another piece on the booing
another piece on the booing
one note on the civilian deaths in this war. Thousands each year die in Iraq due to Saddam's deliberate mishandling of the oil for food program. The status quo, attempting to disarm Saddam thru inspections/containment/diplomacy, will actually cost more civilians their lives than the war will.
article here on the booing:
Song's over for Habs
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- Ottawa Sun
MONTREAL -- It was hard to pick what was the lowest point for the Canadiens and their fans last night.
There were a few from which to choose, for sure.
Maybe it was the robust booing of the American national anthem before the game started. That was certainly one of the low points in recent memory for what is usually a classy crowd at the Bell Centre.
The discontent with the United States and its war against Iraq served to fire up the Americans in the New York Islanders' lineup, the players said, helping fuel their 6-3 beating of the Habs and pretty much ending the Canadiens' hopes of making the playoffs.
"If it wasn't for America, Lord knows what language they'd be speaking," said Islanders forward Mark Parrish, a native of Bloomington, Minn. "I came to the rink pumped up and that really got me going. I want to thank them for getting me pumped up."
Goaltender Garth Snow, a native of Wrentham, Mass., who had 32 saves in the win which pushed the Islanders eight points ahead of the Habs, said Islanders assistant coach Jacques Laperriere apologized to the team on behalf of his fellow Quebecers.
"He gave us a heads up," said Snow. "When I heard (the booing), it fired me up, being an American."
"I don't think anybody deserves that," said backup goaltender Rick DiPietro of Winthrop, Mass. "That's not respectful. I think it's our job to go over there and take care of matters before they escalate. To boo our anthem was uncalled for."
another piece, this one from NY Post:
THE BOOING BACKFIRES
By EVAN GROSSMAN
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Nice try.
"When they booed the national anthem, it pumped us up, even the Canadians," Minnesota native Mark Parrish said of the surge that went through the Islanders' bench. "I want to know how many of those Quebec people came down to Ground Zero and saw what happened."
Once the game began, the Islanders didn't give the 21,273 classless, American-hating patrons much to cheer about as they smashed the desperate Habs with unbridled passion and pep in a 6-3 victory that virtually turned Montreal's season to French toast......