VIDEO: P.K. Subban advertises his [censored] on ESPN

Warning from Ed. The following article, submitted by Poor Len Canayen, our National Sports Editor, is all about race, sex, and hockey -- the ultimate WWW trifecta. 

Tank youse, Hed! In my first post this morning, I mentioned former NHL player P.K. Subban, now the star DEI hire on ESPN's hockey telecasts, on which he appears as the "colour(ed) commentator". He is obviously loathed by Mark Messier, a real former NHL star, and Steve Levy, the moderator of the panel. 

Why so? Consider this clip from a recent studio show. After a clip showed player Jack Eichel cutting his stick with a saw, P.K. made what he considered a joke, which his colleagues and a lot of viewers found offensive. Listen up. 

 

Yes, really. "I'm not a carpenter, but I do carry around a hammer." Steve Levy say "Yes, you do! So I've heard," and Mark Messier just look into the camera.

This caused a hyuge reaction on social media and in the news. Some fans are even saying it was "inappropriate" for the professional black guy to refer on TV to an ancient trope, which I'm sure our readers don't need to have spelled out.

Here's one comment. "Bye bye subban!!!! I might not be a carpenter but I carry a hammer???? On the air?? Any other man would be taken off the air. Everyone knows what he was referring to."

Yes. Yes, we do know. Many white guys believe that it's the "hammer" that attracts white girls, like Lindsey Vonn here, to black men. I'm sure P.K.'s money has nothing to do with Ms Vonn's eagerness to become half of a  poster for bi-racial coupline. For more on this see "Innocent question about racism in TV commercials" WWW 13/5/25. 

Although some people found Mr Subban's little jape funny, others thought it was wrong for him to advertise his... errr... words fail me, on TV. We're waiting now see if ESPN will do anything about it. [No way. Walt. Lifetime pct .988.] If he's called on the carpet, P.K. is expected to plead the Costanza defence: "Was that wrong? If anybody had told me that was frowned upon..."

There's an old saying that one hears sometimes when Mr Subban's name comes up in conversation. "Some folks is black. Some folks is niggers." If he wants to be counted among the former, P.K. should take lessons from David Amber, who has worked for years on hockey telecasts, for both ESPN and TSN/Hockey Night in Canada, without ever mentioning his "hammer".

Footnote: Ms Vonn/Mrs Subban -- we're not sure which she prefers -- was an Olympic skier, which obviously qualifies her for a seat on the advisory board of "women-led" Athena Capital, as annoounced today.

NHL Stanley Cup finals: how come fewer Americans are watching?

Yes, it's that time of year again! We know it's spring because the Leafs are out... of the Stanley Cup playoffs. But the defending champions, the Florda Panthers, will face off in about nine hours against the Edmonton Oilers, last year's runner-ups... runners-up?... the team the Panthers beat last year. The competition will be fierce, yet fewer and fewer Americans will be watching. Our National Sports (as long as it's hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, thinks he knows why.  

Tank youse, Hed! Even though la Sainte Flannelle didn't make it to the finals, Habs fans were pleased that they got through to the first round, and it was certainly no disgrace to lose to the Panthers. So I'm following the final series with interest, and am pleased to report that the quality of the games (as evidenced in Game 1) is excellent. 

The bad news is that statistics reported recently in Sports Business Journal, NHL viewership in the US of A was down 12% in the regular season, 25% in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs and a whopping 31% in the Conference Finals. Wha hoppen?!

IMHO it's not the quality of the hockey being played, let alone the sport itself, that's to blame. The NHL is suffering from a flawed business proposition, advocated for decades now by (((Gary Bettmann))), the American lawyer who never laced on a pair of skates, yet has tenure as Commissioner (read: boss) of the National Hockey League.

From Day One, Mr Bitchman argued that the only way to grow the sport was to put teams in locales other than the US northeast. He encouraged the establishment of teams in such sun-drenched climes as Raleigh NC, Atlanta and Nowheresville AZ. 

The Atlanta franchise failed twice and was moved to Calgary. The Arizona team, which had neither a permanent home nor more than two die-hard fans (Sid and Doris Bonkers), was moved this year to Utah... Utah!... because Gary wouldn't cave to pressure to restore the Québec team which he'd moved to Colorado.

The Carolina Hurricanes, based in Raleigh, got into the playoffs and played to SRO crowds. The Florida Panthers generally attract good crowds, because their home base is in Sunrise, part of Fort Lauderdale, where the majority of residents are Canadians. 

But does anyone watch the southern teams on TV? Nah. If you lived in North Carolina or Florida or Dallas, would you want to be sitting indoors of a warm May or June evening watching hockey? Fuggedabahtit.

That NHL viewership is in decline has to do with the business of TV sports rather than the location of the teams or the quality of the games. Today's hockey telecasts are carefully produced to fill three hours of air time, even though actual playing time is just one hour!

To pad out the allotted time, each 20-minute period is interrupted by three -- count `em, 3 -- "TV timeouts", which are filled with commercials. Then there are the two 15- or 20-minute intermissions, in which a panel of progessional gabbers tell us what we've just seen. The same thing happens before we get to watch the singing of the national anthems the puck drops, and afterwards, if the game finishes early.

Whoever's responsible for these incredibly boring TV shows obviously doesn't understand the audience. Today's young people -- the millennials and gen-whatevers -- have the attention spans of mosquitoes. They won't, they can't sit still for a quarter-hour of dreck. When I saw "Virtual PK" Subban on ABC/ESPN, I nearly broke my wrist changing the channel. More about ESPN's  "colour(ed) commentator" later today.

Yes, there are still die-hard traditionalists in Canada and the northeastern states who still watch hockey on TV. But was aren't as tech savvy as the kids, and less likely to subscribe to streaming services and specialty channels like Amazon's Monday night hockey or the Bank of Nova Scotia's Wednesday night version. And we resent being asked to pay extra... or anything... for what used to be free!

Putting business and the almighty dollar -- the almighty US dollar, that is -- ahead of sport has just about killed hockey, at least on TV. Maybe that's not so bad. Hockey is best viewed (as well as played) outdoors, in sub-zero temperatures (the ice is faster, then) or at least in an old, unheated barn designated as the Soandso Memorial Arena. Hockey isn't just another "entertainment product". It's a sport!

Formerly prominent rat deserts sinking Democratic Party ship

You remember Karine Jean-Pierre, don'tcha? I must admit that when she started appearing on the idiot's lantern I got her confused with a popular character from British children's literature when I was a kid [before the earth's crust cooled. Ed.]

The character, known as a "golliwog", is on the left. That's Ms Jean-Pierre, the first black openly gay person to hold the post of White House Press Secretary, on the right.

Ms Jean-Pierre was an obvious DEI hire, which the Dimocrats can admit now that she's long gone. According to Axios, they have now "gone scorched earth" on the lady (?) who played Edgar Bergen to Senile Joe's Charlie McCarthy.

One former White House official who worked closely with Jean-Pierre told Axios that she "was one of the most ineffectual and unprepared people I've ever worked with.... She had meltdowns after any interview that asked about a topic not sent over by producers.... She didn't know how to manage a team, didn't know how to shape or deliver a message, and often created more problems than she solved." 

A former Biden communications official threw more wood on the fire: "The hubris of thinking you can position yourself as an outsider when you not only have enjoyed the perks of extreme proximity to power — which ... bestows the name recognition needed to sell books off your name — but have actively wielded it from the biggest pulpit there is, is as breathtaking as it is desperate ... It's difficult to see how this is anything but a bizarre cash grab." 

Another former White House official familiar with the dynamics told Axios: "The amount of time that was spent coddling [Jean-Pierre] and appeasing her was astronomical compared to our attention on actual matters of substance." 

What's all this about a new book (Walt hears you ask)? Does it have anything to do with Ms Jean-Pierre's decision, announced yesterday, to tear up her Democratic Party card and become a registered Independent?

Why yes, it does! In her book Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, due for release in October, the formerly loyal Dumbocrat tells anyone who cares to read the eye-splitter "why Americans must step beyond party lines to embrace life as Independents," Cazart! Who could have seen that coming?

In a summary of the book released yesterday, publisher Hachette Book Group says "Jean-Pierre didn’t come to her decision to be an Independent lightly.... She takes us through the three weeks that led to Biden’s abandoning his bid for a second term and the betrayal by the Democratic Party that led to his decision."

Don't rush right out to get your copy. The book is slated for release on October 21st, and should be available in remainder bins across the country by October 23rd.

Happy Pride Month!

News of the Day, from Breitbart News, 3/6/25: Corporations Pull Back on Pride Month Sponsorships. The lede: Corporations and major brands have been pulling back on LGBTQ Pride Month sponsorships this year, with many jettisoning the themed merchandise altogether. 

Any comment would be superfluous. [And unnecessary. Ed.]

VIDEO: Michael Matt dunks on Charlotte's "Bishop Boomer"

Walt is pleased to forward the following e-mail, received last night from Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper. 

Hello James, It's all a lie. The Bishop of Charlotte, NC, is perpetuating a bald-faced lie – that the Latin Mass is divisive and needs to be canceled in the name of unity. In the new Underground (below), I offer 40 years' worth of evidence-based PROOF that the Latin Mass is, in fact, a great unifier in any diocese.

Four of the Bishop’s own priests have sent him a letter, begging him to reconsider his ban on the thriving Latin Mass centers in Charlotte. Thousands of his own faithful have done the same. But the cries of the sheep have fallen on the deaf ears of the angry shepherd.

So much for Synodality, right Bishop Michael Martin?

This coming weekend, ironically, another bishop – Mgr. Philippe Christory, Bishop of Chartres, France – will open the doors of his iconic cathedral to 25,000 traditional Catholics for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass on Pentecost Monday. In this tale of two bishops, the American is obviously an embarrassment to Catholics all across the country.

The "listening Church?" Yeah, right! 

Such hateful intolerance of faithful Catholics is unacceptable, and we call upon Pope Leo XIV to replace the Bishop of Charlotte with someone more akin to the Bishop of Chartres, who though not a Traditionalist, is nevertheless a pastor who is willing to listen to and accompany all of his sheep. . . even those who love the Latin Mass.

For the very best arguments against the Bishop of Charlotte’s pathetic witch hunt – including vintage Michael Davies on who is actually disobeying Vatican II (hint: it’s not the traditionalists) – please watch and share this with everyone you know. Enough is enough already! 

In Christo Rege, Michael J. Matt

Monday morning meme from The Patriot Post

"Free Palestine!" (the new "Allahu akbar!") in Boulder CO

Looks like "Free Palestine!" is the new "Allahu akbar!", at least in English-speaking countries. That's what Mohamed Sabry Soliman was yelling in Boulder CO yesterday as he used a homemade flamethrower [Ed., see if you can find a "how to" video on YouTube] to torch several Jews, including children, who had gathered to call for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages.

Kind of a strange look for a fanatical follower of the Religion of Peace, but the FBI has confirmed that Mr Soliman is a 45-year-old Egyptian national whose visa, granted during the Biden administration, expired in March of this year.  

They also confirm that he used a Molotov cocktails, shown in the photos, along with a flamethrower to attack elderly demonstrators belonging to "Run For Their Lives", a grassroots organization that facilitates global run and walk events calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. 

In a departure from the usual obfuscation about the motive being unclear, the authorities now concede that the dastardly attack was "targeted". They have so far refrained, though, from pronouncing the words "Islamic" or "terrorism".  

Mr Soliman is resting comfortably in hospital, recovering from minor burns, while the usual suspects organize mostly peaceful protests about racism, police brutality and the "Israeli genocide" in Gaza.