CBC feature on Nazem Kadri

Hey, guess what? Another Muslim angle by a mainstream media regarding Kadri! Whew, we haven't seen one of those since yesterday. Still, it's a nice piece about Kadri and his impact beyond the Leafs.

over 2 years ago bkblades 19 comments 0 recs |

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I guess everyone has to mention it once. The interesting thing will be how things go in, you got it, November during Ramadan. He’s already said, in an exclusive interview with this handsome bastard, that he works around it. I bet at least 5 stories will run in the run up to November.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 8, 2009 8:20 AM EDT reply actions

Unless you’re a Habs fan, PPP. Then you go on the comment boards of Leaf/Kadri related stories and call him a terrorist. And yes, I’ve seen this at least a half dozen times during the draft.

"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09

by kidkawartha on Jul 8, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Wow

Imagine is every francophone player got the same treatment because of the FLQ…

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 8, 2009 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Hmmm, there’s a meme I’d like to start.

"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09

by kidkawartha on Jul 8, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions

well soon enough Kadri will be terrorizing the Habs with his mad skill

Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option

by JaredFromLondon on Jul 8, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Following Kadri’s gotten a lot easier since he was drafted by the Leafs. Sweeet.

by honed on Jul 8, 2009 10:27 AM EDT reply actions

What?

He’s Muslim? Who knew?

A Nation of Masochists TRUCULENCE!! It's not just a word. It's a way of life.

by furcifer on Jul 8, 2009 1:52 PM EDT reply actions

/sarcas,

A Nation of Masochists TRUCULENCE!! It's not just a word. It's a way of life.

by furcifer on Jul 8, 2009 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

The ball hockey game in that clip takes place a few blocks from my house. There’s an insane amount of kids that play almost every day. It puts a huge smile on my face when I see all the kids in their prayer caps carrying hockey sticks through the neighbourhood.

Bitter Leaf Fan: a life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...

by mf37 on Jul 8, 2009 2:37 PM EDT reply actions

I was a timekeeper in a ball hockey league. We had a team made up of Muslim players and once they once requested a delay of the start of the game in order to get the prayers in. Hopefully the stereotypes of hockey being anti-immigrant access or anti-minority access will will end soon

A Nation of Masochists TRUCULENCE!! It's not just a word. It's a way of life.

by furcifer on Jul 8, 2009 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

I am going to try to write a post about that. I partly disagreed with Steve’s on the topic. Part of it is priorities (he cites kids with new clothes, shoes, iPods, xboxes) but even if you think that hockey’s cheap the problem isn’t necessarily the cost but how it has to be paid and incidentals.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 8, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Well Steve’s post was referring to immigrants in which case I agree with many of his points. I know in my case I came to Canada when I was 5 and I never played hockey not for any financial reasons but because of my parents’ misconceptions that it was a violent game. I played baseball instead. I think a major issue isn’t the cost but the exposure of immigrants to the game.

As for the ball hockey league for all I know many of the players could have been born and brought up in Canada as Kadri was. In that case they and their parents would be more exposed to the game.

A Nation of Masochists TRUCULENCE!! It's not just a word. It's a way of life.

by furcifer on Jul 9, 2009 12:02 AM EDT up reply actions

I find there aren’t many proper introductions to hockey for immigrants. It’s a complex sport to follow and the connotation that it’s a “white man’s sport” isn’t prevalent, but if pressed, I’m sure there is an underlying sentiment. And that’s precisely due to a lack of knowledge made available to people from other countries that don’t know hockey very much. Exacerbate that with language difficulties, and hockey registrations are just more difficult than picking up a soccer ball and signing up your kids at your local park.

To provide context to the culture I was exposed to, professional sports for many East Asian countries aren’t a viable or realistic goal for parents to encourage their kids. If sports aren’t going to bring respect and honour to your family, why waste time registering and spending energy into sports for your kids?

Supporter of the Sergei Berezin "Give and Go" - You give me puck, then you go to hell

by bkblades on Jul 9, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Some of it is cultural, some of it is cost, some of it is the community in which the person finds themselves. Some ethnic groups in TO are insular (some aren’t) so as furcifer mentioned exposure is an issue.

However, to discount cost is a folly. Registration is about $300, equipment is another $400 (even used). That doesn’t seem like much but you can’t pay that in installments (usually). $700 in one go is a big deal. Then, they don’t necessarily have access to vehicles. Toss in the fact that they are likely working low-paying jobs that don’t necessarily give them the time to take the kids to the games and you start to see that there are definitely structural issues at play beyond “they can buy new iPods!”

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 9, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh for sure cost cannot be ignored. There’ are reasons why soccer has the highest enrollment out of any youth sports and the low cost entry is certainly one of them. For people struggling to make ends meet the gap between a $165 soccer registration and the $420 hockey registration is much larger than it appears.

As for the concept of hand me downs Steve neglects to face the fact that many immigrants will be in social circles where these hand be downs aren’t available. Lowering the equipment costs should be a major priority.

A Nation of Masochists TRUCULENCE!! It's not just a word. It's a way of life.

by furcifer on Jul 9, 2009 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Another good point. Lindros talked about walking around the neighbourhood when he was younger with his buddy and they would take turns getting first crack at what’s left over but if no one plays hockey where do you go for the really cheap options?

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 9, 2009 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

As for the hand me downs

I didn’t know we were in a select circle by going to a local hockey shop that happened to sell both new AND used equipment. A lot of stores do so, and I’m pretty sure there’s entire chains of used sporting goods that advertise quite publicly.

I have a hard time buying the whole “we can’t afford skates” argument. I really do. If I can find skates and pads online for less than $200, well… seriously? I admit that’s not ridiculously cheap, but it’s still not amazingly expensive. These are kids I hear talking about X-box games, see playing their I-pods, and using their cell phones (that they have NO FREAKING USE FOR) in the middle of class.

Consider my experience coloured by the side I come at it from, but I sincerely have an issue with kids complaining they lack the funding to play the sport. If they REALLY wanted to, they’d give up some of the other electronic crap they pay for. Sell it on e-bay. My brother just got over $200 for his Blackberry on E-bay selling it to someone in Malaysia. I see kids in school with blackberry’s who are 16. What the hell does a 16 year old need a blackberry for?

Seriously, this isn’t a point worth arguing. Kids priorities are out of whack, and I don’t think the cost is ridiculous frankly. If we want kids to play they need to contemplate where the money goes… it’s not entirely the fault of the system.

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Sir Winston Churchill

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.

by Steve Burtch on Jul 9, 2009 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh and as for that posting... I'll say here what I couldn't say in the article...

The kid quoted in that posting was a student of mine. He didn’t mention hockey to me more than a couple of times in passing and he KNEW I was the hockey coach of the school’s team.

A fanatic player doesn’t “not” mention it to the coach of the team in his school. If he had wanted to play I would have found a way to get him the opportunity.

We had at least 2 kids try out for the team with borrowed equipment, and we weren’t planning on cutting anyone. That’s what ticked me off about what the kid said in the article and why I wrote it in the first place.

He makes it sound like he lacks opportunity, but he frankly wasn’t seeking it out, and for someone that’s a “fanatic” I find that a tad odd.

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Sir Winston Churchill

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.

by Steve Burtch on Jul 9, 2009 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Sometimes I wonder if the Timbits program is just one big fucking hockey-pyramid scam, with Crosby used at the poster-boy while a big chunk of the money is funneled to the corporate master’s of Wendy’s Inc. I mean, it’s got to be a huge charity, but you never seem to see large numbers of poor kids getting to take advantage of it.
OTOH, I could be completely wrong and they just keep a low profile.

"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09

by kidkawartha on Jul 9, 2009 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions