As Leaf fans we are all familiar with the nature of reporting in Toronto as it pertains to the Leafs (or really, any sport). It is equal parts assinine, disingenuous, and outright lies. Oh, and sometimes they do that at the behest of one of Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. The latest instances are particularly galling.

In the realm of outright lies we have Howard Berger reporting that the Leafs have offered Wilson an embarrassing low salary that wouldn't even put him in the top ten in the league. According to Wilson's "relative" he was offered a base salary of $600K. Nick Kypreos, that bastion of hockey intelligence, apparently spoke with the same imaginary 'relative'. The entire story is riddled with problems such as the apparent organization and cancelling of a press conference to announce Ron Wilson's hiring. Does Berger actually believe that? Is he that naive? I doubt he is as gullible as a new born babe so he's just inventing facts to try to lend credence to his article. This excerpt is pure comedic gold:

If true, it sure doesn't sound like a Cliff Fletcher negotiating tactic. Fletcher has always had a good feel about the value of coaches and other personnel beneath him, and he certainly has not been known for low-balling people he wishes to hire. That's what makes this situation all the more puzzling. 

So, the entire situation is extremely out of character for Fletcher. The easy thing would be to just assume that Peddie is interjecting himself in the process and is fouling things up. He's a ready made scape goat. Just kidding, the easy thing would be to do his job as a reporter and get his libelous posterior on the phone to speak to Cliff. Instead, today we have Lance Hornby from the home of responsible journalism reporting the exact opposite after actually speaking to Cliff Fletcher (novel concept, I know). So we either have Howard "Avery said Cancer!" Berger lying or Cliff Fletcher.

Onto the sneaky disingenuity that pervades the Toronto media scene and this case involves the one-eyed king of the blind, Damien Cox. A man who so loves making intellectually false arguments that he has inspired a watchdog website to keep an eye on him and his acolytes. Thanks to Eyebeleaf for pointing out this gem:

Until now. In being a catalyst for the Wings en route to that team's 11th Stanley Cup – now tied with your Maple Leafs, ladies and gentlemen – Zetterberg blasted himself into a new stratosphere where he'll never be underappreciated again.

If you can't spot the intellectual dishonesty it is time to hit the history books. See it? The Toronto Maple Leafs do in fact have 11 Stanley Cups as the Maple Leafs. However, the franchise has also won 2 Stanley Cups under other names before the Leafs' Guardian Angel Conn Smythe bought the Toronto St. Pats and re-named them the Leafs. Of course, Cox cannot write a "OH MY GOD! THE RED WINGS HAVE CAUGHT THE LEAFS!!!!" article if he tells the truth and notes that while the Leafs will likely be caught by Detroit the Red Wings still have to win two more Stanley Cups.

It literally pains me that we have to live with this level of sportswriting and then these same merchants of lies and massaged facts will slam bloggers, commenters, and anyone that did not get 'trained' as a journalists for playing fast and loose with the facts. Don't even get me started on how they think that they can accuse bloggers of being cruel when guys like Feschuk, Griffin, and Cox carry out their personal vendettas through hatchet jobs.

• Steve makes a pretty good case for Tortorella making a great choice to coach Toronto. I disagree only because I have hitched my plans to Wilson as coach.
  
• Buy-outs could be coming and Tucker and Raycroft are apparently the prime candidates. I'd axe Razor but keep Tucker around to see if he's declined or if he was just injured and too selfish to heal properly before returning to the lineup.
  
• A great HNIC roundup will provide all of the fodder you need to decide whether the CBC is just stupid (wouldn't surprise me) or if the composer is using fans to help their lawsuit. Either way, I could care less. If that song is not on HNiC next year I might actually do something. Maybe.
  
• Uncle Cliff gives the Jockeys some answers. I like his train of thought so far.
  
• Andy Grabia points you to some helpful ways to save the HNiC song or Canada's 2nd official anthem.