Ah, the French Canadians! Montréal diary: entry #2

As careful readers of this blog will recall, I have been a huge hockey fan since the early 70s. And despite the loss of a complete National Hockey League season due to a labor dispute and subsequent lockout, I remain a rabid follower of the sport.

So, what better place to get a hockey infusion than Montréal, Canada? Here, hockey is one of the first subjects of discussion when a newcast begins, and it completely dominates all sports programs. I watched what seemed to be the Canadian equivalent of "The Best Damn Sports Show Period," where various pundits and celebrities (all utterly unknown to us Americans) hashed out the day's events in the world of hockey. Most of these people looked like characters you'd encounter in a French art-house flick, rather than sport enthusiasts.

As the show was broadcast in French, I could only guess at what was being said, but it was clear that tempers were continually on the verge of boiling over. It was truly amazing - though somewhat surreal - to see hockey get such an impassioned reckoning.