Put him in

After last night's win in Carolina I was the lone supporter of putting Martin Gerber back in goal tomorrow night when the Panthers come to town. Gerber was brought in last summer with a big contract and the pressure of being the main guy and while it's VERY easy to look back and second guess the deal, I don't recall too many emails calling for Muckler to be fired.

Granted, I was working for a rock station at the time...

The point is Gerber hasn't played well up until last night and needs to get back in as quickly as possible to maintain and rebuild his confidence and at the salary he's getting, it's time for the him to rise to the challenge and silence his critics at home.

I'm one of Ray Emery's biggest fans and can't thank him enough for what he's done to help the Sens get back to .500 hockey, but the reality is you have to put Gerber back in. If he looks awful in his next start, then he should re-consider if Ottawa is where he wants to be for the next two and a half years. Imagine if you were making that kind of jack and knew that everybody in your workplace thought you were "crap" or "terrible", there's a pretty good chance you would eventually find a new place to work.

One emailer sent in the following, "If Gerber is making 11 million over 3 seasons, do you think he cares what people say about him?" and the reality is that money doesn't buy happiness, it allows you to pay off your house while the rest of us working stiffs look cheaper mortgage rates.

Shameless plug alert...MortgageBrokersOttawa.com

We sometimes forget that these athletes are still human beings and should be fully aware of what they signed up for. Do you think Jason Spezza left the rink and enjoyed being booed on home ice a few weeks ago? Sure he can go buy whatever he wants but that stuff can get to someone whether they admit it or not.

If I had Gerber's salary, I'd buy my own French Fry truck.

Today I officially became a dad.

Yes, my son was born 9 months ago but today we took him to the mall to have his picture taken with Santa. While I was standing there, seeing him on St. Nicks lap it hit me like a ton of bricks that here I was watching my son discover another new part of life. Even though we got a photo of the experience the image is forever frozen in my mind.

Kind of like watching something really cool in sports like an Adam Vinatieri field goal to win it all in a Superbowl.

Getting back to the malls, when the sign next to the elevator says "priority given to those who are Handicapped, Seniors or with strollers" that means that if that doesn't apply to you then use the escalator or heaven forbid, the stairs!

Here's my new blog. Life is now complete.

Why should Steve be the only one with a blog? I can write just as well as him.

Okay we both know I can't, but I've got to find a way to make myself busy in order to justify my 3 year 11 million dollar deal.

I promise not to abandon this blog just as Buzz did to his.

The main question I get these days is why did you leave the rock station for all sports and the answer is simple.

Free hockey tickets.

Two weeks after I got hired at the Team 1200, and after several auditions the Ottawa Senators offered me the gig to be the PA announcer at the games. So, now that I go to all the games and announce goals and penalties, what could possibly be the attraction of working at the Team?

Free Renegades tickets.

Oh, wait...we don't have a professional CFL team in Ottawa, why you ask? Well for some reason as much as Ottawan's love their football, they've been bitten too many times to care and have found other things to do with their summers. Now wait a sec, there's no way I just came up with that on my own, I think my co-host Steve Warne wrote about that in his blog a while back.

So back to the question, why the sports station?

It's the opportunity to talk about all things sports every morning and throw in real life into the mix as well. For example, Buzz is a ladies man (Man Ho) and "claims" to date a different girl every night. I won't deny he's pretty smooth with the ladies, which is a warning to any TGOR regular with a college daughter to send them out of province for post secondary education. All kidding aside, Buzz is like the guy who sits at the end of the bar and picks fights with everybody. Steve and I like the Red Sox, Buzz is a Yankee fan. Steve and I like the Senators....Buzz is a Leaf fan.

It should be noted as a former Montrealer, I grew up a Habs fan and will always be one but would love to see this city win a Cup.

Ask anybody who was on Preston Street on a sunny Sunday last July what it was like to celebrate Italy's world cup win and just imagine that 1000 times bigger. Winning a Cup etches your team's name in the history books and provides a lifetime of memories.

Speaking of memories, our poor producer Kenny is in a bit of a slump these days with the ladies. One woman emailed me and said we were being too hard on him and putting too much pressure on him to break his year and a half slump. I wrote her back and told her as someone who went trough a similar drought in my early 20's that we were just having good natured fun with the guy and ended off the email with "signed the married guy!" She's going to try and set up her sister with him, who's divorced and has 2 kids.

Hey, beggars can't be choosers.

So there you have it. That's why I jumped at the chance to get the open spot on TGOR left by Jungle.....I have seats on the glass for the best laugh in town every morning.