When A Win Feels Like A Loss

(Photo from Yahoo! Sports)

THIS IS NOT THE POSITION IN WHICH I DESIRE TO SEE HANNU TOIVONEN! He should look like this or this. He should not be a) being attended to by a trainer, b) doubled over in obvious pain or, c) giving way to Andrew Raycroft.

I find this wholly unacceptable and wish the hockey gods to rectify this situation immediately.

And the Bruins won the game too. They beat the division-leading Ottawa Senators again, (4-2 this time), when every reasonable, thinking person would assume the B's were going to get creamed. And that's all well and good, but...Hannu!?!

Not fair. Not fair at all. And now there's Raycroft trade talk which, okay, fine, but can we make sure that Hannu's leg isn't actually going to fall off before we go shipping his backup out of town? It was just earlier this very day that I found this little item on Boston.com:

"[Toivonen] is also a candidate for the Finnish Olympic team after Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff pulled out of the Games because of hip problems."

Earlier today? Puppies and lollipops. Now? Sadness and woe. Sports can be awfully cruel sometimes.

Except for Manny, it would seem, who can apparently do (or not do) what he damn well pleases. And while he's holding the Red Sox front office hostage, the rest of the teams in the division are quietly (or not so quietly if they're Toronto) getting better. Seriously? Make a decision on this one. Stay or go. This is the equivalent of those relationships that everyone has where a couple spends three days (or weeks or months) doing the "break-up" dance. (I'm pretty sure I might have stolen that analogy from Bill Simmons but I just finished "Now I Can Die In Peace" and it's midnight and I've got my crankypants on so you'll have to forgive). Just choose. So the rest of us can get on with our lives.

Of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Meaning, of course, that we can still make fun of A-Rod. Alex "I'm more Dominican than a plantain, please let me buy real estate in the Dominican Republic" Rodriguez has now, apparently decided that he is, in fact more American than your proverbial apple pie and will be representing the US in the World Baseball Classic in March. Well thank goodness we can all sleep soundly now. Our long national nightmare is over.