Word is that Columbus is putting Rick Nash on the market. Now I know it is highly unlikely but JR should at least for laughs call the Jackets to see if there is a possibility of a deal. I don't think you need me to tell you what a Staal-Nash-Anybody Else line can do.

Now with Nash's $7.8 mil cap hit for the next six years it will probably will not happen for the Canes but it would be interesting to find out if something would be possible.

The only times I have posted on this board in the past six months were in regards to the play of the Boston (fill in your expletive here). Both times the responses from the gallery were less than complementary. Well I hope with their antics this season, capped off by Saturday's mess with Vancouver, you have finally understood what I have been saying all along.

As a Whaler fan I had to endure all the Boston garbage from close up. It has not become any better in the ensuing years. Now that the Bruins are winning again you see how they really are, team and fans alike. I will put it as succinctly as possible.

Boston is scum. The players are scum. The coaches are scum. The fans are scum. The city is scum. Even their scum is scummier than the average scum. The sooner you folks figure that out then the sooner you can join the rest of the league in the collective hatred that is building up again for these sewer sniffers.

That is all.

As I write this Penn St. has canned Joe Paterno and the President of the university due to their inexcusable actions related to the Sandusky case. Even with this turn of events should YES cease to show the Penn St. Football Story? I know YES only shows a television program but perhaps some larger issues should be considered. With Paterno's dismissal this may be now moot, but with the school's misconduct maybe YES should drop this show. What do you folks think?

Howdy folks. I usually just email the humble host with my comments but I figured this is one to share with all of you.

Here in CT there we have a fellow named "Scott Gray" who has been with WTIC radio for way too many years. This was the flagship station for Hartford Whalers hockey. I put his name in quotes because his real name is Christopher Albair (don't ask how I know this).

Now ol' Chris fancies himself a sports expert. On the TIC morning show he gives his daily self-righteous commentaries about sports. I don't listen to him or any other member of the CT media because I find them all ridiculously stupid. But that is just the way I feel.

Recently Chris has decided to wave the "return of the Whalers" banner. A couple of months ago he made this proclamation:

A skeptic as recently as three weeks ago about the ability of Baldwin’s efforts to reap a level of reward that was once inconceivable here, I am now prepared to go on record with a prediction we can have the National Hockey League and the Hartford Whalers back on our ice within three years.

Here is the link to that commentary: http://wtic.cbslocal.com/2010/07/29/sports-commentary-729/

A couple of days ago he decided to raise the stakes a little. In my opinion he crosses the line. Here is the relevant quote:

When nearly five thousand fans turned out for Whaler-Fest at Rentschler Field on August 14th I had to be forgiven for wondering how Joel Quenneville, Kevin Dineen and Ron Francis would look standing behind the new Hartford Whalers bench in three years.

Here is the link for your perusal: http://wtic.cbslocal.com/2010/08/25/sports-commentary-8252010/#more-7250

I find a little outrageous to name a coach who just won the Cup in Chicago and has signed an extension, another coach who is employed by Buffalo in their system, and the fellow who will either be the next head coach or GM of the Hurricanes.

I know anything can happen but to do something like this is beyond the pale. It signifies the arrogance that has characterized the behavior of CT fans for the past 13 years.

I will say the vast majority of us up here have moved past thinking the Hurricanes are moving back to Hartford. Eventually we see reality. Our whining is now about other teams or expansion. All I can say is we may present one face to you folks whenever some of us travel down but deep down the resentment remains.

All I can add is that when three years have passed and Hartford is still an AHL town I hope Mr. Albair is shown is walking papers. Maybe then the rest of us can move on with our lives.

The Hartford Courant has a weekly caption contest in their Editorial section where they have a one panel cartoon and the readers suggest what to put in the speech balloon.

This past week depicted Bud Selig saying something to A-Rod. Note the artist put a "10" on the sleeve. If I remember correctly the Yanks did not wear the "10" last year. Of course if the artist had any talent he/she would not be working in Hartford.

The winner and honorable mentions run the gamut from sharp comments about baseball to low blows on A-Rod.

Here is the link to see the winner and all the entries: http://blogs.courant.com/cartoon_captions/2009/02/february-22-2009.html

I'm pretty lousy at the image-embedding thing so if anyone would like to take a shot at pasting the winner here that would be fine with me.