http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:18:30 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/04/17/001700.php#comment-580514 Philip, thanks. I thought they called for a permanent cease fire. 580514@blogcritics.org Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:18:30 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/04/17/001700.php#comment-580496 I enjoyed your article but Basque nationalism (in its Eta form) is still deadly as the recent ceasefire breaking bombing at Madrid airport shows. 580496@blogcritics.org Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:35:43 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/04/17/001700.php#comment-579542 For the record, when I say French talent I mean Quebec talent. Oversight on my part for one small section. 579542@blogcritics.org Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:52:25 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/04/17/001700.php#comment-579541 I know the Braves (and my former Expos who concentrated on Latin America) had the best development system and it has worked for them. I guess there are many ways to appoach this. I believe the New England Patriots consider the character of the player before joining their organization. The Habs used to have total control over Quebec talent under the territorial draft. Since it was removed the province's best talent was scattered across the league. The Canadiens could concentrate in Quebec mre but I'm not sure why they don't do this more effectively. They do draft many players from the Province but scouting has not been very strong. Economics plays a role also. Taxes and the currency exchange does not help. Most want to be paid in U.S. dollars. Another problem is that there may not be enough Quebec-born players anymore. Last I checked football and soccer enrollment is passing hockey. It's tough being a Canadian team in a pro North American league. Soccer teams like Bilbao and across Europe have strong academies and development programs explicitly attached to clubs. We don't have this in North America. It's a different system and only clubs like the Braves find their niche on their own. Anyway, maybe I should try and study the actual development process! 579541@blogcritics.org Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:49:21 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/04/17/001700.php#comment-579526 The Atlanta Braves created a very strong scouting system in the 90s by concentrating their efforts on a region (Georgia and surrounding) instead of a skill or body type. Could Montreal succeed building a team with such a system or does hockey not lend itself to this approach? 579526@blogcritics.org Tue, 17 Apr 2007 07:17:07 EDT