from Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star,

“As a GM, if you pay attention to what the sports writers write, you’re a fool,” he said. “The sports page, when you are losing, has value only if you own a puppy or a parakeet.”

The denizens of broadcast and digital media will be happy to know they were not immune from Burke’s territorial spreadings.

“The worst thing that ever happened to sports was talk radio,” Burke said. “And the internet is talk radio on steroids with lower IQs.”

You had to take it all with the usual shaker of salt, of course. And give Burke credit: At least he turned the gun on himself now and then.

“I’ve never seen a loaded weapon in a boardroom yet,” he said, speaking of the problem of overpaying free agents — to which he more than once fell victim. “So if I’m (over)paying a guy, it’s not because someone’s got a revolver to my head. It’s because I’m an idiot.”

No, Burke hasn’t lost his touch for reeling off scrappy zingers. And no, he hasn’t lost his appetite for zigging while others zag. At times on Friday it seemed as though Burke was going out of his way to provoke and inflame.

more