday, 3:00 PM EDT: NASCAR Cup Series @ Road America (USA Network, second screen)
At least it gets more American as the day goes on.
