May they all die horribly of some disease!

There is a massive shortage of the vaccine down here and buying some from a private clinic may not be that easy.

I find the people getting mad at players are missing the point. Players are told by their boss/trainer/coach to go get the shot… so they do it. It’s not like the players slipped the doctors a few hundred bucks (or a couple of autographs) to get ahead of the queue, hoping that people other than them get sick from H1N1.

However, it’s definitely not cool that someone in management tried to bypass the provincial regulations to get the team in there. I realize the reasons and motivation in it, but unless your player has a pre-existing condition, the player missing 3 games isn’t nearly as bad as a 17 year old with chronic bronchitis dying.

In no way do the Flames brass have the power to “decide” such a thing.

And jumping on a chance to avoid standing in line for several hours for anything is hardly a dereliction of civic duty, let alone immoral.

This is quite an Orwellian quandary the Flames have stumbled into here. “All Hockey Players are Equal… But some Hockey Players are more Equal than others.”
Seriously, if anyone who follows or writes for this blog is critical of this move due to the political unfairness of it, my head will explode:
1. We all obviously support the Flames, so why don’t we all hope they can stay healthy? The sad thing is that pretty much everyone here will probably be more pissed off about an 8 game losing streak for a flu-ravaged team than if somebody dies from H1N1. This is a hockey blog. We all love the Flames. I personally enjoy Flames news more than reading the obituary.
-We are Calgary fans. Calgary=strongly against socialized health care. Pour yourself a glass of Merlot, and go cheer for the Maple Leafs at an art gallery while you discuss Freud with the transvestite sitting next to you if you are going to bitch about the political implications of this.

Holy crap I didn’t realize this would realize in political discussions. Generally I try to stay away from that, I mean hockey is infinitely simpler than politics and it’s still difficult, at times impossible, to rationally discuss.

So I won’t talk about what Alberta Health Services is doing right or wrong, that’ll stir up a shitstorm and it’s not worth it. Suffice to say, there are issues with the vaccine distribution, that much is obvious on the face of it.

On the subject of the Flames and this vaccine: am I in the minority in opinion here that the Flames org made the wrong (morally) decision? At the very least I would think it impossible not to acknowledge that there are people who are unvaccinated now who need it more than the Flames (from a safety-of-life perspective). Although Hayley brings up a good point that many of the Flames have kids in the identified risk groups.

When you get down to it, the Flames orgnaization took steps to protect an investment that costs $50 million and nets $100 million in revenue annually. Do I fault them for this? HELL NO. They had access and they had ability. Good for them for protecting themselves.

It is also worth noting that two of the last three teams they have played have players who were confirmed to have H1N1. They are clearly exposed, clearly at a higher risk, and clearly, being an athlete wont help you avoid it. If we are going to be looking for blame, look 275KM north of here. Look at the Oilers for exposing everyone else in the NHL by allowing Smid to play despite his illness, and look at the Stelmach Tories for their grossly incompetent handling of this entire mess.

Maybe the Flames should be running the provincial clinics. They are clearly doing better than Stumblin’ Ed is.

I think I’m going to shut this puppy down. No real good can come from the discussion.