Leafs Nation lost a big fan with the Dec. 7 passing of Daniel Arsenault, the 18-year-old Trenton boy who was well-known in Pictou County.
Maybe I shouldn’t say “lost” because right now he could have the best seat in the house, from where he can look down and watch his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. For sure, he’s still part of the Nation.
The Junior A Crushers have a tribute in the works for Daniel – specifics had not been finalized as of this writing – and the players, along with the coaching staff, attended the visitation on Monday afternoon to pay their respects to one of the team’s loyal fans. He was a Thursday night constant at the Pictou County Wellness Centre, where he’d watch the Crusher games from his usual spot.
Daniel, who was to be buried in his Maple Leafs jersey, faced down challenges in his life but those closest to him made sure he packed a lot of living into his 18 years.
Random Sports Thoughts As We Hurtle Towards the Holidays:
• The Junior A Crushers picked a good time to start piling up wins, because winning six of their past eight games has kept them from being buried in the Maritime Hockey League standings. They had a terrible start to the season – they won their home opener on Sept. 13 and then went 13 games without a victory – but the playoffs are well within reach.
They have to keep digging their way out of the hole they find themselves in. This could take all season.
• Some fans of the Cleveland Browns are vowing to name their newborn sons after Baker Mayfield, the rookie quarterback who looks like he could soon take that downtrodden franchise out of the dark wilderness and into daylight.
Browns fans, who have endured years and years of misery – much of it due to terrible quarterback play – absolutely love the guy. He is all that and 10 bags of chips.
Non-Sports Thoughts of the Week:
• I must tell Mother that, if she’s getting me clothes for Christmas this year (which, even now, is rather lame), then she needs to keep in mind that I didn’t suddenly have a growth spurt in my 40s, and that I can’t wear shirts made for people who are six feet tall.
• Go ahead, refuse to play ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ on the radio. I don’t care. Not because it’s a ‘date-rape’ song – which is a ridiculous notion – but because the song isn’t very good to begin with.
And, whatever shall we do about ‘Santa Baby’?
Is it really okay for a temptress to use her feminine wiles to convince her sugar daddy to buy her a yacht, jewelry, a new car and nice clothes?
Doesn’t that type of song set the feminist movement back 50 years, and is that really the message we want to send to our children?
It’s annoying that this whole thing came about after a radio station in Cleveland removed it from its playlist, all because ONE listener complained about it.
While we’re at it, did you ever hear Elvis Presley sing ‘Santa Claus Is Back in Town’? Now that is a subtle but spicy little Christmas ditty, especially for the 1950s. And I think it’s safe to say the female that is Elvis’s muse in that song was looking forward to seeing her Santa Claus.
Kevin Adshade is a writer with The News. His column appears each week.
