I spend (waste?) lots of time ripping prima-donna megazillionaires in professional sports, hot shots who somehow think their perspiration smells nicer than ours. I guess I’m a jaded sportswriter.
Today, however, I’m actually feeling somewhat sorry for some of these same dudes. I guess it’s the time of year.
Like, honestly, I’m finding myself hoping Michael Vick and Sean Avery and Plaxico Burress – perpetrators of loathsome acts -- get second chances in the new year and rebound from adversity.
I’m hoping Todd Bertuzzi reaches a mind-easing settlement to an issue that was created by his despicable violence but that has dragged on too long.
I’m hoping Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds somehow prove they didn’t load up with performance-enhancing drugs and receive the bouquets we long figured were coming to them for their domination in baseball.
I hope MLB revisits its stance on Pete Rose and welcomes the hits leader into the Hall of Fame before it’s too late for him to treasure it the way he should.
I hope Casey Printers is allowed to stay with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and shows he deserves the CFL-high salary this woebegone franchise inexplicably gave him.
Heck, I’m in such a mood today that I actually hope Don Cherry continues to regurgitate his bafflegab on CBC and keeps on dressing like a clown.
I hope Manny Ramirez signs for the unfathomable dollars he craves and is allowed by his new manager to let his hair grow down to below the butt inside his baggy pants.
I hope Craig MacTavish survives as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, though I seriously doubt that will happen with a struggling squad proving it has nowhere near the type of talent we reckoned it would this season.
I hope the Detroit Lions can somehow muster up enough to finally record a victory this weekend and avoid becoming the first 0-16 team in NFL history, though I seriously doubt that will happen because they are so very, very awful.
I hope Jay Triano – the first Canadian head coach in NBA history and a decent chap by all accounts – can revive the Raptors, though I seriously doubt that will happen since overrated club czar Bryan Colangelo has provided him with a dog of a team (that has only two bona fide players – Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon).
I hope Maple Leafs bossman Brian Burke smiles. Just once.
I hope the Blue Jays can talk MLB into moving them to a different division.
And I hope you enjoy the holidays.
Marty York is Metro's national sports columnist as well as an instructor at the College of Sports Media in Toronto. He can be heard regularly on Vancouver radio station CKNW with Sportstalk host Dan Russell. Contact Marty at marty.york@metronews.ca
