Toronto Maple Leaf fans are a little bewildered this year, myself included. We are in the final week of the regular season and games still matter. Well, we are in the praying for a miracle stage, but there is still a faint hope of getting into the playoffs. The reason? Enthusiastic, gritty play from a team of young players who refuse to quit. While it is a collaborative effort, the play of the young "come out of nowhere" goaltender, James Reimer, is a key. Not only has he played extremely well, the rest of the team is playing well in front of him. And the sports writers and pundits love him, in part because he is such a nice guy. He is perpetually polite and smiling, he doesn't cuss, and he goes to church with his wife whenever he gets the chance. Reimer grew up in a Mennonite hamlet in rural Manitoba and the Christian values stuck.
In this morning's Globe and Mail there is an article about Reimer, front page of the sports section, with the headline James Reimer has Faith in his Game http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/james-reimer-has-faith-in-his-game/article1969274/ which is a specific reference to his low-key but important Christian faith. Nice to see when there is so much about prima donna sports figures and a wonderful witness on his part.
Comments?
I wish I was perpetually smiling and didn't cuss ...
ReplyDeleteGo Habs!
ReplyDeletejohnny sucks.
ReplyDelete(Hey, at least I didn't cuss!)
ReplyDeleteGo Carolina, Buffalo and NY Rangers(if you get my drift).
ReplyDeleteI even read the sports page on your advice,David.
ReplyDeleteI thought it sad (although not a bad pun)that Reimer was referred to as a "throwback", seemingly sounding not too relevant to modern times.
Having great affection for the Prairies, and the modern Mennonite influence even in the city, I'll say "Go Leafs" and "Go James..good for you, Prairie boy!" and I do believe in "miracles."
Boys! Boys! Each of you go to one end of the couch! And Laura, please sit in between them.
ReplyDeleteWell, you did make me laugh out loud, and I enjoyed your responses.
Mind you, the party is over after Tuesday evening's exciting losss to Washington. The coffin was already closed by Buffalo earlier in the evening. I said appropriate prayers for the dead.
I had a long drive Tuesday morning, and I was listening to 540 AM. Sports talk. They started about Reimer stating on his Facebook page that he is deeply religous. The announcer went on about how most people who make a public comment like that make others uncomfortable. They took 1 caller who said good for Reimer, then went to commercial. I had the number dialed to shame them for making this a negative, but when they came back from the commercial they changed the subject.
ReplyDeleteGood for James. We all know if the leafs are going to win a cup it will take divine intervention.