What's Wrong with
ARIZONA?

The Reason Rat Poison was Invented?

Though the House of Infamy was started to deal specifically with the Stonepile in James Bay and the aftermath of the Legislature Raids, now and then it is illustrative to show how other similar bodies also do almost anything other than represent the interests of those they are supposed to serve. That's why somtimes we discuss Stevie's sandbox in Ottawa and today the council chambers in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix where the erstwhile Winnipeg Jets play to thousands of empty seats and bleed money year after year.

From outside it would appear that the state of Arizona must be some kind of concentration camp for the mentally deranged of America. I mean here is a state where they are quite likely to turf John McLame, a man who has been THE Senator from Arizona since Mastodons roamed the petrified forest and recently chose Sarah Palin, God's personal representative to trailer trash, to be his VP nominee for being too........LIBERAL! Also this is a state where over 50% of the outstanding mortgages are underwater and people are walking away from their homes in droves. And then there are the little racist wrinkles as the state tries to deal with piles of dead Mexicans in the desert and live Mexicans swamping the financially strapped state by passing laws that are likely to be declared unconstitutional or cheering on Sheriff John Arpaio's personal war against the brown tide threatening to return the state to Mexico.

In spite of the fact that according to the Arizona Republic the city of Glendale is like most jurisdictions in the US Southwest in dire straits.

July 1 is also the start of Glendale's fiscal year. Glendale plans to cut its budget by $14.7 million through cost-cutting

I can only wonder how the taxpayers of Glendale feel about the fact that last night the city council voted (unanimously) to guarantee up to $25,000,000 of losses to the NHL to keep the Coyotes in town. Now call me old-fashioned, but if the weird folks of the greater Phoenix area gave that much of a crap about hockey or the Coyotes, I would think maybe they would buy tickets and like go to the games or something.

Gary "the rat" Bettman, (who probably couldn't even lace up a pair of skates, but if he could I would love to have a conference with him in the corner by the boards) seems obsessed with moving teams out of Canada to markets where people's only experience of ice is when they have cocktails, not neat.* Maybe Tampa Bay did okay the year they won the Stanley Cup with a collection of players who all would have been Habs in the old days, but except for the L.A. Kings, hockey is a non-starter south of the 49th, except for those places where people actually play hockey like Boston, Chicago, Detroit and the Twin Cities. L.A. is the exception because they have so many resident Canadians, and generally affluent ones, that they should have a contingent of Senators equal to Prince Edward Island.

Last night, in between periods of the tragic Canucks annual May 11 surrender to the Blackhawks, Scott Oakes (another ex-Winnipegger like yours truly) got the Ratman to re-iterate his stubborn mission to keep hockey teams where they don't belong. Read about it or see the interview here.

When it comes to the Coyotes, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says Winnipeg is an option but Phoenix is the priority.

Bettman spoke with Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Oake Tuesday night as the city council of Glendale, Ariz., voted in favour of guaranteeing the NHL up to $25 million US to keep the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena for the 2010-2011 season.

Bettman criticized the "hysteria" generated over reports that negotiations between Ice Edge Holdings — a group of Canadian and American business investors — over a potential arena lease deal had broken off.

The news sparked reports that a group led by Toronto-based billionaire David Thompson was in talks to bring the Coyotes back to Winnipeg. The Coyotes, then the Jets, left Manitoba's largest city in 1996.

According media reports, the NHL has already created an alternative schedule that includes a team based in Winnipeg. However, Bettman rejected claims that an official offer has been made.

All one can conclude is that in spite of the fact that no one (except some people with suction) cares in Phoenix if the Coyotes live or die, there must be folks with pull making out like Goldman Sachs in a bear market somehow. I'll still root for Steve Nash and the Suns to be Kobe Killers and beat the Lakers though.

Other than that, about all I can say is .......tonight

Go Habs!

*There is one other possiblity for the intransigence about moving a team to Hamilton or Winnipeg.

If either city was to get an NHL team then Toronto would want one too!