No fiction on this year's list of 40-odd books read (well, one novel that I didn't like and didn't finish, and two cartoon strips). As usual, I've divided the list into my favourites, the o...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2015/12/books-read-in-2015.html
This was a very good year in reading as I enjoyed almost every single book I picked up. Not sure if that was down to luck, being more selective or getting great referrals and recommendations from...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-my-year-in-books.html
With the news that the Leafs have extended coach Randy Carlyle, I found myself asking what the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise stands for? They’re no longer about their storied history. Tim Leiwe...
There was a time when the hiring of a new President for the Toronto Maple Leafs would have mattered to me. I would have passionately researched the new hire's history, draft records, trades, busi...
I used to think the best sporting event I ever attended was the Canada-US game at the 1987 Canada Cup. Lemieux, Messier, Gretzky, Hawerchuk, Gilmour, Coffey, Borque all on the same team. Lemieux ...
Some kids rebel by growing their hair long, others drop out of school. I sometimes think my son rebelled by rejecting hockey. I play hockey two to three times a week year 'round. I sit on the boa...
I read 30 books this year, the lowest total since I started keeping track. The main reason I'm down about a book a month is social media. I am addicted to twitter. I also used to read on my subwa...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2013/12/books-read-in-2013.html
Have I mentioned how much I hate Darcy Tucker? On the bright side, his cap hit expires in another six months.
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2013/12/diagramming-my-leafs-loathing.html
Just a theory I've been working on...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-leafs-make-tough-decisions_6421.html
Originally posted to PPP on May 14, 2013 It shouldn’t be this hard to be a fan. I didn’t watch much of the Leafs playoffs this year. Of the seven games I watched four, maybe five. About the s...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-know-my-luck-too-well.html
Cross-posted from PPP... The Leafs have played approximately 3,000 hockey games since I started following them back in senior kindergarten. I don’t want to guess at how many hours of my life ha...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2013/01/leafs-vs-pens-worst-game-ive-ever-seen.html
Burke arrived in Toronto announcing he wasn't interested in a five year re-build. It was one of the few, if only, prescient statements he made. There would be no pugnacity. No testosterone....
The Leafs have put out two apology letters in the last 9 months (and likely will issue a third once the season wraps-up again next April). Here's a letter from Harold Ballard to Leafs fans in 198...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2013/01/harold-ballards-letter-to-leafs-fans.html
41 books read this year; 2 fiction; 39 non-fiction. If I were to sum-up my year of reading in one word, that word would be football (or, er, soccer). At least 8 titles by my count are...
Originally posted at Pension Plan Puppets You missing the NHL yet? I’m not. In fact, I could probably do with a little less NHL coverage. The pre-season is a bit of a joke anyway. 45 players in...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/10/battle-of-who-could-care-less.html
Writing may seem to be a solitary pursuit, but it isn’t. Our friends, colleagues, and family are likely to provide feedback during the creative stages. Others help give pieces their shape and r...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-creative-process-according-to-yahoo.html
If one were to make a list of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ rough patches, bald spots, and felonies over the last 30+ years – an epic, masochistic list of lists – the column with the most entrie...
It's nice that the Leafs want to apologize to fans, but this letter struck me as a great looking chocolate Easter bunny that turned out to be hollow, cheap and confected. I thought a few end note...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/04/annotated-leafs-apology-letter.html
In 1978, the Leafs made the semi-finals and were just four wins away from competing for the Stanley Cup. Lanny McDonald’s game seven OT goal set the Leafs up against the mighty Montreal Canadie...
I started this blog six years ago - March 26, 2006. The Leafs were floundering as an organization, they were out of the playoffs, the GM's moves were not panning out, and the future looked cloudy...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/02/bitter-leaf-turns-6.html
So I took a shot at Michael Grange's trade deadline entry earlier today. Here’s the trade deadline story as I would have filed it. You don’t need to look at the playoff races and the prices s...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/02/setting-course-in-september-paying.html
Sportsnet’s Michael Grange filed a piece on the Leafs yesterday that drew some surprising kudos on twitter from a few folks I admire.When I questioned the love for his piece, Grange was a very ...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/02/sympathy-for-devil.html
I'm not much of a Ron Wilson fan. He may not be the biggest reason that the Leafs are looking at another year without the playoffs, but I haven't seen anything from him to suggest he's got what i...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/02/ron-wilsons-record.html
When the NHL announced there would be no suspension, only a $2,500 fine, for Dominic Moore’s hit on Fedetenko, four thoughts immediately struck me:The NHL sure seems to be moving from 1 (or 2) ...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/02/nhl-fines-and-suspensions-aka-2500-and.html
A few weeks back I was on the phone with a sports reporter talking about the MLG Time Capsule. Rather unexpectedly, he asked me the following question: Of the Canadian NHL teams, which GM would I...
http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com/2012/02/trading-brian-burke.html