Letter to Coach Harper
Dear Prime Minister,
I understand you are a hockey trivia buff. As such, you will understand why much of the country is troubled by your performance on the first shift of your first game.
To further the metaphor, it is as though you campaigned to be the player coach of Team Canada. Your daily speeches emphasized how much things would change under your leadership. The team would be disciplined and would not resemble the foul playing, undisciplined predecessor squad. You would assemble a solid team of loyal players who would make the nation proud. On the basis of your promises you were rewarded with the role of player coach.
When you assembled the squad just hours before it stepped on the ice for its first game, the players were surprised to see in their midst Brett Hull, a player who had loudly and vehemently denounced his desire ever to play for Canada and had instead played for the Americans against us in previous tournaments. You welcomed him to the squad and made him an assistant captain.
Then on the first shift of the game, you checked an opponent from behind and were given a 5-minute major penalty.
The team and its fans are understandably puzzled by the dissonance between what you said when you were competing for the position, and what you did once given the job. It wasn't that you got a penalty, those are inevitable in the game, but it was the nature and timing of the penalty that took the enthusiasm out of the crowd that had barely taken its seat.
It remains to be seen if, once you emerge from the penalty box, you play a stirring and inspirational game and stay out of any further penalty trouble. If you score some big goals and Hull has a strong series, Canadians may forget about your lack of judgment on day one and all will be forgiven if you hoist the championship trophy at the end of the tournament.
The referees and the fans now have you and Hull under close scrutiny. In fact the whole team is now under a cloud. Fans will question every line combination, and boo every missed scoring opportunity. Referees will make every close call against you for the next several shifts.
I know politics has the reputation of being a dirty game and moral victories are thought to be for losers, but how the players play the game and how they treat the fans has become increasingly more important. Please don't lose sight of the core values that got you the job in the first place. Winning isn't worth it if you have to dissemble and break the rules to do it.
You still have a lot of fan support and a strong team behind you. However, you have given the boo birds a lot to shout about, and you have made the home crowd go quiet for a stretch. You have made your task and that of all the people who worked hard to help you win the job a lot more difficult than it needed to be. Remember that the next time you are tempted to take a cheap shot at an opponent. Those chances will invariably present themselves again and you have to show leadership by turning away and playing a disciplined game.
A loyal but slightly jaded fan.
B.J. Buan
Mill Bay, BC
V0R 2P2
I understand you are a hockey trivia buff. As such, you will understand why much of the country is troubled by your performance on the first shift of your first game.
To further the metaphor, it is as though you campaigned to be the player coach of Team Canada. Your daily speeches emphasized how much things would change under your leadership. The team would be disciplined and would not resemble the foul playing, undisciplined predecessor squad. You would assemble a solid team of loyal players who would make the nation proud. On the basis of your promises you were rewarded with the role of player coach.
When you assembled the squad just hours before it stepped on the ice for its first game, the players were surprised to see in their midst Brett Hull, a player who had loudly and vehemently denounced his desire ever to play for Canada and had instead played for the Americans against us in previous tournaments. You welcomed him to the squad and made him an assistant captain.
Then on the first shift of the game, you checked an opponent from behind and were given a 5-minute major penalty.
The team and its fans are understandably puzzled by the dissonance between what you said when you were competing for the position, and what you did once given the job. It wasn't that you got a penalty, those are inevitable in the game, but it was the nature and timing of the penalty that took the enthusiasm out of the crowd that had barely taken its seat.
It remains to be seen if, once you emerge from the penalty box, you play a stirring and inspirational game and stay out of any further penalty trouble. If you score some big goals and Hull has a strong series, Canadians may forget about your lack of judgment on day one and all will be forgiven if you hoist the championship trophy at the end of the tournament.
The referees and the fans now have you and Hull under close scrutiny. In fact the whole team is now under a cloud. Fans will question every line combination, and boo every missed scoring opportunity. Referees will make every close call against you for the next several shifts.
I know politics has the reputation of being a dirty game and moral victories are thought to be for losers, but how the players play the game and how they treat the fans has become increasingly more important. Please don't lose sight of the core values that got you the job in the first place. Winning isn't worth it if you have to dissemble and break the rules to do it.
You still have a lot of fan support and a strong team behind you. However, you have given the boo birds a lot to shout about, and you have made the home crowd go quiet for a stretch. You have made your task and that of all the people who worked hard to help you win the job a lot more difficult than it needed to be. Remember that the next time you are tempted to take a cheap shot at an opponent. Those chances will invariably present themselves again and you have to show leadership by turning away and playing a disciplined game.
A loyal but slightly jaded fan.
B.J. Buan
Mill Bay, BC
V0R 2P2
posted by Ben Buan | 8:46 p.m.
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