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Bruce Dowbiggin

Jerry Came to See The Babies. And They Walked Out On Him

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Cometh the hour, cometh the comedian. Or, you can learn a lot about a demographic by what makes them laugh.

The legacy/ lunacy media schvitzed itself over a few furious sociology majors and look-at-me drama queens walking out on Jerry Seinfeld’s commencement address at Duke University last weekend. But the significance of his admission that he was 70 was probably far more newsworthy to those now in retirement, binge-watching his eponymous TV series on one of those down-the-dial channels.

If we had a dollar for every Boomer who said, “Seinfeld is 70?” while watching the address we’d be Warren-Buffett-rich this morning. He doesn’t look like any 70 year olds we know. Fifty? Maybe. But listening to his familiar delivery, the mocking on his honorary degree costume, it was easy to believe that we, too, are much younger than our blood-thinner prescriptions say.

It also pointed out the evolution of Boomers’ comedic tastes. When they came of age in the late 1960s/ early 1970s Woody Allen best profiled as his generation’s comedic muse. With a dozen classic movies ranging from What’s New Pussycat (1965) through Play It Again Sam (1972) to Annie Hall (1977) Allen’s self-deprecating nebbish captured the romantic/ridiculous self-image of Boomers with “Some drink deeply from the river of knowledge. Others only gargle”.

The neurotic, insecure Allen then decided to become Ingmar Bergman, and Boomers— now assembling jobs, children and first spouses— moved on. But for that 12-year span the bedraggled standup comedian was the go-to with lines like “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you” and  “The only love that lasts is unrequited love.”

Woody’s pointed contemporary political references in those years were few (conflating “D’you” for “Jew” with Tony Roberts in Manhattan) and self-deflating (see Annie Hall). His most prominent political jabs were framed in absurdist material like Love And Death and Bananas. Culturally he was merciless but affectionate about his Brooklyn upbringing. In short his were perfect date movies for Boomers seeking love to advertise their pretensions.

Flash forward from Woody to Seinfeld (created with Larry David) which was anti-romantic in the extreme. The characters were sociopaths. The situations often cringeworthy. The 24-minute formula harkened back to Lucy and the Honeymooners. And while schlock like Friends trod the same ground it was Seinfeld that somehow captured the Boomer  zeitgeist. 

Why? Boomers going through middle age were too disillusioned with how life was turning out to romanticize anymore. The self-obsessed characters were people they knew from work, school and dealing with government. Smirking Bill Clinton was the face of an era. “When we did my show in the 90s, it was so easy to make fun of things. It was so easy,” Seinfeld told Amy Schumer.

Significantly, Seinfeld the Show was cultural. Or quasi-cultural. It was never about politics per se. It was about the people who thwart you in life. Whose vanity ruins your plans from school days. Who go 50 mph in the left lane. “When is Jerry going to see the baby?” It rarely challenged its fans on an emotional level. It was mostly about navigating madness.

And often about the most mundane elements of life. The address on the weekend contained The Seinfeld Doctrine of Lowered Expectations. “It’s easy to fall in love with people. I suggest falling in love with anything and everything, every chance you get. Fall in love with your coffee, your sneakers, your blue zone parking space. I’ve had a lot of fun in life falling in love with stupid, meaningless physical objects. 

“The object I love the most is the clear-barrel Bic pen — $1.29 for a box of 10. I can fall in love with a car turn signal switch that has a nice feel to it, a pizza crust that collapses with just the right amount of pressure. I have truly spent my life focusing on the smallest things imaginable, completely oblivious to all the big issues of living.”

Reaching across the generations Seinfeld delivered Dad jokes and bromides to kids who education probably cost $100 K a year. “I think it is also wonderful that you care so much about not hurting other people’s feelings in the million and one ways we all do that,” he said. Then he explained why that might be a fruitless pursuit. Not in Curb Your Enthusiasm darkness. But sobering.

That’s why it was in character for him to let the furious demonstrators depart at Duke without comment. So was appearing at Duke, the Ivy League of Tobacco Road, founded by the people who made jillions selling nicotine. And why he let them garb him like Thomas Cromwell in the absurd 16th century cape and hat so he could score few laughs.

Because laughter is his means of dealing with jerks like the outbound Hamas crowd. “What I need to tell you as a comedian: Do not lose your sense of humour. You can have no idea at this point in your life how much you are going to need it to get through. Not enough of life makes sense for you to be able to survive it without humour.”

Yes, He has been vocal lately about the effect of political correctness ruining TV comedy. Drawing flak from former friends and fans who are in the Biden re-education camps at the moment. But his annoyance at ruining an art form far outweighed any complaints about Covid and Ukraine.

As opposed to the nihilism of his former partner David, his insouciance and comic patter represent an antidote for where most of his original fans are at the moment. Woody Allen, their former idol, is now seen as a pedo and a failed nouveau vage auteur. Disillusioned with virus lies, electoral shenanigans and soaring prices, Boomers on a pension are unanchored, floating through what used to be North American society (when only women had babies).

In fact, Boomer spectators watching Seinfeld’s 17-minute speech maybe summed it up for themselves by recalling the Seinfeld mantra, “It was a show about nothing.” And they’d be right. Jerry is the man for those times.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. Now for pre-order, new from the team of Evan & Bruce Dowbiggin . Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL & Changed Hockey. From Espo to Boston in 1967 to Gretz in L.A. in 1988 to Patrick Roy leaving Montreal in 1995, the stories behind the story. Launching in paperback and Kindle on #Amazon this week. Destined to be a hockey best seller. https://www.amazon.ca/Deal-Trades-Stunned-Changed-Hockey-ebook/dp/B0D236NB35/

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN Award-winning Author and Broadcaster Bruce Dowbiggin's career is unmatched in Canada for its diversity and breadth of experience . He is currently the editor and publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster website and is also a contributor to SiriusXM Canada Talks. His new book Cap In Hand was released in the fall of 2018. Bruce's career has included successful stints in television, radio and print. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster for his work with CBC-TV, Mr. Dowbiggin is also the best-selling author of "Money Players" (finalist for the 2004 National Business Book Award) and two new books-- Ice Storm: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Vancouver Canucks Team Ever for Greystone Press and Grant Fuhr: Portrait of a Champion for Random House. His ground-breaking investigations into the life and times of Alan Eagleson led to his selection as the winner of the Gemini for Canada's top sportscaster in 1993 and again in 1996. This work earned him the reputation as one of Canada's top investigative journalists in any field. He was a featured columnist for the Calgary Herald (1998-2009) and the Globe & Mail (2009-2013) where his incisive style and wit on sports media and business won him many readers.

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Bruce Dowbiggin

Dear Vladdy: Now, A Few Helpful Words From Vladimir Putin

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If you feel you’re lost in the No-Fun House these days you’re not alone. We already noted  the disquieting sequence of events this summer, “Since Joe Biden went full Sling Blade in his debate with Donald Trump to a near-fatal assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania to the Democratic Party staging a Covid-inspired coup against Biden. And now Ms. Montreal, Kamala Harris, being retro-fitted  into the Dems’ nominee against Trump while her media pals hastily erase her past.”

If you believe the current polling (you shouldn’t) she’s moved from ugly Biden duckling to Obama swan in just weeks. F1 cars don’t move this fast. But when the combined weight of Hollywood and the media party are playing Wag The Dog, you shouldn’t be surprised when the Dems try to put Trump in Rikers Island jail later this month.

Here in Canada, prime minister Trudeau is busy employing Harris’ Marxist strategy. “What can be, unburdened by what has been“. Like an actor from some bad prequel, he’s harassing steel workers with the novel concept that “I’m not who you think I am”. His pollsters are hinting he’s set for a breakout from the abysmal numbers he now has versus Pierre Poilievre, aka Little Trump.

Again, the embedded forces of the Canadian media, fat with Trudeau handouts, are not to be underestimated when the federal election rolls around in late 2025. A fourth term is always possible in the Land of the Gullible. For now they await the lessons that will be learned from the 2024 presidential election stateside.

The most likely outcome in Trump v. Harris is neither side accepting defeat. (Which will play havoc with Tom Hanks’ fatuous promise to move to Canada should trump prevail.) A drawn-out debate in the U.S. Supreme Court seasoned with a garnish of Electoral College hanky-panky seems a promising scenario for Trudeau— even with Jagmeet Singh, the man long bitching from Justin’s sidecar, now severing their entente..

As we say, it’s all disturbing. What most people in the West can agree on, however, is that Vlad Putin is a bad dude. So bad that both sides of the divide insist their opponent is in the pocket of the man in the Kremlin. The Left is yet again saying Putin funnels money to Trump’s pocket while the Right insists that Putin is working the Obamites to end America’s energy hegemony.

So it comes as a surprise when Alex Ovechkin’s favourite setup man actually nails a few home truths about what is happening socially in the Excited States, Canada and there EU. As we noted in October of 2021, Mr. Baddy sat down at a conference to impart wisdom about censorship and free speech now unfolding in the West.

“Incidentally, the Bolsheviks were absolutely intolerant of other opinions, different from their own. I think this should remind you of something that is happening… (in) the 1920s, the Soviet couture Tagore came up with the so-called ‘Newspeak’, and they thought that thereby they were building a new consciousness and coming up with new values, and they went so far that we feel the consequences up until now. 

“There are some monstrous things when from a very young age, you teach to children that the boy can easily become a girl and you impose on them this selection, this choice. You push the parents aside and make the child take this decisions that can destroy their lives… all of that under the banner of progress, while some people just want to do that.”

“This is something we saw in Russia. It happened in our country before the 1917 revolution; the Bolsheviks followed the dogmas of Marx and Engels. And they also declared that they would go in to change the traditional lifestyle, the political, the economic lifestyle, as well as the very notion of morality, the basic principles for a healthy society. 

They were trying to destroy age and century-long values, revisiting the relationship between the people. They were encouraging informing on one’s own beloved and families. It was hailed as the march of progress. And it was very popular across the world, and it was supported by many, as we see, it is happening right now.

It is with puzzlement that we see the practices Russia used to have and that we left behind in distant past. The fight for equality and against discrimination turns into an aggressive dogmatism on the brink of absurdity, when great authors of the past such as Shakespeare are no longer taught in schools and universities, because they announced as backward classics that did not understand the importance of gender or race.”

You go, Vlad. There is some recent grassroots pushback to uncontrolled Wokeism, but not enough. Despite the activities of Obama and others, the virtue seekers of the U.S. and Canada seem complacent in the face of such caution. As conservative critic Mark Steyn observes of the gradual U.S. decline— and that of Canada, too— “The good news is that we’re unlikely to get another decade of complacency, because, absent any serious pushback, we’re transitioning from the ‘gradually’ to the ‘suddenly’ phase.”

Which will make today’s discomfort seem like a walk in the park.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. His new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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Bruce Dowbiggin

From Deal With It: A Cruel, Senseless Fate Ends A Brilliant Career

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The tragic death of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew in a car/ bike accident last Thursday in New Jersey was sad beyond words. The pair, riding home from a rehearsal dinner for their sister’s wedding the next day, were killed by a drunk driver who’d passed on the right side of a vehicle ahead. Words fail.

The loss of the brothers reminded us that in our new book Deal With It we dealt with a key moment in Gaudreau’s NHL career when he abandoned Calgary, the only NHL team he’d known since 2014, for Columbus in a controversial decision. Here’s what we said:

“If 2017-18 had been a turning point, 2021-22 was the major breakthrough that saw Gaudreau as a HHoF legend in the making, one who could have his number someday in the rafters in Calgary… should he choose to remain there. As it was, Flames supporters who had seen the team win just one playoff series since 2004, were eager to see how high the new-look Flames could soar and if Gaudreau might finally find his playoff scoring touch. They also looked forward to a possible matchup against the Oilers who’d had to work to even make the postseason.

Against stingy Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, the Flames had to work just to escape in seven games, with Gaudreau notching just two goals in the series. Both would be game winners as Calgary outlasted the Stars in a nailbiter. His brilliant Game 7 overtime snipe— going short-side top corner near Oetinger’s head— was his highwater mark in a flaming “C,” sending the club into their first postseason clash with the Oilers since 1991. Coach Sutter praised his little winger’s efforts, saying Gaudreau had “taken that step to perform as well in the playoffs” as in the regular season. Gaudreau’s play in the series against Dallas was not helped by indifferent play from Tkachuk, who seemed disinterested in going to the danger areas and only mixing it up physically with the underdog Stars when scrums or opportunities for face washes were provided.

Unfortunately for the Flames, the struggles of their top line against Dallas caught up to them in a passionate showdown with McDavid and the Oilers. In Game 1, Calgary raced to a lopsided 5-1 lead before seeing McDavid bring the Oilers back to tie it at 6-6 in the third frame. Tkachuk got the last laugh on this occasion, burying the third of his three goals that ensured a ridiculous 9-6 series-opening win for Calgary. In Game 2, Calgary once again took an early lead only to watch Edmonton roar back again again. This time, the Oilers made their resurgence hold up and claimed a 5-3 win. After dropping Game 3 in concerningly easy fashion (4-1), then trailing for the bulk of Game 4, the Flames seemed to turn a corner when they came back to tie Game 5  3-3. Looking for a turning point on Edmonton ice, they instead sagged as the Oilers scored twice in the final seven minutes.

Facing elimination in Game 5, Gaudreau’s Flames toyed with fans’ emotions as they possessed the lead twice only to see Edmonton get the equalizer both times. Pushed to the brink, the gut punch of McDavid potting the winner in OT was the final touch on Calgary’s wasted chance at a deep championship run. As it turns out, it was also the early end of an era that once held so much promise. “Missed opportunities,” the Sutter lamented postgame. “It’s not being critical, that’s just true. They’re going to tell you that, too. Missed opportunities go the other way.” The subduing of Calgary’s top line (just six goals including Tkachuk’s Game 1 hatty) was a key to Edmonton’s shockingly decisive triumph, leading to the same old questions about Gaudreau. Those questions also applied to Tkachuk, with doubt cast upon building around them for playoff success. There would be little time for reflection in the offseason talent market.

Instead of Calgary entertaining trades, the options would be in Gaudreau’s hands. As the July 1 trade deadline approached, Gaudreau announced that, despite an enormous eight-year, $80M contract offer from the Flames, he would test free agency. The star winger claimed to many in private that he wanted to go home so his wife could have their baby in the USA. As such, it was believed his preferred venues were the Islanders, Devils or Flyers (closer to home and a childhood favourite team, given he grew up just across the Delaware River from Philly). Still wishing something could be worked out, Calgary management hoped against hope for a reversal of his decision to entertain other cities after the UFA market opened. But Flames fans quietly resigned themselves to losing him for nothing.

To the shock and surprise of many, Gaudreau would go only as far as Columbus, Ohio, when it came to finding a new home. Accepting less than Calgary’s max offer to go play on a team with few real hopes of playoff contention– a ten-hour drive from the Jersey shore where he supposedly wanted to be– Gaudreau sent a missile into Flame country. The optics were terrible for the 29-year old superstar, after insisting he wanted to be near the family home on the Jersey shore. Eric Duhatschek, shortly after, summed up the stunned reaction in The Athletic, writing “The fact that it took Gaudreau so long to choose effectively sabotaged the Flames’ off-season, because it closed so many possible Plan B options to the organization. Closer to home, but not close — because if close to home was the absolute priority, then he could have picked the New Jersey Devils, who also tabled an offer. Columbus is more easily reached by private jet than Calgary, but it’s not as if he’ll be dropping into his mom’s house for dinner after a game or a practice — or getting emergency babysitting service if they need someone right this minute to help out on the home front.” Calgary’s abandonment was best summed up by CBC broadcaster Andrew Brown’s sign-off that day, “And that’s the news for now, I’ll be back here at 11, unless a news station in Columbus offers me way less money… and I’ll probably go do that.”

Gaudreau himself put a salty punctuation on dumping Calgary at his welcome presser in Columbus. “It didn’t matter where I was signing. Our decision was it was best for us not to go back to Calgary.” From America, the reaction was more sympathetic to Gaudreau. In the New York Post, Larry Brooks sneered, “The hysterical response to Johnny Gaudreau’s decision to leave millions on the table in Calgary and instead sign with Columbus was indeed just that. Players are routinely lambasted across the professional sports landscape for being greedy mercenaries. Now this one is being targeted for taking a road less traveled.”

On Barstool Sports, personality “The Rear Admiral” summed up a scathing putdown with “Hell hath no fury like Canadian media (allegedly) scorned… But when media members wail and stomp their feet because a fellow adult opts to work in a new location, well that’s a special kind of entertainment.”  For Flames GM Treliving, whose contract wasn’t renewed at season’s end, there was some resignation over the hand he’d been dealt. “At the end of the day, the players make decisions,” Treliving said. “You always reflect back on how you go through a process. I feel very, very comfortable that the ownership of this organization, the management team here did everything possible to have [Tkachuk and Gaudreau] sign and stay. They chose, they didn’t want to. Not a lot you can do about that so you move forward.”

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. His new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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