From a Berger column this week (*don’t have the link; sorry):

“Exactly why Fletcher is allowing Sundin to wag his – and the club’s – tail into the month of August, is an unsolvable mystery.”

Wagging Fletcher’s tail? What kind of alternate reality is Howard living in now?

Far be it from me to miss an opportunity to make fun of the Leafs organization (hey, a girl’s gotta live) but methinks the only tail getting wagged here is Howard’s. I doubt anyone in the Leafs organization has obsessed on the subject half as much as the Toronto media does, and the Toronto Sports Media Blog seems to agree:

Cliff has said publicly that any money he may use on Sundin has no effect on the McCabe situation. That being the case, who the hell cares how long it takes Mats to do anything, except for, of course, Howard.

Besides, I sincerely doubt Sundin is considering the Leafs anyway. But since he was polite enough not to discard the notion outright when asked about his contemplations back in July, I suppose the idea will continue to get air-time.

Meanwhile, How God Can Help

Howard Berger & Co. aside, that doesn’t mean there isn’t good stuff being written on the Wazzup, Mats? saga.

Case in point: this post from Four Habs Fans is an epic piece of work. Turns out some Jewish fans have had just about enough of this Mats Sundin waiting game…

Mats, I just want to tell you that my tribe has done enough waiting to last a lifetime. We’re done with it. We’ve made enormous mistakes in the throes of our waiting game.

Prance around the desert and cook bread that looks like a feeble cracker. - The Messiah never came.

Build the Temple. - The Messiah never showed up.

Rebuild the Temple. - The Messiah stood us up.

Conquer Palestinian Land, evict the Palestinians - you know, violate a bunch of human rights and all that jazz. - No Messiah.

Read the rest here. An absolute classic. (* my thanks to Habs Inside/Out for the pointer).

If only I could write something half as brilliant about my own ancestors and our waiting game for Mats. The problem is, my ancestors don’t really go for that suffering-in-silent-pain approach.

First of all, we whine a lot, and second we damn well know how to distract ourselves while awaiting the Second Coming: when forced into a corner Irish Catholics will simply start ordering beer, experimenting with potato recipes and singing folk songs from the Old Country.

And so that’s what I’m doing.

Remember the 5 Stages of Grief? I’m deep into “Acceptance”... which is always better with beer.

And generally speaking, I think it’s probably a whole lot less stressful than being a Jew. But we all cope how we can. :)