racingmeridian.com

It’s not a nice time to be thoughtful in The Big Smoke.

Two of our purported leaders have botched affairs with radically stupid actions.

Mayor Rob Ford declines to attend Toronto’s biggest parade, Sundays Pride event, while Brian Burke, the Leaf GM, is noticeably absent while his underlings pitch Brad Richards, a player the team desperately needed.

Is the concept of leadership and responsibility dead in this city?

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The Pride parade puts Toronto on the right side of history. A contentious and controversial event, this year the celebration is conducted against the backdrop of the rise of Michelle Bachman and The Tea Party in the United States, along with the continued expression of Islamic anti-homosexual sentiment, including the demand by a speaker in Toronto this weekend that gays be executed.

Toronto’s mayor should be at the parade, emphatically letting the “haters” know where this great city stands in terms of the fundamental human rights of its citizens.

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Brian Burke, an American citizen, opted to fly to Afghanistan to spend time with the troops instead of doing his job on one of the most important days on the hockey calendar.

What a moronic move.

Burke moved heaven and earth to be in Sweden when the Sedin twins stood on the verge of free agency; he clearly understands the importance of the face of the franchise being present when a pitch is delivered.

When Brad Richards, a point a game centre, and one with inclinations to abscond to New York, sat in Mississauga, I can only imagine his disappointment in being wooed by Leaf second raters. He opted to go with his original plan and go to the Big Apple.

The Leafs have tons of cap space and the price on Richard was appallingly reasonable, a cap hit in the range of 6 million a year. The Leafs have no one to give the puck to sniper Phil Kessel and no plan to obtain a player who will fill the void.

For a franchise out of the playoff for seven years now, Richards was a no brainer. An absolute go all-in necessity.

Burke didn’t even attend the meeting and that sealed the Leafs chances immediately.